《Spiritsmith》


 1st Chapter - Almost a prologue

    Typer¡¯s room: Hi there. For those of you who knows about my other works, hi again, for those who never met me, Greetings, I¡¯m the one known as Warhawx.


    I have two other works here on the site, but this one is a bit different from my previous one. Firstly, it have to genders I never went too deep in all of my works, posted or not. Gender bender and Martial arts, so if you don¡¯t like any of those, this work might not be up to your tastes. Although gender bender is seen really early on, even when I¡¯m already writing chapter 15, the martial arts is still a bit in the works, so it might be a bit too slow for some people and might present a few inconsistencies. For that, I¡¯m sorry, and if possible, help me correct these mistakes of mine as I do want to make it an enjoyable read.


    Another thing worthy noting, is that I began a bit lazily here with the whole memory thing as I didn¡¯t plan to post this at all, but my mind changed a lot during this time and I will begin to work on it soon enough as a part of the plot.


    Finally, this work was made in G.Docs, with the help of a couple of Den dwellers, so it might be a bit different of a tone I use in my other works.


    All that said and done, thanks for bearing with me up to now.


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    -----


    A warm feeling spread around my body, my memories fuzzy as I felt myself floating into something comfortable that left me with a feeling of security. I tried opening my eyes, but for no avail, as even with them open I could see nothing. I felt that I should be worried about this, but for some reason I just felt so strangely at ease within this place that I ended up not really feeling bothered.


    However, I still felt a bit strange.


    More specifically, my memories were strange, some parts of it were as clear as a day, like the place where I live, the school I went, the friends I made, the moments I had with my family and so on. However, other parts were strangely muddy. I could not remember things like my name, how I looked and what I was doing the last time I was awake.


    Yet, I just felt so¡­ Peaceful.


    I could also feel as some strange energy seemed to flow inside me, something unlike anything I ever felt before. It coursed through the whole of my body, passing through each and every part of my body, before going back and gathering around the lower part of my abdomen, just below my heart.


    The energy was weak, very discreet and almost inexistent, but it was there, I could feel it. Probably because it was unlike anything I had ever felt before I could notice it, even with it being so infinitely small.


    However, when I focused a bit more, I could feel a similar energy flowing around me, instead of within me. Except that this energy was massively bigger than the little energy I had, probably being around tens to hundreds of time, and that¡¯s being the most conservative estimate I had.


    I felt a bit confused about this thought, but seeing that fussing over it would lead me nowhere, I decided to simply ignore this feeling and decided to relax wherever I was.


    And for a good time that¡¯s what I did. Within that warm and secure place I was, I simply slept peacefully. Even the fact that I was within the deepest darkness, unable to move somehow wasn¡¯t enough to make me worried.


    For once or twice I felt a brief moment of panic, when I thought that instead of simply laying on this place numbly, I should get out of here and discover what happened, so I got a bit agitated and started moving around, trying to get away.


    But then, that massive energy that I constantly felt would simply approach me, invade my own agitated energy, and then¡­


    I would feel calm once again.


    Even when that alone somehow screamed ¡°Dangerous¡±, I somehow couldn¡¯t bring myself to think of that as worrying, even when I was in my alert panicked state, I somehow couldn¡¯t bring myself to think of that act as something worrying.


    I would feel a warm and gentle feeling going deep into my very soul, and then a soft and gentle voice would speak as if right into my mind.


    ¡°Calm down, little one. Everything is alright.¡±


    Well, I say that it spoke into my mind, but to tell the truth it was more like the meaning of whatever it wanted to speak to me was projected into my mind rather than hearing it.


    And feeling the sincerity in those words, I would end up calming down again and again. Strangely enough, the voice would always carry a surprisingly happy tone whenever it spoke to me.


    I¡¯ve lost count of how many days I spend in there. That is, if it was even possible to lose something that you never had.


    However, after a long time of which I lost my count, my time in this little heaven slowly came to an end.


    The energy that had for so long enveloped me in a protective way, with its gentle and protective nature suddenly became furious, rushing around as a river that approaches a waterfall.


    And then, another force, this one much more physical and expressible started to push me. It took me by surprise, pushing me towards somewhere, something. Feeling panicky for this sudden feeling, I tried fighting it back, tried to go against it and not let it move me away from this place that I was at the moment.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    However, that force was much stronger than whatever kind of strength I could gather on my body, and slowly but surely I was moved away from this gentle protective place.


    A deep feeling craved in my heart, as I immediately started missing the gentle feeling of the place that now I considered the closest to a home. I started to squirm around as I felt a cold feeling on my feet. I tried pooling them back, tried to go back to that place I was, but something, two large somethings grabbed me, and started to pull me out.


    And against that unknown force plus the things pulling me from my feet, I soon was taken out from my safe place.


    Then, light hit my eyes, and doing something I rarely did before then, I let my instincts take over me.


    Then I cried.


    ¡°!#%*#!%^@!¡± A voice said cheerfully, getting me by surprise and making me slowly open my eyes. But the light was too intense, so I had to close them before doing the same much slower, giving myself time to get used to it.


    After getting used to it, I finally managed to look around, stopping my cries so that I could look at what had spoken with me.


    What I saw was a giant old woman, being a few times bigger than me to the point that made me think that she was a giant. She looked like someone in her late seventies or more with a lightly tanned skin and a stern looking face under her white hair and wrinkled face. However, the moment that our eyes crossed, she suddenly smiled happily before turning to someone besides her.


    Following her eyes and seeing her mouth flap open and close while talking in a strange language, the one I saw this time was massively more impressive. Towering even above the old giantess, there was a strong looking man, with short black hair and some stubbles of a beard. Wearing some old linen robe and pants that looked straight out of an old movie about china or japan, the man approached me, his serious and intimidating face turned towards me for some time before he suddenly degenerated into a silly happy smile as he wriggled his fingers while approaching me.


    I felt a bit surprised by his sudden change and tried to move away, but it seemed that the old giantess who was holding me disapproved his actions, as she quickly slapped his hand away before scolding him dearly. Looking shocked at how could such a huge giant be in fear of the smaller giant, it was only when I heard another voice that the two finally stopped.


    After some difficulty, I managed to move my neck around, a weird feeling crossing through my body as if it wasn¡¯t my own. Sometime after I finally managed to see who it was that spoke lastly, and so I became shocked.


    A gorgeous looking woman with flowing light red hair. She was unlike any other woman I had even seen, her face having the perfect proportions, and her body having curves that left any other woman in the dust. However, for some reason she looked strangely exhausted, with sweat covering her body as her breath looked rugged as her chest went up and down on a fast rhythm.


    She smiled lightly upon seeing me, and she quickly extended her arms, as if asking something from the old woman, however, upon seeing her do that, my body reacted almost as if in instinct, as I did the same while turning towards her.


    The old woman quickly approached her and gave me to the woman on the bed. She held me in her embrace while gently hugging me. Strangely enough, even thought I was near this woman, I didn¡¯t feel fear. Neither did I feel aroused due to her beauty, I simply felt¡­ Safe.


    ¡°%$^#!^$@¡± She spoke to me softly while gently rubbing my chin, giving me a pleasurable feeling.


    Extending my hand, I somehow grabbed her finger, which made her giggle slightly.


    Then, I noticed it. Her voice, exactly the same as the one I heard while I was in that dark place. Even if now I couldn¡¯t understand it, I could still somehow tell.


    A thought quickly passed on my mind, and for the first time, I looked at myself.


    A small and round body, with chubby legs and arms that looked as fragile as a dried twig, yet shone lightly with some remaining humidity.


    It¡¯s not like these people were giants, somehow, I had gone back to being an infant, and from the looks of it, I had just been reborn. Feeling nervous about this, I quickly started to squirm around, my desperate shout ended up as a low crying. Noticing me, the woman quickly became nervous and looked around lost.


    The old woman sighed before murmuring some words to her, to which she nodded. Before I knew, she was hugging me a bit tighter while gently petting my head. My shock slowly faded away as a gentle feeling, just like the one I had before started to envelop me, and before I knew, I was slowly falling asleep.


    Still feeling confused about what was happening, I ended up falling asleep.


    But as the last thoughts in my mind slowly drifted into darkness, one last thing lingered within my mind. Even though there are some things I can¡¯t remember from my previous life, there was one thing I¡¯m one hundred percent sure about. I was a man in my last life.


    So¡­ WHY THE HELL DID I BECOME A GIRL NOW?

 2nd chapter - A normal happy family...?

    Typer¡¯s room: Well, another chapter to keep things going.


    I have a bunch stockpiled here, but for now I¡¯ll leave these two up. Tomorrow I should upload 3 more as well as Insania, for those who follow it, and finally I¡¯ll drop down the pace to one every two days or so. Probably upload it when I don¡¯t upload IO. No real reason for this, just felt like it.


    May your reading be enjoyable


    ----


    Feeling the hunger come up from my bottom of my stomach, I quickly turned around and started to cry out as loud as I could. As always, that filled the house with hurriedly steps as my mother clumsily made her way to my cradle, where she picked me up and quickly opened a bit a part of her robe before offering me her chest so that I could drink.


    Normally, one would think that doing something like that would make me embarrassed, but for some reason it didn¡¯t. Probably because I had already recognized her as my mother.


    I already spent at least ten or so days in my new life. I say that with uncertain, as I spend most of my time only sleeping and being fed, so my sense of time is a tiny little bit messed up.


    After some fumbling, my mother finally managed to pick me up in a gentle way and lift me to her chest, where I immediately started to suck greedily for some milk.


    It took me some time to get used to this new body, but for now, I could move it as it was my own. Well, at least on the range where it was infantile possible, I guess?


    Anyway, on these brief moments of actual conscience I had, a few things caught my attention about the place where we lived in. Firstly, the whole place wasn¡¯t built with concrete as the ones I had in memory. Instead, our house seemed to be built with wood and stones, in an intricate place that looked almost artisanal.


    There was also the clothing. Made from what looked like natural fibers, all of the clothing I saw my mother using usually involved some kind of natural fiber, like yarn and cotton, and it was always some kind of robe that looked really easy to move around. However, even made with simple materials like that, her clothes were all incredibly beautiful, with such details that even the ones I usually saw on movies looked like a cheap imitation.


    Most incredible, from the looks of it, my mother was the one who made them, as she would usually sew these type of clothing while close to me so as to keep an eye out on her little daughter...


    Her¡­ Daughter¡­


    Daughter¡­


    ...


    Why?


    WHYYYY?


    What kind of twisted taleteller would do this to me? Huh? Who would have this sick pleasure of putting me into a girl¡¯s body like this?


    Anyway, on the bright side, I can feel safe about my appearance for when I grow up. If get even ten percent of my mother¡¯s gene, it is almost impossible for me to actually grow ugly if I take in account how my mother actually looks like. Then, that could also be a problem¡­


    Oh well, leaving aside all of that, I also learned another thing. The bearded strong looking man I found out to be my father. How? Well¡­ When every single time he and my mother were together, he would kiss her.


    EVERY! SINGLE! TIME!


    Seriously, I don¡¯t think I saw the two stand together for more than half an hour without at least hugging or kissing even once.


    Not that I blame him, though. Mother was as sweet as chocolate and had a look to kill for, so I would probably do the same if I had found a girl like that in my previous life.


    This did make things a bit awkward for me, though. Why? Think of it like this, you go and leave with two friend of yours, both of whom are dating. You go to a restaurant or something of the kind, but whenever you begin to raise something to talk about, the two go into their own pink world and start flirting right in front of you. Worse yet, they don¡¯t do it on purpose, it¡¯s just natural.


    That would be awkward, right? Well, when I can barely move my head around and have to deal with it every single day, it gets a bit annoying for me. That, and he really needs to shave his beard. Why? Because he really likes rubbing his cheek with mine, and as much as I don¡¯t mind him doing it, his beard leaves me really itchy, and without enough body-dexterity to scratch my cheek, it gets downright unbearable when he insists on doing it for too long.


    So, when it gets unbearable I started crying, mother came immediately and took me away from him, leaving him with teary eyes.


    Well, besides that, my daily life was mostly that. Sleep, eat and some other things that I¡¯d rather not comment.


    Stupid bowels¡­


    ANYWAY, the old woman I saw on the first day? No idea. After that single appearance, she haven¡¯t popped up in front of me even once. But, from what little I could get, I would say that she¡¯s either some kind of doctor or my father¡¯s mother.


    Another thing worth mentioning are those energies I felt before being born. I still feel them. I can feel a small amount of energy flowing within my body in a chaotically organized way, if I had to explain it. The energy I had felt enveloping me was actually mother¡¯s, and whenever I had the chance to feel her energy, I would always feel surprised, as her was even bigger than I initially thought. What this meant, however, I had no idea. All I did know was that her energy, even if stronger, felt much calmer and uniform. Almost as if restricted by something.


    In comparison, father¡¯s was¡­ Almost inexistent. If I had to explain, if mother¡¯s was an ocean, I would be a small river, and father would be a puddle.


    But I couldn¡¯t be so sure if that was bad, because, not only his was very, very small, his also felt a lot different from how mine and my mother¡¯s felt. This one is a bit harder for me to explain, as I can¡¯t really put into words. His energy felt harder? Sturdier? While mother¡¯s and mine felt a lot more¡­ Excited? Burning?


    It¡¯s difficult, so I can¡¯t really say what it feels like. It¡¯s like trying to explain what chocolate tastes like using pictures. Not something very easy to do.


    I could feel these energies at all times, not even needing that much focus to do it, but it seemed to be only in the immediate radius around me. This wasn¡¯t enough for me, as being away from mother¡¯s for too long would instill a feeling of uneasiness in my chest, so after a bit of fiddling around, I discovered that closing my eyes greatly improved my perception.


    When I did that, I noticed that not only could I feel things farther away, up to the point that I could feel mother even at ten meters away from me, probably even more, but I could also somehow feel things that I didn¡¯t before. Countless small bundles of anxious energy that seemed to hide in all corners of the house, calm and peaceful energy that swayed gently on the wind, venomous focus that laid in wait for its prey. It was everywhere! So much that I even felt dizzy the first time I did that.


    But then, all this energy simply sat there and did nothing besides following the body of those who holds them, so as much as it intrigued me, there was nothing I could do to look into it.


    Which lead me to the last point of my current situation.


    With the lack of things to do, I couldn¡¯t help but notice the lack of technology.


    It wasn¡¯t that we were in some desolate country where things like cellphone and so on was rare. It was a complete lack of any kind of modern technology. There wasn¡¯t any kind of synthetic fabric, nothing that looked even remotely electric and I didn¡¯t see a single piece of plastic in all these days I¡¯ve been here.


    Which made me think again. Where the hell am I? Even if I had been reborn in some of the poorer part of the world, I don¡¯t think that this sheer lack of technology would be so apparent. At least one thing or another would come into my vision, but there was nothing at all. Besides, even with our rustic house, it didn¡¯t feel like we were poor at all. Well, it¡¯s not like we were swimming in money either, but from the looks of mother and father, life definitely wasn¡¯t bad.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Well, it is a bit difficult to say for sure when you get stuck in a bed pretty much 24/7.


    As I was processing all these information in my head, mother suddenly approached me one day and said something in that weird language of hers. I looked at her confused, but once I saw that she was trying to get me, I quickly became cheerful.


    Usually, the only reason she takes me out of the cradle is to either feed, change me or give me a bath. But since I didn¡¯t cry for food or changing diapers, and took a bath only one or two hours ago. Since this situation fit neither of these, this probably meant that we were doing something different this time.


    Happily extending my arms to her, I saw as she beamed a smile and clumsily raised me.


    ¡°!@#Lia, !#!Father!#!¡± She told me.


    Oh yeah, another thing I also learned during my time here was to recognize a few words. Firstly, it seems that my name is Lia, or at the very least that¡¯s what my mother and father say whenever she comes to get me. Another one was that I started to understand a few other important words, like mother, father and some other basic ones.


    Still, I had absolutely no idea what was mother¡¯s intention when she picked me up, all I knew was that it probably had something to do with father. Hopefully, I would get to see more of our house besides the room I was in.


    And that¡¯s exactly what happened! When mother took us through the main door of the room, she opened it and passed through, leading us to a short corridor, I started laughing cheerfully, which seemed to surprise her, because she stopped to look at me for a moment.


    Afterwards, she happily started to walk through the house, taking me to what seemed to be a small and rudimentary kitchen, with simple cutting boards and an oven heated up by wood planks. Atop of the counter was a small wooden box tied with some strings, mother quickly picked it up and left the kitchen through a door.


    From this brief moment that we left my room, I managed to get a glimpse of the house, and I must say, it¡¯s fairly big. At least for a two persons family. Well, taking in account that there¡¯s also me now, I guess it¡¯s just about the right size?


    But my real shock came from when we left the house.


    Large green field unlike anything I had even seen spread before me. Only the occasional path of beaten earth and a few small houses dotted the place. On the distance I could get a glimpse of a dense forest with beautiful dark green trees.


    However, the trajectory we took was the one opposite of the forest, and instead we walked towards something I only noticed now that mother started taking us there. It was a city.


    Well, rather than a city, I guess that calling it a large walled village would be more fitting. Different from the cities I remember, this one had a clear limit, made with wooden walls that surrounded it neatly, however, the village was big enough to say that it had at least one kilometer of diameter.


    As I said, not exactly a village, but too small to be a city.


    I looked at it in wonder, and mother giggled seeing my excitement. She even played a bit with me by shaking my body slightly up and down. Being the good obedient daughter¡­


    Daughter¡­


    I giggled with her, which made her beam a large smile before hugging me once again.


    As I slowly managed to wriggle my way out of the hug-fest, I ended up noticing as another energy, similar to my father¡¯s, yet at the same time different, slowly approached us. Turning my head towards it, I saw a woman who looked the same age as mother¡¯s.


    When mother saw her, the two immediately started chatting happily, and I felt as my mother started showing me off to her friend. Seeing that I had nothing to lose, I gave the other woman a smile, which made her surprised.


    Before I knew it, both were happily chatting about something that I couldn¡¯t understand, so I took this chance to look around in wonder at the place where we were, my eyes wandering around the valley as I burned the scenery in my mind. There was even the casual horse-cart that drove nearby, the driver exchanging a quick greeting with mother and the woman.


    However, as beautiful the scene was, there was only so much I could do while being held by my mother, so in the end my feeling of amazement gave way to a gentle feeling of peacefulness as a soft breeze blew against my sensitive skin.


    Before I knew, I was once again napping while being held by mother.


    But, it was only a short nap, and after some time I woke up due to the heat. Slowly opening up my eyes and looking towards the sky, I noticed that it was almost around noon, but mother and the woman were still talking happily.


    Bothered by the sunlight, I made a short cry that served to make mother come back to reality from her talks with the other woman. And after quickly looking at me in loss and then looking at the sky, she paled.


    In what was quite a comic scene, mother hastily said her goodbyes to the woman while turning back towards the village and start running.


    I wondered how long I had been asleep¡­


    Anyway, mother seemed to have lost a lot more time talking than what she expected, so now she was in a hurry. Just as I thought that I had a surprisingly irresponsible mother, she suddenly stopped and looked around.


    After making sure that no one was around anymore, she hid herself amongst some trees and closed her eyes.


    I stared at her in wonder for a brief moment before feeling it.


    The enormous amount of energy she had started to move around her body. Well, I say that, but in truth, it started to have an organized movement within her body. The energy within her started to flow from her head and hands, being all redirected to her legs and feet, gathering there in a massive bubble of energy that threatened to explode.


    Not only that, her energy also formed a thin film all around her body, leaving it on its own will almost as if to protect her. It even formed around me for some reason.


    When she finally opened her eyes, she looked at me and made a signal as if telling me to be quiet, a mischievous appearance in her pretty face.


    When I tilted my head confused, she suddenly jumped.


    I didn¡¯t even have the time to scream my surprise, because by the time I understood what had happened, we were already flying many meters up into the air.


    And from up here, I could see everything. I could see our small house, many hundred meters away from us. I could see the village, even farther away from us, but almost equally small looking. I could see a mountain range far away, as well as the forest that extended towards it.


    Shocked, it took me some time to notice what had happened, as I needed to focus on my new sense to notice how mother¡¯s energy had been spent at the jump, the energy in her leg trembling ever so slightly thanks to the usage.


    But such a scene, it didn¡¯t make sense. Humans aren¡¯t supposed to jump so high! And how come I was perfectly fine? What about inertia and wind resistance?


    As these thoughts formed into my confused little head, I felt as mothers energy that enveloped me kept flowing, spreading a calming sensation all around my body. By the time I noticed that it had been this energy that kept me protected, mother smiled gently to me.


    And once our path to the sky reached its apex, mother once again accumulated energy on her feet.


    Disregarding the laws of physics I remembered having studied so much, mother kicked the air, her body sending itself flying towards the direction of the village.


    While we soared through the skies, I turned my little head towards mother, a shocked expression somehow spreading around my face, I couldn¡¯t help but think one thing.


    Mother certainly isn¡¯t a normal person.

 3rd Chapter - Daughter... Of lovebirds

    Typer¡¯s room: Three releases today, this is the first one.


    Well, being a bit mean, this is one heck of a cliffhanger, if I do say so myself. Hope you guys enjoy it! For those who want to know, next chapter comes in a few hours ^^ (insert deceptively kind-looking smile here.)


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ---


    Like a bird, mother soared through the sky, kicking the air whenever we started to lose some speed. I noticed her looking at me in worry for a moment, but it seems that my excitement overpowered my surprise slash fear, because I started to giggle happily on her arms.


    A small smile of relief appeared in her face as she focused back on keeping us flying, giving a quick look around she focused her gaze into a black roofed building that laid on the corner of the city, then she tilted her body so that her head was turned right into its direction and kicked the air.


    We moved in a straight line towards that building, descending at a frightening speed that made me wonder how we were going to survive the fall.


    However, just as we were about to fall on the roof, she twisted her body so that her feet were falling first.


    And then, she landed.


    I was shocked for a moment, trying to understand what was happening. It was all so sudden that it simply didn¡¯t make any sense to me. One moment we were falling at a ridiculous speed, the other we simply stopped. There wasn¡¯t that feeling of inertia covering your body! We simply stopped.


    And even then, the roof we landed didn¡¯t make a single sound! It almost looked like what fell here was a feather instead of a full sized woman and her baby daughter!


    Daughter¡­


    Anyway, mother landed softly on the roof, to the point that no one at all noticed us approaching. I was about to start laughing cheerfully, amazed by how she did it, but the moment I opened my mouth she quickly put her fingers atop of my lips.


    Blinking surprised for a moment, I kept myself quiet as mother walked towards the edge of the roof and spied the ground beneath us. But after seeing that there wasn¡¯t anyone, she quickly hopped down.


    This time I made certain to pay attention to what mother did when landing. Different from when she jumped, mother let the energy flow outside of her body, making something like a vortex that sucked her feet upwards, and the moment her feet touched the vortex, it somehow ended up affecting the whole of her energy at once.


    And just like before, we landed on the ground without any kind of impact.


    Nodding satisfied, mother quickly walked on the nearby streets, discretely making her way to the building.


    Getting in front of the door, she knocked a few times as I heard the sounds of metal hitting metal. Only then did the other people on the streets finally notice mother, and some of the men were staring at her greedily.


    I grimaced at them for a bit, but I also felt a bit scared when I saw one of the men¡¯s wearing a long sword on his waist as well as wearing what looked like some leather armor. He stared at mother for some time and a dirty smile appeared on his face.


    Not liking that, I quickly went on to start crying, which caught not only the attention of mother, but also from everyone else in the vicinity.


    Mother stared at him coldly, angry at the fact that he had scared me, and the man looked surprised because of that. But he ended up simply running away because of how everyone got their sights on him. Afterwards mother quickly calmed me by lightly tapping the back of my head.


    I stopped crying just in time, as the door opened in a hurry and father looked at us in confusion. Mother simply smiled at him while lifting the small box she brought from our home.


    Father¡¯s face clearly brightened and he pulled her in for a kiss.


    Sweet moment later, father picked me up and snuggled up to me. Although I endured it for a moment, I soon started squirming, as he reeked of sweat to the point that his skin was moist.


    When mother took me back, I looked confused at father, wanting to know why he was like that, and I finally understood when I saw the inside of the building.  Anvils, hammers and forges and so on were spread within the building, with many different burly looking men working on it.


    Well, it looked like they were working until they saw mother, because all of them turned to us and started cheering in a silly way until father turned to them and started shouting angrily at the guy.


    He turned to the men working and started shouting at them as he kicked one or another that were nearby.


    Well, the scene was a pretty cheerful one despite the violence.


    As I giggled at their craziness, I felt as mother suddenly tense up slightly, her head turning to one side for a brief moment before she looked back to my father, talking to him with a cheerful smile. Still feeling bothered by her sudden reaction, I decided to try something.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Quickly closing my eyes, I focused my senses, feeling the energy of the people and other things around me, I quickly scanned the area, searching for anything strange. It was a long shot, but not having much else to do anyway made me do it.


    Well, it seems that I actually found something.


    The people around us mostly had an energy much like father¡¯s, both in quality and amount. However, far away, a bit close to the edge of my senses, I felt another energy that was clearly different. Being not only stronger than mine, but also having a different quality to it.


    I watched it curious for the time being, feeling as it made its way through the sea of lesser energies, all of which clearly opened space so that it could move through.


    Noticing that, not only it was approaching us, I could also already hear some clamor on the streets around us, I opened my eyes, looking towards the commotion at the same time that mother and father did. Both of them grimaced slightly before turning towards the direction of the commotion and kneeling on the ground.


    I blinked surprised, but thanks to my toddler nature, I didn¡¯t need to do such, so I kept staring around, waiting for whoever it was to appear.


    Then, I saw it. A man, wearing a bright yellow robe that set him apart from the simple linen robes of the crowd. His long hair tied in a ponytail behind his head while his young looking face had a permanent appearance of annoyance.


    As he walked, the people would look at him in awe before bowing.


    I wondered why they did that. I mean, he did look important and all, but he did not look all THAT important. Feeling confused, I wondered if it had something to do with that energy that I kept feeling, but I soon decided that it wasn¡¯t it.


    Why?


    Well¡­ Although he does have more energy than me, it¡¯s not all that much, really. And compared to mother¡¯s, he is nothing.


    Maybe it has to do with that badge he wore on his chest? Could be. It was a small circular badge with a single star carved in it and it sure looked fancy.


    The man simply walked past us and towards father, whom he quickly motioned for him to rise. The two exchanged a quick talk before father finally nodded and went inside the smithy. Once he got back he brought with him a small sack, from which he took some coins and paid the man.


    The man quickly counted them before nodding and walking away. Father sighed loudly and simply shrugged as if saying that he didn¡¯t have a choice. Thankfully, he didn¡¯t seem all that distressed, so it might not be an extortion or something of the kind.


    On his way back, I noticed the man giving a quick glance towards mother, making a slightly confused face for a moment before finally shaking his head slightly.


    After that, mother and father talked a bit more while he sat down to eat his boxed lunch. Seeing that there wasn¡¯t much for me to do, and feeling tired from the earlier excitement, I simply let myself fall asleep once again.


    Life as a baby is difficult¡­


    Waking up when I felt some movement, I noticed that father was giving a long and dragged goodbye to mother, who seemed as reluctant to let go of him as he was. The two really are a couple of lovebirds, huh?


    Feeling a strange happy feeling in my chest, I started laughing happily, which made the two surprised. After a group hug we finally separated from father and took our way back home.


    And from the way mother walked, she was clearly cheerful, skipping through the path while humming a cheerful song to herself. Feeling infected by her own happiness, I also started laughing with her, which made her become even more cheerful, which made her skip even more.


    We got out of the village through the gate this time as mother quickly made her way to our house, starting with cheerful skips. Feeling the refreshing wind in my body I started to smile, which made mother go faster and faster.


    By the time we noticed it, we were already back home.


    And we left the village gate¡¯s no longer than¡­ Two minutes ago?


    It took me a moment to notice what had happened. Looking back to the village, wasn¡¯t it something around five kilometers away from our house? At least I thought so.


    I turned back to mother in shock, and saw as she looked back to the city with a face of someone who just did something silly. She turned to me and smiled a bit awkwardly while putting a finger above her lips, as if saying to me to keep quiet.


    Seriously, what is my mother?


    Well, even if I started having some doubts about it, I never got to find out.


    Because when I reached my first full year of life, my mother disappeared.

 4th Chapter - Mothers dilemma

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. Today¡¯s second chapter!


    Well, with this we are left with another cliffhanger and one of the main mysteries of this story. Next update should be a few hours later, so keep a look out, because we soon get to see a character I personally like a lot. (The one after next chapter, though.)


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    Well, mother disappearance wasn¡¯t all that sudden, to tell the truth. It started subtly, with her getting slightly anxious about something from time to time. At times she would simply stop whatever she was doing for a brief second to come and take a look at me, a conflicted gaze resting in her face. Afterwards, she would shake her head and go back to work as if her motivation had renewed.


    At first I thought it was mostly only a mother looking worried to her daughter¡­


    Daughter¡­


    So, I mostly ignored it and focused on trying to copy what mother did when she went off flying in the sky, trying to move my energy around my body the best I could. However, it was a lot more difficult than what I would have thought. Even if I managed to move my energy, it was nowhere near as fluidic and precise as mother¡¯s. Rather, it felt like trying to move a car that had it¡¯s handbrakes on.


    Not exactly, but it¡¯s the best that I could come up with. Do you know how hard it is to explain a feeling to someone who doesn¡¯t have it?


    Anyway, I spend most of my time in the cradle that I wasn¡¯t hungry or sleeping trying to move around my energy. Sometimes I also tried crawling, but my body wasn¡¯t strong enough yet, so I simply laid around and would roll to my sides when I wanted to move.


    Days come and gone, but even with all my training to get my energy moving, I couldn¡¯t bring myself to make it flow so nicely as mother¡¯s, but on the other hand, due to me constantly using my perception, I could now sense things far better than what I did previously. My normal range now went as far as the old focused one, and the focused one going all the way to the nearby road. Spying things moving somehow became a hobby of mine.


    Well, this also allowed me to notice a much subtler thing.


    Mother¡¯s mood somewhat reflected on her energy. Whenever she was happy, her energy would feel like it would start trembling slightly faster, while when sad, it would move slow and sluggishly. They were all subtle differences, but they were there.


    Also, I managed to understand all the words that mother and father spoke after some months of listening around. Well, not all, but everything I needed needed to actually understand what was going on with my family.


    Firstly, mother¡¯s name is Lin, and from what I got, it seems that she sells self-made things like clothes and woodworks. Father is called Ran, and is the owner of the village¡¯s main blacksmith store. They work with pretty much everything we may need, from simple swords to harvesting scythes. There were even times when I saw him forging a full plate body armor.


    And during the times when both mother and father were together, I could feel as both of them started to tremble in happiness. They would spend their time together with each other and smile in a silly at each other.


    However, when mother was alone, she would look towards father¡¯s direction with a worried gaze that would break anyone¡¯s heart. So, I made the best I could do as her¡­ Direct descendant, and would start asking for attention and giggle happily whenever she took me into her arms.


    This also somehow led me to get addicted to something.


    PETTING FEELS SOO GOOD!


    Seriously, this isn¡¯t a feeling of this world. Whenever mother or father patted my head, I would become unable to even dream of crying. And this made father and mother laugh at my situation, as I would giggle uncontrollably whenever they touched my head.


    I digress¡­ Back to the matter at hand.


    Thanks to my skill, I could at the very least say that mother held no ill feeling towards either father or me. If something she seemed to be hesitant about something, as if not knowing how to say something.


    Another thing I noticed was that mother kept her super-human skills for when she was alone. Or at least when we were alone with each other. I couldn¡¯t say for sure whether father already knew or not, but at the very least I knew that she kept it hidden from everyone else in the village.


    Thanks to my constant ¡°training¡±, I somehow managed to learn how to crawl a little earlier than the usual, taking me only six months to do so. Instead of leaving mother and father confused or surprised, they became ecstatic as they hugged me and called me a genius. Being someone who always liked some praise, I decided to become good enough to walk in the shortest amount of time possible, and this made me crawl around. A Lot.


    This also allowed me to explore the house on my own, leading me to some other rooms and depots mother never took me to. Probably because she thought there wouldn¡¯t be anything interesting for me there.


    She couldn¡¯t be any more wrong.


    In one of the rooms was a small blacksmith workshop, with some very basic equipment. Nothing compared to the one that father owned at the village, but still much more than what a beginner would ever need.


    I made sure to make a mental note to come back here once I was old enough to start working with the forge. From the times that mother took me to see father working in the forge, I ended up getting really curious about how it feels to forge a weapon of your own.


    In the room right next to that one were many of what to be father¡¯s personal works. Some simple swords and armors that he stored away. But while scavenging around for interesting things (and being careful to not go anywhere dangerous), I found what looked like a small scroll, tucked away in the middle of some old looking robes.


    Seeing it, I felt my curiosity peaking, and used my infallible skill of mind control against mother.


    ¡°Get!¡± I said while pointing towards the scroll and smiling.


    Mother blinked surprised and followed the direction my finger was pointing at. Seeing the scroll, her own eyes widened in surprise as she quickly pulled it out and opened it for herself.


    ¡°Oh. A simple Spirit Molding technique.¡± She said with a wry smile. ¡°Now, how did Ran get a hold of this?¡± She said while looking at the robes with a confused look. ¡°Oh! Wasn¡¯t there that request from that clan?¡± She said with nod.


    ¡°See?¡± I asked confused while sitting down on the dusty ground. Spirit gathering technique? What¡¯s that? Getting curious I quickly extended my arms to Lin while trying to tell her to give it to me. Although the words never formed, the meaning did, and mother smiled awkwardly.


    ¡°Geez, why would you want an old and dusty scroll like this?¡± She asked as she crouched down and spread the scroll in front of me.


    On it were many letters that I had no idea whatsoever of their meanings. But, there were a few images that caught my attention. Taking a closer look, I saw the image as it showed the outline of a man sitting in a position similar to the ones that monks took when meditating. Within the man there were a few red dots marking some places as well as something that looked like a smoke surrounding him and going inside of him.


    Taking a good long look at it, an idea surged in my mind.


    I sat down as the man in the image showed, for a moment completely forgetting about mother, and then focused my sense.


    Well¡­ Nothing happened.


    Really, it was disappointing to the point that it hurts.


    ¡°Lia, you silly girl.¡± She said with a short giggle. ¡°There¡¯s no way you would be able to use spirit molding like that!¡± Mother said while giggling. She then quickly took the scroll away and rolled it in a bundle. ¡°Now, let¡¯s take this to your father¡¯s room. He might want to know that we found it.¡± She told me while picking me up.


    Stolen story; please report.


    I mumbled something of acceptance while I let myself be raised from the ground.


    ¡°But¡­ Talking about spirit¡­ It¡¯s¡­ Almost time, huh?¡± She said suddenly, her voice growing lower and melancholic.


    She left me confused with that tone, and a feeling of dread sprout deep within my heart.


    From that day forward, mother¡¯s energy started to drop.


    At first it was slowly at first, but as time went by it became faster and faster. Feeling worried about that, I tried to follow her around the best possible around the house and out, as there were times that she would even from my sense, but she kept putting me in the cradle whenever she couldn¡¯t have me close by.


    Thankfully, I found a way to open the side and slide away in a safe way, so even the cradle couldn¡¯t hold me in anymore.


    Mother clearly became troubled by this, as the day after she quickly used her wood-working skills to lock my brand new exit. I tried fiddling around to see if I could open it in some other way, but to no avail. Mother¡¯s skill is first class, and not even brute strengthening my way out worked, not that I had that much brute strength, though.


    Feeling that mother was about to leave the range from my sense once again, I decided that I had to be with her no matter what to find what was happening.


    So, I resorted to my last weapon.


    I cried.


    In the blink of an eye mother appeared in front of the cradle, even when she was on the very end of my sense. She looked around worried, seeing if there was anything happening to me. Seeing that I was fine, she quickly sighed in relief and prepared to leave again.


    So, I cried once again.


    Whenever she made the slightest movement to leave the room I would cry my lungs out, and when she got closer I would smile and extend my arms to her.


    Give up, mom. You can¡¯t defeat me this time.


    After she tried to put me to sleep three times, almost managing once. Then she checked the diapers, but they were clean. She thought it could also be hunger.


    Well, to tell the truth, I was a bit hungry, so I took on the offer. But I still cried the moment she thought about putting me down.


    After a few more tries to calm me down, she finally gave up and took me with her. I felt a bit confused on why she would actually leave the house, but since she was taking with me, I didn¡¯t care all that much.


    She quickly dashed out of the house at her usual ridiculous speed until she entered the forest. Once there, she dodged through the trees until she was at a strange and calm place that oozed with a vibrant energy. She walked around for a bit, as if searching for something until she settled down on the area where the energy was at its highest.


    Hesitatingly she put me down on the grass, her hand twitching at my slightest movement as if afraid that I would cry again. Seeing that she had no plan on running away again, I simply laughed at her, which made her smile relieved.


    Sitting down in the ground, I looked curiously at mother as she sat down in front of me and took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Then she opened one slightly and peeked at me, before closing it again and focusing herself.


    Then, I felt it. The energy in the air around her started to flow against its natural ways and towards mother¡¯s body. The energy formed something like a bubble around her, much like the ones I had seen in the scroll some weeks ago.


    Watching her in awe, I carefully watched as the energy within her reached out from her body as small tentacle-like until it reached the bubble, touching it. When she started recalling it back, the bubble¡¯s energy followed it and soon went in her own body, where it started to go into changes.


    Not only did the energy from outside, but also the energy she had inside mixed into a completely new type of energy unlike any I had ever felt before, and while guiding that energy, she made it gather around her hands where a small crystal had appeared from god knows where.


    Keeping her eyes closed, mother kept gathering the energy from outside and mixing with her own before depositing it in the crystal. I simply watched her in awe, as even without my sense I could clearly see the glow forming between her hands.


    And that is what she did. Slowly at first, but as time passed she made the process faster and faster until her own energy started to visibly deplete. It was only then that it finally dawned on me that this is what made her energy fade. I prepared to start crying as if to stop her, but when I saw the determination in her face, I held myself back.


    And the longer mother kept doing that, the more exhausted she grew. I saw as some beads of sweat formed into her forehead and a slight twitch in her closed eyes. Her breathing would sometimes grow rougher too, but after a deep breath it would go back to its slow pacing from before.


    Only when she was on the verge of exhaustion that mother stopped. Falling to the ground tired, she gathered her breath for some time before bringing the hand that held the small crystal closer to her face. Feeling worried, I quickly crawled my way towards her, and she smiled once I was close enough.


    Taking one last breath, she put the crystal away in her sash before raising herself and picking me up, taking us to our house.


    Just like before, her energy had grown a little bit weaker with no sight of it recovering itself anytime soon.


    When we reached home, taking a lot longer to come back than we did to get there, we found father opening the front door to come in. Noticing our approach, he asked what we had been doing.


    ¡°We were taking a walk.¡± Mother said with a smile, but I could feel as her energy showed her sadness.


    That night I made sure to sleep close to mother, as I couldn¡¯t bring myself to calm down.


    And as time went by, I discovered that mother left every single day to do whatever she did with the crystal, and the longer she did, the more depleted her energy was. On my tenth month of living, her energy was almost half of what it was initially, and I started to notice that it seemed to always be in a constraint of some kind. She also started to have her worried looks frequently, sometimes even spending whole days simply sitting at the window staring at the city.


    When I was eleven months old, almost completing my first full year, I saw mother crying for the first time. Her energy was barely holding itself together as it seemed ready to break or something. Father, who already had some suspicions the last months got back home earlier and caught mother still with the marks in her eyes.


    She insisted that it was nothing, and that she was fine, but neither of us believed in her.


    One week after that, mother rose up in the middle of the night. Waking up with my light sleep, I looked at her in worry as I saw that her face contorted in pain. When father made the slightest movement to wake up, mother quickly extended her arm to him and touched his neck.


    He fell to the bed unconscious.


    ¡°Sorry¡­ Sorry...¡± She said while crying.


    Then, she rose from the bed and rummaged through the robes she used during the day. Taking out something from it, she approached me and gently put it around my neck.


    I immediately recognized it as the crystal she had been using whenever she left. Looking at her confused, she smiled gently at me.


    ¡°Sorry, dear¡­ Mother¡­ Has to leave for some time.¡± She whispered to me. ¡°But mother¡­ Will leave this to protect you, ok?¡±


    And after taking a small piece of paper she hid within her pillow and leaving it atop of me, mother left through the window.


    Even with my cries, father only woke up next morning. But by then, it was already too late.

 5th Chapter - Looking on the bright side

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. Today¡¯s third chapter!


    So, a small time-skip and some interesting information, the first about the martial arts part of the story, I guess. I personally want to see your reaction to the character introduced next chapter, though.


    We also get to see a bit how Lia deals with her new body and a bit of her slightly more mischievous side. I could go on with the depressing side of the mother leaving, but as those who follows my other works knows, that isn¡¯t my style, so here we go.


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    The morning after mother ran away, father was a wreck. He didn¡¯t even leave home to go work on his smithy and simply kept walking around the house with hollow eyes. He would often take the message mother left him and read it over and over again. And every time he did it, he would go back to the kitchen, sit on the table and cry.


    Luckily for us, mother¡¯s friend, the one I met when she took me to the city for the first time came to visit, and after hearing the story from father, she started to come over to help us by cooking and cleaning.


    But, father started drinking. He would often leave home at late afternoon, leaving me with mother¡¯s friend and only come back to get me late into the night, his breath stinking of beer. For a moment I feared that he would start beating me up whenever he drank, but contrary to my expectation he would simply hug me and cry even more.


    This lasted for almost half a year.


    During this time I made my best to help father around, sticking close to him and avoiding mentioning mother whenever I talked to him. On the few times he would go to the simple smithy in our house, usually because one of his workers needed something made by him, I would follow him and sit in the corner of the room, watching him as he hammered away.


    The heat was a bit unbearable, but thankfully the little I learned about my energy allowed me to somehow protect myself.


    You see, after seeing mother using her energy that time, I started trying to copy what she did. Not to much avail, though, as I was still missing something. But I learned to somehow control my energy enough to move it closer to my skin, and this somehow relieved me from the heat of the forge.


    It was weird, maybe it was reinforcing my resistance?


    I didn¡¯t know, and probably wouldn¡¯t find out anytime soon. And from the little I actually knew, was that I was doing it wrong. I had to force my energy to move, different from mother, whose energy seemed to obey her with scary ease.


    Anyway, since I kept quiet most of the times, father didn¡¯t notice me until the third time, and this was mostly because I stumbled on some metal rods while going to my usual place. Widening his eyes in shock, he quickly ran to my side and helped me up.


    ¡°Lia! What are you doing here?¡± he asked me worried, checking to see if I had any scratches.


    ¡°I came to watch you.¡± I said while putting myself up and patting the dust off my dress¡­


    Dress¡­


    Daughter¡­


    ¡°What¡­ What are you saying?¡± He asked me angrily. ¡°What if you get hurt? Or ill? It¡¯s too hot in here for a kid like you!¡± He told me while trying to push me out. But I slipped away from his grasp and ran my way to the corner of the room.


    ¡°But I like seeing father working!¡± I said while frowning and sitting in the corner. ¡°Father looks cool when he¡¯s smithing.¡± I put on my best puppy eyes, which made him flinch surprised for a moment. Well, as much as I dislike being a girl, at least my adorableness is amplified by ten fold compared to being a boy, and this helps when coercing adults.


    ¡°But¡­ This isn¡¯t a place for kids...¡± He said while trying to get me out of the smithy.


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked with a fake innocence.


    ¡°Because¡­ It¡¯s too hot. You could get ill if you stay here for too long.¡± He said me.


    ¡°But when I stayed here earlier it didn¡¯t happen anything?¡± I tilted my head and putting my finger in my mouth.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Well...¡± He said before finally frowning slightly. ¡°Wait, you came here before?¡± He asked me, and I smiled while nodding.


    ¡°Yup! Daddy looked really cool!¡± I jumped cheerfully to make my point, and he smiled wrily. ¡°When I grow up, I want to be a cool smithy like daddy!¡±


    Well, that¡¯s actually the truth. At first I simply watched in curiosity as he worked, but the more I saw him working, the more impressive he looked. It also helped that he would take his mind out of mother whenever he was working, so if I could somehow make him focus more on his work, maybe he would recover a bit faster from the shock of losing mother.


    About mother, I still have no idea why she ran away that night, and even when I put everything into sensing energy I was unable to find her in the vicinity. Still, I carried the pendant she left me whenever I could, as, according to father, she told me to never take it out. So I did.


    Well, at least it looked like my cheering somehow left him in a better mood, as he smiled smugly and scratched his head awkwardly.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ If you say so...¡± he said while filling himself with pride. ¡°Then, you can stay here for some time.¡± He nodded before frowning. ¡°But if you start to feel bad, you have to leave immediately, okay?¡± He said seriously.


    I nodded and sat down on my usual corner, watching him as he hammered away.


    From the looks of it, my plan started to work, since he started to focus more and more into working. Not that he left me aside, mind you. He would spend most of his free time playing with me and taking me to the city so that I could see new things.


    A few years later, father finally recovered enough to look almost the same as before mother left. However, so that he wouldn''t leave me alone in the house when he had to work, he usually took me with him.


    During one of our leaves, we ended up meeting one guy similar to that one I met when mother went to visit father. Seeing father and everyone else bow to the man, I quickly followed suit. It wasn¡¯t the same one as I saw the other day, though. This one looked older, and the badge in his chest had three stars instead of one.


    Besides, his energy was much greater than the man I met the other day, making me wonder whether energy had something to do with the badge in the end. However, as before, he was still nothing compared to mother.


    Once the man passed through and everyone else raised themselves, I turned to father and made the question that had been bugging me for some time now.


    ¡°Daddy, why do everyone bow to that man?¡± I asked as he raised me to carry me in his shoulder.


    ¡°Because he¡¯s a spiritualist, deary.¡± He told me, but all I did was tilt my head to the sides confused.


    ¡°What¡¯s an spiritualist?¡± I asked curious while holding onto his head for balance.


    ¡°Spiritualist are people who can channel their inner energy throughout their bodies.¡± He said in an explaining tone. ¡°And when they train enough, they can become a lot stronger than us simple civilians. To the point that they become almost super-human.¡±


    ¡°Hee¡­ Really?¡± I asked surprised. Isn¡¯t that what mother was doing?


    ¡°Yep. But it¡¯s really, really rare to find someone who can do that.¡± He said with a sigh. ¡°That, and they must train really, really hard to actually become good.¡±


    ¡°Heeh. Then they train really hard just to get strong?¡± I asked curious, as this didn¡¯t seem to match the image I had of mother. That is, if this energy thing had something to do with spiritualists, of course.


    ¡°No. You can also get some other benefits like political power and so on...¡± He blinked once he noticed his words. ¡°Not that you would understand what that means, I guess...¡± He said while scratching his head awkwardly.


    But, feeling my curiosity piqued, I decided to press further on that.


    ¡°Why would they earn that?¡± I asked curious. ¡°Is that some kind of super attack or something?¡± I said while doing some punches into the air.


    ¡°Where did you take that idea?¡± Father asked with a surprised tone. ¡°Sometimes you look a lot more like a son than a daughter, you know that?¡±


    ¡°Tee hee...¡± I said in my best cheerful tone as I felt my chest stinging¡­


    ¡°And no. Political power isn¡¯t like that. It¡¯s a more subjective power than a simple attack.¡± He said briefly. ¡°It¡¯s not something you get just by training.¡±


    ¡°Then why would they get that type of power by becoming stronger?¡± Now that¡¯s the question I wanted to reach.


    ¡°Geez, you sure like to make complicated questions, huh?¡± Father said with a sigh. ¡°It¡¯s because once you become a spiritualist, you can be affiliated to a clan. And these clans have huge political power.¡±


    ¡°Then the clans have super powerful attacks?¡± I said in a childish tone, mostly to keep the image of a innocent child.


    ¡°In a way¡­ Yes...¡±


    ¡°That sounds so cool!¡± I said while moving around cheerfully. ¡°But I still think that being a blacksmith sounds cooler!¡± I finished with a nod.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you think that, sweetie.¡± Father said with a loud and proud laugh.


    Well, that¡¯s not very far from the truth, actually. I mean, political power usually means that I have many responsibilities, like taking care of what I say, representing the clan and so on. But I guess there are it¡¯s upsides too, like connections.


    Still, right now I¡¯m a lot more interested in learning smithing from father than entering a clan or something of the like.


    ¡°Say. Does daddy sells weapons for these people too?¡± I asked curious, a small spark of excitement igniting within my chest. What if father somehow made a legendary weapon that one of these spiritualists use?


    ¡°No, no...¡± He denied with a laugh. ¡°Spiritualists are too strong to need a weapon. Besides weapons being pretty much useless against them.¡±


    ¡°Heh? Daddy¡¯s weapon don¡¯t affect them?¡± I asked in shock.


    ¡°Not only father¡¯s, but every other blacksmith. That¡¯s how strong they are!¡±


    Wait! What is this! So you mean that the strongest people in this world doesn¡¯t care about weapons? That they are useless to them? This is wrong, you know! I mean, there should be legendary swords and so on! That¡¯s the norm for this kind of world, right?


    Within my heart I decided to right this wrong. When I get older and learn how to work on the smithy.


    Which probably won¡¯t happen any time too soon. According to father, I should wait a bit before I start working on blacksmithing, at least until I get strong enough to manage the hammer for some time.


    This meant that I wasn¡¯t allowed to even touch a blacksmithing hammer until I reached my fifth year.


    That meant that I still would have to wait a full year before I could start learning from him.


    ¡°Oh! It¡¯s the princess!¡± ¡°Heya there little princess!¡± ¡°Aww, She¡¯s cute as ever!¡± ¡°Marry my son! We will take good care of you!¡±


    As soon as we reached father¡¯s smithy, I was bombarded with these praises by the worker. They were all good men who took care of father¡¯s smithy while he was in the slump, making sure that they kept making enough money to pay the taxes. Feeling thankful to them, I started to help around in the smithy whenever I could by bringing them water and picking some miscellaneous things for them. This somehow made me an idol amongst the guys, so this reception was the usual.


    ¡°WHAT THE HELL MING-LU! I¡¯M NOT GIVING MY DAUGHTER TO YOUR SON!¡± My father said while kicking the man¡¯s stomach.


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Yep, the usual.


    ¡°Anyway, what do we have for today?¡± Father asked while setting me down near the door. One of his workers nodded while taking a small piece of paper and giving it to father. He frowned slightly at that before turning to me. ¡°Lia. Go to your grandma¡¯s today.¡±


    ¡°Important stuff?¡± I asked him with a slight tinge of sadness.


    ¡°Yeah. One of the clan¡¯s is requesting for some armors for their soldiers. We might get occupied for some time.¡± He sighed.


    ¡°But grandma is away...¡± I said with a frown.


    ¡°Well... ¡± Father frowned too before sighing. ¡°Then go play around until she comes back. She should be back later today, right? Anyway, just don¡¯t go too far. And don¡¯t get into trouble¡­¡± He said with a sigh. ¡°Lou-ran is still mad for what you did to his son, you know?¡±


    ¡°Tee hee...¡± I said while smiling awkwardly.


    Basically, there was this big bully going around hitting other kids. I simply went and used him as a testing target for one of the toys I made with grandma.


    Grandma was that old woman I saw back when I first woke up. From time to time I have to spend the day in her house because father have an important work, so during these times she started teaching me woodworking. It was something she learned from my departed grandfather, and taught to mother when she married my father.


    ¡°Biggest mistake of my life. She stole half of my customers...¡± She would often say.


    Leaving father to do his work, I went my way to the so familiar streets around the smithy. I could go and play with the other kids like I did some times, but this time I just wasn¡¯t in the mood, so taking my trusted toy, I decided to explore around a bit more. For now, I already had an idea of everything that was in an area of around one hundred meters from the smithy, so I decided to expand my knowledge a bit further.


    I started walking north, greeting some vendors and pedestrian that I knew from my other walks. Some of them even gave me a treat or two, like these strange sweets you put in a stick. This is one of the advantages of being a girl, I guess¡­


    Girl¡­


    Okay, let¡¯s stop with that. I mean, yes, it is a bit disturbing the fact that i¡¯ve been reborn as a girl, but besides some of the really obvious differences, like the lack of something, once I got used to it, it was far from a bad experience. It¡¯s also not that different from being a boy if you think about it.


    Well, at least for now, I guess. Can¡¯t be sure until I hit puberty, I guess¡­


    Then i¡¯ll start to have that time of the month¡­


    And I¡¯m getting depressed again. Slapping my cheeks to recover my focus, I turned back to the street, noticing that I had gotten to the very edge of known territory, ahead being uncharted lands.


    Bringing up my mental map of the area, I made my way through the streets looking for anything that caught my interest. At first it was just like the usual, the same streets and the same stone houses as everywhere else. But after a few more meters of walking, the street led into a large avenue where lots of people walked around.


    Well, lots for this world at least. Compared to my memories of my old world, this was pretty much a calm weekend on the mall, I guess.


    Looking around curious, I noticed that I was gathering some curious gazes, but I didn¡¯t really feel all that bothered by it, as it somehow ended up being the usual for me.


    Crossing the street, not really in the mood to walk amongst a large crowd right now, I reached a side street that led into what seemed to be the upper rank part of the town.


    The streets here were paved, different from the beaten path used everywhere else, the houses were also bigger, having a small garden in front and being twice the size of the small ones I usually found near the smithy.


    Well, they are still smaller than the village elder¡¯s houses near the very center of the city. That one was downright massive. Still, they were big enough to catch my attention as I walked around seeing them with sparkling eyes.


    During my walks, I also noticed a small amount of guards that frequently patrolled through the neighborhood. One of them saw me and immediately came to check on me.


    ¡°Hey there, little missy. Are you lost?¡± He asked while crouching down. He looked a man around the twenty something. Fairly young, wearing a simple leather armor and carrying a short lance that could be used on the tighter streets.


    ¡°No sir. I¡¯m just looking around.¡± I replied him.


    ¡°Are you really?¡± He asked me slightly doubtful, and I nodded.


    ¡°Father works in a smithy, down that street. I know where to find him.¡± I pointed towards the workshop, and the man stared at the direction for some time before widening his eyes.


    ¡°Wait. You are Ran¡¯s daughter?¡± He asked me with a shocked face, and I nodded happily.


    ¡°Yup. That¡¯s father names.¡± I told him, which made him scratch his head awkwardly. ¡°Do you know him?¡±


    ¡°By name only.¡± He said with a sigh. ¡°But he made me my spear, so I owe him a bit.¡°


    ¡°Heeh.¡± I said while taking a look at his spear. Indeed, the shape was a bit familiar, but I didn¡¯t have memory of that one in particular. Maybe it¡¯s from before I started going to his workshop?


    ¡°Anyway, little lady. I will have to take you to your father.¡± He said while extending his hand to me. ¡°You are a bit too far for someone of your age.¡±


    ¡°But I can take care of myself!¡± I said proudly.


    ¡°Ooh?¡± He asked while raising an eyebrow. ¡°You don¡¯t look that strong to me...¡±


    ¡°Muu! I beat a boy two years older than me once!¡± I said him reminding of what happened a few weeks ago. ¡°And I have this!¡± I said while taking the toy I made with grandma some time ago.


    ¡°And what¡¯s that?¡± He asked curious, so I extended my hands to him, showing the object. ¡°I don¡¯t think i¡¯ve seen anything like it before.¡±


    Stuffing my chest out proudly, I quickly took the toy and prepared to show him its fearsome power.


    Okay, not fearsome, but it¡¯s at the very least something that could hurt if used wrongly.


    During my time in grandma¡¯s carpentry, I somehow convinced her to do this for me. Using a shape similar to the crossbows I usually saw in fantasy games, but instead of shooting an arrow, I made a small leather pouch that held a small rock. It was small enough for me to carry around, and didn¡¯t need all that much strength to reload, so I usually carried it around for fun.


    Well, it did help me a couple of times, when a dog tried to attack me, and against the bully from last week. And kids from my age seem to be unable to pull the string with enough strength to load it, but there¡¯s no need to add that, right?


    Still, seeing is better than speaking, so I aimed at what looked like a small breaking rock and shot the small stone I had loaded towards it. It wasn¡¯t enough to break the brick, but it did chip the stone a little bit.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Impressively dangerous.¡± He said with a nod.


    ¡°It¡¯s my idea!¡± I said proudly while taking the credit from the true creators back from my old world.


    ¡°Is it really?¡± He asked me while I pulled the string to leave it loaded in case I needed.


    ¡°Yup! And if we make it bigger, we might even put an arrow instead of stones!¡± At these words, the guard paled, probably thinking of what such weapon would mean. ¡°See! I can take care of myself!¡± He nodded slightly, but still didn¡¯t seem all that convinced. ¡°If you still don¡¯t like it, why don¡¯t you show me around?¡±


    These words caught him by surprise, and he stopped to think for a moment before sighing.


    ¡°I guess I could do that...¡± he said in defeat, so I simply smiled and started walking ahead.


    He had to jog a bit to catch up with me, and even then, as I walked around, now with a guide of my own I felt even less need to walk around carefully. In the end, it was me dragging the guard around than he trying to show me.


    Well, mostly what I did was see the big houses. There were a few kids walking around, but they didn¡¯t bother too much with me¡­


    Okay, some of them did. There was this big boy around my age who kept saying that he was the owner of the street and that I would have to work for him because I was from the lower streets. I gave him a quick slap then grabbed him by the neck and threw him, which left him quiet on the ground.


    I didn¡¯t say this very clearly, but I seem to be really strong for my age.


    Besides him no one else bothered me, though, so after around ten minutes of walking and leaving the guard to explain what happened to the boy, I decided that it was about time to go and explore another place.


    Like this, I dragged the guard around halfway through the new district in a single day, and two other bullies-wannabe fell prey to my mighty slap of truth. And the guard had to explain what happened to two angry ladies who wouldn¡¯t believe that such a cute girl would do something like hitting their sons.


    And the one time one of the boys tried to get up and tell his mother, I shot a pebble at his stomach, stopping him.


    When the mother asked what had happened to him, I said that it should be that his tummy that was hurting. This made the mother nod worried and finish the discussion there and then. The guard turned to me with an angry look, but I simply smiled at him and he gave up in scolding me.


    As I said, being a girl isn¡¯t all that bad.


    After a few more minutes of mischief¡­ I mean, of walking around, I decided that it was enough for the day and that I should see if grandma is already back.


    Being followed by the guard who began praying to the heavens that I would calm down, we made our way back to father¡¯s blacksmith. Still, we took on a different path from the one we used to get there, so I at least saw a few new houses on the way back.


    However, the moment we were about to reach the avenue, I felt something.


    Stopping on my tracks suddenly, I turned towards the house to my right, seeing nothing but a tall hedge, backed up by metal fencing and an occasional brick pillar. I stood still for a moment just to be sure that my feeling wasn¡¯t an illusion, and sure enough, soon it was there again.


    ¡°Lia? What happened?¡± The guard asked me, confused with how suddenly I changed the way I act.


    ¡°Who lives there?¡± I asked him while pointing towards the house.


    ¡°That¡¯s the Lon-ying family house.¡± he said, already used to my questions about the house¡¯s inhabitants. ¡°They are a lower level of nobility, earned when one of their ancestors became a spiritualist in the past.¡±


    ¡°Heeh. So it¡¯s a family of spiritualists?¡± I asked surprised, but the guard shook his head.


    ¡°Nope. After their ancestors, they never had another spiritualist...¡± He started before stopping and shaking his head. ¡°Scratch that, I heard that their daughter is actually a really promising one.¡±


    That did it for me. Turning towards the hedge with my curiosity picked, I rolled up my nonexistent sleeves and approached the pillar. The guard blinked surprised at what I was doing, but by the time he finally understood, it was far too late.


    I quickly escalated the pillar using nothing but my own hands and body, not that it was too high though, at most a bit taller than an adult. By the time the guard jumped to get me, I jumped to the other side of the fence.


    ¡°Tell daddy I will be late for dinner!¡± I told the guard before setting my attention back to the garden, where something had piqued my interest.

 6th Chapter - Foul-mouthed good girl

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. Finally, one of my favorite characters makes her appearance!


    So, I decided to address here to a mistake I made while writing this story, and that is only later on I actually describe the MC. So I sneaked in a small description of her here, even though there wasn¡¯t any originally.


    I¡¯m also cutting down the upload speed to one every two days from now on, and maybe an extra one when I¡¯m in the mood.


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    I made my way through what looked like a garden, walking amidst the short hedges and flowers that gave some color to the otherwise empty garden. Following the energy I felt, I quickly made my way through the large area, surprised at how much bigger this house was compared to the others.


    Wondering why the large difference, the words from the guard came to mind, with him saying something about the family having once hosted a spiritualist. That could be the case.


    While walking, I took a glance at the massive house in the middle of the garden, having two floors and made with an expensive looking wood, it was a few levels of sophistication above the other houses from the neighbor.


    In fact, this is probably the only house capable of being compared against the village elder¡¯s house. For a brief moment I wondered if it really was a good idea to barge in unannounced in this house, but in the end I dismissed the idea. After all, nothing a good puppy eyes couldn¡¯t solve. This had proven true enough for me up to now. Besides, there was something I really wanted to check here.


    Sighing loudly, I still made sure to quieten my steps and watched out for a couple of guards that lazily patrolled the house, which was ridiculously easy when you can sense them from twenty or so meters away without the use of your eyes/ears.


    I mean, seriously, I can tell with too much ease how many people are inside that house, what they are doing and so on. Well, I can¡¯t really tell their feelings, as it seems that I need to have some more knowledge of the person to actually tell that.


    But what really interested me wasn¡¯t what was happening inside the house, but in the garden near me, between a few other tall hedges, where two of the energies were sitting around what I would guess to be a fountain due to the sound of running water.


    I discretely made my way towards the opening on the hedge and peeked through it, curious about what was happening in there.


    What I saw was the old spiritualist from earlier, the same one I saw while walking with father. He had a long white beard in his face that wouldn¡¯t lose to Gandalf, but his hair was a bit lacking¡­


    Okay, he was bald. I could even see the sun reflecting on the shiny head. Really. He was wearing a yellow/goldish robe that seemed to focus on the ease of movement. He sat in a cross-legged form while resting the palm of his hands on the knees.


    The other one, was a girl. Probably two or three years older than me. She sat on her knees, not unlike how the people from the orient back at my original world. With short hair that fell up to her neck tinted with an odd tone of purple. Wearing a ridiculously expensive looking robe, full of fancy looking embroidery and a foldable fan in her hands.


    Compared to her, my clothing was vastly simpler, being mostly my blue linen dress and the shorts I wore beneath. At least I wouldn¡¯t lose in looks, since I did get most of my mother¡¯s appearance, with my pale skin and delicate-looking features. Although I did get my father¡¯s hair, which was black, but aside from that, I was almost a miniature version of my mother.


    Well, self-boasting aside, the thing that got my attention here wasn¡¯t their positions, but their energies.


    The old man I already knew about, with his large energy with a different quality to it compared to the other people I saw on the streets. But the girl also had a similar feeling to her, even if the energy was much smaller, even than mine, she still had a lot more energy than other pedestrians.


    The old man, however, was doing something that brought my attention to the situation. He was manipulating his energy so that it would put itself out from his body in a light cover, much like how mother did. However he only had enough energy to put it on one part at a time.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Right hand?¡± The girls asked with her eyes closed and some sweat dripping from her forehead.


    ¡°No. Try again.¡± The man said as he moved the energy from his leg to his left shoulder.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Head!¡±


    ¡°Close, but not quite. Once more.¡± He changed it to his left forearm.


    ¡°Left hand!¡± The girl said with a proud tone.


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ This exercise is a lot more complicated than what I originally expected.¡± The girl said in a perfectly refined tone. ¡°Is this supposed to be so difficult as you make it?¡± She asked in confusion.


    ¡°It is, young lady. The first steps before a journey are usually the hardest.¡± The old man said in a patient tone as if he was teaching her¡­ Which I guess he was, in a way?


    ¡°And how long does one of my caliber might take to surpass said first step?¡± The girl asked while fanning her head.


    ¡°It varies from Spiritualist to spiritualist.¡° He said while looking around and flexing his muscles a bit. Suddenly, his gaze landed on the hedge I was hiding over and he frowned slightly.. ¡°It seems that we have some visit...¡± He said while getting up..


    Well, looks like I¡¯m found out, so no point in dragging it around anymore. I moved away from behind the hedge and put on my best curious face, which wasn¡¯t all that hard when it was pretty much the same face I had while watching them.


    ¡°Hi!¡± I said while waving at them.


    ¡°Huh?¡± The old man looked surprised at me. ¡°What is a young girl like yourself doing here?¡± He asked while giving a look at the girl besides him, who was also staring at me surprised.


    ¡°I¡¯m taking a walk!¡± I said innocently.


    ¡°So, you are taking a walk in a heavily guarded area house of a lesser noble?¡± The man asked.


    ¡°Yeah. Can¡¯t I?¡± I asked while tilting my head. The old man frowned slightly at my more than obvious response. ¡°Hey! Hey! Old man. What are you doing?¡± I asked him excitedly, which threw him off rhythm for a moment as he blinked in surprise.


    ¡°Master Roshi here is teaching the great me the basics of how to be a Spiritualist.¡± The girl said while covering her mouth with the fan.


    Hmm? Master Roshi? That sounds oddly familiar¡­ For some reason I suddenly feel that I should be careful around this old man. Looking at him, I noticed the was smiling awkwardly at the girl¡¯s introduction.


    ¡°Heeh? Can I also learn then?¡± I asked when reminding of what mother did whenever she made her super-human feats.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± The princess said with a haughty tone. ¡°Master Roshi here only teaches the rich and noble like me, Tian Lon-ying!¡± She said while nodding proudly to herself. ¡°So a poor peasant like yourself should not even dream of receiving a teaching from a rank three spiritualist like him.¡± I don¡¯t think I like her attitude very much, I held back a frown while she spoke. ¡°So it falls on a noble like me to allow you to have a chance to watch a training session with me, as you would never have a chance being a peasant.¡±


    Wait, what? I looked confused at her for some time trying to understand her words, was she surprisingly a good girl despite her foul mouth?


    ¡°Then I can stay?¡± I asked confused.


    ¡°Yes, I shall allow you to accompany me.¡± She said, receiving a raised eyebrow from the master, but he didn¡¯t seem to disapprove.


    ¡°Yay! Thanks big sis!¡± I said while walking to her side and sitting.


    ¡°Yes. Thank me, as it¡¯s what you plebeians should do whenever I do something for you!¡± She said happily and puffing out her still nonexistent chest. ¡°But, I shall also request one thing from you!¡±


    ¡°Hmm? What is it?¡± I asked a bit wryly.


    ¡°You will have to allow me to hug someone as adorable as you!¡± She said with a nod. ¡°For a plebeian, you look really cute.¡±


    ¡°Do I get petting?¡± I asked in my negotiation mode.


    ¡°I can do that.¡± She said with a nod.


    I smiled happily and nodded to her, so she quickly picked me up and put in her lap, where she started to hug me for a moment while using her free hand to pet my head gently.


    ¡°I hope this does not become a bother to you, Master Roshi?¡± She asked while staring at the old man, but he simply shook his head.


    ¡°I owe your grandfather a great debt. This much is nothing.¡± He said while shaking his head. ¡°She can stay as long as she doesn¡¯t interrupt your training.¡± He said while once again focusing himself. ¡°Shall we continue?¡±


    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s.¡± Tian said with a nod.


    The old man once again started to manipulate the energy, first starting with pulling the energy from out of his body inside, much like that one time mother did, but it felt a lot more¡­ Weaker? I can¡¯t say for sure. It was different, not as powerful, I guess.


    After melding his internal energy with the one from outside, he started to make a small layer around a part of his body. This time it was around his back.


    Tian took a deep breath and started to breathe in deeply in a rhythm. She stood like that for quite some time, and for a moment I felt that her energy moved slightly before going back to its original shape.


    Looking at her in curiosity, I saw as she frowned slightly before starting to speak.


    ¡°Neck¡­?¡±


    ¡°Not quite.¡± The master replied before redirecting it to his right forearm.


    ¡°Right¡­ Forearm?¡± The girl asked.


    ¡°Correct. Next one.¡±  He said as he replaced it on his feet.


    ¡°Right¡­ Shin?¡±


    ¡°Wrong.¡± The master said, and I finally started to understand, but let¡¯s be sure.


    ¡°What are you trying to do?¡± I asked while looking upwards towards Tian.


    ¡°Master Roshi is helping me train my spirit perception.¡± The girl said. ¡°It¡¯s the first step before starting the real training of collecting energy.¡±


    ¡°...Is that the stuff that keeps moving around his body?¡± I asked, and with this both looked at me in shock, to the point that Tian even opened her eyes.


    ¡°You can see it?¡± Roshi asked shocked.


    ¡°Yup.¡± I said while pointing at his feet. ¡°It¡¯s on your feet right now.¡± He frowned slightly and quickly relocated the energy, but before he could ask, I said. ¡°Right thigh... ¡± He widened his eyes and moved it around. ¡°Left forearm¡­ Right shoulder¡­ Head¡­ Right toe¡­ Nose... ¡± I started pointing each and every one of the places he moved the energy, and every time the duo widened their eyes.


    ¡°Girl, tell me¡­ Have you trained in this before?¡± He asked me in doubt.


    ¡°No?¡± I asked tilting my head. ¡°I¡¯ve always felt this since I remember.¡± Which was even before being born, but no need to add this.


    ¡°You¡­ Always¡­?¡± The master said in shock while staring at me.


    ¡°Yes. But it¡¯s very limited...¡± I complemented. ¡°Like this I can only feel it until a few meters. But when I close my eyes I can see the whole house! It¡¯s really good.¡±


    ¡°A few¡­ Meters?¡± Roshi asked me in confusion. Is it really that bad?


    ¡°Cute plebeian¡­ Could it be that you are a genius?¡± Tian asked me in confusion.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Genius? Is it that good? ¡°How far is it usually?¡± I asked the Master who was rubbing his eyes tiredly.


    ¡°Young girl... From what I know, the most experienced masters can see up to...¡± He sighed deeply. ¡°Five meters.¡± Huh? I stared at him in confusion for a moment. Only that? I can feel at least around ten to twenty meters when I¡¯m not even trying to focus. Feeling confused I saw as they stared at me in awe. ¡°Young girl¡­ how old are you right now?¡± Roshi asked me.


    ¡°I¡¯m four. And I¡¯ll become five next summer! Then I¡¯m going to learn blacksmithing from father.¡± I said cheerfully, barely able to hid my excitement.


    ¡°Only four, yet already with such talent¡­¡± Roshi said with a deep breath. ¡°Young master Tian.¡± He said while turning to her. ¡°Would it trouble you if I were to give this girl some special training?¡± He asked Tian who still looked at me in shock, when the girl turned to him with a frown he quickly went on. ¡°You see, to meet such a talented person like yourself is already a rare occurrence, but this girl¡­ Is something else. I fear on what would happen if we were to lose her.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry master Roshi, but I can¡¯t allow that.¡± Tian said while shaking her head and taking me out from her lap. I widened my eyes thinking on what she would do. ¡°Father has already been publicizing the fact that I¡¯m a prodigy when it comes to such matters, so if word that a simple plebeian like her, with even greater talent than me would appear, it would deal a huge blow to our status.¡± She said while turning towards her house. I felt a bit sad thinking that I was losing such a chance, but she was thinking of her family in the end, so there wasn¡¯t much I could do. ¡°So I will talk to father and arrange so that she can become my aide in training. This way she will be related to our house and will only bolster our power. You¡¯ll have to wait until then.¡± She said while taking a short bow towards the master and looking at me. ¡°Tell me, cute plebeian, what your name is.¡±


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    ¡°Lia. Lia Liu Wang.¡± I replied a bit stunned with the sudden events. ¡°I¡¯m Ran¡¯s daughter.¡±


    ¡°Lia Liu Wang, huh...¡± She said with a nod. ¡°It¡¯s my duty as a noble to not lose such an opportunity like you, so I shall not let you deny this offer.¡± She said with a slightly heavy tone.


    ¡°Can I still train blacksmithing with father?¡± I asked worried. Tian looked at me confused for a moment before nodding.


    ¡°If that is what you wish, I see no reason as to why oppose you. Besides, a personal blacksmith could be a good addition to the family.¡± She said before bowing once again towards Roshi. ¡°I¡¯ll take my leave for now, master.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Please do so.¡± He said with a quick nod and letting Tian leave the area. I pouted a bit at the loss of my petting, but there wasn¡¯t much I could do. ¡°Now then, Young Lia. Why do you wish to become a blacksmith, even when you have such talents?¡± He asked me curious.


    ¡°Because it¡¯s cool!¡± I said cheerfully. ¡°Father looks really cool when he is blacksmithing, and I want to make a really cool weapon to fight with!¡±


    ¡°A cool¡­ Weapon you say?¡± He asked me with a wry smile, probably not expecting my answer. ¡°Don¡¯t you know that weapons are useless against spiritualists?¡±


    ¡°Not if I become a spiritualist too!¡± I said while sticking my chest out, but Roshi shook his head.


    ¡°It¡¯s even more useless if you become a spiritualist.¡± He said while shaking his head, making me stare at him in confusion. ¡°You see, young Lia, spiritualist can¡¯t extend their spirits too far away from their bodies, and this mean that weapons aren¡¯t affected by our abilities.¡±


    ¡°Heeh! No way!¡± I said while pouting. Why did it have to make it even more difficult for me. ¡°Then I¡¯ll make a sword that can do that!¡± I said while nodding angrily.


    ¡°Ha ha ha ha! A feisty one, aren¡¯t you?¡± He asked while laughing loudly. I stared at him angrily, but it didn¡¯t have much of an effect. ¡°But this raises me a question.¡± he said while stroking his beard. ¡°How much do you know about spiritualists?¡±


    ¡°Hmm...¡± I said while closing my eyes and trying to remember what little I did remember. ¡°They have this energy on them¡­ They wear badges¡­ And they have political power¡­ And they are strong.¡± I said with a nod.


    ¡°That¡¯s not very much, isn¡¯t it?¡± Roshi asked with a wry smile, and I shrugged. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s start with something basic then. The badges.¡± He said while unbuttoning the badge on his chest and showing it to me. ¡°Tell me, what does this badge tells about me?¡±


    ¡°That you are cheap and don¡¯t buy a shiny one?¡± I asked seeing the dull brown badge. This made the old man flinch for a moment before shaking his head.


    ¡°Tha-that¡¯s not the case.¡± He said sighing. ¡°You see, the badge¡¯s color tells to which of the four great clans I am affiliated. Mine is brown, so I am affiliated to the Tortoise clan. Red is used by the followers of the Phoenix clan, while blue is for the tiger¡¯s and green for the dragon¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°Tortoise sounds weak. Are you weak, master?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but feel tempted to make this question.


    ¡°The tortoise does not care as much about strength as it cares for its survival.¡± He said in a patient tone. ¡°We, of the tortoise prefer to enhance our resistance than go for the offensive, after all, a good battle is the one you get out alive.¡±


    I feel a bit sullen that he dodged my joke, but his words do make sense.


    ¡°Then, if we learn from you, we will enter the tortoise?¡± I asked confused, but he shook his head.


    ¡°No. What I will teach you two is the very basics and does not relate to any of the clan¡¯s teachings.¡± He explained. ¡°The choice of which clan to follow is one you have to decide on your own.¡±


    ¡°I see...¡± I said with a nod before focusing my attention on the badge once again. ¡°Then, what does everything else means?¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Good to see that you are curious.¡± He said with a nod. ¡°Well, next we can talk about the size and the number of stars. What do you think they mean?¡±


    ¡°Stars are how many championships you won?¡± I asked for the first thing that came to my mind.


    ¡°Where did you even take that idea from? No! The number of stars counts your rank, while the size of the badge counts your tier. There are seven tiers, and for each tier there are seven ranks.¡± He said while drawing some circles on the ground. ¡°These are the size of the badges. As you can see, my badge shows that I am from the third tier, and the three stars tells that I am from rank three.¡±


    ¡°Heeh. Is that good?¡± I asked confused since I didn¡¯t have something to base it on.


    ¡°It¡¯s good enough for an old man like me.¡± He said with a brief laugh. ¡°Well, I enjoy more teaching younglings such as yourself than getting into fights, so I see no need to grow much stronger.¡±


    ¡°Heeh...¡± I said impressed. He is really different from the master Roshi I had in mind, it¡¯s almost like he was the opposite! ¡°Master Roshi is a really good old man then!¡±


    ¡°Ooh! It¡¯s good to receive such praises.¡± He said with a nod, before stopping. ¡°It seems that we have another visit?¡± He said while looking away at a place behind me.


    I turned just in time as I felt another energy enter within my range, and from far away I could see a woman, wearing a simple white robe walking towards us. She looked surprised at me for a moment before focusing back on master Roshi.


    For some reason she stopped at a fair distance from the old man, and had a wry smile when speaking to him.


    ¡°Greetings Master Roshi.¡± She said wryly. ¡°Isn¡¯t lady Tian with you?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I fear she left a while ago to talk with her father.¡± Roshi said while looking at the woman. ¡°Is something of importance?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ There are a few people in the front gate saying something about an intruder...¡±


    Whoops! Father! I completely forgot about him! Feeling a bit guilty, master Roshi noticed as I got embarrassed and laughed beneath his beard as he somehow understood my situation.


    ¡°I guess I can solve this for you.¡± He said with an amused expression. ¡°Let me go there with you.¡±


    ¡°Aaah¡­ No need...¡± The woman said hurriedly. ¡°I can go and get lady¡­ No need to work yourself over it!¡±


    ¡°Foolishness. These bones aren¡¯t old enough to let you trouble yourself like that!¡± He said while raising himself from the ground.


    And then, the unimaginable happened.


    As Master Roshi raised himself, his hand rested on a small patch of loose ground, so the moment he started to raise himself, his hand slipped, making him lose his balance for a brief moment.


    This wouldn¡¯t be much, if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that the girl tried to approach to help him, but as he raised his arm to tell her that it was alright, his hand once again slipped, this time in a lightly wet patch of grass that had recently been watered.


    He tumbled forward and hit the girl head-first, taking her down with him and falling atop of her, with his head buried deep into her bosom.


    Looking at the scene in shock, I noticed as the girl became beet red while Master Roshi recovered himself. He quickly raised his body and raised his hands as if saying that it wasn¡¯t his fault, a look of desperation in his face.


    The woman raised her hand and slapped him right across the face, leaving a pulsating red mark in his cheek.


    She walked away while stomping the ground, while master Roshi crossed his arms, putting the hands on the sleeves of his robes and said.


    ¡°Ay ay¡­ Why does this always happen?¡± He asked with a heavy tone.


    What the hell does he means always happen? That scene was downright improbable to happen. If I didn¡¯t know better I would even say that some kind of otherworldly force wrote these events just to have a laugh at his situation.


    Shaking my head to clear away these thoughts, I followed Master Roshi as he guided me through the garden until we reached a small path leading towards the front gate.


    I won¡¯t lie. The invader is probably me and the people in front of the gate is probably father and some of the other smiths. Well, leaving that aside, there were a couple of other people on the way to the front gate. One was Tian herself, the other was a large and muscular man who had an air of maturity and sovereignty to him that was even more prominent than Tian.


    Wearing a purple robe and having his hair cut short, the man had a large build comparable to father, even if he didn¡¯t look as muscular as Ran, he still had slightly intimidating air about him.


    Once they heard me and master Roshi approaching, the two turned to me and  Tian smiled, while the man that was probably her father frowned slightly when seeing us.


    ¡°Is that the girl you spoke me about?¡± He asked with a slightly surprised voice before turning towards Master Roshi and the big red mark in his cheek. ¡°Ah, master Roshi. It seems that your title still haunts you.¡±


    ¡°Luck with women left me a long time ago, Master Bo.¡± Roshi said with a sigh before shaking his head. ¡°But yes, this young lady is the one whom your daughter spoke about.¡± He said while turning to me. ¡°This little girl is Lia, and her perception of spirit is downright incredible. Talent isn¡¯t enough to describe this.¡±


    ¡°Hello mister Bo. My name is Lia Liu Wang.¡± I said while bowing slightly towards the man, this seemed to please him, as he nodded slightly.


    ¡°Hmm, I see.¡± He said while looking at me intensely. ¡°And you wish to become Tian¡¯s aide?¡±


    ¡°If it will allow me to train, then yes.¡±


    ¡°Do you have any idea what the choice you are making means?¡± He asked while lightly closing his eyes.


    ¡°No?¡± I said while tilting my head. That never really crossed my head.


    ¡°Then, why did you decide on training spiritualism with Master Roshi? Do you have any reason for that?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ Master bald¡­ Master Roshi asked me to train. That and it sounds fun.¡± I said in my best childish impression, Roshi flinching a little when my tongue slipped. There was also the reason that I had the feeling that learning this might help me get closer to mother.


    Bo stared at me for a moment, and I felt myself sweating coldly, as his eyes almost seemed like they were looking through my soul. Did he notice that I had another reason behind training spiritualist?


    Shaking my head in my mind so that I could calm down, I focused myself on acting innocent in front of him. This seemed to please him, because even though he shook his head, he had a wry smile in his face.


    ¡°Truly a child, huh?¡± He said with an amused voice.


    ¡°Master Roshi, why did you bring Plebeian Lia here?¡± Tian asked confused when she noticed her father was satisfied with his questions.


    ¡°Because I believe the visitors might have something to do with our little invader here.¡± The master said with a proud tone.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Bo asked before nodding. ¡°Then why don¡¯t you come with us. It might help us with whatever they might want.¡± With that he turned towards the gate once again and started walking with all of us following behind. ¡°But, this does makes me curious, but how did our guards not pick you up earlier?¡±


    ¡°If I sensed them approaching I would move away. Easy as that.¡± I said with a wide smile, but this made Roshi stop.


    ¡°You¡­ Sensed the guards? The non-spiritualists?¡± Roshi asked shocked, and I nodded.


    ¡°Yes?¡± I asked confused and saw as he stared at me in shock.


    ¡°You¡­ Really are something different.¡± Roshi said while shaking his head.


    I turned my head to see what Tian and Bo were thinking about it, but the two seemed as confused as I was about this whole situation.


    As Roshi delved into thinking, we quickly reached the gate in silence, where a few guards were talking with some men on the streets. Once my gaze landed on the large blacksmith who was shaking his head, I smiled and started running towards him.


    ¡°Daddy!¡± I shouted cheerfully as I jumped in his arms, where he quickly raised me towards his shoulder, but I didn¡¯t miss the light frown in his face.


    ¡°Lia¡­ What the hell did you do today?¡± He asked me, but before I could say, Bo approached father and said.


    ¡°Your daughter just managed to get a position as my daughter¡¯s aide and become the apprentice of a third tier rank three spiritualist.¡± He said with an amused smile, but father clearly didn¡¯t give him the expected response, because the next moment he sighed in relief, Bo frowned suspicious. ¡°You don¡¯t look all that surprised?¡±


    ¡°There''s little what this girl can do that surprises me anymore.¡± He said with a dry laugh. ¡°At least it wasn¡¯t something bad.¡±


    I could only smile awkwardly at his words, as I had no way to defend myself.

 7th Chapter - Getting a job

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. Time to start discussing Lia¡¯s first work!


    Well, this chapter is mostly some discussion between the characters and some preparations for what is to come. Some of you might have noticed, but I don¡¯t plan on having Lia go all the way with Spiritualism right off the bat. This way I may be able to put some interesting things besides battles, as well as explore some things that usually aren¡¯t all that explored.


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    ¡°Please, be at ease. You are our guest today!¡± Bo said solemnly while father looked around in worry, taking careful steps to not touch anything too expensive looking.


    ¡°Even if you say that...¡± Father said a bit wryly.


    Well, not that I blame him. From what I found out, Tian¡¯s family is second only to the village¡¯s elder in power here, and even then, they only are behind because they do not have a spiritualist amongst their ranks, for now. Master Roshi is only a guest while Tian is still only in the beginning stages of her training.


    When I stopped to think about it, the fact that instead of one, two new spiritualists would join their ranks, both with surprising talent from the looks of it, was probably a huge boon to their political power if I take in consideration what father said to me about the clans and all.


    Hmm¡­ I think that accepting to become Tian¡¯s aide might have changed the power games a bit too much. Luckily, I¡¯m just a kid, so no need to worry about that.


    Being irresponsible is so good!


    Back to my situation, Bo invited father inside so that they could discuss a bit better how my aide/apprentice situation would work. He guided us to a room where a large table was served with abundant food. Father and I stared at it with our mouths watering as we stared at it. Seeing this, Tian covered her mouth with the fan and started to laugh proudly.


    ¡°Ho ho ho! It seems that the plebeians are excited at the sight of the food they would never be able to eat in their life!¡± She said with her haughty tone, making father frown, but already getting used to her usual self I waited for her next words¡­ ¡°So it¡¯s my duty as a member of the higher class to treat you to something like this for free!¡±


    Father raised an eyebrow confused, while Bo simply smiled awkwardly at the scene, probably a bit troubled by his daughter conflicting personality.


    After recovering from his surprise, father and I quickly dashed towards the table and sat on it, already taking up our cutlery and picking some pieces of food from the table. The others stared at us shocked for some time, but we didn¡¯t really care about it that much.


    These last two months we have been eating simple food like cooked rice because Fen Ywan, mother¡¯s friend, became pregnant and stopped cooking food for us as her baby threatened to come out at any time. Since father knew nothing about cooking and he never really let me try to learn since staying near the fire is dangerous, we had to settle for stupidly simple food that he could cook.


    So, for us who were suddenly seeing such a feast, our gluttony became uncontrolled and we darted in not really caring about manners.


    ¡°I had my doubts¡­ But they really are related...¡± Bo said wryly.


    ¡°Such a healthy appetite! That¡¯s a good sign for a youngster!¡± Roshi laughed while taking the seat besides me.


    ¡°Fu fu. Eat for your hearts content, Plebeians! It¡¯s my duty as a noblewoman to make sure you have enough food!¡± I don¡¯t really need to say who is this, right?


    With father, Roshi and me sitting on one side of the table, Bo sat on the head of the table while Tian sat right in front of me laughing merrily.


    With a wave of his hands, Bo summoned a bunch of aides who came carrying some other things, like drinks, water and even a few other dishes completely different from anything I had seen before.


    I was tempted to simply ignore everything and dig in on the delicious food, but remembering that I might end up becoming Tian¡¯s aide, I managed to redirect twenty percent of my food-focused mind to noticing the way they acted.


    It was surprisingly shocking how precise they were, after quickly approaching their master, they would put the food on the table in a way that wouldn¡¯t interrupt him before discretely taking a step back and waiting for further orders.


    If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that I was taking notice of them voluntarily, it was almost like the food simply popped on the table.


    Isn¡¯t that surprisingly difficult to do?


    Well, there goes my twenty percent, back to the food.


    Or so I thought, but before I could immerse myself into enjoying the food, Father turned towards Bo and asked.


    ¡°You said that my daughter have talent as a spiritualist...¡± His voice had a slight tone of doubt. ¡°What exactly do you mean by that?¡±


    Instead of answering, Bo simply turned to master Roshi who cleared his throat before starting his explanation.


    ¡°Well, while I was training young master Tian, your daughter approached us and, during her basic spirit senses training, completely overwhelmed us with her abilities.¡± Roshi said with a nod and a proud tone. ¡°It surpasses even the best masters I know of! And if what she says is true, not only her range, but her sensibility is also on a whole new level! To think that she could even sense the spirit of non-practitioners! It¡¯s unheard of!¡±


    Eh? Really? I felt my face cramp up a bit after hearing that. Not that I mind getting famous and all, but showing off too much isn¡¯t exactly a good idea either. I didn¡¯t let it linger too much though, and quickly looked back to my father who was shocked.


    He turned to me with an inquiring gaze, I simply replied with a nod. I could go and try to fool him, but I decided against it. Lying to him just felt wrong, so since I was younger I decided to never lie to him. But this doesn¡¯t mean that I told him everything, so my sense, memories and what mother did were some secrets I kept.


    ¡°So, the first time she trained, her senses were already better than a master¡¯s?¡± Father asked, but Roshi shook his head lightly.


    ¡°No. If what I understood was correct, your daughter had this without even the need of training.¡±


    ¡°Since when did you have this?¡± My father asked while turning to me shocked.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Don¡¯t know?¡± I replied innocently. ¡°I¡¯ve always had this since I remember.¡±


    ¡°And why did you never tell me?¡± He asked with a slight frown.


    ¡°Should I have told you?¡± I asked confused, and he blinked for a moment before sighing.


    ¡°Fair enough...¡± Father turned back to Roshi, seemingly satisfied with my answer. ¡°Okay, you say that her senses are good, but¡­ What about her own spirit?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Actually a good question.¡± Roshi said with a nod. ¡°I was so shocked with her own sensibility that I didn¡¯t even think about checking her spirit! Young lady, come closer and let me check you.¡± He said while waving his hand telling me to come closer.


    I gulped down a last forkful of food before jumping down from the table and approaching him. He told me to stand still for a moment while resting his hand on my forehead, after taking a deep breathing he started focusing, and I felt as his energy moved a bit strangely for a brief moment as he started to send his energy through his palm.


    His energy clashed with mine for a moment. But not a violent clash, it felt more like they were simply hitting it other for a moment before separating again. It didn¡¯t feel uncomfortable at all. In fact, it felt surprisingly comfortable.


    After removing his energy from my body, he took off his hand and had a slightly confused look in his face. I turned to him with a slight frown, worrying whether it was bad news or something.


    ¡°What bothers you, master Roshi? Is this plebeian¡¯s energy far too little?¡± Tian asked with a slight tinge of worry, but Roshi quickly shook his head.


    ¡°No, far from it.¡± Roshi said while shaking his head. ¡°She has abundant energy, comparable even to someone who already began his path on the ways of spiritualists.¡± He said with a proud tone while nodding his head.


    ¡°Then why do you look worried, master?¡± Tian asked in doubt.


    ¡°It¡¯s just that¡­ Her spirit is¡­ Different.¡± Roshi said while frowning slightly, as if searching for words to explain. ¡°It feels a bit too¡­ elemental, compared to a human.¡±


    ¡°Is that bad?¡± I asked worried, but Roshi simply shook his head in a reassuring manner.


    ¡°Not exactly. I heard about it happening to other people before.¡± He explained while trying to remember what he had learned. ¡°You see, all beings have a natural affinity to a certain spirit element. Us, human, tend to stay in the middle ground, not really leaning much towards any element unless we train our spirit to do so.¡±


    ¡°Heeh.¡± I said interested. ¡°And what does that mean?¡±


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    ¡°Mostly, it will make you better at techniques based around your element, but worse at the opposite element.¡± Roshi nodded as he explained that, and I took some time to process the info he told me.


    So, does that means that my energy¡­ Spirit, is more focused to a certain element than the usual? Now that he told me, I did notice a certain difference between my energy and the others, was that it?


    Taking a second, I focused on my sense on feeling the energy of those around me, this time not focusing too much on the amount but rather on quality this time. Bo, the aides and father all had a spirit that, as usual, felt a bit hard and shapeless.


    However, when I focused on Roshi, Tian or me, there was clearly a difference in the feeling of our spirits. Roshi¡¯s spirit felt sturdier, harder, more resistant to changes. Tian, although she didn¡¯t have as much energy as me, I could still feel it just fine. Hers felt, energetic, unstoppable and almost erratic.


    In comparison, mine was much similar to Tian¡¯s, and almost opposite to Roshi¡¯s. Mine was just as energetic as Tian¡¯s, but instead of unstoppable, mine felt a lot more unpredictable, free spirited.


    When I opened my eyes again, only a second had passed, so I turned to Roshi.


    ¡°If it¡¯s so rare, why does it feels like Tian already have her element?¡± I asked confused.


    ¡°Oh, so the cute plebeian can tell?¡± Tian said with a proud laugh. ¡°You really are something! Recruiting you really is a good idea! Ho ho hough! Cough!¡± Midway through her laugh she started to choke on her food.


    Me and father turned to her in a hurry wanting to help, but one of the aides simply smiled and signaled for us to wait. She quickly went behind Tian and hugged her tightly. The sudden pressure made the choking noble to cough out the food.


    ¡°You have my gratitude, Ping.¡± Tian said while catching her breath.


    ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to help, milady.¡± The aide said with a smile.


    Does this always happens here? The aide seemed to already be used to doing that. While thinking such thoughts, Tian quickly recovered herself and cleared her throat.


    ¡°Well, since the Cute plebeian is ignorant of such matters, let me explain to you, as it¡¯s my duty as a noble.¡± Tia spoke while smiling. ¡°You see, since father knew that I was going to become a great Spiritualist ever since I was a young baby noble, he have been preparing me to earn my element.¡±


    ¡°I thought you would need to be a spiritualist to train?¡± I asked confused while walking back to my chair so that I could gorge myself on the food once again.


    ¡°For training your affinity, there¡¯s no need for that, as long as you know what to do, of course.¡± Roshi said with a nod. ¡°Since your spirit inhabits your body, you can prepare it by training your body the right way. This include things like controlling what you eat, training routines and so on.¡±


    ¡°Then it isn¡¯t so rare to find someone like me?¡± I asked, feeling a contradiction in their words.


    ¡°The fact that you had an element wasn¡¯t what really surprised me.¡± Roshi said after taking a long sigh. ¡°What surprised me was its purity. Your wind element is so strong that I think that you might be downright incapable of using earth techniques.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not an expert, but that doesn¡¯t seem something usual...¡± Father said with a slight frown. ¡°How much purity are we talking about?¡±


    ¡°Very high purity.¡± Roshi said with a surprised look. ¡°I believe she would need to spend her whole life using earth element techniques to change it towards the element.¡±


    I frowned a little at his words. If I had earth element, maybe I could create some kind of technique to help me when forging. That is, if it actually worked like that. Stopping to think about it, I know literally nothing about spiritualist.


    ¡°Then, from the looks of it there doesn¡¯t seem to be any problem with her becoming a spiritualist, then. ¡± Father said after some time before turning to me. ¡°Then, I guess what¡¯s left is the matter of becoming an aide?¡±


    Bo, nodded while signaling for one of the aides to come closer. It was the same one that had helped Tian with her choking. Wearing a simple black robe without many accessories, she looked old, around thirty or so years old with her black hair tied into a bundle.


    ¡°It¡¯s my pleasure to meet you.¡± The woman said with a gentle tone. ¡°As you may have heard, my name is Ping, and I¡¯m the head of the aides of the household.¡± She bowed slightly. ¡°And if you have any questions about her training, you might ask me.¡±


    ¡°The pleasure is mine, Ping.¡± Father said courteously. ¡°So, when would she start her training as an aide?¡±


    ¡°We could begin immediately.¡± Ping replied, and when she saw my and father¡¯s surprised expression, she went on to say. ¡°You see, it¡¯s actually better to start training when they are young, as they absorb the information a lot easier. So the fact that she¡¯s so eager to start training even at this age is actually a good sign.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Father said before sighing loudly before turning to me. ¡°I guess you are giving up in being a blacksmith, then?¡± He asked me with a slightly sad smile.


    ¡°No! I will still be a blacksmith!¡± I said stubbornly, shocking father.


    ¡°You want to be a spiritualist, an aide AND a blacksmith?¡± He asked me, and I nodded. ¡°Isn¡¯t that a bit too much?¡±


    ¡°Not a problem!¡± I said with a smile.


    Bo and Roshi chuckled a bit while Tian covered her mouth with the fan once again. Probably smiling beneath it. Father simply took a helpless sigh while rubbing my head. I giggled a bit at his reaction before he turned towards Bo and bowed.


    ¡°You have my gratitude, master Bo.¡± He said with a sincere tone. ¡°I wish I could find a way to repay you for doing such things for my daughter.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that.¡± Bo said while shaking his head. ¡°This will greatly benefit my family, so there¡¯s no need for you to repay us.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t accept that.¡± Father flat out rejected him. ¡°Not only are you offering to accept her to your family, you are also giving her a chance to become a spiritualist. This is much more than I could ever hope to give her. It¡¯s also the best thing that happened to her ever since my wife went missing.¡±


    Upon hearing his words, Bo couldn¡¯t help but sigh loudly as he noticed that father wasn¡¯t going to change his mind any time soon. If something, that was one of father¡¯s bad points, as he can be pretty thick-headed once he decides on something.


    ¡°Then, how exactly do you plan on repaying us?¡± Bo asked with a slight hint of a challenge in his voice.


    Father widened his eyes before leaning back and frowning deeply. Bo touched a sore spot now, as even if father was the head blacksmith of the village, he still didn¡¯t have much he could offer to a noble like Bo. Thinking for a moment, I decided that I had the perfect offer to make for father.


    Lifting the hem of my dress, I picked up the small cross-bow slingshot I tied around the shorts I wore underneath. With a quick motion, I got father¡¯s attention and saw as he widened his eyes, getting what I meant with that.


    He took the toy from my hand, which suddenly looked inoffensively small on his large hands.


    ¡°What about this?¡± Father asked while showing them the slingshot.


    Bo frowned confused at the sight of the toy while Roshi looked at it curiously. The duo exchanged glances for a moment, but seeing confusion on each other¡¯s eyes, they turned to father.


    ¡°And what is that?¡± Bo asked confused.


    ¡°This is a small toy that my daughter made with the help of my mother.¡± Father said while showing them how it worked.


    ¡°An interesting toy, but I fail to see how it might repay us...¡± Bo said with a frown, but Roshi widened his eyes.


    ¡°Master Bo. I don¡¯t think he wants to give you a toy.¡± Roshi said while stroking his beard. ¡°I guess that what he wants to sell you is something bigger than that.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean¡­ Oh.¡± Bo suddenly changed from confused to shocked as he started to understand. ¡°This¡­ Are you willing to give me monopoly of this weapon?¡± He asked while leaning forward so he could look my father in the eyes.


    ¡°Yes. For as long as my daughter is treated well here, you have my word that I won¡¯t sell these weapons to anyone else.¡± Father said with a fierce look in his eyes. ¡°This might not be enough against Spiritualists, but against a normal opponent, this is almost unbeatable.¡± Father said with a nod.


    ¡°I see...¡± Bo said while looking at the toy once again. ¡°When can you deliver the first units?¡±


    ¡°I have already began working on some of the pieces. I should be able to have a dozen complete before next week.¡± Father said with a nod. Bo stared at him for a moment and extended his hand.


    The two shook their hands as the negotiations were complete. Afterwards, the banquet was pretty much uneventful, and by the time we finished, father left to go to work on the smithy. Since Ping said that we could begin immediately, I was left at Tian¡¯s home to start my training on being an aide.

 8th Chapter - Sealed skills

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. One more chapter of cuteness!


    Not much to say about this chapter besides the fact that I got an editor for this work from now on, so cakes for fixing mistakes are probably going to reduce in stock. Sorry guys (^.^¡¯)


    That, and cute is justice. Nuff said.


    And for those awaiting for IO, it should take some time, but i''ll try to post it still today, okay?


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    After father left so that he could go to his smithy, I was left at Tian¡¯s house so that I could begin my training. At first, I wondered if this meant that I would start my training as a spiritualist, but Roshi said that he would have to prepare a training routine for me, so we should leave that for later.


    This meant that I ended up following Miss Ping towards the aide¡¯s room. She guided me through the mansion¡¯s ground while showing me the rooms on the way, and said that I should try to remember all of them as soon as possible, as it was an aid¡¯s obligation to know the house they serve in by heart.


    I nodded seriously while trying to save the path we were taking on my memory. After cutting through a few corridors and rooms, we quickly reached an area that was a lot simpler than the rest of the apartment, being made with a noticeable lack of decorations, and only accessible through a fairly isolated passage.


    ¡°This is the aids¡¯ area. Eventually you will receive a room in here so that you can live in the house.¡± Ping told me while signaling towards the room. I looked at her surprised for a moment before nodding.


    I hadn¡¯t really considered it before, but becoming an aide means that I will have to stay besides Tian for as long as possible, and the word possible meant that I would have to possibly move into her house. This might make my training in spiritualism a bit easier, since I would stay closer to Tian¡¯s teachers. On the other hand, it might make my training with father a bit troublesome¡­


    Well, he refuses to even start teaching me for one year, so I can leave that for later.


    ¡°Today, we came here to get some clothing for you.¡± Ping said while noticing my curiosity. I nodded satisfied. ¡°There is a fairly young aide who joined us when she was a little bit older than you, so she might have some clothing that fits you while we make yours.¡±


    Following her, she took me to a room roughly in the middle of the corridor and knocked a few times on the door. A young girl¡¯s voice came from inside telling us to come in.


    In there, we met a girl that looked around thirteen years old, with short black hair and wearing the usual black robes that the servants of the household used. She laid on her bed while reading a scroll, but the moment she saw Ping coming in, she hurriedly got up and stood straight up.


    ¡°No need to rush, Yun.¡± Ping said in a patient tone. ¡°You are in your break. We only came here to get some clothings for the new apprentice.¡± She made a motion with her hand towards me, so I quickly smiled at the aid, making her smile slightly in return. ¡°I believe you still have some clothing from your younger years?¡±


    ¡°Yes Miss Ping.¡± The girl said while walking towards a set old drawers. ¡°But I think that it might be a bit big for her...¡± Taking some old robes from the drawer, she passed to the aid who gave it to me.


    ¡°I was already expecting that.¡± She said while giving me the robe. ¡°Now, Lia, hold onto this and follow me.¡± With that, Ping turned and gave a quick nod to Yun before leaving.


    I thanked the young aid one last time before jogging after Ping. We made our way through the other side of corridor until we reached the main building once again. On the way, she introduced me to some of the aides that were walking around.


    We finally reached a wide room with more than a few mirrors and cloths being exhibited in cloth hangers around. While I looked around enchanted by all the colorful cloths, Ping clapped her hands twice, as if calling for someone, and soon enough a few other aids appeared.


    ¡°Miss ping! What brings you here?¡± One of them asked while approaching us.


    ¡°We came here to get some measurements for the new apprentice.¡± She said while motioning for me to stand on a podium. ¡°Now, take off your dress so that we can take the measures for your robe...¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± I asked shocked for a moment before nodding, feeling as some of my blood ran up to my cheeks.


    I was caught a bit by surprise with her sudden request, but stopping to think about it, if she wanted to get my measures I would need to strip, no matter what, right? Besides, right now I was only a four years old girl, so there wasn¡¯t much reason for me to become embarrassed.


    I quickly took off the dress I wore revealing the short I wore underneath. I saw as Ping blinked surprised after I quickly folded the dress and put it on the table. Now I was only wearing my shorts while being topless. I felt a bit embarrassed, but the other aides didn¡¯t seem to mind too much, as they looked at me like they were looking at a cute puppy.


    ¡°Waah! She¡¯s so cute!¡± One of them said while approaching and touching my skin. ¡°And her skin is so smooth!¡±


    I blushed a bit more as the other aides also came closer to try touching me. Luckily for me, Ping didn¡¯t let it last for too long, as she gave some gentle slaps on the aides¡¯ head, making them quickly recover and start working on taking my measurements.


    ¡°Lia¡­ What do you do on your free time?¡± Ping asked while I started to raise my hands so that they could measure my bust.


    ¡°I play around. Why?¡± I asked confused.


    ¡°It¡¯ just that¡­ Your skin is so pale¡­ It¡¯s almost like you never leave your house.¡± She said with a slight frown.


    ¡°Hmm. I don¡¯t know. I''m always playing outside¡± I said while looking at my arm. Truly, it did look a bit ill at how pale it was, but to tell the truth, it seemed that no matter how much time I spent on the sun, my skin wouldn¡¯t tan no matter what.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    I mean, really. In a way, I really did draw a cheaty body for a reincarnation, right?


    While smiling innocently to the aid, the other ones quickly finished taking my measurements, so now they began to decide what kind of design they would use.


    ¡°Ho ho ho!¡± A proud and smug laugh echoed in the room. The aides all smiled a bit awkwardly as they immediately recognized the owner of the voice. ¡°What do you think that you are doing with my cute plebeian?¡±


    Tian walked in, now wearing a purple robe that matched her oddly coloured hair and stared at the girls who were picking a cloth so that they could start working.


    ¡°Mistress Tian!¡± The girls said politely when they saw her approaching. ¡°We were about to prepare the clothing for the young girl.¡±


    ¡°And what were you planning to use for her clothing?¡± Tian asked with a mischievous tone.


    ¡°Well¡­ Cotton¡­ Just like ours...¡± The maids said while looking at each other confused.


    ¡°Ho ho ho¡­ So you wish to use the cotton from MY household to dress her? For free? Is that it?¡± Tian asked while staring at the girls. They looked lost for a moment, but she soon continued. ¡°You see, I do not accept simply giving things for free, so I will only accept it if she is willing to work to pay off her clothing.¡±


    ¡°Then...¡± The girls looked at each other confused for a moment. ¡°What would you have us do?¡±


    Tian smiled before covering her mouth with the fan and turning back to the door. With a sign of her hand, a few others aides came in carrying a long black cloth that looked a lot like silk. However, as the cloth moved, it gave a slightly greenish reflection, earning a mysterious look to it.


    While I stared worriedly at the expensive looking cloth, wondering what the hell she planned to do with that, Ping widened her eyes and said in shock.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Darkwind silk?¡± She turned towards Tian with a shocked face. ¡°Why¡­ Why are you doing this, milady? Isn¡¯t this even more expensive than cotton?¡± I paled at her words. If I had to say something, that sounded to be even more expensive than silk! What¡¯s with the Darkwind and all that...


    ¡°Ho ho ho!¡± Tian laughed like what she was doing was the obvious. ¡°Ping! I would have expected that at least you would understand the meaning behind this!¡±


    ¡°Hmm...¡± I said while looking shyly at them. The two turned to me with a confused glance which kind of made me want to hide myself in some corner. ¡°Neeh¡­ What is this Darkwind silk thingy?¡± I asked them, and saw as Tian¡¯s eyes flashed with excitement.


    ¡°Why cute plebeian! How come you don¡¯t know what Darkwind silk is!¡± Tian said while letting out her usual haughty laugh. ¡°Then let me explain to you, since it¡¯s my duty as a noble! You see, there¡¯s a special kind of spirit beast called Darkwind Moth. They are extremely aggressive and dangerous, so much that you usually need at least a beginner spiritualist to take care of them.¡± I have absolutely no idea what a spirit beast is, but from the sounds of it, it sounds to be something very dangerous. ¡°This is the silk these moths produces every few months. It¡¯s an excellent material that¡¯s not only as resistant and durable as silk, but also offers almost no resistance when you start doing your gathering exercises! The perfect cloth for whoever is beginning on spiritualism!¡±


    What the hell! Forget expensive! I don¡¯t think I''ll ever find a way to repay that! And how the hell does she know so many things? Isn¡¯t she supposed to be a six years old? As a reincarnate, I''m feeling really left behind here!


    ¡°Huuh¡­ Tian¡­¡± I called her with a worried tone, and she eyed me with a raised eyebrow. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t think I can pay for that...¡± I said feeling worried for receiving something so damned expensive.


    ¡°Ho ho ho. No need to worry!¡± Tian said with a wide smile. ¡°I''ll only deduct from your payment once you start working as a spiritualist! Besides, with this cloth, your training will go even faster, so this is but an investment for me!¡±


    I looked at her for a long time in shock. Goddammit, how the hell can such a good girl exist in this world. Feeling some emotional tears coming from the corner of my eyes, I smiled at her and said.


    ¡°Thanks, big sis!¡± I told her.


    In that exact moment, not only her, but also Ping and the other aides blushed lightly before averting their gazes. I looked at them in shock  and confusion, tilting my head while trying to understand what had just happened.


    ¡°Too¡­ Dangerous...¡± Ping said in a low tone.


    ¡°So much destructive power at such young age!¡± Tian murmured with a low but impressed tone.


    ¡°I¡­ Can¡¯t hold myself back much longer...¡± One of the aides finished.


    Only then I understood what had happened, so I quickly took one of the aide¡¯s sleeve and dried my eyes. For a moment I forgot about the seal I had put on my strongest skill. This thing, if left unchecked, would bring chaos upon the world!


    It was such a strong skill that I doubted that even the spiritualist would be able to resist it. That¡¯s how powerful it was. Its name is¡­


    THE ULTIMATE UPTURNED ,AND TEARY EYED, DESTRUCTIVE STARE!!! {Credit to Editor - san who came up with it}


    The last time I used the teary-eyes strategy was when I had scraped my knees by accident one year ago. It wasn¡¯t anything serious, but since my body isn¡¯t all that used to pain, some tears ended up escaping.


    When the people on the street saw me, they all stopped what they were doing and tried to hurriedly take me to a medic. Merchants closed their shops, guards left their patrols and pickpockets offered to pay for my treatment.


    After that day, I promised to seal this skill so that it should never again seen by the daylight.


    After calming myself down, I let the girls start working on my clothing by preparing the overall shape for me before they took it to give the final touches. I couldn¡¯t help but notice that they were using their chances to sneak a few pokes on my skin here and there.


    The slaps they received from Ping this time weren¡¯t as gentle as before.

 9th Chapter - An aides job

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. Sorry for the delay, but here is the chapter!


    As I said before, I have this story made up to chapter 18 (and working on 19 right now), so the only reason I didn¡¯t upload this yesterday was because I was lazy. Guilty. Anyway, uploading it now and tomorrow should have another update too, so stay ready! ^^


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    In front of me stood a young girl, no older than four years old, with long black hair and silky white skin. Cute features that made even the most heartless bandits melt with but a mere gaze. Wearing black cotton robe that were a tad too big on her body, but this only made her look even more adorable as it reminded someone of a kid trying to be an adult.


    She spun around a couple of times to see how the robe looked on her, and after feeling satisfied, she turned away at the same time I did and turned towards Ping.


    ¡°It seems to be good.¡± I said with a nod after taking my attention from the mirror.


    ¡°Ho Ho Ho. Is there anything that wouldn¡¯t be good on you?¡± Tian asked with a proud tone, and I blushed slightly.


    ¡°Miss, you are leaving her embarrassed.¡± Ping said in a solemn tone, which made Tian look at her with a mischievous smile.


    ¡°Very well.¡± Tian said with a nod. ¡°I shall stop praising the cute plebeian and go to my classes.¡± She said while closing her fan and turning back. ¡°I came mostly to guarantee that she would get the appropriate equipment for when she started to serve me.¡±


    ¡°I guessed as much.¡± Ping said with a sigh. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll take young Lia to start on her training.¡±


    Tian nodded satisfied before leaving the room, taking the other aides with her and leaving me alone with Ping. She turned to me and let out a short sigh before saying.


    ¡°Once you receive your official aide¡¯s robe, you¡¯ll be forbidden from wearing your shorts, young girl.¡± She said to me in an reproaching tone.


    ¡°No!¡± I said in a defiant tone. ¡°It gets too breezy without it, I don¡¯t like it!¡± Besides, this is the last link i have to my life as a male. There¡¯s no way I¡¯m giving up this last part!


    ¡°Your official clothing won¡¯t be as large as this one, and wearing pants beneath it might leave you with an appearance that is unbefitting of lady Tian¡¯s aid.¡±


    I pouted. Yeah, she did have a point there, but¡­ But¡­ I don¡¯t like it. Why do I have to not wear shorts?


    ¡°Can¡¯t we make an uniform that I can wear with shorts then?¡± I asked excited.


    ¡°No can do, little aid.¡± Ping said with a serious face. ¡°We already gave too much for letting you make your robe sleeveless. We can¡¯t have you changing your uniform even more.¡±


    I pouted for a moment while staring at her, but Ping was like an unmovable mountain and barely blinked at my supreme attack. Sighing, I finally gave in to her demands. In the end, it was only a matter of time before that happened, so all that they are doing is taking it out sooner¡­


    While I nodded sullenly, I quickly put my hand within the robe and pulled out the pendant that mother left to me so many years ago, putting it over the clothes. I didn¡¯t really bother with it touching my skin at all, it¡¯s just that I liked fiddling with it from time to time.


    Ping looked at it with a slightly curious gaze.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to ask, but what is that?¡± Ping asked with a raised eyebrow. ¡°You didn¡¯t take it off even when you were changing your robes.¡±


    ¡°This is an amulet obviously¡± I smiled teasingly at her, making her frown. But then I answered seriously.


    ¡°Well, this is the only thing I have from mom.¡± I said with a sad smile. ¡°She disappeared when I was one year old, and said to always carry it with me.¡±


    ¡°You remember what your mother said when you were one year old?¡± Ping asked me surprised.


    ¡°She left a message to father.¡± I replied briefly, and Ping widened her eyes before nodding, probably feeling a bit silly at the idea of me remembering things from when I was one year old, she¡¯s not far from it though.


    ¡°I see...¡± She said while motioning for the door. I quickly followed her with a jog to keep up with her long legs, but didn¡¯t really feel all that tired since I was used to running around. ¡°Well, starting now with your training, we¡¯ll start a bit with manners and posture, later on move to more household tasks and caring for your master.¡±


    ¡°Manners and posture?¡± I asked curious while taking my attention back to the aid.


    ¡°Yes. Being the main aid from lady Tian means that you will stand besides her for the longest time possible. This also means that whenever she is meeting with other nobles, you will also follow her, thus, whatever action you take shall also end up reflecting on her image.¡± I nodded at her words while digesting the information. ¡°Thus, even if your skills on household chores aren¡¯t all that good, as long as the way you show yourself to the others is exemplary, you will still be doing a good job.¡±


    I took some time to understand her words. Basically, my first and foremost job would be to make Tian look better in front of other nobles by acting properly? It felt a bit confusing at first, but with some thought it made sense.


    Amongst the noble, image is sometimes more important than the actual power of a person, so having me who may grow into a spiritualist in the future as an aid would show how much power her household had. But for that, I would need to act respectfully towards her.


    ¡°I see¡­ Then what will I have to do?¡± I asked while looking up at her.


    ¡°Well, firstly, we have to fix the way you walk.¡± She said briefly, and with that she lightly poked my back, making me straighten myself surprised. ¡°You must always keep the proper posture when walking. It might be a bit uncomfortable right now, but once you get used to it, you won¡¯t even notice it anymore.¡± She said briefly.


    I nodded hurriedly while trying to keep my posture. As she said, it did feel a bit uncomfortable, so I had to consciously keep fixing my posture every time, and whenever I lost focus for a moment, my posture would relax a bit more.


    Grimacing while walking on the corridors of the house, I noticed that Ping would sometimes take a glance at me and smile a bit satisfied.


    ¡°Neneh, Miss ping. What else am I going to do?¡± I asked when I noticed that she was taking her time to reach the destination.


    ¡°Well, for today, besides your posture, you will mostly follow me and watch. This might work better than trying to cram everything on your first day.¡± She told me, so I nodded.


    So, that was mostly what I did.


    I kept following Ping around as she worked around the house. Most of the time she would simply approach some other aid, exchange a few words before going away. From the little I could get from her words, she was mostly passing on the orders to each aid on what they should do, like clean said room, go prepare dinner, go buy this and so on.


    The whole time I noticed that not only her but also the other aids kept a perfectly straight column while walking and doing the chores. After visiting around thirty or so different aides and introducing me to all of them without a fault, telling that I would be the new trainee, she finally felt satisfied and left to work on something herself.


    Following her, she led me to what looked like the kitchen, but on the corner of the room was a lowered part that led to a dirt floor where a couple of large basins laid on the ground. She approached one of them before lifting it with one of her hands. Seeing her doing that, I immediately understood what she was going to do and took the other basin myself.


    She looked surprised for a moment before nodding approvingly. She took us out of the house and unto a garden where we found a well. She approached the well and dropped her basin there.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°Since you are so eager to help, go to the mansion and ask for the laundry basket while I take some water for our basins here.¡± Ping instructed me. I nodded to her and prepared to dart off, but before I left she reminded me. ¡°And remember to keep your posture!¡±


    I turned to her confused for a moment before blushing and straightening my column, then I went off walking as fast as I could while keeping the correct posture.


    I entered the mansion once again and searched for the nearest aid, who was working on cleaning the windows of the corridor. Approaching her, i asked where i could find the laundry, and she offered to take me there cheerfully.


    She made sure to guide me by my hand the whole time she walked towards the place. I would feel embarrassed, but there wasn¡¯t much I could do myself, so I simply followed her while letting the girl take me.


    Not that I minded actually. Besides, even if she tried to hide it, she had a blissful smile in her face.


    Once we reached the room, I thanked her while giving the girl who took her time a small treat.


    ¡°Thank you big sis!!!~¡± I told her with a wide smile before turning to the door and opening it. The aid blushed heavily while making a silly smile.


    Inside the room was something akin of a huge depot, where I could see some food that were preserved and some cleaning products. While looking around, I soon found a large basket filled to the brim with dirty clothes. With the amount of things shoved in it made it almost as tall as my shoulder. And that was a lot, since it was a wide basket and my small stature doesn¡¯t help it.


    The aid widened her eyes when she saw that, and quickly came to help me, imagining how heavy the basket probably was.


    I simply rolled up my sleeves and picked the basked up. As I said, I¡¯m stronger than a kid my age should be, even with my frail looks and all.


    Well, this isn¡¯t to say that I had no trouble carrying it. If it was any heavier I wouldn¡¯t be able to move very well, besides, it blocked most of my field of vision when I raised it. Not that I couldn¡¯t manage it, though. So while swaying on my way towards the well, I almost stumbled a couple of times.


    Once I reached Ping, she stared at me in surprise for a moment before quickly helping me drop the basket beside the basins. Then she had me do another quick trip to the depot once again, and this time I brought what we were going to use to clean the clothes. Which is somekind of herbs and flowers for aroma.


    Afterwards, she started teaching me how to wash the clothes. For each different type of cloth I had to use a slightly different technique, and since she also had to show me what I had to do, we took almost the entire afternoon washing clothes.


    She even gave me some simpler ones made of cotton and linen, since these were a lot easier to work with than silk. Although she had to fix a lot of things in the way I did it, even to the point that I had to keep fixing my posture every few minutes, she still said that she was proud of the way I was eager to learn.


    ¡°But all I did was to make your job longer...¡± I said sullenly while looking at the poorly washed robe in my hand and compared to the pristine ones in her hands.


    ¡°That is something for me to worry about. As a trainee, it¡¯s your job to make sure that this won¡¯t happen for too long.¡± She said with a smile, and I nodded at her words.


    She then picked up the poorly washed clothes and started washing them again while pointing out what I did wrong. I nodded while hearing her words and focusing deeply on what she was doing.


    After she finished washing the last cloth, she had me help hanging them to dry. This one I should be able to do even with my eyes closed since it wasn¡¯t anything too difficult.


    Or so i thought¡­


    The body of a four years old is too short to reach the rope¡­


    I grumbled annoyed while sitting on the ground pouting. I heard Ping chuckle slightly at the scene before telling me to sit correctly. I quickly fixed my sitting position by sitting on my knees, which was the proper way of doing it.


    The only problem was that it didn¡¯t even take five minutes before my legs started hurting from the position. Luckily, it wasn¡¯t like I was without counter measures. Using my rudimentary skill on manipulating my spirit, I somehow managed to redirect it to be on the inner part of my shins, and with that the pain immediately went away as I felt my legs becoming a bit more resistant.


    Meanwhile I patiently awaited for the moment when Ping had finished hanging the clothes. She turned to me and said.


    ¡°We finished taking care of the clothes for today and it''s getting late¡­¡± She peeked at the sky for a moment before nodding. ¡°Since you won¡¯t spend your night here, let¡¯s call it a day and change you back to your clothes before sending you back to your father, okay?¡±


    I nodded weakly at her words before turning back to the basket and basin and carrying them back to the house. Once done, I made my way back to the building and left the basins near the kitchen, where Ping called a few other aids to come and clean it, while I took the basket back to the depot.


    Then I changed my clothes back to the dress I usually wore, which had my favorite shorts, and left the used uniform together with the few other clothes that had already appeared on the basket.


    I immediately recognized the robe that Tian was using before due to the sprakling purple cloth. She probably changed it for a bath or something.


    Leaving, Ping escorted me on the way out and said that Tian wouldn¡¯t be able to see me to say goodbyes as she was a bit occupied with her math classes. I nodded at her and immediately made my way towards the front gate. But not before receiving a warning to keep my posture correct.


    This is going to take a long time to get used to¡­


    Sighing in my mind, we quickly reached the gate, where Ping opened for me before saying one last goodbye. However¡­


    ¡°LIA YOU TYRANT! DON¡¯T THINK YOU ARE GOING TO ESCAPE FROM ME JUST BECAUSE YOU ENTERED A NOBLE¡¯S HOUSE!¡± A loud child¡¯s voice came from the other side of the gate.


    Ping blinked surprised and turned to me confused. I simply smiled a bit awkwardly for a moment.


    ¡°It¡¯s a friend of mine...¡± I said with an awkward smile as Ping opened the gate.


    ¡°Xin! What do you think you are doing?¡± Another voice, a lot more mature sounding and also strangely familiar echoed.


    ¡°Shut up brother! I have to take revenge on that girl!¡± The childish voice echoed angrily, and was about to say something else before noticing the door opening. Once the owner of the voice saw me, his eyes became ferocious. ¡°Lia! Come on! It¡¯s time for my revenge, so fight me!¡± he said while clenching his fist.


    I stared at the boy in front of me for a moment before smiling widely. With long black hair tied in a pony-tail behind his head, he had a surprisingly cute face for someone who was always coming to buy a fight with me.


    Besides him, I immediately recognized the armored man that was kneeling on the ground trying to calm the boy down.


    ¡°Wha! If it isn¡¯t the guard that helped me in!¡± I said cheerfully and saw as he turned to me in shock.


    ¡°BROTHER YOU TRAITOR!¡± The boy, Xin, shouted while grabbing the guard¡¯s neck and swinging back and forth.


    ¡°So you two are siblings!¡± I said while clapping my hands together. ¡°Never would have guessed, Xin!¡± I told the boy with a happy smile, and saw as he clearly became even redder than before.


    ¡°WAAAH! SHUT UP AND FIGHT ME YOU ANNOYING GIRL!¡± Xin shouted angrily while punching airs around him with such ferociousness that leaves him exhausted.


    I simply smiled at his panting, exhausted at his earlier action, while I see Ping and the guard looked at the two of us confused.

 10th Chapter - Hot blood

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. Sorry for the delay, but here is the chapter!


    Well, Not much to say about this chapter except that another character appears! Someone a bit more normal than the other, though. Anyway, I can at least say that there¡¯s one single secret about him that I won¡¯t tell so soon. *evil smile*


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    ¡°Geez Xin. As excited as always, aren¡¯t you?¡± I said in a cheerful tone. ¡°And why are you so eager to try and beat a girl like me? I¡¯m a fragile girl you know~?¡± I asked in a teasing tone which made him become even redder in anger.


    ¡°It¡¯s BECAUSE you are a girl!¡± he said angrily. ¡°HOW CAN YOU BE A GIRL AND YET BE THE STRONGEST IN THE STREETS?¡± He screamed at me in anger.


    ¡°What do you mean by that, Xin?¡± The guard asked confused.


    ¡°SHUT UP BROTHER!¡± Xin shouted at him in anger. ¡°You have no idea what I¡¯ve been through because of her!¡±


    Well, that¡¯s a funny story there. Ever since i¡¯ve started walking the streets, as you would expect, there was some kind of hierarchy amongst the kids on the streets based on their strength and house status.


    I would gladly ignore most of these and simply roam around the streets while looking for interesting things and getting the occasional sweet using my cute looks. But when I passed through the kids playing, Xin, who was the leader at the time, noticed that I was new and challenged me to a fight, saying that if I lost I would have to obey him.


    Not that I¡¯m saying that Xin was weak. Well,not that he was all that strong though, being only a bit stronger than normal, but still fairly well amongst the average. But he was much faster than normal, so he could deal with older kids with a fair amount of ease.


    But¡­ My cheaty power¡­


    I quickly overpowered him in front of his friends, so he became angry and have been hunting me for revenge ever since. Which I do find it kind of funny, because it feels like a little brother that keeps challenging the older brother on video-game or something of the kind. So even with him being a bit obnoxious with all his challenge and so on, I can¡¯t help but smile whenever we end up meeting.


    But to think that he and the guard were brothers¡­ That was unexpected for sure.


    ¡°Fight me, Lia! This time I won¡¯t lose to you!¡± He said while yanking his arm that was being held by his brother.


    I sighed helplessly for a moment before giving a quick look behind towards Ping, who had a slightly wry smile in her face, as if saying that kids will always be kids.


    Seeing that she didn¡¯t seem all that bothered with it I turned my attention back to Xing, who was tapping his feet in annoyance before smiling to him. This was our usual signal that he could attack me.


    ¡°TAKE THIS! FLYING DRAGON KIIIICK!¡± He shouted while running forward and giving me a¡­ Flying kick. Big surprise there¡­ Actually, it was really impressive that someone as young as him could do something like that.


    But it was really easy to dodge that, so I simply took a step to the side and let him fall on the ground besides me. As he blinked surprised, he turned his head towards me and I smiled at him, which made him become completely pale.


    I quickly sat on his back and grabbed his arm in a lock.


    ¡°OUCH, OUCH, OUCH! I GIVE UP, I GIVE UP, I GIVE UP!¡± He said while slamming the ground with his free hand.


    I quickly lifted myself from his back while smiling all the time. His face became as red as a tomato in shame and anger while his fist were clenched as he raised himself from the ground and clearly wanted to throw a punch at me.


    But I knew him far too well. So I simply lowered my head peering at his red face while smiling cheerfully.


    After a few seconds I felt a soft and childish hand landing on top of my head and started to pet me.


    Waaah! Petting feels SOOOO good. I won¡¯t even say that I can get addicted to this. I¡¯m already addicted.


    I can¡¯t remember being so addicted to it in my last life, so maybe it''s something to do with my body from this life? Maybe something to do with my spirit? I couldn¡¯t really be so sure about it. And I didn¡¯t really care about it at all.


    After around a whole minute, Xin finally took out his hand, making me pout lightly in displeasure, but our usual agreement was for one minute wait on defeat. Maybe I should extend it before the next fight?


    Make it five minutes? Maybe throw in a few chin scratching too¡­ That sounds good as well.


    As I thought distractedly about it, Xin started grumbling.


    ¡°Dammit! Not even when i use my secret flying dragon kick!¡± He said in anger. ¡°How come you are so strong even though you are a girl?¡± He asked me the usual question while looking at me angrily.


    ¡°Well¡­ Flying kicks aren¡¯t exactly a good attack when your opponent is aware of it, you know?¡± I said in a teaching tone. He grimaced before nodding weakly.


    ¡°Xin! Do you always do this when you meet her?¡± The guard asked angrily as he recovered from the shock.


    ¡°But I¡¯ve never even hit her!¡± The boy said angrily. ¡°Not even once! Even though she¡¯s a girl I can¡¯t hit her without going all out!¡±


    ¡°And what the hell do you mean by ¡®even though she¡¯s a girl¡¯?¡± The guard asked angrily. ¡°You make it sound like...¡±


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because Little Lia have potential as Spiritualist?¡± Ping said with a pensive tone, but her words shocked the siblings who stared at her in shock before turning to me.


    ¡°...YOU CHEATING BASTARD!¡± Xin shouted while trying to run towards me with his fist swinging wildly, but the guard quickly held him by the neck.


    ¡°Hey!¡± I said angrily. ¡°I never used that against you! I barely even know how to use it at all!¡± I said angrily, which made they look at me in confusion for a moment before nodding in defeat. ¡°Besides, if that counts as cheating, then Xin is cheating too.¡± I said while nodding.


    Once again they froze and looked at me in confusion while trying to understand my words. It was Ping the first one to process the meaning of them and widen her eyes in shock.


    ¡°You mean...¡± She asked confused.


    ¡°Hmm.¡± I nodded. ¡°Xin also have spirit.¡±


    ¡°Huh? How can you say that?¡± The boy asked me while tilting his head in confusion.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± I said while thinking on my words, but since I couldn¡¯t quite put it into words, Ping quickly came in.


    ¡°Master Roshi, a spiritualist currently staying on the household praised Lia¡¯s sense greatly.¡± She said with a proud smile.


    ¡°Then...¡± The guard looked towards Xin. ¡°Xin can become a Spiritualist?¡±


    I nodded at his words, and soon noticed as the two looked shocked at each other for a long time, then the guard¡¯s eyes started to get watery as he pounced at the boy and hugged him.


    ¡°THAT¡¯S GREAT XIN! YOU CAN BECOME A SPIRITUALIST!¡± He said in an emotional tone which shocked me as tears flowed from his eyes.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Brother¡­ Let go!¡± Xin said while becoming embarrassed and trying to free from his brother¡¯s hug, but he still looked shocked. ¡°Me¡­? A spiritualist¡­? Like Lia?¡±


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    For a moment he simply stared at me, probably trying to digest the information, but after a few seconds his eyes started to burn with an energetic fire as he raised his fists towards me.


    ¡°I¡¯M GOING TO BECOME AN EVEN STRONGER SPIRITUALIST THAN YOU! YOU HEAR ME?¡± He shouted at me before darting away. ¡°I¡¯M GOING TO FIND A MASTER FOR MYSELF!¡± He said while running away.


    ¡°Where the hell will you find a master, you fool...¡± The guard said with no hope of being heard before turning to me. ¡°Is what you said¡­ True?¡± He asked me, and I simply nodded with wide smile. ¡°I see¡­ Why didn¡¯t you say anything earlier?¡±


    ¡°Because I didn¡¯t know what it meant?¡± I said while tilting my head. ¡°I only learned about spiritualism recently.¡± Besides, if i remember right, there were a couple of other kids I knew that might also have talent. Well, I think, they do have a more lively and abundant energy than the usual people you see walking on the streets¡­


    ¡°I see...¡± The guards said before kneeling in front of me, getting me by surprise. ¡°I¡¯m going to see that Xin is tested. If what you said is true¡­ Do know that our family shall be forever indebted to you, Lia.¡± He told me in a solemn tone before raising and walking away.


    I looked at him in shock as he walked after his little brother who since long had disappeared behind a corner. Watching the scene in confusion over their overreaction, I caught sight of Ping who had a satisfied smile in her face.


    ¡°It¡¯s good to see someone who actually reacts the usual way when finding that they have talent.¡± She said with a relaxed tone.


    ¡°That¡¯s the usual?¡± I asked while looking at her in confusion.


    ¡°Yes. The fact that you barely minded being a spiritualist is very odd by itself, Little aide.¡± Ping said with a nod. ¡°Anyway. Do you need me to take you home or can you find your way there?¡± She asked while changing topics.


    ¡°Hmm¡± I shook my head. ¡°I know where father¡¯s smithy is. Thanks for everything, miss Ping.¡± I told her with a smile. It had indeed been an interesting day, even if i spent most of it simply washing clothes.


    ¡°It was nothing.¡± She said with a quick nod. ¡°Do remember to come back early tomorrow so we can resume your training, okay?¡±


    I nodded before giving her one last goodbye and walking away. It had been quite an exciting day, so I was a bit more cheerful than usual, making me hum a song from my previous life as I walked. I couldn¡¯t quite remember what it was about, but the melody was still fresh in my mind. {E/N : It¡¯s an MH¡¯s bgm for all I know, knowing Warhawx¡¯s obvious liking of MH}


    While happily skipping my way, I quickly reached the wide avenue that had once separated my territory from the uncharted lands and quickly crossed the gap as I watched the setting sun.


    Reaching my home-turf, some of the merchants started to recognize me, and one or another would call me to ask where I¡¯ve been. I told them that I ended up sneaking on Tian¡¯s mansion and discovered that I had talent as a Spiritualist. This made many of them stare at me in shock for a long time which left me doubtful.


    Is being a spiritualist really that much of a deal? Maybe I really am underreacting to this whole story?


    My answer came the moment that I reached the smithy and knocked on the door.


    ¡°Who¡¯s it?¡± A gruff and intimidating voice came from within, sounding so tough that even a bandit lord would fear about replying.


    ¡°It¡¯s me, Uncle Lao.¡± I shouted back.


    It took him one quarter of a second to open the door. A bit more than the usual.


    ¡°LITTLE LIA!¡± The gruff voice now sounded ridiculously mellow as the owner came to hug me.


    A large man, as large as a bear, as strong as a bear, as smart as a bear and even tougher looking than a bear appeared from behind the door. Being easily the biggest of my father¡¯s assistants, he was easily at two and something meters high, and could probably kill a bull using his fingers alone.


    And he was also one of the guys that spoiled me the most.


    ¡°Is it true, little Lia?¡± He asked me while giving me a bear hug and taking me inside where the air was about as warm as fire. ¡°Is our little girl really going to become a Spiritualist?¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡± I said with a short nod, and the big burly men started crying like a little girl while hugging me.


    ¡°Waaah! MY LITTLE LIA IS BECOMING A GREAT GIRL!¡± He said while crying loudly.


    ¡°GODDAMIT LAO! WHY DID YOU GO AND DO THAT!¡± Someone shouted as a piece of metal hit the man on the back of his head.


    ¡°YOU BUSTED THE SURPRISE YOU BLOODY IDIOT!¡± Another one shouted, getting my attention as I saw that all the blacksmiths were gathered on the store.


    I looked at them in shock for a moment before finally understanding what was happening and opening in a wide smile.


    ¡°Bloody bastard.¡± My father said while kicking the unconscious Lao that fell on his back before turning to me. ¡°Oh well¡­ Congratulations for becoming a spiritualist, dear.¡± Father said while crouching and petting me. I smiled widely while feeling his large hand petting me.


    ¡°Thanks daddy.¡± I told him while hugging him before turning to the others. ¡°Thank you, uncles!¡± I said in a loud voice.


    ¡°UOOOH! THE PRINCESS THANKED US!¡± ¡°I FEEL THAT I COULD WORK FOR DAYS RIGHT NOW!¡± ¡°MARRY MY SON LIA! WE¡¯LL TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOU!¡± ¡°LET¡¯S MAKE HER OUR GODDESS!¡± ¡°WAAAH! LITTLE LIA IS SO CUTE RIGHT NOW!¡± ¡°SHE¡¯S GROWING SO FAAAST!¡±


    The grown men all started to shout like little kids, and I even heard a slightly disturbing idea coming from one of them, but I decided that it was just me hearing things.


    I smiled happily at all the blacksmiths who were making such a fuss for me. Probably all the lack of excitement I had when discovering that I had talent as a spiritualist came here. While father started to scold the one asking to marry his son, one of the other blacksmiths came to us while carrying something folded inside a cloth.


    ¡°Here Lia! We made this for you as a congratulations!¡± The man said while lifting the cloth to me.


    I looked at it confused for a moment, but when father made a nod for me to pick it up, I quickly extended my hand and grabbed the strange object in my hand before unfolding the light cloth from around it.


    ¡°Eh? This is¡­¡± I said while looking at the object in my hands.


    ¡°This will be your first blacksmithing hammer!¡± Father said proudly. ¡°I decided to make it for you since you were...¡±


    ¡°Bullshit! You made it the day you heard her say that she wants to be a blacksmith!¡± One of the smithies interrupted him, making me chuckle.


    ¡°Goddammit Xiao! There was no need to tell her that!¡± Father said while throwing his hammer at the guy, his face red from embarrassment.


    I giggled a bit more before hugging his head.


    ¡°Thanks daddy! I love you!¡± I said cheerfully. ¡°Does this mean that you will start teaching me?¡± I asked excited.


    ¡°No. That¡¯s for when you are older. No changing this one.¡± Father face¡¯s suddenly came closer as he said in a firm tone.


    I pouted at his words while looking angrily at him.

 11th Chapter - Limitations

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. Sorry for the delay, but here is the chapter!


    Today we see me trying (and probably failing miserably) to make an interesting and comprehensible Qi system to this world. I do know that I¡¯m probably screwing myself over with the way I did it, but¡­ Oh well.


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    It was the following day after I received my hammer from father. After following father up to his workshop, I quickly gave my goodbyes to him before walking towards Tian¡¯s house. On the way there I managed to get myself a couple of the strange candies as a freebie.


    After almost losing my way due to the unknown territory, I arrived at the mansion a bit later than what I originally planned. Still, it shouldn¡¯t be any later than eight o¡¯clock or something, so It should still be fine.


    Once I got to the front door, I saw a couple of guards standing on each side of the main gate, as soon as I got close to them, they sent me a quick gaze before widening their eyes.


    ¡°Are you the one called Lia?¡± He asked surprised, and I nodded confused. ¡°Then you may come in. Master Roshi is at the back of the garden waiting for you.¡± He said while making a signal.


    A guard on the other side of the gate opened it and gave me passage. I thanked them briefly before turning my attention to the path I would have to take to reach Master Roshi, but I still managed to hear the guards saying.


    ¡°When miss Ping said that all I had to do was to look for one of the cutest girl around, I thought she was joking.¡±


    I felt a smile creeping up my face, but I couldn¡¯t be sure whether it was a proud or an awkward one. As much as I like abusing my cuteness, it still feel a bit strange to hear other refer to me as a cute ¡®girl¡¯.


    I quickly shook my head to remove the thought. Even if I started to mull over it like I had been doing some years ago there¡¯s nothing else I can do about it, so let¡¯s go back into doing something a bit more productive with that.


    Let¡¯s abuse my cute looks to get more freebies!


    Nodding to myself in agreement, I sensed as Tian¡¯s and Roshi¡¯s spirit entered my range, so I quickly hastened my steps and reached them, finding the two in the same position as I found them on the previous day. Both sitting on the ground in front of each other.


    As soon as I approached them, Master Roshi turned his gaze towards me and smiled, which soon led into Tian opening her eyes and turning to me.


    ¡°Cute plebeian! So you have finally come!¡± Tian said with a satisfied smile.


    ¡°Am I late?¡± I asked while sitting besides her.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t really give you a time to arrive, so no, you are not.¡± Roshi said while shaking his head. ¡°But it would be beneficial if you were to arrive a bit earlier, as training is more easily done during the early hours.¡±


    As he said that I nodded a bit weakly. That might be a bit difficult to me, since I only arrive at the city together with father around this time, and I really don¡¯t want to start hurrying him up just for me. But then, I will start living here soon enough, so no need to worry too much.


    And I won¡¯t say something like: ¡®After that everything will go well!¡¯ I¡¯m not a fool to go and jinx everything with that phrase.


    ¡°Well, should we begin then?¡± Roshi asked me, so I nodded quickly. ¡°Lady Tian, you may continue with your training meanwhile.¡± Tian nodded at his words before closing her eyes. Was she still doing that energy sensing training? Should be. ¡°Now, Young Lia. Yesterday I took my time to think of a possible training schedule for you, but I found it a bit difficult to do so when all I knew was that you had talent, but had no idea of what you could actually do.¡± As he said that, I nodded slightly


    ¡°Then, what do I do?¡± I asked him slightly anxious.


    ¡°Right now I want you to tell me anything you have related to your spirit, and if you had any breakthrough in your life.¡±


    ¡°Breakthrough?¡± I tilted my head confused.


    ¡°Breakthrough is what happens when someone raises a rank as a spiritualist.¡± Roshi explained briefly. ¡°If I had to explain it, it¡¯s something akin to having your mind suddenly becoming unclouded and your body cleansed.¡±


    I stopped to think about what he said, trying to remember if I felt like that any time in my life, but after some time I shook my head. From what I remember, I never had that sensation before.


    Roshi nodded while looking in deep thoughts, but for a moment I swore that he had a slight relieved look in his face. Afterwards I also told him that I could somehow control my energy within me, and this made him widen his eyes in surprise for a moment.


    ¡°That¡¯s great news!¡± He said with a satisfied nod. ¡°That step, along with sensing is one of the hardest to take for a beginner. It¡¯s almost like you were born ready to be a spiritualist!¡± He said satisfied, making me look at him in wonder.


    Well, I couldn¡¯t really tell him that i¡¯ve been training to move my energy around since I was one year old or something like that, can I? Hiding my dilemma behind a smile, I nodded at him.


    ¡°So, have you reached the step of melding your spirit into qi?¡± He asked me after taking some time to think, but this time his words left me confused, so I tilted my head. He nodded satisfied. ¡°It seems like I will need to start with some theory.¡±


    I nodded in accordance while making sure to hear what he was about to say, listening intently to his words.


    ¡°For us, spiritualist, there are three main types of spirits we must always keep in mind.¡± He lifted his hand and raised one of his fingers. ¡°The first is what we call the Inner spirit. This is the spirit we find within ourselves, the one that defines whether we are spiritualists or not, and what defines to which of the four elements lies our affinities. This spirit is present within all beings, be them human, plants, animals or even Spirit beasts.¡± That term again, I really should ask what it means¡­ ¡°This type of spirit is extremely resilient and resistant to changes. That¡¯s why one usually have to spend such a long time to reach his desired affinity, but this also makes it extremely predictable and practical once you learn how to control it.¡±


    ¡°The second type of spirit is what we call the Worldly spirit.¡± He said raising his finger up to the air. ¡°This is the spirit that¡¯s nowhere. It¡¯s the one you feel flying freely in the air, going and doing whatever it so well pleases. Compared to the Inner spirit, this one is much more whimsical, does not have any type of affinity whatsoever and can easily be altered with but a thought. That is, if you can control it.¡± He smirked slightly at the words. ¡°Also, the worldly spirit is just as likely to be controlled by you as it is likely to be controlled by the adversaries, even if you were the first one to reach for it. This make them extremely difficult to be used on real situations where you have an adversary. In comparison, it is infinite, which is a great advantage compared to the limited Inner spirit.¡±


    At these last words of his, I felt as something clinked within me, taking me back to when I was about to reach my first full year of life. Mother, who kept doing something with her vast spirit that slowly led to her losing almost half of it over the time.


    ¡°Then...¡± I somehow managed to hide my worried tone. ¡°Does this Inner spirit deplete if used too much?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Roshi nodded satisfied with my curiosity. ¡°But usually, one only need a few good nights of sleep to recover it completely.¡±


    ¡°Even if I had a looot of spirit?¡± I asked while spreading my arms wide to make my point.


    ¡°Yes. Even then.¡± Roshi said with a nod. ¡°The more one trains his spirit vessel, the faster it starts to recover, so usually the time doesn¡¯t change all that much.¡± He stopped to think for a moment before continuing. ¡°From what I remember, Master Tong Yian, the one leader of the Crane Clan and the owner of the largest spirit vessel spent all of his Inner spirit in an training routine, but after a week he was already back in full shape.¡±


    This¡­ Was strange. If one week was all that took, then why did mother run away during that day. And from what I could feel, her spirit wasn¡¯t even regenerating at all. Frowning when I thought about this, I looked back at master Roshi, doubtful Whether I should make the question or not.


    If I became too insistent on this topic, it might arouse some suspicion, and i¡¯d rather not cause an commotion if possible. But this might be my best chance at finding out why mother left us....


    ¡°Is there any way to empty your Inner Spirit then?¡± I asked after noticing that the doubt would consume me if I didn¡¯t make the question.


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    ¡°Well...¡± Roshi looked a bit at loss with my last words. ¡°There are a few occasions...¡± He stopped himself by shaking his head. ¡°Before that, you need to learn about the last type of spirit. The one we call Essence Spirit. Or, as some other likes to call it, Qi. This one, different from both the Inner and the worldly spirit as it is not found on nature itself.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t find it on nature?¡± I asked confused making him nod. ¡°Then, how do we get it.¡±


    ¡°Good question.¡± Roshi said with a nod. ¡°Qi is generated once a spiritualist, or someone who aspires to be one mingles his own Inner spirit with the Worldly spirit around him. This way he can use the advantages of both spirits with almost none of the downsides.¡± He said proudly. ¡°This one is the mostly used by Spiritualists due to its versatility, practicality and ease of use. Due to how widespread its usage is, most of the non-practitioners end up confusing it with the Inner spirit, as both are stored within the body of the spiritualist.¡±


    I widened my eyes briefly in surprise before nodding in accordance. This whole spirit talk was surprisingly more profound than what I had originally thought. While I slowly digested this information, I saw as Roshi smiled wryly.


    ¡°And I really am speaking all of this to a four years old...¡± He gave a long sigh as if he couldn¡¯t believe what he was doing. ¡°Sometimes I completely forget your age thanks to how easily you get all this information¡­¡± He shook his head with a wry smile briefly before continuing. ¡°When one is creating Qi, there are a few different techniques one can use, each with its own merits and demerits. For beginners like the two of you, usually all you need is to let the two mingle naturally, but once you travel further through your path, you will start to use more specific refining techniques. Some of them, might even bring about grave side effects.¡± His face suddenly became grim. ¡°For example, there¡¯s a technique that was said to be lost hundreds of years ago called ¡®Field of three thousand blossoms¡¯,¡± Whaa! What a corny name! ¡°and the little records we have from that technique says that it leave one¡¯s spirit vessel unusable according to the amount refined.¡±


    ¡°And why would someone do such barbarity!¡± The one who asked angrily wasn¡¯t me, but Tian who suddenly opened her eyes before blushing slightly and notice that she was being unsightly.


    ¡°Because, Miss Tian.¡± Roshi said with a gentle smile. ¡°Sometimes, normal refining methods aren¡¯t enough to reach the desired result. Comparing a basic refining method to one of these high-grade methods is like comparing a piece of glass with a piece of diamond. Even if they look the same, the result is completely different.¡±


    Then, for some reason mother needed a much more refined qi than the one that other techniques could generate? Is that why her energy started to dwindle? But why? As I felt that more questions were added to the mystery that was the disappearance of my mother.


    ¡°Does that answer your question?¡± Roshi asked me, and I nodded.


    ¡°Yes. I think that¡¯s all.¡± I said seriously.


    ¡°Good.¡± Roshi said with a nod. ¡°Well, lastly I will tell you the relation of Qi and breakthroughs. You see, a person¡¯s body can only hold a certain amount of Qi at any certain time. This amount is limited both by the Spirit vessel of a person, as well as how many breakthroughs each person has gone through. That¡¯s why it¡¯s important to train not only your Vessel, but also aim to constantly achieve breakthroughs.¡±


    ¡°Are breakthroughs difficult?¡± I asked noticing how much he was emphasizing that fact. He smiled slightly for a moment before shaking his head.


    ¡°The earlier ones, no. To achieve your first breakthrough, all you need is to fill your body with Qi for the first time.¡± He said in a gentle tone. ¡°However, once you start to reach higher levels, you might need some more specific methods, like meditating in specific places or using another method.¡±


    ¡°I see...¡± I said while nodding. ¡°Then, all I need to do is pull a lot of¡­ Worldly spirit within me?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Exactly. Easy, right?¡± He said, and I nodded.


    ¡°But¡­ How do I do it?¡± I asked after some time thinking.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s where your training begins.¡± Roshi said with a nod. ¡°Since your sense is so sharp, I think it will be better for me to simply show you instead of trying to explain, so try to copy what I do, okay?¡±


    As he said that, I nodded and closed my eyes so that I could better focus on the spirits around me. Soon after, I felt as master Roshi¡¯s Inner spirit started that routine of converting a small part of it into a thin tornado-like vortex and gently reach out towards the worldly spirit outside.


    Watching carefully, I made sure to try and decorate every step he took. First he would separate slightly a piece of his spirit and start spinning it around slowly. This made it thin out before he guided it outwardly.


    ¡°Why do you make it so thin?¡± I asked while feeling a bit confused. Mother did the same, but wouldn¡¯t reaching out with more spirit make it easier to mingle with the worldly one?


    ¡°The answer for that is actually simple.¡± Roshi said with a smile, and just as the vortex was about to reach the energy around him, he stopped the spin around it, and soon it expanded out.


    And all the worldly spirit around it quickly moved away from his spirit.


    ¡°This may be the easiest step after sensing and moving your spirit, but it doesn¡¯t mean that you can do it without some guidance, you know?¡± Roshi said and I felt as his spirit receded into his body and he started the process anew. ¡°Both energies repulse each other when in large amounts. That¡¯s why we have to produce Qi on our own, and don¡¯t find it around the nature.¡± As he extended his spirit out once again, his Spirit and the worldly spirit touched each other, and soon he began pulling it back into his body. ¡°But the moment they touch each other, a small amount of Qi is formed immediately, and this Qi can pull the worldly spirit with itself. This is why we can attract it back to ourselves. Now try yourself.¡±


    I nodded as he gave me the task, and soon started to focus on my own spirit. Firstly, I started to move around my energy within my body, trying to form a vortex just like Roshi did himself. Firstly I separated a part of the energy within me only enough so that I could start the vortex.


    It took me a few tries before I finally got it right and managed to form the small vortex within my arm. Feeling as it moved around within my body, I slowly started to move it away towards the edge of my hand.


    Then, it reached my skin.


    ¡°Hmm...¡± I frowned a little as the usual feeling assaulted me. ¡°Neeh, master Roshi.¡± I asked while opening my eyes. He opened his own eyes and looked at me in curiosity. ¡°How do I make the spirit pass my skin?¡± I asked confused.


    After all, ever since I started fiddling around with my energy, I never really managed to get it any further than my skin level. I thought that maybe by making the vortex as he had showed I would be able to pass that level, but¡­


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± He asked me confused.


    ¡°Well¡­ I can¡¯t make my spirit go any further than my skin. Is there any trick to this?¡± I asked.


    But all I got was a confused face from Roshi.


    ¡°I¡­ Never heard of that before.¡± He said frowning. ¡°You can¡¯t make your spirit pass through your skin?¡± He asked me, and once again nodded.


    However, he only looked even more confused than before and started to look at me for a long time, as if trying to understand my words. After some time he finally shook his head and gave up.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I have no idea what you are speaking.¡± He said with a confused face. ¡°That¡­ Just doesn¡¯t make sense. Skin? Stopping Spirit?¡± He started to stroke his beard for a few moments before once again looking at me and standing up. He put his hand on my forehead and once again focused himself. ¡°Show me what¡¯s happening.¡±


    I nodded and quickly repeated the process I made previously, and I felt as the spirit clashed against my skin, unable to pass through. As soon as it happened, Roshi¡¯s spirit seemed to flicker for a moment.


    ¡°This¡­ Doesn¡¯t make sense...¡± He said while frowning. ¡°Why would something like this happen at all?¡±


    I shrugged in confusion and quickly dispersed the energy while looking at Roshi. He opened his eyes and looked around with clear grief in his face.


    ¡°This...¡± He said with a sad tone. ¡°I have no idea what is happening, but if we don¡¯t find some way to fix this¡­ You might be unable to practice Spiritualism.¡±


    Both me and Tian stared at him in shock for a time after the words left his mouth.


    ----


    Typer¡¯s room (Too): I bet most of you didn''t see that coming?

 12th Chapter - Cleansing the soul

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. Sorry for the delay, but here is the chapter!


    Well, for the first time ever in a Warhawx branded story, we have a bath scene! Hooray! Well, it isn¡¯t all that, though, and put mostly to leave clear Lia¡¯s place as the prey within the Household and show a bit of Roshi¡¯s luck with women. Anyway, I won''t say i''m good with this type of scene, so i hope it can be worthy your time... (^.^'')


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    ¡°This is...¡± Roshi said while frowning slightly. ¡°I don¡¯t think i¡¯ve ever heard of something similar happening before.¡± He said with a slight frown.


    ¡°Then, does this mean that the cute plebeian can¡¯t become a spiritualist, master Roshi?¡± Tian asked with a worried tone, but master shook his head slightly.


    ¡°We can¡¯t be so sure yet. There are some other things we could try. Besides, even if I didn¡¯t hear about something like this previously, I do believe a few acquaintances might have an idea on what¡¯s happening with young Lia.¡± He said with a nod. ¡°But while I try to get in contact with them, there are a few other things we could try.¡± He said while nodding to himself.


    After that he briefly taught me a couple of breathing techniques I should try, while trying to give my Inner spirit access to the outside. According to him, these techniques served to make the spirit more malleable and easier to mold, even if it reduced the overall quality of the resulting Qi.


    Leaving me and Tian to train by ourselves, I sat down quietly and started to try and get into the breathing style he had shown me. I couldn¡¯t help but feel that Tian looked at me with worried eyes, as if wondering whether I would be bothered by it or not.


    To tell the truth¡­ No, I wasn¡¯t really that bothered about being a spiritualist. Up to yesterday I barely even knew what a spiritualist actually was.


    Well, that said, it would be a lie if I said I wasn¡¯t at least a bit disappointed.


    ¡°Worry not, cute plebeian! Even if you are unable to become a spiritualist, your skills will still be of great use for my household!¡± She said to me. Probably trying to comfort me.


    ¡°Thank you, Big Sis Tian.¡± I told her with a brief smile before once again focusing on my training.


    Breathing deeply, I slowly started to achieve the rhythm that Roshi showed me. According to him, it was a very specific method, and only by managing to copy it to near perfection i would be able to see any result.


    According to him, it wasn¡¯t surprising when people took over one month to even reach a noticeable level of effect. Others could even take up to two months!


    I started to prepare myself mentally for having to spend my next one or so months training nothing but breathing. I really hope that it actually help somehow. As much as i¡¯m not all that bothered by this problem, spending a whole month training something that won¡¯t help me at all would be extremely frustrati¡­


    Oh, never mind. I can feel my spirit changing a bit.


    After noticing the slight change, I knew that I was getting close to the desired effect, after knowing that all I need to do was to make slight changes to the breathing to see how it would affect my spirit.


    It took me a whopping two hours to find the perfect rhythm, but after some experimentations, I also found out that the deepness of the breathing, time taking inspiring, time taken exhaling, all of this affected the result somehow.


    When I finally reached what I considered the maximum effectiveness, I could feel that my spirit felt a bit different from how it was before. Indeed, I found it a bit easier to move it around my body, but at the same time it felt that it wasn¡¯t as refined as before.


    Well, beggars can¡¯t be choosers.


    Thinking that, I started to try and manipulate my spirit into forming the vortex as Roshi did before. Afterwards, I once again started trying to reach for the worldly spirit.


    ¡­


    Master Roshi came back after around four hours had passed. The sun was almost reaching its peak, so me and Tian who were sitting in the sun had started to sweat a little.


    ¡°I sent a message to my acquaintances. We should receive the answer within a few days.¡± He said while approaching us. ¡°How goes your senses training, lady Tian?¡±


    ¡°I feel like I¡¯ve had great improvements, master Roshi.¡± She said proudly before frowning. ¡°But I¡¯m sure it¡¯s nowhere near the plebeian¡¯s level.¡±


    ¡°Hah! I doubt anyone would get near young Lia¡¯s level!¡± Roshi said with a cheerful laugh. ¡°What about you, little Lia? Any progress?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not working, master Roshi.¡± I said sullenly, making him laugh.


    ¡°I thought so. Breathing techniques might be a bit difficult for beginners like yourself, so no need to get worried.¡± He said while petting me as a comfort. I closed my eyes in pleasure for a brief moment before finally opening them and saying.


    ¡°That¡¯s not it, master Roshi. I did the breathing technique, but even then it didn¡¯t work.¡± I said while looking upward.


    ¡°Ha ha ha! I told you would have some problems... what did you say?¡± He suddenly stopped petting my head when the words finally sunk in and stared at me in shock.


    What? So if i get it right I lose my petting? I¡¯m going to fail more in the future then¡­ While thinking this kind of silly thought, I quickly went on to tell him.


    ¡°As I''ve said, I got the breathing technique right, but it was still blocked. Then I tried to find another techniques, but even those didn¡¯t work.¡± I told him as I saw him watching me in sheer shock.


    ¡°You¡­ How¡­ ¡± He looked at me shocked before finally shaking his head and taking a deep breath. ¡°Explain to me what you did.¡±


    I nodded before explaining to him the steps I took to reach the technique so quickly. Which mostly consisted of telling him that I noticed the changes earlier, and from there on it was mostly experimenting until I found the correct pattern. Basically, my ridiculous sensibility to spirit was something even more cheaty than my inborn spirit, according to Roshi.


    However, even after some more training, we didn¡¯t get anywhere closer to managing to solve my problem, so by the time we finally gave up, Ping appeared calling me and Tian.


    ¡°Lunch is served. Why don¡¯t you two come now so you can rest?¡± She asked, and both Tian and I nodded while raising from the ground and following the aid.


    It took me the record time of three point two seconds to receive a scolding because of my posture. While laughing at my situation, Tian seemed amused.


    ¡°Speaking of which, Lia, your afternoon shall be more aide training, okay?¡± She told me, and I nodded.


    ¡°Haah. The afternoon will also be tiring for you too, huh, cute plebeian?¡± Tian asked with a slightly tired tone. ¡°I have a meeting with my math teacher to tell the truth.¡±


    ¡°Math?¡± I asked curious, and she nodded.


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m learning two digits sum. It¡¯s extremely tiring.¡± She said while hanging her head. ¡°Plebeians like you are so lucky that you don¡¯t need to study this.¡± At her words I couldn¡¯t help but smile wryly. It¡¯s better that i don¡¯t tell her about multiplication.


    While Ping smiled wryly at Tian¡¯s confession, the young lady suddenly slapped her face as if to wake herself from the stupor and put on a wide smile.


    ¡°I have an idea! Before lunch, why don¡¯t we relax a bit! What do you say, Cute plebeian?¡± She asked me with shining eyes. I tilted my head confused for a moment.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Lady Tian¡­ If you keep doing that every day you might end up damaging your skin, you know?¡± Ping said with a weary sigh.


    ¡°Foolish thoughts, Ping.¡± Tian said proudly. ¡°Besides, it¡¯s my duty as a noble to give the cute plebeian the pleasure of such luxury.¡±


    Ping sighed once again, but it looked more like a big sister who felt helpless about her younger sister''s bad habit. Looking at the two confused, I couldn¡¯t understand what they were talking about, and by the time i finally understood, it was a bit too late.


    ¡­


    I had thought i had grown used to being treated as a girl, abusing my looks, using the fact that i¡¯m a girl against the boys and things like that. Besides, the obvious things, like gender difference, both physical and sociological.


    Well, complicated words aside, i just now met a problem that I hadn¡¯t met previously on my life as a girl.


    ¡°What are you doing, Cute plebeian? There¡¯s no need for you to become worried, as all I am doing is my duty as a noble to allow you access to this place!¡± Tian said while gently grabbing my hand and pulling me. ¡°Besides, the water is not too hot. It feels excellent.¡±


    Yeah. Baths.


    Actually, scratch that, it makes me sound dirty. It¡¯s not like I never took baths, I actually do take them around once every two days. Mostly because it¡¯s a luxury on this world, so not many people take baths constantly.


    The problem is slightly different, though.


    Tian and Ping are both here with me. This is the problem. Well, mostly Ping is the problem, because Tian, as smart as she is, is still only six years old, so at most I see her as a little sister. Ping on the other side¡­


    ¡°Come on, Lia. Since we are already here, might as well show you how to take care of lady Tian.¡± Ping said while looking at me.


    I nodded briefly while feeling my face flush slightly. Trying to take my attention off from the two, I quickly dashed towards the water and sunk myself while ignoring the pain from the hot water. Tian looked at me worriedly for a moment, but after I finally took my head out of the water, she became calmer.


    Ping looked at me confused for a moment before shaking her head.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be too excited to take a bath, Lia. Even here, taking care of Tian is your priority.¡± She said while slowly entering on the water of the large bath.


    I nodded while keeping my head down half covered by the hot water, which made my face flush slightly. Tian soon followed us while laughing loudly. But even with the three of us in the bath, it didn¡¯t really feel cramped, as the place was fairly large and could probably house around five or more people without feeling cramped.


    I should have kind of expected that this would happen sooner or later, but I was so convinced that I was already used to being a girl that I completely forgot about the fact that such things are possible.


    ¡°Lady Tian, if you would allow me...¡± Ping said while calling Tian. She nodded while turning her back to the aide. ¡°Lia, look closely because you will be the one responsible for doing this eventually.¡±


    I looked briefly towards the two before nodding and lowering my sight once again, with only something passing on my mind at that moment.


    They float!


    Shaking my head to clear it from impure thoughts about how the hell Ping managed to hide them with her robe, I quickly found a better angle to stay where Tian stood in front of any important spots that might be bad for my mental health.


    ¡°Haah. Skillful as always, Ping.¡± Tian said while Ping passed some kind of blue substance on the girl¡¯s hair. Was that some kind of shampoo?


    While thinking so, I sighed inwardly. It¡¯s probably better that I get used to this kind of situation, because sooner or later I will be the one following Tian on the bath. I once again cleared my head of impure thoughts towards my two benefactors and watched what they were doing.


    Well, truth to be told, there wasn¡¯t much happening. Ping simply passed the shampoo like thingy on Tian¡¯s head while gently rubbing it, then she took a soap and started cleaning Tian¡¯s body with it.


    Meanwhile, Tian simply made a face of someone who was thoroughly enjoying the process. After some time, Ping beckoned me to come over, which I did while trying to avoid raising my eyes.


    ¡°Now it''s your turn.¡± Ping told me while giving the soap. ¡°Clean lady Tian¡¯s back. This should be one of your easiest job, so I don¡¯t think I need to give much explanation, right?¡± I nodded while quickly turning back to Tian and gently passing the soap on her tiny back.


    Well, aside from the fact that her skin was soft, there isn¡¯t much to comment about what happened. She is still a KID.


    The problem came afterwards. Once we had finished washing Tian, I decided to get over quickly with washing myself so that I could get out as quick as possible. But¡­


    ¡°Now, it is my duty as a noble to help you just as you helped me.¡±  Tian said with a proud tone.


    ¡°Well, she is still too young, so a little help might be needed.¡± Ping said with a strange feeling to her voice.


    When I turned back to them, i noticed that both had a scary look in their eyes, as if they were staring down a prey.


    I didn¡¯t manage to escape in time.


    ¡­


    Never, in my entire memories of two life-time worth of remembrances, I could recall a bath to be so exhausting as the one I took this time. Not only it wasn¡¯t exactly relaxing, I was also being pulled from one side to the other by both Tian and Ping, who wanted to wash me themselves.


    Thankfully, after exhausting fifteen minutes of bath I was finally freed from my torture as Ping declared that we were done.


    At least the rewards were more than sufficient to me, as Tian decided to spend the last few minutes passing the shampoo on my head, which soon transformed into a petting session.


    Seeing the two of us enjoying ourselves on these last moments, Ping smiled gently before saying.


    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll go and prepare your clothes.¡±


    She quickly raised herself, which made me look away immediately, before walking out of the room. Tian sighed deeply, clearly bothered by the fact that she would have to let go of me, but finally took her hand off from my head and rose herself.


    Feeling a bit disappointed, I also prepared to lift myself, but the moment I looked back towards the door that led to the changing room, I saw as a shadow passed briefly through it.


    Call it instinct, but I immediately grabbed Tian¡¯s hand and pulled her back down into the water. Ping, however, was too far and I didn¡¯t have any way to warn her, because soon enough the door opened.


    ¡°Nothing like a good hot bath while the girls are enjoying their lunch!¡± A voice I was fairly familiar sounded after the door opened.


    After that, the atmosphere froze solid as Master Roshi saw the scene in front of him. Ping standing right in front of the master gave him full view of everything. Even from back here I could see her ears becoming red as a tomato.


    ¡°Eh...¡± The old man with only a towel around his waist asked surprised. ¡°Miss¡­ Ping?¡±


    It does not matter how powerful a martial artist might be, there¡¯s simply no way one is capable of escaping from the fury of a woman. Fact proven by the twitching old man that laid on the ground with a red mark covering both sides of his face.


    Worse yet. He truly was innocent, as one of the aides took out the ¡®occupied¡¯ sign we put in front of the bath¡¯s door while cleaning.


    Well, not that this helped to calm Ping down very much.

 13th Chapter - Small is better

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. Sorry for the delay, but here is the chapter!


    A mix of laziness and distractions made me delay posting this. Won¡¯t try to hide it, as that is what it was. Still, in this chapter we see a brother(sister?)hood doomed to failure, the defense of a lucky bastard and a slightly surprising realization.


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    ¡°T-Thanks for the save¡­ Cute plebeian...¡± Tian told me with a surprised voice. ¡°H-How did you¡­ Know he was there?¡±


    ¡°The range of my sense is just a bit beyond the door.¡± I told her with a wry smile. ¡°If I had sensed him earlier, I would have told Miss Ping too.¡± As I said that, I turned to take a look at the scene.


    Ping had already put on a towel around herself, much to my mental safety, and now was pummeling the unconscious master Roshi with a washing bucket. Smiling a bit awkwardly and deciding that it was safe already, I finally let go of lady Tian¡¯s hand and made my way to the dressing room.


    In there was the aide clothing I had used yesterday. I quickly put it on before anything else happened and then tucked my collar out. Tian arrived soon after and looked at me surprised for a moment, then she went to her own clothes and took them.


    She stared at the clothes in her hands for a few seconds before turning to me with a confused look in her face.


    ¡°Cute plebeian¡­ What do I do now?¡±


    Huh?


    I looked back at her for some time while she genuinely looked confused at me. It took me some self control to not start giggling while watching as she tried to unfold the clothes without much success.


    After some time I quickly took the clothes from her hand and unfolded it before opening it up and signaling for her to come closer. She nodded and quickly approached me while letting me dress her up with her fancy-looking robe.


    All the time she looked embarrassed for some reason.


    ¡°Even though you are younger than me, you already know how to dress yourself.¡± She said sullenly, none of her usual haughty tone present. However, her reason made me giggle slightly as I helped her up.


    ¡°Well, you know a lot more about politics than I do, so I guess we are even.¡± I told while smiling at her. This seemed to cheer her up a bit because she started going ¡®Ho Ho Ho¡¯ again.


    ¡°Yes, yes. I should leave complicated things like dressing to the plebeians so that I can keep them safe with my politics!¡± She said back to herself. ¡°After all...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s your duty as a noble.¡± I said to her, and she nodded happily while laughing loudly.


    I smiled happily after seeing her getting back to her usual self and quickly took a nearby towel and comb so that I could start working on her hair. This was a skill that was mercilessly drilled into me by mother¡¯s friend while I was growing, as she kept saying: A woman¡¯s hair is her life!


    But since Tian¡¯s hair was short, it took me only a couple of minutes to finish, different from mine that would take at least a few minutes just to dry off. Sighing loudly I sat down on a nearby bench and started to dry off my hair, because if I didn¡¯t, chances are that I would end up getting a cold.


    Seeing this, Tian who seemed at loss on what to do while waiting sat down besides me and started talking.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think i¡¯ve ever seen a necklace like that, where did you get it, Cute plebeian?¡± Tian asked me with curious eyes. To tell the truth, I did notice that she had been eyeing it from time to time during the bath.


    ¡°Mother gave me briefly before disappearing.¡± I told her while finally feeling that my hair was dry enough.


    ¡°I see...¡± She told me with slightly curious eyes. ¡°Is that why you didn¡¯t take it off even during the bath?¡± I nodded at her question, and she looked satisfied for a moment. I actually started to feel strange when I didn¡¯t have the collar on me, so I always kept it on me. Even during the bath. After some time in silence, Tian smiled a bit mischievously and turned to me. ¡°I couldn¡¯t help but notice something during the bath, Cute plebeian.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± I asked slightly intrigued by her words as I turned to her.


    ¡°I noticed that from time to time you would stare at Ping¡¯s...¡± She said with a mischievous smile which made my face go to a brand new shade of red.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Just your imagination.¡± I said while looking away and throwing my hair over my shoulder as if to comb it, but more so that I could hide my face from her.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think that these eyes of mine, meant to observe the plebeians I should protect, didn¡¯t notice it.¡± Tian said with a smirk. I turned my head away even more, but was forced to look back when she held my hands and stood in front of me with shining eyes. ¡°You also hate them, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡­


    What?


    ¡°Those huge package¡­ Why is it that she have them so big? There¡¯s no need for them to be big! They get heavy, become a bother and makes the column hurt, right?¡± She asked me with shining eyes.


    ¡°Huh¡­ Yes?¡± I said a bit at loss, but my words seemed to have pleased her, because she soon got me into a tight hug.


    ¡°Excellent! I knew you would agree with me!¡± She said with a cheerful smile. ¡°Then, from today on I mark the birth of the Small-is-better faction!¡± She took my hand and rose it high.


    Feeling a bit confused, it took me almost a minute to understand what she meant. When I did, I felt my face cramping up slightly. Isn¡¯t she a bit too young to worry about that? She didn¡¯t even start to develop her body¡­


    Stolen story; please report.


    Well, I never saw her mother, so maybe she never had hope since the beginning?


    However, what truly bothered me was something else. Knowing my mother, I don¡¯t think I have much chance of staying in this group for much longer.


    Of course, I didn¡¯t tell this to the lady who seemed way too happy to have earned a new ally.


    ¡­


    After somehow dodging the sensitive matter that she insisted on talking about, she suddenly turned quiet when Ping entered the room while still fuming with anger. With one quick motion she took out the towel and put on her robe.


    She took a deep sigh while turning to Tian and said.


    ¡°Sorry for the delay Lady Tian. Let me...¡± She blinked surprised when she saw that Tian was already dressed and had her hair done briefly by me. ¡°Oh¡­ It seems that you already did it.¡± She said surprised while giving me a glance, I nodded briefly while diverting my gaze back to my hair.


    To tell the truth, more than once I thought about simply cutting my hair to decrease all the work I have to put on it every day, but when I voiced it out to father, all the men at the smithy went to their knees begging me to keep it.


    ¡°Well, now that the pervert is taken care of, shall we have our lunch?¡± Ping said with a loud sigh after drying her hair and tying it up.


    Tian and I nodded excitedly, as we both felt our stomach crying for food. we quickly left the room and followed a still frowning ping through the mansion, who from time to time would spit out a curse towards the old martial artist.


    Feeling pity towards the master, I cleared my throat so that I could get the attention of the head aide, she turned to me with an expression of surprise and I quickly said.


    ¡°Neeh, Miss Ping. Isn¡¯t it our fault that we met Master Roshi at the bath?¡± I asked putting on my best innocent tone. A vein popped up on her forehead almost immediately, but I still kept going. ¡°I mean, we told him we were going to have lunch, but then we went to the bath.¡±


    She blinked surprised for a moment and stopped to think. After some time she finally let out a short sigh and visibly calmed down.


    ¡°You are right...¡± She sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll apologize to him.¡± She stopped for some time. ¡°Later.¡±


    I nodded satisfied while following the aide once again.


    It didn¡¯t take us long to reach the dining table, which was painfully empty. Looking at it in a slightly depressed way, I saw as Tian sat down and almost followed her, but I was stopped by Ping, who tapped my shoulder slightly.


    I looked at her confused for a moment but soon understood what was happening, so I followed her as she took me into the kitchen where some other aides were cooking the food. Ping quickly called a few of the aides who had finished their job and made them take the dishes that were already done to the table.


    I quickly took one of the smaller dishes and copied them trying to keep the same pace and posture as the other aides. Which posed to be surprisingly difficult, because not only they kept their posture perfectly straight, they also kept a surprisingly fast pace of walk which I found difficult to keep up while keeping my posture like theirs.


    They also managed to reach the table without the food as much as moving around the plate.


    I never thought I would say it about aides, but they truly are in a whole different level. Sighing loudly to myself, I couldn¡¯t help but think that I would need to train a lot more than what I had initially thought.


    Following them we quickly reached the table, where I met master Bo who had already sat down on the table and talked about something with Tian.


    Following the aides around, I saw as they quickly put down the food on the table before walking away. I would have done the same, but I had a problem that I wouldn¡¯t be able to surpass no matter how much training I did right now.


    I passed the plate to Ping who was tall enough to reach the table then walked away to get more plates, a pout forming on my lips as I walked away.


    With my second trip done and my self esteem as a possible rising aide completely crushed, I looked towards Ping wanting to know what to do next.


    Much to my surprise, she smiled to me and motioned to the table as she and all the other aides quickly took a seat.


    I looked at them surprised, because from what I know, aides aren¡¯t supposed to sit down to eat together with the owners of the mansion. As I thought that, Ping motioned for me to sit next to Lady Tian as she explained.


    ¡°You see, Master Bo thinks that it¡¯s a bit too much to put down a dining area for the aides and the masters separately, so whenever there isn¡¯t any kind of guest, we usually sit down together. This way we save both time and space.¡±


    I nodded a bit stunned, but this did make sense somehow. Since there was no need to keep appearances within the household itself, I guess it does makes some sense to have everyone sitting together like this.


    I think¡­ I mean, I have no idea how high society actually works.


    Well, let¡¯s not think too deeply about it. I have literally a truckload of delicious looking food in front of me asking to be eaten, and I have only so much self restraint when it comes to this.


    So, the moment I took the chopsticks to start eating.


    ¡°Now, let¡¯s begin your lesson on table manners.¡± Ping said cheerfully, making me look at her in shock.


    And this day I discovered that the path to being an aide is probably much more complex than the path of being a martial artist. Besides, I ate almost nothing due to the time it took.

 14th Chapter - Too breezy!

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. Sorry for the delay, but here is the chapter!


    And yes, the Typer¡¯s room is mostly Ctrl C Ctrl V, as you guys probably wonder. Anyway, this chapter doesn¡¯t really happen much except the fact that the MC gets to complain a bit about skirts, not something all that new¡­


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    ¡°WAAAH! LITTLE PRINCESS WE¡¯LL MISS YOU!!¡± ¡°PLEASE, DON¡¯T GO! UNCLE WILL PET YOU ALL YOU WANT!¡± ¡°OUR LITTLE GODDESS IS LEAVING! OUR CHURCH WILL FALL!¡±  ¡°MARRY MY SON BEFORE THAT! IT¡¯S ALL I ASK!¡± ¡°STAY WITH US PRINCESS! DON¡¯T GO! WE ARE NOTHING WITHOUT YOU!¡±


    "NO WAY IN HELL I¡¯M GOING TO LET YOUR SON MARRY MY DAUGHTER!¡± Father shouted at the band of smithies while throwing his hammer at one of them with a scary precision. After making sure that the man was down for the count, father turned to me with a worried expression. ¡°But are you sure about this? Will you be able to take care of yourself?¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but smile a bit awkwardly for the Nth time father made the question today, as well the Nth time the other smithies did that scene. I accidently told father that now that my new robes were finished, Ping told me that I could start living at the mansion. It has been a few days already since I started my aide and martial artist training. Both of them.


    I¡¯m glad to say that I did improve a bit in my training as an aide. Right now I could somehow walk around with the correct posture most of the time, besides managing to wash one of the clothes well enough that Ping didn¡¯t even need to re-wash it. The rest of the basket wasn¡¯t so lucky, though.


    On the other hand, my training as a martial artist wasn¡¯t going as well, thanks to the deadlock that was the whole ¡®only until skin¡¯ thingy.


    However, Roshi said that he expects the answer to arrive within the next few days, so we should have an idea of what might have happened until then.


    Well, even though this usually should be happy news, the smithy became this kind of scenery the moment I mentioned that I was moving in to Tian¡¯s household.


    ¡°But¡­ It¡¯s only a few minutes away from here.¡± I told him with a smile. ¡°If I need anything, I can come and see dad and uncles.¡± I turned to the men and beamed a smile. They all stared at me in shock for a moment before letting out a loud sigh of relief.


    ¡°Oh, is that so?¡± ¡°And here we were worrying about nothing...¡± ¡°I thought you were going somewhere far away!¡±  ¡°So, my son still have a cha-Guha!¡± ¡°You never learn, do you?¡± ¡°Well then, back to work!¡±


    They recovered quickly, didn¡¯t they?


    Smiling wryly at their reactions, I shook my head slightly before turning to father once again. He still had a slightly worried frown on his face. Even if I sometimes acted a bit too mature for my age, it seemed that he still thinks of me as his daughter.


    I can¡¯t help but feel a bit happy at this. And a little bothered.


    Still, I nodded as to affirm him of my decision, so he took one last deep breath before nodding. Standing up from his crouching position, he quickly swiped his hand through the table besides him, picking up a large leather bag that I had prepared back at home before coming today.


    These were mostly clothes, so that I would have something besides my working robes to wear at the mansion. There wasn¡¯t much else I could take there, to tell the truth, as probably anything I could think of would end up having there anyway.


    Nodding, I quickly extended my arms out to him and he picked me up, putting me on his shoulder while we walked away. Taking my rare chance to get an upper view of the streets, I unconsciously smiled as the usual merchants greeted me.


    Thanks to father being way higher than me, his strides were also longer, so the path that usually took me around fifteen minutes to cross was complete in mere ten.


    On the front door stood Ping, standing motionlessly while looking at the streets.The moment her eyes met mine, she gave a brief smile and nodded. Father quickly dropped me down and handed her the bag with my clothes.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be entrusting my daughter to your care.¡± He said with a worried tone. Ping smiled gently and nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯ll make sure to groom her into a fine lady. You have my word.¡±


    I felt fairly inclined to tell her that there was no need to do that, but it would be a bit strange, so it¡¯s better to keep quiet.


    Father seemed to be a bit more at ease with her words, because he nodded satisfied and gave me one last worried look before kissing me on the cheek.


    ¡°Take care, okay?¡±


    ¡°Okay dad.¡± I said with a nod.


    ¡°And try not to be a bother.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t dad.¡±


    ¡°And make sure to eat well, okay?¡±


    ¡°As if I wouldn¡¯t eat well here¡­¡±


    ¡°And make sure to take bath at least once in four¡­ No, three days!¡±


    ¡°No need to worry about that too...¡±


    ¡°Also, try not to...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine Dad!¡± I finally snapped while pushing him away. ¡°Go back to work! You have clients waiting!¡±


    ¡°...Okay¡­ Okay...¡± He said while hanging his head and walking away. Heaving a long sigh I turned towards Ping with a wry smile, but before I could even open my mouth to speak. ¡°Also, try not to wear the same clothes for too long! And wash them...¡±


    I had to literally kick my father away before he finally left to the smithy.


    ¡­


    ¡°Your father really worries about you.¡° Ping said with a gentle smile as she took me to my new room.


    ¡°Sometimes I wish he wasn¡¯t. When I first went to the streets, he only let me go after making sure that I had my knees and elbows protected with leather protectors.¡± I said reminding myself of that day. A wry smile once again appearing in my lips.


    ¡°Wow¡­ That¡¯s a bit...¡±


    Ping also put up a slightly wry smile not knowing how to react to that. Shaking her head to recover from her distraction, she quickly cleared her throat and took a turn towards the main residential area. Hesitating for a moment, I stared at the corridor that took towards the servant area, but she simply smiled and made a motion for me to follow her.


    ¡°You see, Lady Tian was fairly¡­ insistent that you take the room near to hers.¡± The aide said with a ¡®it couldn¡¯t be helped¡¯ face. ¡°In her words¡­ ¡®this way it¡¯s easier to go and hug you if I feel like it during the night.¡¯ Or so she said.¡± Ping chuckled a bit while I felt at loss at the girl¡¯s selfishness.


    ¡°...Even though I had that idea before....¡±


    I heard that! Don¡¯t look away with those innocent eyes! I heard what you said there, Ping! Suddenly, I couldn¡¯t help but have the feeling that moving in might NOT have been my best idea so far. What before looked like a noble¡¯s mansion to me, now looked a lot more like a lion¡¯s den.


    Even more so when I suddenly noticed that the other aides were looking at me with hungry eyes. My first reaction would be to hide behind Ping for protection, but I didn¡¯t need to be a genius to know that it was just a fake safety.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    As the situation finally dawned on me of how much in trouble I was, we had thankfully reached the room besides Tian¡¯s, so I hurriedly entered it and started to unpack my bag. Most of them were either dresses, shirts and shorts, besides a couple of underwear and sandals.


    While I unpacked everything, I took a quick look at the room. It was huge! At least for someone my size. The wardrobe alone, if I took it down to the ground would be big enough for me to live in. The ground being made with a peculiar jade-coloured stone that was surprisingly warm to the touch and the walls made of the same white stone as the rest of the mansion. Besides the wardrobe there was also a small table near the window as well as a shelf for books and musical instruments.


    If this was the modern world, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised to find a wall-sized TV on the other side of the couple-sized bed.


    Ping offered to help me, but I decided to take this as a chance to polish my aide skills, so I earnestly folded everything nicely, just like how she had been drilling into me for the last days. once I was done, I took all of my ten or so pieces of clothing and decided to put them down on the lowests drawers.


    However, the moment after I opened it, I immediately slammed it back shut. Taking a deep breath, I rubbed my eyes and once again opened the drawer. And closed it shut once again.


    ¡°Neeh¡­ Miss Ping...¡± I said with a complicated tone. ¡°What¡­ What is this¡­?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Ping asked confused while approaching me and opening the drawer. Upon seeing the contents, she giggled. ¡°It seems that lady Tian really wants you here.¡±


    ¡°She¡­ She said¡­ Only one!¡± I said her in a worried tone, but Ping simply kept giggling.


    ¡°Well, an Aide can¡¯t have only one single working robe, right?¡±


    ¡°But, Isn¡¯t this expensive!¡± I said while pointing to the robes.


    And by robes, I mean a LOT of them. Not one, not two, not five. There were at least twenty different robes folded neatly within the drawer, all of them having that slightly mystical black with green reflection coloration that marked the expensive silk Spiritualists used.


    Paling while thinking on the sheer price of it, I saw as Ping cheerfully took one out of the drawer and unfolded it. However, it didn¡¯t take much expertise to see that such a robe would be too big for me. Besides, it still looked incomplete, as some of the sewing wasn¡¯t done yet.


    Ping widened her eyes before nodding satisfied and folding it back again. Then she quickly took out another one from the edge. This one was clearly a lot smaller than the previous one, besides being perfectly complete.


    ¡°So they also prepared some other robes for when you grow up, huh?¡± She said in a cheerful tone.


    ¡°Eeeh! Isn¡¯t that¡­ Too much?¡± I asked in shock. Not only the robes I¡¯ll use right away, even others for when I grow up? That¡¯s¡­ That¡¯s too much! There¡¯s absolutely no way I¡¯ll be able to pay them back!


    As I started to nibble my finger nervously, I saw as the head aide looked at me amused and gave a short nod while taking the robe to the bed, extending it to take a better look. This snapped me back into reality as I quickly opened another drawer that was thankfully empty and started putting my other clothes down.


    By the time I had finished, Ping was smiling at me gently. Probably feeling a bit of sympathy towards the ensnared me. I walked over dejectedly towards her and after a deep breath, started to undress myself so that I could put on my new robe.


    After stripping down to my shorts, I quickly extended my hand towards the robe. But Ping...


    ¡°No.¡± She said while using her finger to stop my hand. ¡°These robes are made under specific measures. Your shorts won¡¯t fit beneath it.¡± She told me with a slightly scolding tone.


    I simply stared back at her in despair, then back to the robe and once again tried to take it. But Ping stopped me one more time and put on a cheerful smile.


    ¡°No shorts from now on, little lady.¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°I hate it...¡± I said in a low tone while walking down the corridor.


    ¡°Really? I think it fits you rather well.¡± Ping said with happy smile.


    ¡°I still hate it...¡± I said while looking down and pouting.


    In the end, I was forced to wear the chinese-like dress with only a simple underwear beneath. The sensation of wind between my thighs was too disturbing to me and kept giving me shivers.


    ¡°It¡¯s too airy...¡± I said again while trying to push the lower part a bit lower, but not to much avail.


    Not that the chinese dress was short, it easily reached beyond my knees, so it was nowhere near being short, and in fact, after looking at a mirror, I had to admit that I looked really good in it.


    Being sleeveless, since I don¡¯t like long sleeves too much, it was made with that expensive silk, but had a silvery embroidery on the hems that I did not have the courage to ask what it was made of. After finally putting it on, Ping even went and took two pieces of my hair and made buns on each side of my head, but still leaving enough down to cover my back.


    If I had to say, I did look very cute, almost like a doll.


    But I still hate the sensation of wearing skirts. I sincerely have no idea how the hell those scottish men can use kilts.


    But then, kilts are manly as hell, so maybe there¡¯s some kind of trick behind it?


    No matter. What was important was, it seemed that my bashful appearances was driving some of the younger aides to craziness, and I¡¯m almost sure that one of them had a bleeding nose and Ping had to literally drag one away from me, or else I would have been suffocated by her hugging me, as I still wasn¡¯t strong enough to fight an adult.


    Lady Tian...


    Even she had to hide her predatory face behind the fan when she saw me. Not that it made much difference, as I saw how her eyes kept staring at me hungrily. The only one who had a mild reaction was, surprisingly, Master Roshi, who simply stroked his beard and said.


    ¡°Indeed, a very charming young girl.¡±


    And no, there wasn¡¯t even a hint of second intentions behind his voice.


    With that, I defined that my first place to escape should I ever feel endangered within the mansion would be close to master Roshi, then have him hide me


    While thinking so and nodding to myself, I couldn¡¯t help but notice as Tian and Ping stared briefly at me, before quickly crossing gazes. I felt a shiver going down my spine as I immediately understood that they were already planning ways to block my escape path.


    Thankfully, before any kind of agreement surged, Master Roshi, in a perfectly oblivious manner smiled and said.


    ¡°Well, now, why don¡¯t we get to our training?¡±


    Caught by surprise by his words, Tian and Ping both blinked surprised, but ignoring that, I quickly nodded and darted besides the Master who had, somehow, saved my life.


    For now at least...

 15th Chapter - Etiquette

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. Sorry for the delay, but here is the chapter!


    I kind of became really lazy and spent some time without posting, sorry about that¡­ So, as a way to bribe my way back into your good will, I shall make a double post today! (That, and I leave in a pretty mean cliffhanger here¡­)


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    Lady Tian and I were doing what we always did first thing in the morning. Sitting in the ground while focusing. Lady Tian had recently managed to reach an acceptable level when it came to sensing spirit, so she started to spend half of her morning training it, while the other half she spent training with molding her inner spirit.


    Meanwhile, I was still in the deadlock of trying to somehow manage to get the worldly spirit into myself. Sighing loudly as, for the Nth time already I failed in getting the inner spirit to reach the outside of my body. After noticing that I wasn¡¯t going to get anywhere else today, I decided to take a break, so I immediately relaxed myself and fell on my back, staring at the sky.


    I felt Tian looking worriedly at me for a moment before going back to her own training, as there wasn¡¯t much she could do for me either. Taking my break by watching some clouds in the sky and thinking something between nothing and random, I simply let my mind wander around freely, and it somehow made me think of what had happened to me in this life.


    Firstly, I resurrected as a girl with this strange spirit sense and a huge amount of spirit. Afterwards, I discovered that it wasn¡¯t my world but another one fairly similar, and that my mother was actually some kind of super-human being that can fly in the air¡­ Only to disappear half a year later.


    Then I grew up with my father and decided to become a smithy, but somehow ended up meeting with Tian and Roshi who decided to take me in and train me as a Spiritualist.


    Besides that, I did end up getting my mother¡¯s look, although I have my father¡¯s hair color, so I can say that I am quite blessed in the good looks categories, and have a fairly strong body.


    If I had to say something, I am quite glad with this new life, even with the whole girl thing, but the fact that I can¡¯t remember some important pieces from my last life did bug me a bit.


    Well, there isn¡¯t much I can do about it, I guess.


    Feeling refreshed after a brief rest, I quickly made my way towards the well of the house where I took out a bit of water to drink, then took a cup to Lady Tian, who probably was also getting a bit tired of training. But once I got there, Master Roshi had already returned and was talking something with her.


    ¡°Thanks, cute plebeian.¡± Tian told me with a wide smile. ¡°My throat had begun to ask for moisture.¡± She heartily drank the water and made a satisfied tone before turning back to Roshi. ¡°Back on the track, I do not believe that father would mind, Master Roshi. Besides, I heard that mother should be back home today, so it¡¯s a most fortunate happening.¡±


    Tian¡¯s mother? Thinking about it, I didn¡¯t really meet her previously, did i? Besides, I don¡¯t think I heard their family name, did I? There¡¯s so much about them that I don¡¯t know, and as I was musing about that...


    ¡°Oh? The first lady of the Lon-Ying clan? I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve met yet.¡± Roshi said while stroking his beard in a pensive fashion. And there¡¯s the clan name, convenient.


    ¡°Yes. Mother left to see her own clan a bit before you arrived, and only managed to return today.¡± Tian said with a nod before frowning. ¡°But didn¡¯t you visit the household previously?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but at the time your father was still single.¡± Roshi said with a cheerful laugh. ¡°And he was quite the ladies¡¯ man back at the day.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Tian said surprised, but didn¡¯t pursue the matter anymore.


    ¡°So, Lady Tian¡¯s mother arrives today?¡± I asked curious, and the purple-haired girl nodded in accordance.


    ¡°As well as one of Master Roshi¡¯s friend.¡± She added, which made me widen my eyes surprised. ¡°It seems that the one he sent the letter to got curious about your state and decided to come and take a look.¡± I widened my eyes a bit in surprise. ¡°And he will also bring his disciple with him.¡±


    Heeh. So Master Roshi¡¯s friend is coming here himself? That¡¯s a bit unexpected. I can¡¯t help but feel that this might be a bit too much for someone like me, but I can¡¯t really complain about that and be labelled as a stubborn ungrateful brat. Hey, it rhymed!


    ¡°Master Mo Lu¡¯s disciple also seems to be surprisingly talented. Just like you, little Lia.¡± Roshi had a satisfied expression. ¡°It seems that this will be a good generation for Spiritualists.¡±


    Hmm? From the way he put it, it seems that this disciple is on the same level as me. Then doesn¡¯t that makes him a genius, since I probably had some kind of cheat thanks to my senses?


    While thinking so, I decided that it might be interesting to meet someone like that disciple, so I couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit excited. He might even have an idea on how I could solve this problem of mine.


    ¡°Well, at least he doesn¡¯t seem to have the problem of taking his inner spirit to outside of his body, so he is probably a bit better off than you in this situation.¡± Roshi¡¯s smile changed into an slightly wry one.


    From the looks of it, it seems that he is still a bit bothered by my situation. Even more than myself if I had to say anything.


    Still, when he put my state with those words, I couldn¡¯t help but think about something a bit strange. However, before I could think of a way to apply my idea, Ping came to call us to have lunch.


    We immediately followed the head aide inside the house so we could have our meal.


    I did wonder a bit if as an Aide, I wasn¡¯t supposed to help with making the lunch, but Ping told me that she would refrain from letting me near the fire until I was a bit older. Seeing that there wasn¡¯t a reason for me to complain about it, I nodded satisfied followed them to the lunch table.


    Morning spiritualist training done, during the afternoon Ping was the one in charge of me, so I promptly followed her to the kitchen so that I could wash the plates.


    She nodded satisfied with my dedication, but as always, thanks to my height I couldn¡¯t help as much as I wanted, so I ended up being the one responsible for drying the dishes so that the other aides could go and store them away.


    I felt a bit disheartened by my situation, but seeing how the aides kept smiling encouragingly at me and that some of them would even pet me as a reward, I decided to keep doing my work the best I could.


    What? Petting does feel good!


    It almost feels like I¡¯m having some kind of impure thought when I think of it like that, huh? Anyway, since I wasn¡¯t the only one working, it took us only a few minutes to finish everything, even when so many people ate together at the table.


    After we were done washing everything, I turned to Ping while waiting for her to decide what I was going to do next. She took a pensive pose for a brief moment while deciding, but in the end she nodded and turned to the door.


    I followed her through the corridors of the mansion until we reached a door close by Tian¡¯s bedroom. She briefly knocked on the door a couple of times and awaited patiently for a couple of seconds before a reply came from there.


    ¡°Come in.¡± A female voice came from the room.


    We quickly opened the door and entered. In there we found lady Tian and an elderly woman standing in what looked like a big empty room, with only one or another object within the room.  Tian looked slightly surprised in meeting me here, but she didn¡¯t say anything and instead simply straightened her back and put on a serious look.


    The elderly lady looked at her and gave an approving nod before turning to us once again.


    ¡°Miss Ping. To what pleasure do we owe your presence here?¡± She asked us, but it was clear that she wasn¡¯t exactly pleased with us.


    ¡°Good afternoon, Miss Jia.¡± Ping replied in a perfectly indifferent tone. ¡°And all that I wanted was for you to also teach my young apprentice here, as she will be lady Tian¡¯s aide in the future.¡±


    Jia looked indifferently to me with an icy stare for quite some time before finally nodding in a dejected manner.


    ¡°If she¡¯s going to become Tian¡¯s aide, she will need some basic etiquette, I guess.¡± The old lady said with a heavy sigh and making a signal for me to come in. I nodded a bit intimidated by her coldness before stepping in.


    ¡°Good luck...¡± Ping murmured behind me in a low and slightly apologetic tone.


    I turned to her with a sad expression, but she only gave me a brief smile, which left me worried. Afterwards she walked away and I was left with Tian and Jia.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    Tian clearly looked happy to see that I was going to stay with her for this class, but Jia didn¡¯t seem all that happy with it. She didn¡¯t seem bothered either, so maybe that¡¯s a good thing.


    ¡°Well, I really don¡¯t see why we are starting this with you being so young. But if Ping tells me you are ready, it¡¯s not me who¡¯s going to complain.¡± Jia said with a sigh. ¡°Since you¡¯ll be Tian¡¯s aide, it means that your actions will reflect upon the household, so you must take care to not look unsightly. This is what etiquette is for.¡± The old lady started her explanation.


    ¡°Most of what you are going to learn in this class is so that you can keep up your appearances during most of your situations. This means keeping yourself calm and collected.¡± She explained briefly. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what you think or feel about the situation, as long as you keep a noble image during them, you won¡¯t be doing bad for the family. That, and there are some basic things you should know, like the proper way of sitting, eating, talking and so on. Since you are an aide, i¡¯ll only teach you the basics, and let Ping teach you the rest, as that¡¯s her specialty. Is this fine?¡±


    ¡°Y-Yes.¡± I said with a slightly intimidated tone at how brusque the old woman was.


    She nodded satisfied and then had me walk around a bit so that she could see if my walking method was correct. She looked slightly surprised, but she did praise me for keeping the correct posture.


    Afterwards she had me train how to keep a serious and unmovable face under situations, like being insulted, humiliated and so on. The reason for this, according to her, was that if we kept ourselves calm during such situation, the offender would end up looking a lot more like idiots than ourselves, so not only it helped keeping our figure as refined nobles, but it also helped us harm the opposing faction.


    But she also let clear that, sometimes, simply taking all these insults would end up damaging the household, so we should know when to draw the line and go for an open confrontation.


    This one was fairly easy for me, as I think of myself as quite cool-headed, and having most of my memories from my past life with me, I had a fair share of mental maturity. Tian, on the other hand, as mature and experienced she looked, she was still a kid, and would burst under pressure way too easily and start calling names back.


    On the other hand, while she kept having us walk, sit and stand properly, not only did she bombard us with the occasional surprisingly colorful stream of swearing and insults, she also kept teaching us how to refer to certain people from different positions, what words we should and should not use and so on.


    Physically, it wasn¡¯t anything too bad, but mentally I felt exhausted after around three to four hours of constant abuse, both in the emotional as in the informational way. Tian lasted a bit less, and within one hour already had smoke leaving her head.


    The elderly woman took a brief look at the window and looked at the sky with a slightly bothered expression. While she did that, I couldn¡¯t help but feel as the whole household had become a bit more energized, with the aides running around with regained energy. Jia sighed loudly and turned back to us.


    ¡°It seems we can call this a day.¡± She said with a nod, which made Tian widen her eyes in shock, and I couldn¡¯t help but notice a few tears appearing on the corner of her eyes. ¡°From the way the aides are running around, it seems that your mother have arrived, young lady. Go and meet her.¡±


    Tian nodded cheerfully before bowing to the old woman and darting away from the room. I quickly paid my respects to the elder, who waved away as if saying that I didn¡¯t need to worry about it.


    I had to run a bit before reaching Tian, who was already halfway to the door. When I reached her I finally slowed down my pace to match her, but keeping myself a few steps behinds as an aide should do.


    I¡¯m pretty sure she didn¡¯t really mind it, but I decided that it would be better to start and get used to this kind of thing, as I would probably have to do something like this very frequently in the future, should I stay with their family.


    Once she got to the door, I quickly took the head and opened the door for her. She blinked surprised before covering her mouth with the fan and laughing.


    ¡°Thank you, cute plebeian.¡± She said briefly before her noble mask once again fell down and she darted away from the door. Smiling awkwardly at my excited master, I followed her through the door and up to what looked like an open carriage.


    From the carriage that had barely stopped in front of the house, came down three people. One was a woman with a serious and noble air around her and looked extremely alike Tian, except that she''s older and has black hair instead of purple. Wearing a black dress that contrasted with her white skin, she looked extremely beautiful, and if Tian was to become like that, she would become gorgeous.


    Sadly, I understood why she was so desperate about the size of her upper part. Let¡¯s just say that both shared the same size.


    ¡°Greetings, Mother!¡± Tian said while standing in front of the woman with shining eyes. For a moment, I became worried because the woman looked coldly at her.


    Then a smile appeared in her face and she hugged her daughter with a silly smile. How can I say it¡­ The two are really similar?


    While watching the scene from afar with a small smile, the mother noticed me and gave me a slight frown.


    ¡°And who is this cute young aide?¡± She asked her daughter.


    ¡°This cute plebeian is Lia! She is the one I chose to be my personal aide.¡± Tian said cheerfully.


    ¡°It is my pleasure to meet you, milady.¡± I said while bowing to her. This seemed to please her, because she smiled and nodded satisfied.


    ¡°Oh, quite polite, isn¡¯t she?¡± She said with an impressed tone.


    While mother and daughter shared their news, the other two passengers of the car came down, so I quickly took note of them.


    One was an old man, much like Roshi, but instead of a magnificent beard as my master, his face was clean, but a long messy hair sprouted from his head all the way to his shoulders. He was also fairly short, being at most at Tian mother''s height, which wasn¡¯t all that big.


    However, his spirit was easily in par with Roshi if it came to size.


    The other one was a boy, around my age, maybe one year older. With light brown hair tied in a ponytail and wearing a blue robe and black pants, he had confident face while walking with his hands crossed on the back of his head whilst whistling a song.


    But I still noticed that from the moment he came down from the car he had been eyeing me, but not as a boy checking on a girl, but as if he was measuring me as an opponent. He also had a fair bit of spirit within him, but mine was easily more abundant than his.


    Crossing our gazes for a moment, I saw his master hit him in the head with an angry expression.


    ¡°Yulan, how many times do I have to tell you to not act so disrespectfully?¡± The old man said as his disciple crouched on the ground while clenching his throbbing head.


    ¡°S-Sorry master Mo Lu...¡± Yulan said angrily. ¡°It¡¯s just that...¡± He turned to me again. ¡°She have spirit equal to someone from the second star of the first heaven!¡±


    What? Second star of the first heaven? What the hell is that? And isn¡¯t he really sensitive to spirits? He was pretty much at half of my senses range, and from what Roshi said, that is pretty much at the level of a master! As I thought so, I saw as his master widened his eyes and stared at me in shock for some time before frowning.


    ¡°It¡¯s my pleasure to meet you, my name is Lia Liu Wang.¡± I said while bowing to them. ¡°And I¡¯m master Roshi¡¯s disciple.¡±


    Not only the two of them, but also Tian¡¯s mother looked surprised at those last words, because they stared at me for some time before Mo Lu finally nodding as if he suddenly understood what was happening.


    ¡°I see, so you are the one who has been having some problems, huh?¡± He said while looking me from head to toe. ¡°I see¡­ I see¡­ Where¡¯s the idiot Roshi?¡± He suddenly said while looking around. ¡°It may be better if I go have a talk with him.¡±


    I glanced briefly towards Tian, who gave me a brief nod as if telling that I could go. Nodding back to her I turned to the Spiritualist guests and made a motion for them to follow me.


    Letting the matter of baggage to the other aides, I guided them through the mansion until the room that Roshi used as a bedroom. We didn¡¯t really exchange many words, but Yulan kept whistling the music from earlier.


    Yet, for some reason I couldn¡¯t help but feel that the tune was strangely familiar.

 16th Chapter - The cutie and the retard

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. Sorry for the delay, but here is the chapter!


    As promised, double release! Today with some surprise Plot going on! Hooray! Well, this is mostly setting up for future plot, so it¡¯s not like anything will happen anytime soon. I also wanted to make the retard feel like those classic LN MCs, being a good-for-nothing muscle head.


    Still, not sure how Lia will relate to the guy, but I don¡¯t plan on any real romantic relationship between the two.


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    The boy and me stood in a slightly awkward mood as we awaited our respective masters to finish their talk. We awaited on the outside of the room, and having nothing better to do, we simply stood besides the door, each one on one side.


    I couldn¡¯t help but notice that he would take a peek at me every few seconds, and when I looked at him inquisitively, he would immediately turn away with a slightly embarrassed face. This happened quite a few times, and after finally getting bored out of his mind, he started whistling a music to calm himself.


    However¡­


    ¡°I like that music.¡± I told him with polite smile. He almost choked when I spoke to him, and before I could go on, he turned to me with his finger pointing straight at me.


    ¡°Look, I¡¯m not into little girls, so stop right there!¡± He said in a mix of anger and embarrassment.


    Well, let¡¯s just say that the one who got angry this time was myself. Feeling a vein popping up in my forehead at this little overconfident twerp, I approached him with a smile that didn¡¯t quite reach my eyes.


    He took a step back afraid, before something suddenly dawned on him, so he took a step forward and stuffed his chest out proudly, as if he was making himself brave.


    ¡°Listen to the others before making assumptions!¡± I said angrily while bringing my fist to his head. However, he managed to grab my arm just in time, stopping the hit.


    ¡°Hah! Don¡¯t think you can land a hit on Ore-saguaaah!¡±


    I snorted proudly as my fist easily connected to his head, even with him managing to hold my hand I easily overpowered him. As I said, stronger than kids my age. Crouching while clutching his head in pain, he started to whimper in pain as I cleaned my fist on the hem of my clothes.


    Still, Oresaguaah? That expression is fairly familiar¡­ I wonder where I heard it before.


    No matter, there is something else I have to do before that. Grabbing the brat by the neck, I quickly put him back up so that he would stand on my eye-level. Smiling at him just to make sure that he wouldn¡¯t say anything like what he said previously, I cleared my throat and said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s try that again. I like that music.¡± I told him, seeing as he simply stared at me in confusion, I made a motion with my head for him to go on.


    ¡°H¡­ Huh¡­ Yeah...¡± He said hesitatingly.


    ¡°See, it wasn¡¯t so difficult.¡± I said with a cheerful smile. ¡°Now, mind telling me where you learned it?¡± I asked him, and this made him freeze for a moment as he considered his words.


    ¡°From¡­ From a place very, very far away.¡± He said with a worried tone.


    ¡°How far away?¡± I asked him, and he blinked surprised.


    ¡°Very. Very far.¡± He kept his answer cryptic, but for all he tried, this only served to make me even more certain.


    ¡°Like, the other side of the ocean?¡± I tilted my head, but he shook his.


    ¡°No¡­ A bit¡­ Farther away.¡± He said with a worried tone.


    ¡°How far are we talking about?¡± I asked once again with a smile.


    ¡°Well...¡± he stared at me for a moment before putting on a smug expression and shrugging. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t believe me even if I tol...¡±


    ¡°Another world?¡± I interrupted him, leaving him shocked for a few seconds as I looked at him.


    After that, he suddenly leaped backwards, opening a fair distance between the two of us and putting on a fighting pose¡­ Which even for my untrained eyes looked extremely amateurish. Raising my eyebrow confused at him, I saw as he put on an overly serious face and prepared to receive an attack from me.


    I let a few seconds pass in silence to see what he was going to do, but seeing that he only got tenser and tenser, I finally sighed and gave in.


    ¡°What are you do...¡±


    ¡°DON¡¯T TRY TO FOOL ME WITH YOUR SWEET TALK! I KNOW YOU WANT TO KILL ME!¡± He said in a loud and convinced tone. I simply sighed tiredly while noticing that our talk probably wouldn¡¯t go anywhere.


    ¡°And why exactly would I do that?¡± I asked him. He blinked surprised before taking the pose once again.


    ¡°Because that¡¯s how all reincarnation stories go!¡± He said in a decided tone. ¡°Any stranger who knows about me, either will want to become my girlfriend, or kill me! And you left clear it¡¯s not the first, you violent girl!¡±


    Deep breathing Lia. Let¡¯s not let the retarded twerp spend out your patience. While thinking so, I concentrated a bit on one of the breathing exercises Roshi taught me and quickly calmed down. Looking back at the boy, Yulan, I saw that his arms and legs started trembling as he stayed in the same position for too long, still waiting for an attack of mine.


    ¡°You idiot.¡± I said with a sigh.


    ¡°Huh?¡± He made a silly sound.


    ¡°Look, all I wanted is some information. If you at least took your time to listen to people...¡± I said while shaking my head. Afterwards, I turned my eyes to him, completely throwing away my whole little-girl act for good. ¡°Let me guess, you are a reincarnated person, right?¡±


    ¡°H-How do you know?¡± He asked me surprised.


    ¡°Because that music is familiar to me, even though I never heard it in this life.¡± I said briefly. He stared at me shocked for some moment, before finally tilting his head confused.


    ¡°Then, how do you know about it?¡±


    Okay, now it¡¯s definitive. He¡¯s an idiot. A downright and undoubtedly idiot. Staring at him with pity for some time, I saw as he felt uncomfortable under my gaze as a vein popped up in his forehead.


    ¡°Maybe, it¡¯s because I heard it in my previous life?¡± I said with a sigh. He tilted his head in confusion for some time before widening his eyes and hitting his palm with his other hand.


    ¡°Then¡­ You peeked into my memori-guaaah!¡±


    Yeah, I slammed his head once again. Seriously, there should be a limit to how idiotic a person can be. Besides, it¡¯s good to stop trying to pretend to be somewhat innocent.


    But, now that I think about it¡­ I haven¡¯t been doing a very good job at keeping my innocent girl mask recently¡­ I might need to work on that a bit more.


    Mulling over this to myself for some time, I finally decided to leave it for later and quickly pulled Yulan back up. He stared me with a mix of annoyance and fear, but his gaze didn¡¯t really make me all that annoyed, to tell the truth.


    I wonder if his master also have this urge to keep hitting his head¡­ He did do that when we left the carriage.


    ¡°What I mean is that I also have my memories from my last life.¡± I said with a sigh.


    He blinked surprised and soon his eyes changed into a pair of shining stars as he grabbed my hands in excitement.


    ¡°So you are also a fellow reincarnated person who will help me on my path of becoming a hero? But you can¡¯t do that because you¡¯ve been enslaved by this family, so you need my help to be freed? I see, I see. Then leave everything to Ore-sama who will save you from this situ-guah!¡±


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    ¡°Will you keep your mouth shut for at least one second?¡± I asked a bit worriedly. ¡°And why were you so excited with the idea of me being enslaved. You are giving me the creeps, you know?¡±


    ¡°Then¡­ You aren¡¯t enslaved?¡± He asked me, still crouching.


    ¡°Nope.¡±


    ¡°Nor do you need my help?¡±


    ¡°Why would I?¡±


    ¡°At least you will help me in becoming a hero, right?¡±


    ¡°No reason to.¡±


    After replying to all his questions, he suddenly became sullen and crouched down into a corner, where he started to doodle something with his fingers on the ground, murmuring words I didn¡¯t quite get.


    ¡°Anyway, I would at least want to get some information.¡± I said while lightly kicking his bottom, which made him get up with a yelp.


    ¡°You violent girl! Be a bit gentler will ya!¡± he complained to me. I simply stared at him and said.


    ¡°Be glad I¡¯m not doing it through the middle.¡± I said bluntly.


    He paled as he unconsciously twisted his legs inwardly and used his hand to protect the inner part of his legs. Smiling victoriously to him, I finally decided to get straight to the point.


    ¡°That music. Where is it from.¡± I asked him, and he blinked before stopping to think for a moment.


    ¡°It was from a western band...¡± He said with some thought. ¡°Can¡¯t quite remember the name, though. Why do you want to know? Don¡¯t you remember the music yourself?¡± He asked curious.


    I couldn¡¯t help but give a wry smile to him as a response before shaking my head heavily.


    ¡°Actually, no. For some reason a good part of my memories from my last life are missing. I only remembered the music when I heard you whistling earlier.¡± I confessed to him before looking at him. ¡°Are you the same as me, then?¡±


    ¡°Nooo¡­?¡± He said with a slightly confused tone. ¡°Huh¡­ I mean¡­ I have all my memories in here.¡± He said seriously for the first time, I nodded a bit weakly. I kind of had that feeling while watching his reactions. ¡°Huuh¡­ Does this means that you aren¡¯t part of the trial?¡± He asked confused.


    ¡°Trial?¡± Now it was my time to get confused. ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°Well...¡± He said scratching his head in an awkward manner as he chose his words. ¡°There was this strange guy who came to a bunch of us and said: Something something, win and get your wish!¡±


    Waah¡­ Did he just skip something important there? While staring at him and thinking so, he went on with his story.


    ¡°Then he said that we all would have to compete once we became old enough, and the winner get his wish realized.¡±  He said while crossing his arms and nodding, after a moment he widened his eyes and gave a smile. ¡°By the way, my wish is for me to have tons of girlfriends!¡±


    Great, I met a pervert. An idiot and a pervert at the same time . WONDERFUL!


    Shaking my head heavily with this huge (and useless) find I got, I noticed something in his words that kind of caught my attention.


    ¡°Hey, you said ¡®us¡¯, does this mean that there were others there?¡± I asked him curious, and he blinked surprised for a moment before nodding.


    ¡°Yeah. There were around thirty or so other people there, we all saw each other when the strange man was talking.¡± He told me with a thinking pose.


    ¡°Then, maybe I also spoke with that man?¡± I murmured, more to myself than anyone.


    ¡°Nah. I wouldn¡¯t have missed a girl as cute as you if you were there.¡± He said with a smug tone.


    I felt as my smile cracked.


    ¡°Well...¡± I looked away while trying to find my words, after some time I gave up and simply went with the truth. ¡°I¡¯m almost sure I was a man in my previous life...¡±


    He stared at me in shock for a moment, before a smirk started to appear on his face. It didn¡¯t take much longer for him to start laughing at me.


    ¡­


    ¡°What is happening here?¡± Ping asked as I approached her.


    ¡°WAAAH! SAVE ME, MISS AIDE! THAT GIRL WANT TO KILL ME!¡± Yulan shouted in fear as he hid himself behind her legs.


    ¡°Miss Ping. He said some very rude things to me!¡± I said while looking at her with upturned eyes. Ping flinched for a moment before stepping aside.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you did, but it¡¯s wrong to make a girl sad like that, young boy.¡± Ping said in a stern tone towards Yulan. He widened his eyes in shock before turning to me scared, now his innocence cover was no more.


    He turned his back to run again, but I quickly approached him and grabbed him by the neck, and with a swift movement, threw him in the ground face-first and bottoms up. Smiling satisfied, I quickly crouched down besides him as I took off my sandals.


    ¡°NOOO! NO MORE!!! MY BUTT STILL HURTS!¡± He shouted in pain as I started to spank him with a sandal like you would do with a bad kid¡­ Which wasn¡¯t all that different from what I was doing, actually.


    I did get the glimpse of Ping watching us with conflicting feelings. Probably because she felt like I shouldn¡¯t be doing something so violent, yet I shouldn¡¯t leave someone who said rude things to me free.


    However, before she change her mind, I had already finished my job, so I quickly shoved Yulan away and let out a satisfied ¡®hmph¡¯. But it would probably be better to change my sandals just to be sure. What if his stupidity is contagious?


    While thinking so to myself, I quickly took out my other sandal and started to make way to my room. With some luck, I should be able to reach Master Roshi¡¯s room before he gets out from his talk. While thinking so I quickly exchanged my sandals and put my old ones to wash.


    A brief moment focusing and I found out that Roshi and his companion were still in the same room as before, with Yulan standing guard outside once again.


    The moment I got close to him, he flinched and covered his rear with fear in his eyes. I simply gave him a death stare for a moment before taking my own position on the opposite side of the door.


    ¡°Oh yeah.¡± I said after thinking for a moment. ¡°It seems that your spirit sensing is also strong, did the weird guy explain about it before reincarnating us¡­ you?¡± I asked him, and he blinked before stopping to think for a moment.


    ¡°I¡­ Think so.¡± He said with some thought. ¡°Something like¡­ Since we never felt something like it, we might be more sensible¡­ Or something like that.¡±


    So, we are more sensitive to this weird sense due to the fact that we already have experienced our lives without ever feeling it? A bit weird, but I guess it does makes some sense.


    As I thought that, both Yulan and I felt as the masters inside raised from their seats and came to the door. Immediately going back to our original guarding faces.


    ¡°Lia, good news, but after some negotiations, I managed to convince this old man here to take a look at you!¡± Roshi said cheerfully while coming out.


    ¡°It¡¯s a hard bargain you drive, you goddamned fool.¡± Mo Lu said.


    They came talking as if nothing had happened, however, Yulan and I couldn¡¯t help but notice that both of them sported black markings around their eyes.


    What the hell were they negotiating in there?

 17th Chapter - Abnormalities

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. Sorry for the delay, but here is the chapter!


    Okay, time for some more information on her spirit situation! And before you guys come saying about the breathing techiniques and so on, I must say that I did read about them and found them interesting, so I¡¯ll probably work around with them later on. This didn¡¯t happen because this chapter was written some time ago, so forgive-me for that.


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    ¡°Yes, all you need to do is to keep doing what you were doing before.¡± Master Roshi told me as I sat down on our usual spot.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Okay then...¡± I said a bit apprehensive, but nodded nonetheless.


    After a brief look around, taking a passing glance at Yulan who followed us around, and Mo Lu, who had his hand on my forehead as he felt the flow of my spirit. I closed my eyes, started to focus on my inner spirit, and started to move it around, doing the same old routine that I did every morning when training. Taking a part of my spirit, forming a small vortex to thin it out, then slowly extend it outwards.


    But the moment it reached my skin, it hit an invisible wall and spread out.


    I showed them a couple of times how the same thing happened no matter where I tried to pass through, and after finishing my usual routine, I took a deep breath and opened my eyes once again. Mo Lu looked at me curiously while Yulan had a confused expression in his face.


    He took off the hand from my forehead and stared at it for a moment as confusion painted his expression. Looking at him worried for a moment, he turned his gaze towards me and said.


    ¡°You have a really supple skin.¡±


    It took Roshi a fraction of a second to land a punch on the other master¡¯s head, almost making his face meet with the ground.


    ¡°We are trying to be serious here, You Cranetard.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you take an effing joke, You Idiotoise!¡±


    As the two masters exchanged glares and made almost literal sparks fly between their eyes, Yulan and me couldn¡¯t help but smile awkwardly at the scene.


    ¡°They really get along well, huh?¡± I said.


    ¡°...Does it really look like that?¡± The retard asked me confused.


    ¡°Nope, but I felt that I had to say it anyway.¡± I shrugged.


    ¡°Oh¡­ Yeah¡­ It does looks like this kind of scene.¡± He put his hand on his chin in a thinking position.


    Well, jokes aside, even though the two masters looked like they were almost at each other¡¯s throat, in truth I didn¡¯t feel their spirits being moved around, so I could say that this was mostly some normal squabble between the two.


    It took some time and some exchange of silly sounding puns that probably should be offensive, but sounded so idiotic that they were actually funny, for the two to finally calm down, and Mo Lu took a deep sigh and put on a serious expression once again.


    ¡°Anyway, as you said, it really is a peculiar situation.¡± He said while scratching his chin. An action I found oddly familiar to the one Yulan made. ¡°It looks like someone put a seal on her body, but it¡¯s completely different from anything I¡¯ve ever seen.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Roshi asked the words that also floated in my mind while stroking his magnificent beard.


    ¡°Well, firstly, it seems that the seal only works on her. Proof of that was that I could analyze how her spirit moved without any problem.¡± Mo Lu said with a sigh. ¡°Second, is that the seal is¡­ Surprisingly weak, to the point I can¡¯t even feel its origin. Either that, or it¡¯s easily the best seal I have ever seen in my life, with absolutely no excess energy escaping.¡±


    ¡°That...¡± Roshi started before frowning. ¡°Are you sure that it¡¯s a seal?¡± He asked finally.


    ¡°I have absolutely no idea.¡± Mo Lu said suddenly, leaving us confused. ¡°This is too unique to even be called a seal or something. And worse, since my own spirit seems unable to interact with it, I am unable to actually analyze it, and I doubt the girl, even being a genius on the level of the retard¡­ I mean Idiot¡­ I mean, Yulan, I doubt she will have the experience to know what I would need to have her check on her own.¡± He looked at Roshi with a serious expression. ¡°I¡¯d say the chance of this being a seal is the same as it being a rare condition, or being whatever the hell else it could be.¡±


    ¡°Does that means that she have no hope for solving this problem?¡± Roshi asked, but Mo Lu simply shook his head with a slightly troubled smile.


    ¡°Technically, no.¡± He turned to me and gave an analyzing stare. ¡°As I said, either the seal, or whatever else it is, is very weak, or it¡¯s extremely well made. Whichever the case, if she were to become stronger, she should be able to break it naturally.¡± He frowned for a moment before turning to Roshi. ¡°Or at least I think so. There¡¯s also the chance that it might grow with her, and that would be troubling, to say the least.¡±


    ¡°But, before that happened, she would need to train anyway, huh?¡± Roshi said while seeming in deep thought.


    ¡°Yes, and my estimative is that she will need to reach the second heaven to be able to break it as it is right now.¡± I frowned at Mo Lu¡¯s words because a strange term squirmed itself in.


    ¡°That¡¯s the official naming for what we call second tier...¡± Roshi said with a wry smile. ¡°I always found it a bit too grand and vague sounding.¡±


    ¡°So you go around teaching your disciple the wrong naming.¡± Mo Lu added with a sneer. A vein popped up in Roshi¡¯s forehead, but he kept quiet.


    ¡°ANYWAY.¡± Roshi said before turning to me, and his annoyed expression became one of slight grief. ¡°For her to break the seal, she would need to train, but...¡±


    ¡°To train, she would need to break the seal, huh?¡± Mo Lu said with an annoyed tone. ¡°Yet the amount of spirit she holds within is already incredible. Even though she is your disciple...¡± he gave a death stare to master Roshi, who replied in kind. ¡°It would be a shame to deprive a genius like her of means to train. I¡¯ll look into it.¡± He said finally, leaving all of us shocked.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you couldn¡¯t analyze her situation?¡± Roshi asked confused, but only received a mischievous gaze as a response.


    ¡°I¡¯m not called Seal-King Mo Lu for nothing, you tortoise fart!¡±


    I kind of expected Roshi to go at him, but surprising us he actually smiled before bowing to Mo Lu and sincerely thanking him. Being caught off guard by Roshi¡¯s sudden sincere action, Mo Lu became slightly flustered and quickly cleared his throat.


    ¡°Still, it would be better to have her keep training, even if only superficially. This way the time while she is still sealed won¡¯t be wasted.¡± The master said with a slight uncomfortable expression.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Humm¡­ About that...¡± I said with a slightly shy tone. ¡°I had an idea abou...¡±


    ¡°Hey! If she can¡¯t take her inner spirit out, why don¡¯t she take the worldly spirit in?¡± A certain annoying person who had kept quiet all this time interrupted me.


    ¡°Shut up you retard! Isn¡¯t that impossible! Besides, don¡¯t you see the girl was talking?¡± Mo Lu shouted angrily before turning back to me. ¡°Go on, little lady.¡±


    I looked bleakly towards Yulan before looking back to Mo Lu with a conflicting feeling.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I want to say it anymore.¡± I said while looking back at the masters. ¡°I mean¡­ I feel that if I say the same thing as the retard, I would lower myself to his level.¡±


    ¡°Hey! What are you talking about? Lowering to my level?¡±


    ¡°Oh? And what exactly did you have in mind?¡± Mo Lu asked intrigued.


    ¡°AND WHY ARE YOU LISTENING TO HER AND NOT ME! IT¡¯S ME WHO IS SUPPOSED TO BE YOUR DISCIPLE!¡±


    Ignoring the annoying idiot that kept annoying us in an annoyingly annoying way, I decided that simply showing the masters my idea would work a bit better than trying to explain it to them.


    Still, to think that he had a similar idea to mine¡­ I can¡¯t help but feel strangely annoyed for some reason.


    Still, I quickly closed my eyes and started to focus once again, feeling as I slowly took control of my spirit. After some time I felt as two wrinkled, but kind hands rested against my forehead as Roshi and Mo Lu watched and I put my idea into motion.


    However, instead of trying to send my own inner spirit outside, I started to move it on the opposite direction, making it flow around my body as it gathered around the core in my body. However, I wasn¡¯t satisfied with the results, and kept at it until all of my body, with the exception of the spirit near the core of my heart, was rid of my spirit.


    Easier said than done, though. I had to be very thorough with this if I wanted my plan to work, so I couldn¡¯t leave even the slightest trace of spirit remaining, and this by itself was already having a hefty tax on my mind.


    ¡°You...¡± I heard Roshi say with a mix of shock, surprise and apprehension.


    A small smile crept up my face, but I quickly stopped it and went back to focusing while hoping that my plan could somehow work.


    It was a long shot, to tell the truth, but if my deductions had been correct up to this point, this is where I would tell whether it would work or not.


    According to Roshi¡¯s teachings, worldly spirit was everywhere with the exception of a living being¡¯s bodies, where the Inner spirit lies.


    Now, why is it that it is only in people¡¯s bodies that worldly spirit don¡¯t inhabit? If you stopped to think for a bit, the reason was fairly simple. It¡¯s not like our body repels it or anything. Our inner spirit does so.


    So, my idea was to gather all the spirit which fills my body into a tight space, this way creating a large room within my body devoid of inner spirit, where worldly spirit would then be able to pass through. And since the limitation by this strange condition only worked on the physical limitations of my skin, I could easily gather the worldly spirit without needing to move my inner spirit to outside of my body.


    Well, ¡®easily¡¯ is a very relative word.


    It was taking all I had just to keep my body as clean as possible from inner spirit, so that worldly spirit would somehow be able to come in without being repulsed. And even then I had no idea if this was going to work!


    Thankfully, it did, and soon I felt as the spirit from outside leisurely flowed in.


    Smiling to myself, I soon started to work on the next part of my idea. From the relatively small sphere that was all my inner spirit gathered, I soon started to gather it into a small and thin vortex.


    But¡­


    ¡°I¡­ Can¡¯t¡­ Anymore¡­ This...¡± I said as I fell flat on the ground.


    Just thinking was hard, let alone concentrating on maintaining my inner spirit in that state AND make the vortex at the same time. It gave me a weird sensation, as I wasn¡¯t tired mentally nor physically, but a sense of exhaustion still covered my whole body, as if I had just run a whole marathon or went through a difficult test.


    Also, it seemed that my skill of sensing spirit had pretty much gone awry, because I could feel fluctuating energies everywhere, almost as if I was seeing static on TV.


    I felt as both masters quickly pulled me up from the ground. I somehow heard as they said something to me, but I couldn¡¯t really bring myself to hear what it was about, because I felt my consciousness slowly drift into the deep darkness.


    ¡­


    A pleasant sensation spread around my whole body as I felt something gently caressing my head in a slow but rhythmic pattern. I could feel that my head was resting on something strangely soft, but I felt no care about it.


    My head still a bit hazy from having just woken up and from the numbing pleasure of having my head petted, I didn¡¯t have the energy to work around opening my eyes or moving in a more broader term.


    Still, I could faintly hear a few somethings far away in the distance¡­ Or not, maybe they are actually close by but I just can¡¯t bring myself to focus? No matter.


    Enjoying myself in the comfortable feeling, I curled up slightly, or as much as my own lightheadedness allowed me to. This made the petting stop for a moment before going on.


    ¡°Anyway...¡± I heard a familiar, elderly sounding voice say. ¡°As I was saying, all she need right now is some rest. She overexerted herself during the training and need some rest.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it YOUR job to make sure this doesn¡¯t happen?¡± I heard a mature woman¡¯s voice coming from above.


    ¡°Errmm...¡± Another elderly voice said. ¡°Look, she did something almost unthinkable by herself!¡± He sounded hurried. ¡°Besides, we didn¡¯t have a chance to actually go and stop her, so it¡¯s not like it¡¯s our fault, okay?¡±


    ¡°And what proof do you have for that?¡± The woman¡¯s voice asked angrily. ¡°Spiritualist or not, it¡¯s better that this does not repeat itself, okay?¡±


    ¡°Nee, Miss Ping.¡± I heard another voice, this one much younger sounding coming from besides me. ¡°Will the cute plebeian be alright?¡±


    ¡°ALL SHE NEED IS SOME MEAT! HA HA H-AGUUUH!!¡± An annoying voice replied to the worried one.


    ¡°SHUT UP YOU RETARD!¡± One of the elderly voices said angrily.


    Still feeling a bit lost on what was happening I somehow managed to piece up whatever it was that they were speaking about. If I understood it, it seems that all I need right now is some rest. Deciding to follow up on the offer, I once again let my consciousness drift away while curling myself a bit more.

 18th chapter - Xins request

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. Sorry for the delay, but here is the chapter!


    Okay, to whomever saw this one coming, you might take a free cake from my reserves. To whomever didn¡¯t, don¡¯t be sad, because I also didn¡¯t while I was writing this chapter. Anyway, with this the destiny of the character that had been kind of thrown up to the wild becomes a bit more definite, so I think this is a worthy chapter.


    Also, I plan on uploading another chapter tomorrow, so hope I don¡¯t get too lazy!


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    ¡°...ia¡­ up¡­ vis...¡± I heard someone calling me.


    However, I still felt too tired and drowsy to actually go and try to understand. Wanting to go back to my peaceful sleep, I turned aside and away from the source of the sound.


    But instead of getting the voice to go away, I felt as someone touched my body and started to move me around, trying to wake me up. I struggled against it, but as the shaking became stronger, the voice also became clearer.


    ¡°Little Lia¡­ Wake up. You have visit!¡±


    Hearing my name being called, I groggily looked up and watched the owner. A beautiful lady with black hair tied in a bun, wearing a simple black robe. She had a slightly concerned look on her face, but once she saw me opening my eyes, she clearly became relieved, as a small smile appeared on her face.


    It still took me a couple of seconds to recognize the owner of the face as Miss Ping, and even more for me to understand why I was seeing her first thing upon waking up.


    Still, as I was far too tired to think anything too complicated, I simply nodded tiredly and got up. A quick look around and I saw that I was in a spacious room that was fairly familiar to me, being much more spacious than the one back at my small house.


    Shaking my head, I quickly followed up on Ping as she guided the still drowsy me by the hand. Stifling up a long yawn, I saw with a quick glance to the windows that it was late afternoon. Frowning slightly confused, it took me halfway to the front gate for me to remember what had actually happened earlier this day.


    So, in the end it seems that my plan was a failure, huh? While thinking so I leaned against her hand and rested my head for a moment. I was still far too exhausted to even think straight.


    It seems that the backlash was a bit too much for me. I never expected to be as tired as this. Still, it is a strange kind of tiredness, as I somehow feel fine both physically and mentally, but am completely unable to focus on anything, and I just want to go back to bed and sleep some more.


    Well, now that I already got up, might as well as go see what happened.


    Still, I miss my bed¡­ It was so soft and good.


    While grumbling quietly to myself, I kept my head low mostly because I didn¡¯t have much energy nor motivation to raise it. Still, I couldn¡¯t help but notice a slight twitch on Ping¡¯s hand as I rubbed my head against it.


    Waah¡­ She¡¯s so soft. I wonder if she would let me sleep right here¡­


    Still, sleeping and walking aren¡¯t exactly compatible actions, so no matter how much I wished to simply wander off into dreamland, I still hauled myself across the field and to the open gates. With a slight nudge from Ping, I somehow raised my head and caught sight of two fairly familiar persons.


    One was the guard from when I invaded the house. Wearing normal clothes, he had a light brown robe and similar colored pants. Wearing a slightly wry smile, he held a certain kid¡¯s shoulder with his hand.


    The kid, no need to say it, was Xin. He had his eyes turned away with an angry frown in his childish face. The long ponytail swayed as he moved his head to face me, and a surprised look appeared once he saw me.


    ¡°Huh? What happened?¡± He asked me shocked.


    ¡°Tired¡­ Training¡­ Want to sleep.¡± I said briefly before yawning tiredly.


    ¡°What? YOU are tired?¡± He asked me in shock, putting a great emphasis on the ¡®You¡¯.


    ¡°Hmm...¡± I nodded before rubbing my eyes. ¡°Training is tiring¡­ Want sleep...¡±


    ¡°Heeh...¡± Xin said in a slightly surprised tone before shaking his head. ¡°NO! That¡¯s not what I came here for!¡± He said angrily while noisily stomping the ground.


    ¡°Xin! Quiet down! Can¡¯t you see your friend is feeling tired?¡± Guard asked while giving Xin a light slap on the top of his head.


    ¡°She¡¯s NOT my friend!¡± Xin said angrily before turning to me. I looked back at him with half closed eyes and saw as he suddenly felt a bit guilty. ¡°Guuh¡­ ANYWAY. You said that I could become a spiritualist, right?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Yeah...¡± I said after some thought. ¡°Did you find a master?¡±


    ¡°Hnggh¡­ That¡¯s¡­ The problem...¡± He said in a progressively diminishing voice. By the end I couldn¡¯t hear a single word from him.


    Feeling confused, I turned to the guard who stood there with a wry smile. He quickly came to explain to me what was the reason for their visit.


    ¡°You see, we couldn¡¯t find a master no matter where we looked, so we wondered if there was any chance for your master to also accept Xin.¡± He said.


    I looked at him for some time before turning to Xin, who still had his head hung low. However, it didn¡¯t take much longer before his face became red with anger and he exploded.


    ¡°AAAAH! I CAN¡¯T DO IT! I DON¡¯T WANT TO BE IN THE SAME GROUP AS THIS TYRANT!¡± He said angrily. Turning around, he prepared to storm away from the mansion when another voice came from behind me.


    ¡°Geez, what¡¯s all this noise? I¡¯m trying to nap over here!¡±


    Turning my head, I saw as a boy around our age approached us while bearing a slightly annoyed face and having his arms crossed behind his head. His eyes widened when he saw me and soon he spoke.


    ¡°Oh. Awake already, sleepy head.¡± He said tauntingly. I simply stared at him and said.


    ¡°Ah... It¡¯s the retard.¡±


    He blinked for a couple of moments as my words entered his thick and dense skull, but after some time he became angry.


    ¡°Retard, this is Xin, my friend.¡± I ignored him and made the introductions. ¡°Xin, this is retard.¡±


    ¡°WHO ARE YOU CALLING A RETARD!¡± ¡°WHO ARE YOU CALLING A FRIEND?¡± They shouted together. Smiling satisfied, I suddenly had an idea, so I turned to Yul¡­ Retard and said.


    ¡°Hey, idiot... Can you go and fetch your master?¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Sur¡­ I¡¯M NOT AN IDIOT!¡± He said angrily.


    Still, he walked away in search for his master Mo Lu. Seeing that, Xin looked at me with a confused gaze, so I took my chance to explain what was happening recently. He looked a bit shocked and conflicted when I told him of the seal, but after hearing that I already had a plan around it, he suddenly looked shocked and nodded to himself in an ¡®as expected¡¯ manner.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    By the time I finished explaining him, Mo Lu arrived and had a surprised look on his face.


    ¡°Awake already? Don¡¯t you need some more resting?¡± The elder asked. I replied with a small smile. He seemed to somehow understand my situation with that, because he nodded and turned to Xin. ¡°So, what is it that you wanted for this old guy here?¡± He asked.


    I pointed at Xin with my free hand and said briefly.


    ¡°He wants to learn spiritualism.¡±


    Mo Lu blinked surprised for a moment before turning to Xin, looking at him with a slightly suspicious look. After some time he turned to me and raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°And why didn¡¯t you call the idiotoise here?¡± He asked me the obvious question.


    ¡°Because I don¡¯t want to be in the same group as that annoying girl!¡± Xin replied for me.


    Mo Lu looked shocked for a moment before turning to me and nodding slightly, as if saying that he understood the situation. After a brief sigh, he turned to the Idiot and asked.


    ¡°Retard, Does he have enough spirit?¡±


    ¡°Just checked, it seems he does.¡± The idiot replied briefly with a sullen tone.


    ¡°Okay then. If you want, I can teach you the basics.¡± Mo Lu said with a satisfied nod.


    However, the siblings on the opposite side of the gate didn¡¯t immediately register his words, and spend almost an entire five seconds simply staring blindly at the master. Once the words finally sunk in their skulls, a loud ¡°EEEEEEHH?¡± Sound echoed from two different voices near the gate.


    Xin turned to me in a confused face and pointed towards the master. I nodded briefly while seeing the shock on the siblings¡¯ faces.


    After some time, the boy finally recovered and had shining eyes as he stared at Mo Lu.


    ¡°Does¡­ Does this means that I will get stronger than Lia?¡± I felt a bit offended by his wordings, but I could somehow understand how he felt.


    ¡°OH! So you also have a problem with this violent girl?¡± Retard said with shining eyes as he grabbed Xin¡¯s hand. Xin looked at him with a confused stare for some time before nodding slightly.


    ¡°Well, yeah...¡± Xin said slowly while looking at Yulan doubtfully.


    ¡°OOH! Wonderful!¡± Retard said while throwing his arm around Xin¡¯s shoulder, which left him shocked. ¡°Then, together we can go and strip the title of strongest from the annoying girlAAAUGH!¡±


    Nothing a kick between the legs cannot stop! Even if it¡¯s an annoying person. Though I can¡¯t muster much strength, the damage is still considerable. Seeing as he fell to his knees with a simple weak kick, Xin looked at retard with some pity in his eyes before turning to Mo Lu.


    ¡°Thank you very much, master!¡± He said while bowing deeply. Mo Lu widened his eyes surprised for a moment before nodding satisfied.


    ¡°Well¡­ Since you look so eager...¡± He said before sweeping his gaze upon the siblings. ¡°I think it would be better to warn you. I travel a lot, so if you really want to be my disciple, you will need to follow me. Is that understood?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Eeh¡­?¡± Xin became surprised before turning to the guard. Who had a satisfied smile in his face as he nodded briefly. ¡°Hmm¡­ Okay master!¡±


    Well, from here on I simply smiled and felt my eyes becoming heavy once again. Making a long yawn, I leaned a bit closer to Ping, who had just been accompanying me during all this time.


    Feeling a light tap on my cheeks, I turned my eyes up and saw as she gave me a gentle smile.


    ¡°Come, let¡¯s go back to your bed.¡± She said gently.


    I nodded weakly before following her towards the inner part of the mansion. On the way back, I had the feeling that I was forgetting about a person, but since I was becoming too tired I decided to simply let it go.


    ¡°Ah! I forgot about the guard!¡± Ping said in a slightly worried tone.


    Oh¡­ So that was it. While thinking so, I nodded lightly to myself before looking towards the head aide, who looked to me and to the gate with a worried look. I even managed to open my mouth and say that I could go to my room fine, but either she ignored me or she didn¡¯t hear, because she didn¡¯t show any reaction at all.


    After a few seconds with that doubt, suddenly the sounds of footsteps echoed from behind me, and soon I felt as something hugged me from behind.


    ¡°Cute plebeian! Are you alright? Can you walk around already?¡± A fairly familiar voice said.


    ¡°Lady Tian!¡± Ping said in a conflicted and hesitating tone. ¡°Forgive me for asking this, but could you take Lia to the bedroom for me?¡± She asked.


    For some time I heard only silence, but after a few moments I felt some movement from Tian.


    ¡°Hmm! Leave it to me!¡± The purple-haired girl said in a cheerful tone.


    Ping thanked her briefly before letting go of my hand and hastily walking back. I looked at her go and turned towards Tian, who looked at me worriedly.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, big sis¡­ Just...¡± I yawned. ¡°Sleepy...¡±


    She looked at me worriedly for some time before nodding. Taking my hand on her own, she gently guided me through the corridor towards our rooms.


    ¡°You know¡­ When I heard that you fell down...¡± She said lowly while she kept looking ahead. ¡°I¡­ Was worried...¡± She said in a low voice.


    Even through the haziness of exhaustion, I still heard her words clearly. Raising my head, I took a glance at the noble girl who was holding her emotions back. Feeling a small smile forming in my face, I murmured lowly.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­ Big sis...¡± She turned to me for some time, her eyes analyzing me searching for any signs that I may could just be pretending.


    After some time she nodded slightly and once again started to make her way towards the rooms.


    ¡°Then, you better sleep well and get better soon, ok?¡± She said in a slightly trembling proud tone. ¡°I want to present you to mother as soon as you get better!¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± I said as we reached the door to my room. Tian opened the door for me and urged for me to go in. ¡°Thanks, big sis.¡± I said and gave her a light kiss on her cheeks.


    After that I stumbled my way to my bed and climbed on it. Even though it was still early in the afternoon, I could tell that I would sleep all the way to the morning. Thinking so, I dug under the blankets and closed my eyes. Soon enough I left my exhaustion take over my body.


    A bit later I woke up with the sound of the door to my room opening, some light footsteps and someone climbing to the bed. Feeling as the small hand gently patted my head, I smiled a bit before going back to sleep.


    ----


    Typer¡¯s room: I felt that I should write this down again just to be sure. The relationship I am planning for Tian and Lia are of elder/younger sisters and master/servant. I still do not have in mind who will be Lia¡¯s affection target for now and plan on withholding it until later. Probably until puberty.

 19th Chapter - A parents request

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. Sorry for the delay, but here is the chapter!


    So, today we introduce a new character to this story. Who may it be? Well, leaving obvious things aside, this chapter could be considered the start of the first arc of the story, I guess? With an actual storyline and not simply daily-life telling. Nothing big, but it does help pushing the story forward, I guess.


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    The next morning it didn¡¯t take me even a fraction of the time from the previous day to wake up. Yawning loudly while stretching myself, I took a brief look at the window and saw that it was still the middle of the night.


    No, to be more specific, it was the beginning of the day. I could barely see a small red line at the horizon. Turning to the side, I saw Tian, sleeping besides me with a slightly worried expression. I couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit awkward by the fact that my master ended up worrying about me before I got worried about her.


    While thinking so I gently caressed her head and a small smile appeared in her face. Nodding satisfied to myself, I quickly got up from my bed and took a quick look around. After finding the wardrobe, I waddled my way to it and took out a new set of robes from it.


    I felt tempted to also take a short with me, but decided against it in the end, since all that it would get me would be a scolding from Ping.


    After taking one last look at Lady Tian, who was sleeping peacefully in my bed, I nodded and left the room. The corridors were still dark, and even though I was quite proud of my vision, I still took it easy, taking slow steps and making sure that I wouldn¡¯t trip on anything.


    From time to time I could hear some sounds from the few guards making a patrol around the house. On my way to the destination, I crossed a few guards and they gave me a quick nod before going back to their work.


    But besides the few soldier who were doing the nightly patrol, most of the other¡¯s in the mansion were sleeping soundly on their beds or, at most, loitering around their own rooms, so this made my trip a fairly uneventful one.


    Soon I reached the bath area, where I quickly took out the robe I had been using previously. I could faintly sense the smell of my own sweat still in my clothes, probably from the time I fainted, so I decided that taking a bath and changing clothes would be the best thing to do.


    Even though it was a bit dark, I could still see enough, so I easily managed to wash myself on the large bath of the house. Feeling satisfied with myself, I didn¡¯t drag around too much and quickly finished my bath.


    However, I still made sure to not let down my guard, as there were more than a few people that could do¡­ Things to me if they caught me mid bath. Luckily, as long as I wasn¡¯t too distracted, it was pretty much impossible to get me by surprise thanks to my spirit sensing. While thinking so, I was rewarded with a response just as I finished my work.


    ¡°MASTER ROSHI! THE BATH IS OCCUPIED!¡± I said loudly while quickly washing myself one last time and rolling the towel around my body.


    ¡°Ara? Little Lia?¡± He asked surprised from the changing room. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ll take my leave then!¡± I heard as he replied embarrassedly.


    ¡°No need. I¡¯ve finished already. Only need to put on my clothes.¡± I said while peeking from the door. Seeing that he still had his robes on, I quickly nodded and walked in.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± He said before taking a peek inside. Afterwards he turned to me with a serious face. ¡°You should be a bit more careful next time, okay? You left us worried there.¡± He told me.


    I blushed slightly in embarrassment before nodding, and saw as he walked inside the bath still wearing his clothes. I heard as he took out the clothes on the other side of the door, so I quickly finished putting up my clothes before even drying my hair, then tied the towel around it so that it wouldn¡¯t end up wetting my clothes again.


    As I finished this last part, I nodded satisfied and started walking out of the room while taking the dirt robes with me. On the way out I started to walk towards the depot, where I could leave the dirty clothes.


    ¡°Lia!¡± I heard Ping approached me. ¡°Are you feeling well enough to leave already? Shouldn¡¯t you rest for a bit longer?¡± The aide asked me while looking at me worried.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯m fine already.¡± I told her with a shake of my head. ¡°I was just tired.¡± Ping eyed me with worried look for a moment before nodding.


    ¡°Okay.¡± She said with a sigh. ¡°I¡¯ll trust you in this for now.¡± She then took a good look at me and made a small frown. ¡°It seems that you just took a bath, huh? Why didn¡¯t you call me? I could have helped you.¡±


    ¡°Huuh...¡± Because you and Tian are the number one and two persons I don¡¯t want to share a bath because I¡¯m afraid of what was I going to see and what you are going to do to me. ¡°It was still very early, and I didn¡¯t want to bother you.¡± I somehow managed to say a half-truth.


    She sighed and nodded weakly.


    ¡°We¡¯ll do something a bit less intensive for your training today, okay?¡± She asked me, and I nodded. Giving me a gentle smile, she nodded before looking back to the corridor. ¡°Go take those to the dirty clothes basket. I¡¯ll go take a bath, then I¡¯ll talk to you later, okay?¡±


    I nodded before walking away towards the depot, somehow feeling lucky by the fact that I woke so early, it took me a good time before I finally noticed.


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t Roshi still in the bath?¡±


    My answer arrived with the sound of a slap that echoed even all the way to the door of the depot.


    Sorry for that, Roshi. This one is completely my fault.


    ¡­


    The rest of the morning was fairly eventless, except for a small commotion when the aides didn¡¯t find Tian sleeping in her room like usual. But all that I needed was to direct them to my room where the young lady slept peacefully.


    Besides that, I also had the small problem of being banned from training for one day by Master Roshi, who thought that it would be better to take it easy today, despite the fact that I insisted in being back into perfect shape.


    Seeing as there wasn¡¯t much I could do, I decided to turn to Ping and ask about my training, but she also planned on cutting it short for me just to be safe, so she decided to stick to the usual schedule of teaching me in the afternoon.


    Which left me a bit too free in the morning. Too free for my own tastes.


    Having kind of expected my days to be completely scheduled, I was a bit at loss on what to do now, as I didn¡¯t prepare anything for such a sudden break.


    Thinking so while walking around the house, I somehow loitered around for the next hour or so, looking for something to do, only to be refused by the aides who would deny my help while wearing worried expressions. This went on for a good time of the morning, until I felt a new spirit presence approaching me.


    Turning my head, the person I found there was none other than the mother of my master. Hurriedly I turned to her and bowed in a greeting.


    ¡°Good morning, Milady.¡± I said as I bowed, still not very sure how to treat her.


    I felt a bit intimidated when she didn¡¯t answer me and simply eyed me from head to toes, her eyes scanning my body (and I would also guess my soul too) in a very thorough way. After some time of cold sweating, she finally sighed and spoke something.


    ¡°Come with me. We have to talk.¡± She said briefly before walking away. I looked in shock for a moment before quickly following her, needing to almost keep myself to a slow jog due to how long her strides were.


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    While following her confused, before I noticed it, I found myself in front of the master¡¯s bedroom. The moment I noticed that she planned on entering the room, I offered myself and opened the door for her, as I felt that it was something that I should probably do.


    She raised her eyebrow with a slightly surprised look, but didn¡¯t interrupt me as I opened the door and stepped aside, giving her passage. Once inside, she made me a motion to close the door while she sat down on the large and empty king-sized bed. I stood in front of her hesitatingly for some time before she finally sighed and made a motion for me to sit besides her.


    A bit confused, I quickly followed her orders and sat down on the bed besides her, while she laid back on the bed and twisted her body, as if reaching for something on the side-table.


    ¡°So, you are the girl my daughter picked up, huh?¡± She said in an indifferent tone. I nodded, but seeing that she wasn¡¯t looking at me I quickly said.


    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t really have the time to talk yesterday, since I had just arrived and then you... ¡± She stopped for a moment. ¡°Fell ill.¡±


    I kept myself quiet since I didn¡¯t really have much to talk about, as I was pretty much the cause of falling ill, and I don¡¯t think that she was unaware of that situation. Noticing that I wouldn¡¯t say anything more, she kept on speaking.


    ¡°You see, ever since she was a kid, i¡¯ve been making sure to give her the best of anything she could need. Education, lifestyle, food, entertainment and so on. While doing so, we also found out that my precious daughter also could become a spiritualist. Do you have any idea how happy I was?¡± She asked. ¡°Then, recently, when I left to go and see my parents that I don¡¯t see for such a long time, I had to leave her here so that she could start her own training.¡±


    ¡°Then, when I am on my way back, I received the message telling that my daughter suddenly went and decided to take a personal aide for herself! Do you have any idea how surprised I was when I heard that?¡± She said with a short laugh while sitting up on the bed. She held something in her hand that she looked interested at, but from my position I couldn¡¯t quite see what it was. ¡°And when I get here, I find out that it was a random plebeian who somehow managed to invade the house! And she¡¯s not even four years old yet!¡±


    ¡°...Sorry?¡± I said a weak voice. Somehow I had the feeling that I had to say that. She simply looked at me for some time before shaking her head.


    ¡°As you can see, my daughter is nothing sort of a genius.¡± She said briefly. ¡°Despite having only six years old, and still struggling a bit with math, she¡¯s already well versed in politics and etiquette! Almost mastering languages and already knows how to write and read some basic words!¡± She let out a short but proud laugh. ¡°Isn¡¯t my daughter amazing?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said while thinking. When put it that way, she¡¯s really a genius, isn¡¯t she?


    ¡°But, when I finally find some time to exchange some words with you, all that I see is a girl loitering around while having her hair woefully unkempt. This is unacceptable for a personal aide, you know?¡± She told me in a scolding tone. ¡°I heard that you were surprisingly mature for your age and that you had moments of geniality that surpassed adults¡­¡± She said with a strange tone that didn¡¯t really seem all that angry or disappointed, which left me confused. ¡°As genius and mature you are, I guess a kid is still a kid.¡±


    She made a motion of gently tapping her lap. I looked at it confused for a moment, which made her frown slightly.


    ¡°What are you waiting for. Come here so that I can do something about your hair!¡± She said.


    Blinking surprised, I quickly nodded and made my way to sit besides her. She looked a bit displeased, but didn¡¯t really complain all that much, and simply told me to show my back to her. I timidly did that and felt as she started to comb my hair once again before working on it.


    As I said before, I did learn how to take care of my hair, but the only hairstyles I actually know how to do is either free flowing or ponytail, and since Ping was a bit busy with her morning work, she didn¡¯t really have the time to do my hair after her bath.


    So I left my hair free and kind of forgot to brush it after taking out the towel¡­


    Totally my fault this time.


    ¡°You know, I¡¯m actually glad for this.¡± Tian¡¯s mother said suddenly, getting me by surprise. ¡°A six years old that knows politics! How wrong does that sounds? And although she is smart, she is a bit too smart for her own good, so she doesn¡¯t really have any close friends.¡± She stopped for a moment, letting me digest her words. ¡°Well, there are a few girls who come here and talk to her, saying that they are friends, but¡­ That girl herself says that it¡¯s only for political purposes.¡±


    After saying that, she finally finished doing my hair, so she gently tapped my shoulder telling me to look back at her.


    ¡°That¡¯s why, I¡¯m counting on you to stay by that girl¡¯s side as a true friend instead of a simple aide. Can I ask you that?¡± She looked me straight into the eyes as she said it. ¡°If you are as mature and smart as the servants say you are, then you should guess what I¡¯m talking about.¡±


    I looked at her for some time while trying to understand. So, all that she did was to call me here and ask me to be Tian¡¯s friend?


    ¡°In exchange, I will do your hair as many times as you want as well as teach you how to be more womanly. What do you say?¡± I looked at her in shock for a moment. ¡°After all, it is my duty as a noble to make sure that cute aides like you grow up into wonderful women. Hoh Hoh Hoh.¡±


    Waaah! Tian has evolved!


    Hiding my surprise behind a smile, I nodded cheerfully to her as she put on a proud smile.


    After laughing for some time, she finally calmed herself and put on a serious face once again. Sensing that something important was probably coming, I quickly put on a serious face and prepared to hear what she was saying.


    ¡°Now, I didn¡¯t call you here just to ask that.¡± She said briefly. ¡°Yesterday, while you were resting, Tian received an invitation to a party.¡± She said in a serious voice. ¡°Usually, we wouldn¡¯t be all that worried, but I heard rumors that our rival household will use this chance to introduce their daughter at the party and steal the spotlight from Tian.¡± She looked seriously at me. ¡°This may not sound important, but as her aide, you will be responsible for improving her image, as the level of an aide serves to gauge the level of the master.¡±


    ¡°Then you want me to go with her to the party?¡± I asked a bit confused.


    ¡°Yes. Mostly all you¡¯ll have to do will be to look important and serious. A girl with your cute looks and age will have a greater impact than another full grown aide.¡± She said briefly. ¡°Also, I will need you to support Tian on the backgrounds as much as you can. Spreading rumors around the other nobles aides, learning about other rumors going around, maybe even earn a few favors from other aides to use them later. Think you can do this?¡±


    I blinked surprised a couple of times before stopping to think. Maybe if I use my childish appearance will make the others lower their guards around me? While thinking so, I quickly nodded.


    ¡°Hmm. Leave it to me!¡± I said with a nod. She smiled gently before nodding.


    ¡°Okay then. For now, I guess they are letting you rest. But tell Ping to give you a crash course, because the party is just a few days away.¡± She said.


    I nodded before walking away from the room, seeing that she had dismissed me. While thinking on the things she said, it was only when I had already left the nearby area that it finally dawned on me.


    I still have no idea what Tian¡¯s mother name is!

 20th Chapter - Lies and Gossips for dummies

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. Sorry for the delay, but here is the chapter!


    If it wasn¡¯t obvious enough, I¡¯m irresponsible. I either become too lazy or end up forgetting to post the chapter every single time¡­ This can¡¯t go on. As such, I decided to put up the poll above asking you guys to set a day of which I will always make the update. AT THE VERY LEAST, UNTIL MY STOCKED CHAPTERS RUN OUT. After that, it will be once I write the chapters. This DO NOT mean that I will stop writing the chapters I have saved in advance, but at least leave me with a defined day to keep up the updates. If I end up writing more than two chapters within a week, I may upload it as an extra.


    TL;DR: Choose a day to have guaranteed releases. Bonus releases may still happen.


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    After my talk with Tian¡¯s mother, the rest of the day was a lot calmer with me mostly walking around searching for things to do. However, the following days became a lot more hectic than before, doing spiritualist training during the morning, where I would slowly train my spiritual endurance, as master Roshi called it.


    I would do exactly the same thing I did back on the first time, but instead of simply trying to go all the way until I was exhausted, I would slowly make my work on compressing my spirit into a small ball and keep it like that for as long as I could.


    ¡°I¡¯m not exactly sure if your idea will work, so all I¡¯m doing is giving you the chance of trying it.¡± He told me. ¡°I have no way of guarantee if this will work or not.¡±


    I took his warning to heart, as I could see that he was worried about me. Basically, my training was more to make sure that I wouldn¡¯t exhaust myself than an actual technique training.


    What he told me was that manipulating too much inner spirit at once without having an actual qi inside you can be extremely taxing, that¡¯s why spiritualist either carry around some qi within their bodies, or resort to small vortexes before actually making a sizeable one to gather worldly spirit in mass.


    Since I didn¡¯t have any drop of qi within my body due to obvious reason, forming the sphere was a lot more taxing than the expected, so I simply went around training my resistance to exhaustion by forming the sphere myself and trying to last as long as I can without falling exhausted. However, the moment I stopped, Roshi had me train a breathing method that helped me recover from spiritual fatigue.


    It wasn¡¯t as effective as sleeping, but since sleeping would leave me groggy after waking up, this seemed to be a better idea.


    Meanwhile, Tian had received a passing grade in spirit sensing from Roshi and recently began training in manipulating her own spirit. But she was clearly having a lot more difficulty with manipulating it than me, even when she probably did not have anything wrong with her. It was only when I saw this that I finally started to understand how cheaty I was.


    Paraphrasing Tian¡¯s mother, that girl is a genius.


    And I was having an easier time than her.


    Besides that, my own training was having results, although not exactly apparent ones, seeing how at most I managed to increase the time I could keep the sphere up from ten minutes to a good thirty three minutes. I decided to only try to form the vortexes once again once I reached one and a half hour, so this meant that I didn¡¯t really have much of an advance as a spiritualist in these days.


    But if my spiritualist training was a bit boring and bland, my aide training was spartan.


    The following day from having recovered, Ping came up and took me right when the training with master Roshi finished and dragged me to the bath without waiting for Tian.


    After feeling my dignity flying away from my body, she finally said that it was enough and quickly helped me get dressed before taking me towards the elderly woman who was in charge of teaching Tian and I etiquette.


    From there started a crash course on how to act respectfully to all sorts of people in a party, as well as how to mingle with the servants from other households so that I could gather information, spread rumors and so on. They even went and taught me methods of lying and had me try to keep up a straight face while lying.


    They also left very clear that I should never lie to them.


    But seriously you two, who the hell teaches a kid to lie? Shouldn¡¯t it be the opposite? Is the life of an aide this difficult?


    Well, they did start to give me a few interesting pointers, like mixing a small truth with the rumors I want to start or denying bad rumors with similarly bad rumors, but of lesser impact.


    For example, if there is a rumor going around about Tian saying that she kicks cats around for fun, I should reply by saying that what she actually do is say that she hates cats, but mostly avoid them. This would make more sense, because even the people who tell these rumors knows that they are exaggerated, so slowly decreasing the rumor is a lot more believable and doable than downright denying it, because after noticing that it was exaggerated, it will slowly start to drift towards being a neutral, then maybe even a positive rumor.


    So yeah, as an aide I had to learn all of these kinds of things about rumors and the such.


    Believe me when I say that it¡¯s a lot more difficult than what it seems. Different types of aides were more susceptible to different types of ways to spread rumors. Young and inexperienced aides were more likely to believe info they get from gossips, so it was easier to spread the rumor to them.


    But they are also the least likely to be believed by others.


    On the other hand, more experienced aides will flat out ignore gossips and start to seek the meaning between the words  say. Taking the whole ¡°Tian hates cat¡± thingy, if I said that I¡¯m tired of cleaning her robes from cat fur is more likely to make them think: ¡°Oh, so Tian keeps in contact with cats¡±, and later on dropping tips like ¡°There¡¯s fur on the whole house¡± or ¡°feeding the pets is a bother¡±.


    The more experienced aides would take these information and deduce: Tian is always in contact with cats, but since the house is full of them, it must mean that she actually shouldn¡¯t hate cats as much as other people say.


    Of course, this also means that they are a lot harder to trick since I can¡¯t drop obvious tips and must take care with literally all words, as I may end up dropping something that would be better not be revealed.


    As you can see, this was extremely more difficult than one might actually think. In exchange, Ping completely stopped teaching me things unrelated to the party Tian was going to, like cooking, cleaning and so on, leaving all my training time to things related to serving her during the party.


    This pretty much meant that I had to cram in, besides the whole rumor spreading/stopping thing, a lot of info like when I should stay by her side and when I should leave her alone, when I should stand up for her and when I should stay quiet.


    On the bright side, however, I did stop receiving complaints about keeping an upright posture so I guess you could say that at least I got something right.


    With this training, time flew past, and right before the party, Yulan, Xin and Master Mo Lu left the mansion as the master left out to look for some specific scrolls so that he could investigate more of my conditions.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    The following day, a carriage came to pick us.


    ¡­


    ¡°Muu¡­ I¡¯m not sure about this...¡± I murmured while crossing my arms.


    ¡°What is it, young aide?¡± Tian¡¯s mother said while hugging me from behind, as she had me sit on her lap while we took the road.


    ¡°Well¡­ Wouldn¡¯t it be better to send Ping to the party?¡± I asked. ¡°She is more experienced than me on this.¡±


    ¡°Ping said that you are more than enough to follow my daughter.¡± Bo said while looking away through the window. ¡°Sincerely? I learned to trust her a long time ago.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ If she said so...¡± I said with a still uncertain face. I couldn¡¯t bring myself but feel that it would be better to send someone who had more experience to an important party like this, but if Ping herself said that I was good enough¡­


    Muuu¡­ I¡¯m still not sure.


    But it¡¯s not like I have much choice right now. Ping stayed behind at the mansion since she decided that it was a good time to make a complete cleaning of the house, so the only other aides that came with us were the personal aides from the master and the madam, who were both coming on the smaller carriage that followed us.


    In fact, I was also supposed to come on the other carriage with them, but Tian and her mother both insisted that I came with them on the main carriage, saying that it wasn¡¯t a problem since I was a child.


    Well, although they aren¡¯t technically wrong, it¡¯s not like I felt any better about this, but whatever. There isn¡¯t much I can do about it, anyway.


    Sighing deeply within my heart, I took a look at the others who were at the carriage.


    Tian had her hair neatly combed and stuck some part of them with a beautiful and intricate hair-pin and wore a long lustrous purple robe that flowed easily on her body, leaving her right shoulder bare but going all the way to her ankles. She also had eyeliners around her eyes, giving her a slightly more mature and predatory look that somehow fit her nicely. Above all else, she wore a small fur coat to hold herself on this slightly chilly night.


    Her mother had a similar attire, but instead she let her long hair free and wore a black robe instead, as well as having a silk-like scarf that passed behind her neck and then supported itself on her arms.


    Master Bo put a fancy looking purple robe with golden dragon embroideries all over it, his naturally large build giving him an even more imposing look than the usual.


    Meanwhile I was wearing my usual black expensive silk robe and had my hair tied in a couple of buns besides my head, but still leaving enough for it to cover most of my back. The only difference was that Ping drew something that looked like a flower using some kind of black ink on my cheek.


    From what they told me, it was a way of marking me as a servant of which household, so that I couldn¡¯t fake to who I belonged in case of a trouble. I felt that it was a bit excessive, but it¡¯s not like I couldn¡¯t understand their meaning.


    Still, for some reason Tian, her mother and Ping all looked at me with a slightly scary look, which somehow told me that I probably looked surprisingly good with this marking.


    Ping even complained on how I seemed to fit anything that they tried to put me into and said that she was jealous.


    But that isn¡¯t something of great matter.


    Even after we took a carriage, it still took us a long time to reach the house where the party was happening, seeing as it was in a nearby city. From what Ping told me, they were a house with only slightly more power than Tian¡¯s and they had a rivalry with the Lon-Ying household for a good few years, and the reason for the invite was to show them how their daughter was a genius of her own.


    Thus, it was mine and Tian¡¯s job to counter it by showing our dignified posture.


    Or something like that.


    But I couldn¡¯t help but feel that I was far too inexperienced for this. I mean, I do have some of my memories from the past to help me, but I sincerely have no idea if I am good enough for the job.


    While thinking so, I saw as the carriage passed through a pair of large gates and soon we found ourselves within a large garden. Seeing that I wouldn¡¯t have much longer to calm myself, I quickly closed my eyes and took a couple of deep breaths while focusing myself.


    As soon as I felt the carriage stopping completely, I knew that we had reached the end, so I quickly jumped from Tian¡¯s mother¡¯s lap to the ground and walked to open the door.


    Just as I pushed the door open, I made sure to put on a serious and emotionless face just how Ping and Jia, the elderly lady, had drilled into my head, as this helped me to keep up a dignified appearance.


    Immediately after leaving, I found myself in front of a huge oriental stone mansion that easily grew bigger than what my vision could encompass. After looking at it for a moment I silently thanked the remainders of my memory that showed me buildings that easily outclassed this one, or else I would have my mouth hanging open in shock.


    Quickly giving a look to the sides, I saw as the many aide lined themselves on each side of the stairway as if pointing us the path and to welcome us. I paid them heed for no more than a few seconds before turning back to the carriage and waiting.


    The first one to come down was Bo, who stepped out triumphantly and soon covered the whole area with his imposing aura. The servants all widened their eyes for a moment while watching the huge man coming out. He was soon followed by Tian¡¯s mother, who stepped out of the carriage and followed him right behind.


    Lastly was Tian, whom I offered my hand to help her and she gladly took it before coming down the carriage. She gave me a discreet nod as thanks before walking away. I followed her suit while keeping a fair distance of two meters between us.


    The carriage with the other aides opened a few seconds later and soon came the two personal aides from Tian¡¯s parents, who quickly surpassed us without looking all that hurried.


    I don¡¯t think I could walk at that speed while keeping up that appearance. They quickly passed us and walked ahead, soon reaching the couple and standing at a similar distance that I kept from Tian.


    Milady didn¡¯t even spare a glance at the aides and walked ahead with only a slightly proud smile in her face. We quickly climbed the staircase and entered through the large doors of the mansion that separated the outside with the inside.


    The moment that this happened, I could feel as dozens of stares redirected themselves to Tian and I, and they all had a slightly surprised or shocked look. Discreetly I looked around while taking in the scene.


    Many different nobles were here, almost all of them looking like they were of a higher standing than us, but even I could say that not many could boast the same aura that this family held, so not many looked down on us.


    In fact, the brief moments my eyes crossed with one of the onlookers, they all looked shocked for a moment before putting on back their masks. I doubted even a single one of them let out their facade for more than that brief moment, but even then I could feel that some of them felt really impressed with milady and I.


    Seeing that my training was at least working for now, I gave a quick glance at Tian, who made a discreet nod ahead before she started walking.


    I followed her suit while unable to help but feel that I had just entered into some kind of battlefield.

 21st Chapter - Speech analysis

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. NOT Sorry for the delay since I got the day correct, but here is the chapter!


    Well, as you all know, I planned that, for the next five chapters that I¡¯ll write of story, they¡¯ll be for IO, my main work, as a commemoration for reaching 100 chapters. This means that, for the duration of said event, Spiritsmith will be¡­ Unaffected, since I have some back up chapters! Hooray!


    Anyway. On the more serious note, some of you might have already noticed, but I made a Wordpress account for myself where I dump my old/secondary works so I don¡¯t clutter RRL. If you guys want to take a look, there¡¯s already a few chapters in there of 2 new works of mine, and I plan on adding a few older ones soon. The chapters there don¡¯t have as much priority as the ones from RRL, though, so no need to worry about that. So, if any of you are interested, go give it a look(and boost my views on the process xD)


    Check out the About page so you guys can have a better idea of what the blog is about.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''1''>MY NEW WORDPRESS!</a></td></tr></tbody></table>


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    Stepping in towards the main floor, I followed Lady Tian as she immediately made her way towards the center-most table within the huge saloon. Next to said table stood a family who were speaking directly with Tian¡¯s parents.


    Different from Tian¡¯s family, whom all had black hair and had a more oriental look to their features, these had a blonde hair and more of a squarish look to their faces, but not to the point that they looked like westerns. If I had to say something, i¡¯d say that they kind of looked like a family of half-westerns.


    But then, technically, their family came from the east a long time ago, according to what Ping told me during the cram period, running away from another clan from a far away land or something. They earned their name when one of their ancestors became a significant spiritualist and was elevated in nobility by one of the great clans. This also happened around the same time as the Lon-Ying household, and since both were given territories near each other, they somehow ended up becoming rival houses.


    The head of the family was a thin man with short golden hair. However, what he lacked in volume he compensated on height, and towered at almost two meters of height, having to look down to talk to Bo. He wore a two-layered robe, similar to Bo.


    ¡°Bo of the Lon-Ying. I see that you came to our party.¡± He said in a gentlemanly tone.


    Hooh, he uses ¡°I see that you came to our party¡± instead of ¡°I¡¯m glad that you came to our party¡± . A light provocation I see.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t simply ignore an invitation from the Song clan, couldn¡¯t I?¡± Bo replied in an indifferent tone.


    A neutral response. Neither positive nor negative, avoiding conflict?


    ¡°Lady Sui.¡± The blonde woman spoke while looking towards Tian¡¯s mother.


    Although briefly, I did see as a vein popped up in Sui¡¯s temple, as the blonde woman was a bit more¡­ Voluminous than herself. If this makes enough sense. Her golden hair was tied in a single braid behind her back while she wore something more akin to a dress than a robe. Something I guess came from their original mainland.


    Ping¡¯s are still a bit bigger, though¡­


    No ! Focus, Lia, Focus !


    Different from the head of the clan, this woman had a slightly wry smile as she saw the two men having their stare down. This seemed to have calmed down Sui enough so that her jealousy stopped showing any further.


    ¡°Lady Edith.¡± She replied curtly.


    Edith¡­ If I¡¯m not mistaken, she was the wife of the leader of their clan when they first arrived at our country. If it became hereditary, it could explain the western name.


    Neutral greetings, both of them. Avoiding confrontation or indifferent?


    Did they even have some kind of second meaning behind their words? Ping did tell me that over-analyzing might be just as bad as being fooled.


    Besides the adults, stood their children, both with blonde hair just like the mother. One was around twelve or thirteen years old. It was a boy with golden hair just like the father, but keeping the hair long in a ponytail. He wore a simple green robe much alike the father, but he kept looking away whenever the others weren¡¯t noticing.


    With the corner of my eyes I saw that there was a girl whom he constantly kept eyeing.


    Making a mental note to mention it to Bo afterwards as it might have some use, my gaze finally ended up on the youngest of the siblings. A girl a bit older than me, but a bit younger than Tian.


    With long hair much alike her mother, but leaving it free flowing, she wore a small white western dress that went all the way to her ankles. Having clear brown eyes and a slightly haughty air to herself, the moment her gaze crossed with Tian, sparks started flying.


    ¡°Oh my. If it isn¡¯t Tian Lon-Ying. What a pleasure to meet you here!¡± The girl said with clearly hostile tone.


    ¡°Aria Song. To think that we would meet again!¡± Tian replied in kind.


    I didn¡¯t really need any kind of analysis to understand that these two were much more hostile towards each other than what they let appear on the surface. Not that they hid much with their clearly hostile tones.


    Of course, I kept myself quiet, as etiquette said that an aide should only speak when it¡¯s either something of huge importance or when they are directed to.


    They exchanged a bit of small-talk between themselves, and at a glance it didn¡¯t seem to be anything too noteworthy, as they talked about a few territories, how a few produces seemed to be in the downs recently while others were better.


    They also gave a brief congratulations to the girl, since the party was in her behalf, and she replied in a surprisingly polite way, compared to how she was talking with Tian. The boy also noticed the atmosphere and quickly exchanged a few words with Bo and Sui. He was surprisingly calm and collected for someone who a few seconds ago was staring all love struck at a girl.


    Although I felt a bit sad due to being ignored, I did take my chance to assess the situation. Firstly, after briefly expanding my senses to the max, I could tell that only four or five people in the entire building were spiritualist-worthy, one of them being the girl right in front of Tian.


    If I had to say something about her, I¡¯d guess that she is slightly above Tian when it comes to inner spirit, but hers wasn¡¯t as defined as Tian, and had a more vague feeling about it. Maybe she didn¡¯t get her Spirit aligned to any such elements?


    I couldn¡¯t be so sure, as I was still a greenhorn in such matters. Taking in account that, I also checked on the others around the room, and sure enough, they all had vastly superior spirits. If I had to guess, they are around master Roshis¡¯ level


    Feeling slightly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people that had gathered in the mansion, I once again regained my focus on the surrounding area, taking a glance at the aides of the Song Household.


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    They all were of varying looks, but they did share the same simple black robes that all other aides seemed to use, as well as having a small drawing of what looked like a lute around their cheek. A couple of them, the younger ones were smiling slightly while looking distracted, but the older one, a man who already had white hair, looked at me intently.


    I gave him a small smile when I noticed this, and he replied with a raised eyebrow, as if confused or conflicted, but said nothing.


    However, it was fairly rare to see a male aide, as most of the guys usually end up preferring to go to the personal military forces of the households instead of working as an aide. An old one that looked fit to be a butler, however, was even rarer.


    If I had to guess by the man¡¯s look, aura and position right behind the household head, I¡¯d guess that he is the head aide of the mansion, so I guess that it would make sense to see him being a bit more cautious to the happening than the younger aides.


    ¡°Well Bo, I¡¯m curious, but where is your head-aide? I don¡¯t see her here as usual.¡± The blonde man asked.


    ¡°Ping decided to take the chance to give a thorough cleaning of the house, as well let the new Aide have her chance of participating in this kind of event.¡± He said while pointing towards me.


    Upon his words, all on the table turned their eyes to me, so I lifted my face to them and gave a small innocent looking smile. They looked surprised at a moment while taking note of the flower drawing on my cheek.


    ¡°My name is Lia Liu Wang, and I¡¯m a novice aide at the Lon-Ying Household and Lady Tian Lon-Ying¡¯s personal aide. It is my pleasure to be here today.¡± I said with a slight bow.


    ¡°¡­Wow.¡± Aria said after a moment of silence, before adding in a low tone. ¡°That was better than my own introduction¡­¡±


    I don¡¯t think the others noticed her saying that.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you surprisingly polite for such a young age?¡± The blond man asked with a surprised look.


    ¡°You flatter me, Lord Xiang.¡± I said while bowing slightly once again. Thank Ping for cramming their names on my head. ¡°Big Sis Ping just had to make me study hard¡­¡± I said before stopping and covering my mouth with my hands while making a surprised face.


    Xiang smiled gently before nodding, the same for the others of the Song household, who had a slightly kind smile appearing before going back to the serious look. However, those who came from our household all had a surprised and confused look for a moment, but since the others had their eyes on me, no one noticed it.


    ¡°You are still young. No need to worry about making mistakes.¡± Xiang said with a kind smile.


    ¡°Thanks¡­ Lord Xiang.¡± I said while looking down and with an embarrassed tone.


    He gently rubbed my head with his hand for a moment before turning back to Bo.


    ¡°She seems to be an adorable young girl. Where did you find her?¡± He asked in a slightly polite tone. While Bo smiled wryly and prepared to talk about how they met me, Tian approached me discreetly and talked to me.


    ¡°What was that, cute plebeian?¡± She asked me. ¡°It isn¡¯t like you to make a slip like that¡­¡± She told me in a low tone.


    ¡°Eeh¡­ I don¡¯t know what you are talking about¡­.¡± I said in my best innocent tone. ¡°I¡¯m just a young girl still in training.¡± I said with a mischievous smile. Tian widened her eyes surprised for a moment as she understood my idea.


    I¡¯m taking advantage of the ¡°just a young and innocent girl¡± idea to make the others lower their guards when dealing with me.


    ¡°Sometimes I doubt whether you truly are just four years old.¡± She said with a sigh.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear that from a six years old who already mastered politics.¡± I replied with a pout.


    She giggled slightly at this, which caught attention of Aria, who eyed us in curiosity before walking toward us.


    ¡°Greetings, young aide.¡± She said when she approached us. ¡°I am Aria Silver-Song.¡±


    ¡°Greetings, Lady Aria.¡± I said while bowing. ¡°It is my pleasure to meet you. What do I ouchi¡­ Ouie¡­ Owe for your presence?¡± I asked with a fake stuttering. She smiled slightly before nodding.


    ¡°I came to hear your story of how you met Tian here.¡± She said with a cheerful tone, but I could somehow tell that there was second intentions behind her words.


    Giving a quick glance at Tian, I quickly nodded before saying.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I ended up meeting Big Sis Tian by accident, when I mistakenly entered her house.¡± I said with a wide smile. ¡°Then she asked if I wanted to be her aide.¡±


    Good thing that I could use the whole ¡°I¡¯m a kid¡± fact to cut the answer short and not give any important information. Aria widened her eyes in confusion for a moment before nodding satisfied.


    ¡°And how exactly did you enter the wrong house?¡± She asked curious.


    ¡°Mister guard took me to the wrong house when he was taking me home once.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Then I stayed there to play with Big-Sis Tian.¡±


    ¡°¡­Oh?¡± The girl asked while raising her eyebrow and stealing a glance at Tian.


    I kept the fact hidden that I was a spiritualist, since I had no idea what kind of impact it could bring. However, Tian decided otherwise.


    ¡°She actually began training as a Spiritualist back home.¡± She said with a monotonous tone.


    At her words, the whole Song family widened their eyes in shock before turning to me. I smiled at them in a fake confusion before seeing Bo smiling widely. As if taking advantage of the shock they took, the large man cleared his throat and said.


    ¡°Well, we already took much of your time, and you have other guests to entertain. We shall find ourselves a table to enjoy the party.¡± He said before they could recover from the shock.


    After that he walked away, and all of us followed him, seeing as the Song were left too confused to know how to react.


    ¡°Little Lia.¡± Bo asked me while he walked ahead, his Aide searching for a free area that we could rest.


    ¡°Yes, Master Bo?¡± I asked putting back my serious face.


    ¡°Keep up with the good act.¡± He said with a smirk.


    ¡°Okay.¡± I replied with a smile before seeing him give me a slightly teasing gaze.


    ¡°Also, you should have paid more attention to what I was discussing with Xiang.¡± He said and I blinked confused. ¡°Just now I was checking what kind of information they have on the situation of the country, as well as other rumors, and he did the same to me.¡±


    I widened my eyes before clicking my tongue inwardly. I kind of messed that up, I guess.


    ¡°I see. Thanks for the warning.¡± I told him, and he smiled slightly before nodding.


    ¡°After we take our seats, you are free to walk around.¡± He said with a kind tone. ¡°And no need to bother with gathering information, our own aides can do that. You are still only a young girl, so you can play around a bit.¡±


    I blinked surprised for a moment, not knowing how to react. I mean, I kind of came here just to learn the whole behind the scenes thingy¡­ If it¡¯s not like I need to do that, then what do I have to do?

 22th Chapter - Seen through

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. NOT Sorry for the delay since I still have 10 minutes on my clock here!


    Close call, but here I managed to update it still within what is considered the magnanimous THORsday. Barely. Anyway, here we see my pitiful attempt at making some background politics works. Will it be bad? Will it be horrible? Who knows!


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    To say that I felt confused was an understatement. At first, I thought that the sole reason why I was brought here was so that I could do my job as I had been instructed by Ping. However, the moment that master Bo and the others sat down, they told me to go and play around? I couldn¡¯t help but feel confused at the sudden change in act towards me.


    Although I questioned around, it seemed that neither of the parents were about to change their ideas, and when I asked the reason for the sudden change of heart, the answer was a bit surprising.


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s just say that we decided that we might be requesting a bit too much from a girl like you¡­¡± Bo said while heaving a sigh. ¡°So, take this chance to rest a bit and go enjoy yourself¡­ Just don¡¯t take it too far, we do have a reputation to keep, after all¡­.¡±


    I looked at the man for a moment before nodding heavily. Tian decided to stay at the table for the time being, so I might as well go and look around for things to do.


    Well, to be honest, I kind of came to this place with gathering information and spread rumors, not to simply enjoy myself, so I didn¡¯t have much idea on what should I do meanwhile.


    Seeing that I had nothing else to do, I finally nodded and walked away so that I could take a look at the party and maybe find something interesting. The first thing I did was to take a quick look around so that I could have a better idea of where I could go.


    With a glance, I could tell that the great hall had a certain division to it. In one side of the room were the most extravagant dressed, sitting around near the bountiful tables while talking to each other as they exchanged fake pleasantries. There were some people who were using the servant black robes amidst them, but the colorful clothes of the noble easily overshadowed them.


    On the other side, in a slightly more discreet place, the coloration was a lot less diverse, as all the servants that weren¡¯t tending to their masters gathered so that they could talk without bothering with being polite and such. At first I thought that this felt a bit elitist, but if I stopped to think about it, it served as a break area for the servants.


    Since walking amidst the nobles by myself might be seen as disrespectful, I decided that I might as well start on the servant tables, so after one last gaze at Tian¡¯s family table I turned towards the servant area and made my way there.


    I could feel as diverse kind of gazes befell upon me. Some of them were from nobles who looked slightly surprised, but the majority were from servants, who seemed slightly shocked at my age. They probably thought that I was too young, and sincerely? I don¡¯t blame them. It¡¯s not every day you see a four years old walking around in Aide¡¯s clothing.


    This also led me to an important question. To be honest, I had no plan on slacking on the mission that Ping gave me, even if the masters told me there was no need. Of course, I wouldn¡¯t actively seek information, but I¡¯m sure that a couple of things would get to me. This led me to deciding what kind of attitude I should take while relating to other aides. I could simply go and act normal with them, probably surprising them with how mature I can actually be, but this would be like showing my trump card immediately, so I decided against it.


    On the other hand, I could try and act just like I did with the Song family, possibly making them drop their guard against a seemingly innocent girl. Since this had little to no drawbacks, I decided that it was the best course of action.


    Nodding inwardly to myself, I approached the aide¡¯s area, seeing how all of a sudden I became the main attraction. Looking at the aide¡¯s with a fake confused face, I ignored them after some time while approaching one of the tables. It wasn¡¯t as fancy as the ones reserved for nobles, but after snatching what looked like a piece of meat from the table, I decided that it was only the appearance that was a bit more lax, as the taste was excellent.


    While I ¡°distractedly¡± kept eating the snacks, I kept an ear out to what the other servants were speaking.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t she a bit young?¡± ¡°She¡¯s so cute!¡± ¡°To go straight to the food, so inexperienced...¡± ¡°At least her manners are good, right?¡± ¡°Why would the Lon-Ying bring such a young girl?¡± ¡°I heard that she is really skillful...¡±


    So, it seems like opinions about me are varied in both directions, some positive, some negative, but all of them seem to take me as too young and naive, so I guess I could say that things are going the way I planned.


    Kind of¡­


    It didn¡¯t take much longer after I started snacking on the things I found on the table before someone finally approached me. As usual, it was a woman, as male aides are extremely rare, and she crouched down so that she could look at me into the eyes while giving me a gentle and kind smile.


    ¡°Hello there, little girl.¡± She said to me as I stopped eating and looked at her. I quickly put the snack away for the moment before turning to her and bowed.


    ¡°Hello. My name is Lia Liu Wang, I¡¯m an aide in training at the L-Lon-Ying household.¡± I said with a fake stutter. While raising my head I quickly took notice of the marking on her face.


    She was from a higher ranking noble family that lived a bit far away, if I remember correct, they rule over a small town by themselves, compared to Lon-Yings who were submissive to the village elder¡­


    Better be extra polite to her.


    ¡°My my, aren¡¯t you one polite little thing?¡± She asked with a slightly surprised face. ¡°Well, where are my manners? My name is Yun Huang. I¡¯m the head aide working at the Sol family.¡±


    Hmm? I may not remember everything about the families and their aides, but I¡¯m pretty sure the head aide from the Sol wasn¡¯t called Yun. While making this mental note, I put on a surprised face and said.


    ¡°Heeh! You work for THAT Sol family?¡± The one I only learned about the day before yesterday?


    ¡°Fu fu, that¡¯s right!¡± She said with a short and proud laugh before looking back at me. ¡°Now, what does a young girl like you is doing here?¡± I blinked at her words and stopped to think for a brief moment. So, she is actually probing for information instead of simply being kind.


    ¡°Me?¡± I asked while tilting my head before smiling widely. ¡°Master Bo let me play around a bit after saying that I worked hard!¡± I said with a smile before putting a childish serious face. ¡°I¡¯ve been training a whole lotta lot! But it¡¯s fun, so I don¡¯t mind!¡±


    She widened her eyes for a brief moment before smiling and gently rubbing my head. I ended up closing my eyes in pleasure for a moment before she finally stopped. I couldn¡¯t help but pout a little. Yun lifted herself once again before walking and making a sign for me to follow her. I hesitated for a moment, but decided that it shouldn''t hurt to comply for now.


    ¡°Then, what have you been thinking about your training up to now?¡± She asked me.


    ¡°It¡¯s fun!¡± I said again while putting up a smile. ¡°But Miss Ping won¡¯t teach me how to cook¡­ And I¡¯m too small to help with other things...¡± I said in a gloomy tone.


    ¡°Well, you can¡¯t be too hasty, can you?¡± She said and I nodded. ¡°So, I heard that Young Lady Tian is a Spiritualist¡­ Is that true?¡±


    ¡°Hmm. She is! She even spend the morning training!¡± I told her in a cheerful tone. Since this was already something that was made public, I found no need to try and hide it. ¡°She spends ALL her morning with Master Roshi, so she is training a lot!¡±


    ¡°Hee...¡± Yun said with a tone of surprise. ¡°I¡¯ve always wondered how a spiritualist training is, you know?¡± She said in a mischievous smile.


    I simply frowned at her words and tilted my head. My reaction seemed to surprise her, as she blinked while looking at me.


    Is Tian¡¯s training stage also something known by the others? This is something I couldn¡¯t say quite for sure, so it would be better for me to not reveal anything too important. Also, could it be that she is also looking for information about me?


    ¡°Lia¡­?¡± She called me confused. I raised my head towards her and gave a slightly confused look.


    ¡°Neh, Big sis Yun.¡± I said while pulling the hem of her robe. I saw as shock ran through her face for a moment due to my sudden closeness. ¡°What kind of training is it when they sit in front of each other?¡±


    She blinked surprised for some time before looking away with a slightly embarrassed face.


    ¡°I wonder...¡± She replied.


    I couldn¡¯t quite grasp the meaning behind her words. Either she had no idea or she didn¡¯t think it would be a good idea to speak it out loud. While I thought about that, I also decided that it would be a good chance to get a counter probe.


    ¡°Neh, Big sis. Is being a head aide difficult?¡± I asked her and saw as she widened her eyes briefly before smiling bitterly for a moment.


    ¡°Usually, it¡¯s not that bad.¡± She said. ¡°But when there¡¯s something important going on, it can get a bit tiresome.¡± Should I take it that their household is preparing for something large from the way she is saying it? Or is she just stating something common? Guuh, this is a lot more annoying than I thought.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    As we approached another table, Yun took a large jug of something as well as a simple wooden cup. She quickly poured a bit of the red drink on the cup and gave it to me. Maybe she isn¡¯t all that mean after all?


    ¡°Thank you, big sis!¡± I said while taking the cup and giving it a quick sip. Only a simple fruit juice. Couldn¡¯t say which fruit it was, but it was sweet, so I quite liked it.


    While I drank the juice cheerfully to myself, Yun took me and showed me to some other aides from important households. It seemed to me that even the older looking ones seemed to take up on my young appearance with a pleasant smile, and with the occasional stutter to make me look inexperienced, I had the advantage that I was too young to be taken serious, so I didn¡¯t need to worry about affecting the household¡¯s name too much.


    ...


    ¡°Heeh, so you can already wash your clothes?¡±


    ¡°Hmm. But I¡¯m still not as good as miss Ping.¡± I replied with a sullen tone, which made the aides smile kindly.


    ¡°And what¡¯s your robe made of? It looks so pretty!¡± Another one said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know?¡± I replied while tilting my head. ¡°Lady Tian gave it to me when I started!¡±


    ¡°And you said that you are Young Lady Tian¡¯s personal aide?¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± I nodded. ¡°She is really nice to me, so I want to be nice to her too!¡± At least when she doesn¡¯t have that predatory look¡­ Or in the bath¡­ ¡°Are your masters nice too?¡± I asked with an innocent look.


    Some of the aides blinked, some put on wry smiles while others simply nodded. It looked like the treatment varied between them, huh?


    ¡°So, why did you decide to become an aide?¡±


    ¡°It seemed fun!¡± And I had to pay for the tuition fee. ¡°And father wouldn¡¯t teach me how to smith...¡±


    ¡°Heh?¡± ¡°You want to be a smithy?¡± ¡°That¡¯s surprising...¡± This received varied reactions from the girls, so I wondered if I shouldn¡¯t have said it;


    While I was wondering what I should do, we heard footsteps approaching us, so almost all of the aides turned to see who was approaching, and what we saw was the head aide of the Song family, the butler-looking old men.


    ¡°Greetings, ladies.¡± He said while giving a short bow, and the aides quickly replied in kind. After a while he quickly turned to me and gave a brief smile. ¡°Would you mind lending me this young aide for a moment?¡± He asked.


    I blinked surprised for a moment, not really expecting him to come and call for me directly. Seeing that there wasn¡¯t any real need for me to worry, I jumped down from the chair I was while being questioned and approached him.


    ¡°How can I help you, mister?¡± I asked while looking up to him.


    Damn, he is tall!


    ¡°Call me Hou.¡± He replied with a smile before nodding to the other girls. ¡°Now, would you like to follow me to the kitchen and help me with something?¡±


    I tilted my head confused for a moment before nodding. It¡¯s not like I was doing anything too important at the moment, and I would have more than enough time to try and gather information from the aides later. Turning back, I followed the large man down the hall and through a door that had previously been closed.


    Seeing that in this path were only the two of us, I thought that it might have been a bad idea, but true to his words, he took us to what looked like a kitchen.


    In there, he took me near to a small cabinet that was barely as tall as myself.


    ¡°Would you mind looking for a large silver plate in these for me? As you can see, I¡¯m a bit too big to look myself.¡± He said with a kind yet unreadable smile before turning back and looking at some suspended cabinets. I blinked surprised before nodding.


    Opening the cabinet¡¯s door, I kept watching him with my senses just to be sure. After a bit of searching around, I didn¡¯t find anything, so I closed it and went to the next one. While we were both searching, a silence befell upon the room that was separated enough from the main party that not even the sound of conversations reached us.


    ¡°I¡¯m interested in whatever information about the Sol family.¡± He said suddenly. For a brief moment I stopped and turned to him.


    ¡°What do you mean, mister?¡± I asked innocently. He turned to me and gave a triumphant smile.


    ¡°Little girl, I have more than a few grandaughters. I know when you are just acting.¡± He said. ¡°You are a lot more capable than you let on, am I correct?¡± I simply looked at him in a fake confusion, but this didn¡¯t seem to bother him too much. ¡°Of course, I won¡¯t take it for free.¡±


    As he turned towards the cabinets once again, I also started to search around for the plate while thinking on his proposition.


    ¡°Then, what would mister pay me for it?¡± Well, since the cat is out of the bag¡­Somehow I could almost feel as he smiled satisfied.


    ¡°One, I won¡¯t tell anyone about your fake innocence.¡± He said, going straight to the heart of the matter. ¡°Not even for my master, if this is what you wish. Second, I would like for us to make an¡­ Agreement, of information exchange.¡±


    I stopped once again and turned to him, not even trying to hide the frown on my face this time.


    ¡°Why me?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, since you are still young, there is good chance that you might get some information I don¡¯t have, as people tend to lower their guards against young children.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean that I will have more information than you? What would I exchange it for?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Well, you are still inexperienced, and you probably don¡¯t have a network in place yet, am I right?¡± He asked me, and I grimaced, knowing that he was spot on in that place. I still have trouble defining what¡¯s just rumors and what is just ramblings. ¡°I can have access to some information that you probably wouldn¡¯t get in parties like these, so it can be a mutually beneficial relationship.¡±


    I grimaced while thinking over it. It was indeed a fairly good proposal, yet I couldn¡¯t help but feel that he was trying to pull me into his pace. After some moment of thought, I sighed and gave up.


    ¡°Okay, although I know I¡¯m being played at here, I probably won¡¯t get a good proposition like this anytime soon.¡± I said with a sigh and felt as he stopped and turned to me for a moment. ¡°My only request is that we don¡¯t trade information about our own families, okay?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you a smart one?¡± He said with an amused tone. ¡°Fair enough. I can accept that.¡±


    ¡°Okay...¡± I said with a sigh before blinking. ¡°Oh, found it.¡± I said while taking a beautiful silver plate with some flowers etchings on its border. ¡°Is it this one?¡±


    ¡°Why yes!¡± He said with a genuinely surprised tone. ¡°Thank you very much, young Lia.¡± He said gently while taking the plate from my hand. ¡°Just need a bit of cleaning. It¡¯s been a long time since we last used it, after all...¡±


    I nodded in agreement. As pretty and expensive looking the plate was, it was still dusty and needed some good washing before being useable. It was also fairly large, so it was probably more so that you would serve food with it rather than eating.


    Hou took the plate to a nearby water basin and started to wash it thoroughly. I took this time to go and start with the agreed exchange.


    ¡°I think that the Sol family are preparing for something large.¡± I said while sitting in a small bench besides him. ¡°From what Yun said, she exchanged the head aide just some time ago, as she was sent somewhere else, and from what she said, it seems that work has been a bit hectic recently, which means a lot of movement in the household.¡±


    As I said that, Hou listened intently while nodding to himself in agreement.


    ¡°Hmm, as I thought. It matches with my other sources...¡± He said in a serious and grave tone. ¡°Is there anything else you managed to get?¡± He asked, and I stopped to think for a moment.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ Not exactly sure, but it seems that their vassal household have also been having some movement with incoming deliveries piling in their depots.¡± I said with a thought.


    ¡°Any idea of their sources?¡± He asked me, but I shook my head. ¡°I see, it¡¯s good enough for now. So, what do you want to know in exchange?¡±


    I stopped to think for a moment. I have no idea what I should ask him about. There were more than a couple of things I could ask, but most of them had a chance that Bo already knew somehow. From what I could gather, Ping was surprisingly good when it came to gathering information.


    ¡°Oh, I heard that a new market opened between our households.¡± I said, deciding to change the question to something a bit different from direct politics. ¡°Who is the owner of that market, and who is he affiliated to?¡±


    Hou blinked surprised before turning to me and watching me in confusion for some time. After a few seconds passed he widened his eyes and made a nod.


    ¡°I see¡­ I see...¡± He said while nodding. ¡°I didn¡¯t pay much mind to it before, but setting a market there might¡­ I can¡¯t give you an answer right now, but I¡¯ll look into it as soon as possible.¡± He said with a nod, and I nodded in exchange.


    After he finished cleaning the silver plate, he took a towel to dry it before nodding satisfied. Since our matters here had already finished, we both turned back to the main hall and separated there, with him saying that he had to go to the other kitchen so he could get the food to serve.


    I blinked surprised, but nodded nonetheless. Maybe they had a larger kitchen for large festivities like this one? That last one was fairly empty when I think about it.


    I didn¡¯t worry too much about it and turned towards Tian¡¯s table thinking that it might be better to report my findings.

 23th Chapter - Nobles Friend

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. Sorry for the delay. Got a bit occupied with college projects and ended up missing my update date, but here is the chapter!


    First, whoever saw a scene like this coming, give yourself a cake. Second, I¡¯m seriously running out of chapters I have in back up, having only up to twenty seven already written. If I get to the current chapter, I might have to drop the upload speed. On the other hand, I should be ending the IO marathon this Saturday, so all¡¯s good.


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I told you to enjoy yourself, young lady.¡± Master Bo said with a slight frown in his face.


    ¡°But I enjoy working, though?¡± I replied while putting on my best innocent face.


    I felt as both Bo and Sui looked at me with conflicted gazes, but professionally ignoring their inquisitive looks, I simply smiled at them, so seeing that I wouldn¡¯t budge no matter how much they tried to guilt-trip me, they sighed in unison and leaned back on their chairs once more. During this time, Tian simply kept on smiling proudly while hugging and petting me from behind.


    Not having neither the right nor the will to get out from this spoiling position, I smiled in pleasure as I felt the small hand from my master gently stroking my hair.


    ¡°Tell us what you got, Lia.¡± Bo said wearily while waving his hand towards me. Nodding excitedly, I told them about my talks with the other household¡¯s aides and what happened once the head aide from the Song took me to the kitchen.


    Most of the time they simply kept hearing quietly what I had to say, and only briefly questioned me once I mentioned one or another household that they were more interested on. Even Tian kept listening attentively to what I said.


    ¡°So, the Sol household is preparing such a large movement, huh?¡± Bo said with an amused tone. ¡°I didn¡¯t think they would attack the Nichi so soon¡­ Either that, or they are going against the Hon Household...¡± He said with a pensive tone.


    ¡°Nichi?¡± I asked confused. Although the name was fairly familiar, I couldn¡¯t quite remember where I had heard about it before.


    ¡°Nichi is the country to the south of the Roaming dragon mountain range.¡± Bo said with an explanation tone. ¡°Although we share some similarities, the Nichi have some very keen differences when it comes to culture and techniques. We haven¡¯t had an all-out war for quite some time, but small skirmishes do tend to happen from time to time. Besides, recently a noble-man from Nichi managed to snatch some territory from the Hon, so they might be amassing a force to gather it back.¡±


    Listening to his words, I nodded slightly while I archived that information on my head. It was good news to know that there were different countries out there. This kind of makes me want to go out and explore what is out there.


    Still, this isn¡¯t the time for me to bother with my fantasies.


    ¡°Then, what about the Hon¡¯s? Why would they attack there?¡± I asked curious, and Bo gave a brief smile.


    ¡°The Hon are a rival household of sorts for the Sol family.¡± Tian said proudly. ¡°They have always been very competitive, but recently it seems that their relationships became strained since two talented practitioners appeared on their houses.¡± Wait, it couldn¡¯t be that these talented practitioners were¡­


    ¡°You think they might use the guise of recovering territory to assault the Hon?¡± Sui asked with a raised eyebrow. Bo nodded lightly, but his face didn¡¯t seem all that confident.


    ¡°It could be either, to be honest.¡± He said with a wry smile before widening it. ¡°However, whatever this means, the Hon and the Sol will ready themselves for war, so this might be a chance for us to get some profit...¡± The large man said with a confident smirk.


    ¡°Oh, are we going to increase the production of medicine then?¡± Tian asked curious, and I also looked expectant. Medicine is a fairly well sold product from our village, so it would make sense if we were to expand the production. But¡­


    ¡°No. We¡¯ll keep the production as is.¡± Bo said after some thought, shocking the two of us. ¡°Instead, we should start stocking on the medicine we produce and wait until later.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­ Why are we doing that?¡± I asked confused, and Tian nodded from behind.


    ¡°Look, Little Lia. Other households already know that the Hon will be buying medicine soon, so most of them will start trying to sell their medicine right away, correct?¡± Bo said with a patient tone. ¡°So, if we went to sell our own product right away, we would face heavy competition and this would drive the price of the medicine down. However, even with buying so much medicine, the Sol will, sooner or later, end up using all of it and injuries will start piling up. That is when we sell.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I see!¡± Tian said with a cheerful tone. ¡°The other household will have already spent most of their stock in the initial exchange, so we will be the only suppliers. And since they will need the medicine immediately, they won¡¯t have much room for negotiations.¡±


    Waah, that¡¯s cold!


    But if I think about it, it does make sense that they chose this route, because it would give almost guaranteed profit at low price and might even increase the honor of our household, since we will be the ones offering the medicine to the wounded soldiers.


    While I was lost in thought for a moment, Bo called up on one of the aides and asked her to note down some things. Probably his plans for when he arrived back at the mansion. After finishing his brief talk, he turned to me once again.


    ¡°Lastly. You said that you made a deal with Hou, their head aide, right?¡± He asked while motioning to the Song family. I nodded slightly. ¡°Then, what information did you ask him in exchange for the info you got on the Sol¡¯s?¡±


    ¡°Well...¡± I smiled a bit awkward while trying to form my words. At the time, it was a bit of a spur of the moment inspiration, so I couldn¡¯t say for sure if I had made a good decision, and now that I had to tell the Master what I choose, I felt a bit afraid of having made a bad decision. ¡°Do you remember that small market we passed by on the way here?¡± I said shyly.


    ¡°Oh, that one?¡± Sui asked curious. ¡°It was pretty new, so it caught my attention. But why would it matter?¡±


    ¡°Well, I asked if he knew who was the one behind the market...¡± I said while suddenly feeling regret. If I thought about it, had I brought this matter up with master Bo, wouldn¡¯t he be able to look into it himself?


    ¡°Who¡¯s¡­ Behind it?¡± Sui asked confused while stopping to think.


    Turning to Bo, I saw as he also took some time to think, a light frown forming in his face as the thoughts went by. I lowered my head suddenly feeling a bit silly for having asked that, but Bo still nodded nonetheless.


    ¡°I could have thought of better things to ask, to be honest...¡± He said seriously. ¡°But it¡¯s not like there isn¡¯t a good side to this. This way, we can hide the fact that we will have information on that market...¡±


    Stolen story; please report.


    ¡°Why that market, though? What does it have in special?¡± Sui asked confused. ¡°You know I¡¯m not as good in this whole economic politics as you, dear.¡±


    ¡°Because that market is around the middle way of both our cities.¡± Bo said shortly. ¡°From there, they could easily gather information from both of us or spread false information fairly efficiently. If they do a good job, they might even manage to control the market price of a few products.¡±


    ¡°I think I understand now...¡± Sui said with a nod. ¡°Politics is a pain sometimes...¡± She complained.


    ¡°No problem mother! Just leave those problems to me!¡± Tian said proudly while stuffing her chest. This only served to make Sui even more depressed, though.


    ¡°To leave politic matters to my daughter¡­ I feel so defeated...¡± Sui said in a sad tone, and I couldn¡¯t help but smile awkwardly about her situation.


    Bo laughed briefly at her reaction before stopping and looking around a bit, as if searching for something. I followed his gaze and saw as his eyes landed on a couple of newcomers to the party.


    He gave a slightly wry smile before turning to me once again.


    ¡°Lia, Tian. Right now I will have to talk with a friend of mine. Why don¡¯t the two of you go around the party?¡± He said with a tone that left it clear that we didn¡¯t have much choice. Raising my eyebrows in doubt, I thought that it wasn¡¯t worth doubting and quickly jumped off from Tian¡¯s lap.


    Lady Tian sighed shortly and nodded in accordance before dropping from the chair and walking away. Seeing that it was my job, I followed her closely as she wandered around the party aimlessly.


    For a moment I wondered what we were going to do, but it seemed that lady Tian already had an idea in mind, because she turned towards a group of young kids and made her way there. All of them having around her age, being at most one year older or younger.


    ¡°Are you going to play, Lady Tian?¡± I asked with a slightly taunting tone, and she smirked slightly.


    ¡°For us, there is no such a thing as playing...¡± She said with a slightly sad tone. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure all of them are there to make relationships and create contacts...¡±


    Geez, that¡¯s too sad! To not even be allowed to simply talk to other kids because of politics¡­


    ¡°I¡¯m your friend, aren¡¯t I?¡± I asked her, and saw as Tian blinked surprised for a moment.


    ¡°YES! YOU ARE MY BEST FRIEND!¡± She said while suddenly hugging me tightly and putting on a cheerful voice.


    Caught a bit unaware by her sudden outburst, I didn¡¯t really have the chance to escape. Well, not that I really had the wish to do so, since I kind of liked being pampered.


    But, we couldn¡¯t quite keep that up, since she had her appearances to keep up. Quickly recovering, she cleared her throat and let go of me, but I didn¡¯t lose sight of her making a displeased face. Smiling quietly to myself, we once again made way to the group of kids.


    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Tian from the Lon-Ying household.¡± She said introducing herself to the kids.


    I noticed how almost all of them started looking at her from head to toes in an analytical manner. Tian simply ignored their gazes and after her short bow she turned to them. From her expression she seemed to recognize a few of the kids from somewhere.


    One of them, in particular, caught my attention. It wasn¡¯t the fact that he had an even fancier robe than the other present, nor the fact that he was the only one with three aides instead of a single one, and the fact that nearby was one of the few spiritualist in the room, although these did help me catch sight of him a bit more. It was, instead, that he was looking straight at me.


    For a brief moment, our gazes crossed, but I didn¡¯t linger too long before lowering mine. It is considered improper for an aide to lock gazes with a noble without proper permission.


    Since it lasted only for a brief moment, he shouldn¡¯t bother too much with it¡­


    ¡°Hey, Lon-ying.¡± I heard an annoyingly proud voice come from the boy. ¡°Your servant just insulted me.¡±


    ¡­Wow¡­


    It took him exactly five seconds since Tian¡¯s introduction before he started a fight. I saw as Tian¡¯s eyebrow twitched slightly, but she kept a perfectly polite expression as she also came to the conclusion that the boy was of a higher standing than us.


    ¡°Please, forgive her, as she¡¯s very young and is still inexperienced in the ways of the world.¡± Tian said with a polite tone while smiling gently.


    ¡°Her age doesn¡¯t matter.¡± The brat said annoyed while waving his hand away. I raised my head slightly and took a glance at the servants behind the boy. They either had a worried or a sad face. ¡°She sullied my honor by looking me in the eyes.¡±


    How does that even work again?


    ¡°I can assure you that was not her intention, Yulai Sol.¡± Tian defended me while taking a step in front of me.


    ¡°It matters not her intention.¡± He said proudly. ¡°You do know what it means to sully a noble¡¯s reputation, don¡¯t you?¡± I noticed a strangely smug tone coming from his voice


    ¡°We also know that is an old and outdated law that hasn¡¯t in use for hundreds of years.¡± Tian replied immediately and as I looked in wonder by what she said, the boy widened his eyes surprised for a moment before shaking his head.


    ¡°In usage or not, it does not matter. It¡¯s in the law and it means that I can use it.¡± He said with a victorious smile.


    ¡°What does he mean?¡± I asked quietly to Tian, who had put on an angry face.


    ¡°There¡¯s¡­ A very old law, back from when the country had just been founded...¡± Tian replied to me in the same tone. ¡°It says that any noble who had their honour wronged, have the right to demand a heavy monetary reimburse from the infractor... ¡±


    ¡°Why would he do that? If I¡¯m an aide, it¡¯s obvious I can¡¯t pay!¡± I said confused.


    ¡°Oy, you two, stop talking and give me my payment for my damaged honor already!¡± He said with a smug look.


    With a quick glance to the sides, I saw as the other nobles turned an eye away from the scene or simply watched amused, probably expecting some kind of amusing scene.


    I grimaced to myself when I noticed that no help was going to come from them.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Sorry, but I¡¯m unable to pay for my offense...¡± I said with a short bow.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± The boy said in an amused tone.


    ¡°Yes, lord Yulai.¡± I said with a worried tone,


    ¡°Then, you know what it means?¡± He asked with a smirk, and I took a step back in worry.


    ¡°...No?¡± I said worried.


    ¡°This means that I can either have you pay me over time, or get a direct payment with you becoming my slave!¡± He said with a smug look. ¡°This means that I just got myself a really cute slave.¡±


    What, so he¡¯s only a kid trying to get a girl for himself? That¡¯s downright depressive!

 24th chapter - Kids play

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. Sorry for the delay. Got a bit occupied with college projects and ended up missing my update date, but here is the chapter!


    Okay, so these last two weeks I¡¯ve been over my head with projects and finals, so even though I did have the chapters done for a long time, I forgot about them entirely and ended up missing the update window I had created. This one is entirely my fault and I don¡¯t even have a way to deny it. On the other hand, I hope that what happens in this chapter is to your liking, and do know that she still isn¡¯t done with him, okay?


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    How should I say it. I do know that the situation is dire and all, but his motivations are so childish and simple that I simply can¡¯t bring myself to take this seriously at all. I mean, he was at most one year older than me, and the way he looked made him look like one of those haughty nobles you often saw in stories.


    While doing my best to put up a confused face, I tilted my head to the side, wondering how I should react to this. I could go and try to rebuke him, but if I made a poor choice of words, it might lead to some problematic political issues later on. Downright attacking him would lead to even worse situations. However, simply letting it go and try to ask Tian¡¯s family to pay for me, as I already had a pretty hefty debt with them.


    This doesn¡¯t mean that I will just let him take me as a slave, though.


    With a quick glance to the sides, I could also see that the other kids had no intention of coming to help, as most of them seemed to simply be watching curiously at the scene around us. After some brief moment, I finally decided my course of action, and turned to Tian while putting on my best confused look.


    ¡°Neeh, Miss Tian. What is a slave?¡± I turned to the girl besides me. She blinked surprised for a moment before her eyes crossed with mine. For a brief moment she seemed to understand what I had in mind, because a small spark passed within her eyes, but she soon put on a worried face.


    ¡°Yo-you know, Lia.¡± She said with a worried and hesitating tone, sneaking a peek at the  brat who had a superior smile splattered on his face. ¡°Slaves are¡­ People who have to obey a person completely...¡±


    ¡°Like an aide?¡± I asked with a fake curiosity, but Tian shook her head.


    ¡°No, a slave can¡¯t deny anything their master say. Even if it¡¯s something scary, like hurting yourself or walking around naked.¡± She said with a sad tone. ¡°And if they disobey their owner, they can get punished without being able to complain back... ¡±


    ¡°EEh! That sounds scary!¡± I put on my best effort to sound scared with those words. This seemed to work, because some of the other nobles put on a slightly worried face. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be a slave, Miss Tian!¡± I lowered my face and started to force my voice to tremble a little. Tears were a bit beyond me because I was holding myself back on not to laugh.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ There isn¡¯t much we can do...¡± Tian said with a sad tone. ¡°It seems that he wants you to be his slave really bad...¡±


    ¡°But¡­ I don¡¯t.. Away from¡­ Big sis...¡± I said with a trembling voice before turning towards Tian and hugging her. ¡°I don¡¯t want to get away from Big-sis Tian! Being slave sounds scary!¡±


    This seemed to be enough, because the other kids, mostly the older ones, started to glare at the boy angrily with eyes full of scorn. Though he didn¡¯t seem to notice, because an impatient look appeared in his face.


    ¡°Hey¡­ Isn¡¯t she only a little girl?¡± ¡°She¡¯s even younger than us!¡± ¡°To blame a little girl with an old law like that...¡± ¡°She looks so pitiful!¡± ¡°I always thought the Sol were a bit more¡­ You know.¡± ¡°Despicable¡­That¡¯s not the way a man should act!¡±


    I heard the other whispering these words amongst themselves and couldn¡¯t help but grin a bit. To hide it, I had to snuggle my face even more against Miss Tian, who began petting my head as if consoling me.


    ¡°Oi! End up with your antics already!¡± Yulai, the boy said angrily, not noticing the commotion behind him. Even his aides had a worried look and tried to warn him, but he simply ignored them. ¡°Get over here already. From now on, until you pay for my honor, you¡¯ll be mine!¡±


    As he said that, I felt as he tried to pull me back, except that he was really, really weak. I could easily ignore it as he did that and not even budge, but it wouldn¡¯t work for my idea, so instead, I faked a fall towards him as he pulled me by my arm.


    Falling down, I made sure to have my head hit the ground first and braced myself against it. I didn¡¯t make much sound since there was a thin carpet on the ground, so I¡¯d wager it went unnoticed by the adults, however, for the kids watching the scene, that carpet surely wasn¡¯t enough to absorb the damage.


    Well, to be honest, it didn¡¯t even hurt since I managed to use my inner spirit to reinforce my skin, much like how I did back at the mansion.


    However, I couldn¡¯t simply stop there, so I managed to start trembling slightly while faking a cry where I only made sobbing sounds, though I couldn¡¯t quite fake my tears, so I thought it would be best to hide my face, or they would notice something strange was going on. Tian quickly ran up to me and touched me, as if looking if I was alright. Moving my head slightly, I gave her a brief glance telling that I was fine, and she replied with a relieved gaze.


    ¡°...it hurts...¡± I said lowly from my position while muffling my voice against the carpet.


    ¡°...Huh?¡± I heard the bratty boy say confused.


    ¡°Lia, are you alright? Did he hurt you?¡± Tian asked me in a worried tone.


    Soon after, I heard some footsteps approaching me as the other kids also crouched down to check on me.


    ¡°Did he hurt you?¡± ¡°Even if you are an aide, to do that...¡± ¡°The Sol¡¯s are really...¡±


    Some of the nobles started to comment while helping me up. I had to cover my face with my hair so that people wouldn¡¯t notice that I was fine, but this also seemed to improve the effect of me seemingly crying, because from the corner of my eyes I caught sight of some of them openly glaring at the boy while the others looked at me worriedly.


    As much as I hate doing it, I do know that abusing my looks could get some results. So it¡¯s either using it or being stuck for undetermined time as his slave. This seem like it. Now, from a noble trying to get a slave, he is downgraded to a noble who hurts a girl younger and weaker than him for no good reason. Although neither were good, I guess it did get a bit worse.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    For the first time realizing what was happening, the brat looked around confused and flustered, noticing how suddenly all the people who were only watching had joined on the whole story.


    And worse, all of them were seemingly against him.


    Luckily, despite being a classical haughty brat, he wasn¡¯t completely clueless and clearly became worried at how the other kids were looking at him. A grimace appeared on his face when he finally understood what was happening


    ¡°You all...¡± He said in an angry tone.


    But he didn¡¯t do much else. He probably knew that even if his family was one of the most prestigious here, managing to get the enmity of all the other families isn¡¯t exactly a good idea.


    However, if he were to take back what he said at that place, it would make it look like he just backed down on something he started himself.


    In other words, either he makes the other families angry with him, but keep his face, or he lose his face, but keeps a still repairable relationship with the others.


    To be honest, I can¡¯t say what exactly happened for the other¡¯s sudden change of heart, as I have my doubts whether simply my looks would be enough for such a reversal of their reactions. Maybe mistreatment of slaves was actually something looked down upon in here?


    Well, I couldn¡¯t quite be sure, but if it works, it works.


    Looking at the boy who was looking for a way out from this situation, I smiled to myself and held myself back so that I wouldn¡¯t stick my tongue out to him. However, sensing someone approaching us from the adult¡¯s side, I held myself back to see what was going to happen.


    ¡°What is happening here?¡± A person said suddenly while approaching us. Blinking surprised, all of the kids turned to the newcomer with surprised gazes.


    It was an imposing man, being about as tall as Master Bo, but being more to the lean side than the large one. With long hair that had been braided and wearing a very expensive looking robe, with one glance we could all say that he was easily one of the most important person in this whole party.


    More importantly, he was one of the other spiritualist in the room, and from the looks of it, I would wager that he is the strongest of the spiritualists here. Probably almost at the level of Master Roshi.


    ¡°Father...¡± The brat said with a surprised tone.


    ¡°What is happening here, Yulai?¡± The man asked with a raised eyebrow while looking around in confusion. Behind him, some other adults also approached us with curious gaze.


    The boy looked around worried for a moment before turning to me with a grimace in his face.


    ¡°That girl damaged my honor, so I reclaimed my right for monetary compensation...¡± He said with a low tone.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Is that so?¡± His father said with a raised eyebrow while looking at me with an interested gaze. I felt a shiver run down my spine for a moment when I saw him analyzing me so coldly, but managed to hide it. After this brief moment, his gaze turned towards the two aides who stood behind the boy, and they quickly nodded to confirm his story.


    Afterwards, he also took a look towards the other kids around us, and saw how they all looked at the boy with some hint of disgust, and as if understanding what was happening, a sigh escaped him.


    ¡°What is happening here?¡± The other adults asked, finally noticing the commotion.


    Approaching him, the father of the brat, the other adults inquired him, seeing as he had already heard the story about the kids.


    After some time of watching us, the man finally sighed before turning back and putting on a proud smile.


    ¡°Nothing. After all, this is all only the kids playing around.¡± He said while waving his hand away as if dismissing the talk. However, I didn¡¯t miss as Miss Tian widened her eyes in surprise for a moment, similar to the other adults.


    While wondering what was happening, the boy hung his head slightly and nodded weakly Turning towards Tian in search for an explanation, she lowered her lips besides my ears and whispered.


    ¡°Once he said this is only child¡¯s playing around, this pretty much means we have free-reign over what we do from now on.¡± She explained me with a short sigh. ¡°After this, anything we do will be considered only a child¡¯s playing around and will be dismissed with those simple words.¡±


    Then, does this mean that his son actions are now invalid? And if I understood, anything that the kids do from now on in this party will also be dismissed as nothing important..


    While looking around, I saw as the other adults in the room made a slightly surprised or shocked face before putting on a cheerful smile and nod. Some even faking a laugh.


    I wondered if they had given some kind of mission to their sons and daughters to do here, because they were clearly not satisfied with what happened there, despite faking it with a smile. Even the Sol household head had a slight frown in his face, despite being the one to have used the child¡¯s play card.


    If that was so, I¡¯d guess that the brat is getting a scolding once he gets home.


    I can live with that.


    While thinking so, the large man approached me and put on a gentle smile before gently landing his hand on my head and rubbing it. Although it did feel good, I couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit worried as he did that.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright. My son was only joking, okay? After all, no one uses such a law anymore!¡± He said with a gentle tone, and I nodded weakly under his gaze. ¡°Isn¡¯t that right, Yulai?¡± he asked while turning to the boy behind him.


    He nodded weakly and turned away, muttering something about taking some air. Afterwards he walked away to the exit of the mansion, with his aides following close behind him. With that the kids all turned their attention to me and started asking if I was alright and things like that.


    I replied as weakly as I could, with Tian nearby making it so that it looked like she was comforting me.


    But for me, just that wasn¡¯t enough. I mean, as silly as it was, he did try to make me into a slave for absolutely no known reason, so I don¡¯t think that a simple scolding from his father would be enough for me.


    So, I finally decided that I would have a bit more fun with the boy.


    Though, for now, I guess I should humor these nobles a bit more.

 Warhawxs X-mas X-Over X-pecial (Part 3/3)

    Typer¡¯s room: GREETINGS FRIENDS! (LATE) MERRY CHRISMTAS YOU ALL!


    You see, me and the author from Insania Online and (Re)Install decided to get together and make a three part Christmas special crossover! Why? No idea! Don¡¯t go expecting anything grand happening, though, as the idea is mostly what would happen if the characters found themselves in a room together, so instead of content, we are focusing more on the flow of the story. (If it wasn¡¯t clear enough, I¡¯m also the author of the two other fics, okay?) Anyway, each part will be posted in one of the stories and will be posted one the day before, during, and the day after (hopefully). I know not everyone read all stories, so I will make sure to at least post a link here after they are posted.


    Be warned that this special was hastily created, thus the fourth wall is very feeble, so expect some leaks during this story.


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''1''>PART ONE</a></td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°I have no idea what that is, but now we¡¯ve started talking!¡± Mister Golem said with an amused expression while leaning back on his chair. I gave a brief look towards Miss Tian and she nodded with satisfaction.


    Well, it didn¡¯t really take long for the two of us to notice that this strange stony person who was in front of us was actually just baiting us to tell more about ourselves. Though we weren¡¯t quite sure about his reason, we didn¡¯t feel like it would be too problematic to talk about ourselves.


    In fact, if I had to guess, it seems mostly that his reason is so that he gets to see something amusing.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Spiritualist are...¡± I started before stopping myself and choosing my words. I wasn¡¯t quite sure on how to word it, but luckily the professional took over for me.


    ¡°Spiritualist are people who use the spirit that permeates both the air and their own bodies to mold them into Chi.¡± Master Roshi said in a slow and calm tone, like when he was teaching us. ¡°Afterwards, we can use said chi to enhance our own bodies and become stronger and allow us to use specific techniques that would be impossible for humans otherwise.¡±


    ¡°Oooh? Like?¡± The golem asked with an amused expression.


    ¡°Walking in the air!¡± I replied instantly, remembering that time with mother. This, however, got a gentle smile from Master Roshi, who patted my head for a moment while giving a brief chuckle.


    ¡°Yes. Indeed. That is possible, but it requires a specific alignment and much training to achieve.¡± He said with a laugh.


    ¡°...Is that a joke?¡± The white haired girl with cat ears asked in her expressionless tone.


    I didn¡¯t really like her very much, seeing how hard it was to read her expression. Peeking at miss Tian, I noticed that she also shared the same feeling as me. Another thing that bothered me a lot was that she was a bit too quiet all this time, mostly simply using her own fan to hide her expression and watching everyone closely.


    While I wondered why she was being too cautious, I decided that for now it would be better to simply follow her and avoid talking too much. Or at least was what I had decided, but since the subject of the talk changed to us, we couldn¡¯t exactly keep quiet.


    ¡°By any chance did you miss the fact that Yuu here created an ice spear out of nowhere not even five minutes ago?¡± Surprisingly, the one who defended the group was the Golem himself, who then pointed towards the kitsune at his side who was calmly and graciously eating her food.


    ¡°...Point taken.¡± The girl said before turning to us. ¡°Sorry for being rude.¡±


    ¡°It is understandable. Even for us, those who walk in the air as young Lia here said are extremely rare.¡± Roshi said while shaking his head. After stopping to think for a moment, I finally nodded. In fact, I don¡¯t think I even saw any other type of use of spiritualism besides what mother did back when I was a baby.  ¡°However, there are some other smaller things that someone of my level is capable of doing.¡±


    Both me and Tian blinked surprised while spying Master Roshi. With our training to the point where we were, we still didn¡¯t get much insight on what we would be able to do once we became more skilled.


    The others also turned to him curious. More specifically, the white haired girl and the girl with two long black tails. The golem also looked interested, but I could somehow tell that the way he was interested was different from these two girls.


    ¡°Well, with my current level and techniques, I could say that I have a very tough skin.¡± He said with a small awkward smile. Both me and Tian looked at him confused.


    ¡°Would it be a bother if I were to ask for a demonstration, Mister Roshi?¡± The two tailed girl asked with a curious tone.


    Master Roshi nodded with a kind smile, which received a confused glance from mister golem. Meanwhile, I didn¡¯t miss the fact that Lady Tian seemingly got interested on the girl. It took me a while to understand the reason, but after looking at her for some time I finally got it.


    From the way she had acted earlier when she attacked Yllia¡­ Yvilia¡­ The Cat girl, and when she was smiling while being petted, which I couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit jealous, it wasn¡¯t very obvious, but now that she was calmer, the way she looked and acted was very refined. Almost like a noble.


    Hmm¡­ Did Tian notice that before me and watched her words so she wouldn¡¯t say something troublesome?


    While I tilted my head to the side confused, the girl noticed me and gave me a brief smile from the other side of the table.


    She was really pretty...


    ¡°...Are you sure about that, old man?¡± I snapped out of my curiosity when the golem asked something. Blinking, I looked around and noticed as the golem touched himself around the chest in what looked like an action he was used to, before frowning and looking to the other group.


    ¡°No need to worry, young man¡­ Erm¡­ Young gole¡­ Sir golem...¡± Master Roshi started, but became confused on how to refer to mister golem, who only gave a brief laugh and waved his hand saying that he didn¡¯t mind. The other group that had the robot also looked amongst themselves for some time after finally shaking their heads.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Mister Golem said and looked towards the cute cat with furry antennae, who was sharing a piece of meat with the small blue fox. ¡°Hey, Furball. Get us a knife, will yah?¡±


    I blinked confused at his words, but what surprised me even more was when the cat meowed in response and suddenly a knife popped up in his paw. Everyone on the table almost jumped in surprise at the scene before the cat offered the strange red knife to Master Roshi, who took it with a hint of suspicion.


    From my time at father¡¯s Smithy, I could say that it was roughly done, but the color and feel it had were strange, looking almost crystalline to me. While feeling curious about the knife, I watched as Master Roshi quickly examined the blade before nodding and pulling his sleeve up.


    It took me a moment to understand what he was going to do, but before I even had the chance to react, Master Roshi brought down the blade against his hand. Me and Tian held our breaths in surprise.


    Then, the blade shattered against his skin with a loud sound.


    ¡°Oooh! Now that was a amazing!¡± Mister golem said with an amazed voice.


    Me and Tian nodded in agreement, seeing how it was the first time we saw something like that, but Master Roshi simply shook his head with a wry smile, as if saying that it wasn¡¯t much.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t even praiseworthy. Even these two girls will be able to do something like this in a couple of months.¡±


    ¡°Eh? Really?¡± I asked surprised, but master Roshi simply nodded.


    ¡°Indeed. This is one of the most basic skills that all spiritualist learn.¡± He said with a brief nod.


    ¡°Ooh! That¡¯s nifty!¡± Mister golem said with an amazed voice before frowning and looking at us. ¡°Say, would I have to meditate and stuff to do that?¡±


    ¡°Yes...¡±


    ¡°Guh. Denied before even trying!¡± Mister Golem said while his face fell on the table once again.


    ¡°Could you teach us?¡± The white haired girl asked.


    ¡°Muu¡­ I don¡¯t think you can.¡± I said with a wry tone. ¡°No one here have an inner spirit.¡±


    ¡°Inner spirit?¡± Miss Yuu asked curious.


    ¡°Yes. It is a kind of prerequisite before learning spiritualism.¡± Tian replied. ¡°Cute plebeian here is specially sensitive to that kind of thing.¡± She said full of pride, so I decided to also stick my chest out too. To my surprise, the white haired woman gave me a brief smile before nodding and putting back an indifferent gaze.


    ¡°I see, so it is a talent thing besides hardworking, huh?¡± Mister golem said with a nod. ¡°So, not even Yuu here have that talent?¡± He pointed to the girl besides him, but I simply shook my head. ¡°...Somehow I¡¯m glad. Yuu is already as overpowered as she is right now.¡± He said while taking the fragments of the knife and gathering them in his hands.


    ¡°Speaking of Miss Yuu...¡± I said when he mentioned her name, making his attention gather on me. ¡°Is she a noble by any chance? She looks so refined and cool!¡± I said while putting my best amazed look.


    ¡°...Indeed. That has been bothering me since earlier.¡± Lady Tian said with a nod after understanding what was my intent in asking that question. ¡°I must say that your manners are extremely exquisite.¡± I didn¡¯t miss the fact that Lady Tian peeked at Mister Golem, as if saying that he wasn¡¯t the case.


    ¡°Me? A noble?¡± Miss Yuu asked surprised before shaking her head.¡±No. From where we come from, we don¡¯t have nobility.¡± She replied in a teaching tone. I nodded in agreement, but Miss Tian and Master Roshi both stared at her wide eyed.


    ¡°No Nobility? Then who is in the power in your country?¡± Miss Tian asked shocked.


    ¡°We use a different kind of government system that would take too long to explain in this small special chapter.¡± Mister golem said briefly. ¡°But basically, most of our country use another kind of government system.


    ¡°I-Is that so?¡± Miss Tian asked surprised. ¡°I see... I was mistaken then.¡±


    ¡°Well, that said, my family is a traditionalist one that leans heavily on these kinds of customs, so i¡¯ve been trained like this since I was a child.¡± Miss Yuu explained patiently, and both me and Miss Tian nodded understanding.


    ¡°I see, so that is where you had your training.¡± Master Roshi added with an acknowledging nod before turning towards Miss Ylliav¡­ Ylli. ¡°Is that similar to you?¡±


    ¡°No. Job requirements.¡± She replied briefly.


    ¡°We¡­ Yllivia is part of a mercenary group.¡± The strange red girl said shyly. ¡°She is a Close quarters expert.¡±


    ¡°Heeh! So you are mercenaries!¡± I said honestly surprised due to her age, but the girl shook her head hastily.


    ¡°No. I¡¯m a¡­ Scientist. Only Yllivia and Beepy...¡± She lowered her head while blushing heavily.


    ¡°Scientist?¡± Master Roshi asked.


    ¡°Researcher.¡± Mister Golem replied briefly.


    ¡°Oh! And so young!¡± Master Roshi said surprised while looking at her again. ¡°You must be extremely talented then!¡± He said. ¡°It seems we have quite a gathering of talented younglings in this table!¡± Master Roshi sounded cheerful while saying that.


    ¡°Not quite. I¡¯m just your average hard-headed guy who is too reckless for his own good.¡± Mister Golem said with a raised hand, and I couldn¡¯t help but giggle a little at his annoyed face. ¡°Bunch of talented bastards.¡± He said with a pout before looking away.


    The crystal girl smiled wryly at his words while the cat started laughing at him. The cute blue fox looked at him wearily for a moment before nudging her head beneath his hand.


    I smiled wryly at the scene before preparing to say something, but just at that moment, I felt as someone started approaching the house at a scary speed. The moment I noticed that, I quickly stood up from the chair and looked upwards, towards the direction that strange person was approaching.


    Tian and Master Roshi both reacted in synchrony, standing up and taking position, with Miss Tian behind me and Master Roshi in front of us.


    Their reactions was half as expected, seeing that they already knew about my sensibility. However, I became sincerely surprised when I noticed that the others also became ready, with Miss Ylli and the cool looking wolf robot standing up in front of Ruby, while Miss Yuu and the blue fox also readied themselves.


    Only Mister golem and the cute cat with really long name stayed quiet as they were.


    I eyed them confused for a moment, but quickly changed my attention towards the ceiling, where I felt that the person was at the moment. For some time, there was some movement, but nothing big. Ylli¡¯s and Yuu¡¯s group both eyed me suspiciously, but I simply kept looking upwards and waiting for any movement.


    Then, whoever it was, started coming down the fireplace.


    ¡°It¡¯s coming!¡± I shouted while pointing to the fireplace, however¡­


    ¡°OUCH! HOT! HOT HOT!¡± An old sounding voice came suddenly before a gust of wind blew out the fireplace, sending the whole room into darkness, soon being followed by a strange blue reddish light that gathered in front of the fire-place. The light soon formed into the shape of a person. A large and tall person, with a big belly and a long white beard, wearing a full red suit. On his back was a large sack and some smoke coming from his bottom. ¡°By the three spirits of christmas! Who in their sanest minds keep the fireplace lit during christmas night of all days?¡±


    ¡°HA! KNEW IT!¡± Mister golem said in a pompous tone while laughing to himself and fist-bumping the cat.


    Although his figure sparked something on my mind, I couldn¡¯t quite pin what it was before both Ylli and Master Roshi cornered him, grabbing him by the neck and slamming him against the wall.


    The old man let out an ¡®oof¡¯ sound after being slammed, before eyeing the two who were cornering him with an exhausted look.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Master Roshi asked and Ylli nodded in agreement.


    ¡°WHO AM I?¡± The man asked angrily. ¡°I am the very personification of christmas, you two dumb mofos!¡± The fat man said angrily before quickly pushing the two back with a move from his arm. ¡°Do you really think the two of you can stop a force of nature like me? Go train you newbies!¡± He said angrily before stopping and taking a deep breath, rubbing the middle of his eyes as if he was tired. ¡°Oh god. This whole around the world in one night is already killing me, now I also have to appear on a special. Fantastic!¡±


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Wow, you are a lot angrier than what I expected.¡± Mister golem said surprised while trying to eat something, only to have it disappear from his plate.


    ¡°What would you expect?¡± The man in red replied angrily while puffing angrily. ¡°Do you have any idea how much of a pain it is to not only catalogue all those children during the whole year, but also go to each and every one of them to deliver their presents? Not only that, but I also have to deal with those annoying elves!¡±


    ¡°Elf? Lunn?¡± Miss Ylli asked confused.


    ¡°Not her.¡± The man denied with a shake of his hand before throwing the huge bag on the ground. ¡°Not the kind of elves you think.¡± He sighed before leaning forward and supporting himself on the bag. ¡°Goddamit. not only to I pay them a lot, give them a living place, food and three days weekends, the bastards also want to take a two months vacation this time! I swear that I will kill someone if another elf ask me if he can have another raise of 2000%¡±


    ¡°You sound oddly like a bad employer, but what you said really doesn¡¯t make you look like one...¡± Mister golem said wryly.


    ¡°Yeah. Show them a bit of generosity, and the little bastards start wanting more and more.¡± The man sighed once more before straightening his back. ¡°Also, please tell me you have some cookies and milk for me. And none of that diet and glutem-free trash!¡±


    ¡°Ermm¡­ I don¡¯t think we have cookies, Mister Santa...¡± Yuu said in a absentminded tone. ¡°But¡­ Erm¡­ I guess you can eat on the table with us.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Oh well, better than nothing.¡± He said with a shrug. ¡°But before, I really want to empty this crap already, so let¡¯s get to present distributing, shall we?¡±


    As he said that, he opened the huge bag and showed lots of large boxes wrapped in colorful papers. While looking curiously as he rummaged through the packages, grunting here and there some really bad words, I noticed as someone approached us.


    ¡°...Is it just me who is completely lost?¡± Me and Tian turned towards the red girl who was watching everything confused from right behind us. The two of us nodded in agreement with her.


    ¡°I¡­ Think I can explain¡­ Somewhat¡­ Despite logic¡­ And common sense...¡± The cute floating crystal doll said while approaching us. However, despite her words, it looked like she was the one who was hit the hardest of all of us, as she looked at the scene completely shocked. ¡°That¡­ Santa Claus¡­ Delivers presents to good kids on Christmas¡­ But¡­ He should be a legend¡­ Mathematically impossible to do that¡­ How...¡±


    Despite the doll¡¯s words, it looked like the three of us were still completely lost on what she meant. Though she did spark an old memory about a red man delivering presents. Despite that, we were mostly still in the dark, so we could only wait and see.


    ¡°Here are the damned things! Thank god already!¡± Mister Santa said angrily while taking some small boxes and a bunch of small envelops from the bag. ¡°There we go!¡± He said angrily before reading something that was written on the envelops. ¡°Okay. Here is the deal, since this isn¡¯t canon for any of your stories, I¡¯m not supposed to give you guys anything concrete that you can carry over, so you will have to survive with these things here that are a bit more imaterial, okay?¡± He said while waving the cards.


    ¡°First, let¡¯s start with you guys.¡± He said while pointing at Master Roshi, Miss Tian and me. ¡°Here you go.¡± He said while throwing one of the envelops at us, making the three of us scramble on our feets to get them. However, before we could even open then, he continued. ¡°For the little one, since you¡¯ve been so dedicated to your work, you¡¯ll get a promise that you will soon grow older. For the purple haired brat who have been taking care of you, it¡¯s both the promise that the smaller one will grow cuter, and some ideas for outfits you can have her wear.¡± Huh? Huh? Huh? Why do I suddenly feel this shiver on my spine? M-Miss Tian? Why are you looking at me like that? It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s scary! ¡°Old man, you¡¯ve been taking care of the two of them, so we decided to improve your luck with women. Be happy.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Luck with women?¡± Master Roshi asked confused before widening his eyes. ¡°Yo-You couldn¡¯t mean...¡±


    ¡°Tsc. Lucky bastard.¡± Huh? Did Mister Santa just click his tongue? ¡°NEXT! The robot group.¡± As he said that, he waved us away, so we all took a step back automatically, and with the corner of my eyes, I watched as miss Tian opened her present and showed a small book full of pictures of clothes. Once again I felt a shiver on my spine.


    ¡°M-Miss Tian¡­ Yo-You are drooling...¡± I said worriedly.


    ¡°You¡¯ll look so cute in these, cute plebeian.¡± Was her reply while looking at me with predatory eyes.


    ¡°Erm¡­ Well¡­ Look! They are getting their presents!¡± I said while pointing to Ruby¡¯s group.


    ¡°...red Brat and Cat girl get the promise of even more robots.¡± Mister santa said angrily before waving the two away, who stepped back with shining eyes. ¡°While the remaining two will get a new adventure very soon.¡± Huh? Remaining two?


    When he said that, I noticed that Ruby froze for a moment, while mister robot stared at Mister Santa for some time. However, Mister santa didn¡¯t care much for him, and simply made a grumpy face before turning towards Mister golem who was still sitting in the table, watching us with amused eyes.


    ¡°Okay¡­ now the troublesome ones.¡± Mister Santa said with a sigh. ¡°First, the two furballs.¡±  As he said that, Mister golem made a motion for the cat and the fox to approach the old man. ¡°Well, Lieutenant needlessly-long-name. You haven¡¯t been exactly good, but you aren¡¯t exactly naughty, so you just barely get a present. You¡¯ll get a new playmode soonish, okay?¡±


    ¡°Nya-ha-ha-ha-ha!¡±


    ¡°And if you steal my laugh again, I¡¯m throwing you out of the window and keeping the present.¡± Mister santa Stared a pair of holes on the cat¡¯s forehead, who nodded briefly before running away carrying his envelop. ¡°Now, the blue fox. You and your vulpine companion are the nicest of the bunch, so you deserve something nice.¡± he said while sighing and stopping to think. ¡°If I remember, you¡¯ll get even more petting sessions from now on, as well as a present from your master.¡±


    ¡°Huh? I will?¡± Mister golem asked confused, but before he could even react, the blue fox jumped on his arms while wagging her tails happily. He blinked surprised and started petting her mindlessly with a confused look.


    ¡°Now, the maid and the girlfriend. Come closer.¡±


    ¡°G-G-G-G-Girl F-F-F-Friend?¡± Miss Yuu asked shocked.


    ¡°Whatever.¡± Mister Santa completely disregarded her reaction before making a motion for the pink doll to come closer. ¡°Cygnas. For doing your best on being impartial on your game, you¡¯ll get the bonus of completely forgetting this illogical series of events and also some more screen time on your actual body.¡±


    ¡°Eh? Really?¡± The doll asked surprised, but I tilted my head confused. Wasn¡¯t her name Crys?


    ¡°Well, to be honest that depends on the author, but he said he would try. Black fox girl, since your very existence is a kind of a personification of a nice person, You¡¯ll get a special present.¡± Mister Santa said while pointing to the envelop on her hand. ¡°You¡¯ll get to either deny, or create your own fourth wall break once in the main story. ¡±


    ¡°Huh? W-Why?¡± She asked confused.


    ¡°Because that way you can get your boyfriend on a date using his own magic fourth-wall breaking powers. Or deny any attempt of his to escape one.¡± Santa said briefly while waving her away.


    For some reason, Miss Yuu¡¯s expression became really scary, despite her face becoming completely red. Finally, it was only Mister golem left. While watching him curious, I saw as he took a step forward and looked at Mister Santa with glowing eyes.


    ¡°Now, Gondorrer Gravelheart...¡± Mister Santa sighed. ¡°Not only do you drag your friends to dangerous situation, you also are constantly disobeying the author and completely destroying the fourth wall. Even if you do some nice things here and there, you usually have a hidden meaning behind it, like getting a monster or something.¡± Santa sighed. ¡°It was really hard to do this but¡­ BAH! Who am I kidding, you were easily the easiest one to brand a bad child.¡± He said while extending the small box in his hands towards Gon. ¡°There¡¯s a very specific thing bad kids get.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Why only me?¡± Mister Golem asked confused while receiving the present with a sad look.


    ¡°Because the author said someone needed to be a bad boy this year. Simply as that.¡± He said victoriously before laughing. ¡°It always feels good to see a pompous brat like you open their presents and get a sad look. Maybe you¡¯ll learn a thing or two about being more obedien¡­¡±


    ¡°A PIECE OF COAL? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?¡± Mister golem shouted after opening his package.


    ¡°COULDN¡¯T YOU WAIT FOR ME TO FINISH SPEAKING BRAT?¡±


    ¡°THIS IS AWESOME! I GOT CRAFTING MATERIAL!¡± Mister golem started jumping around cheerfully while moving a piece of coal to one side to the other.


    ¡°...What?¡±


    ¡°You said that it was a bad kids present, but this is perfect! Thanks Santa!¡± He said before hugging the large old man in an overly friendly manner.


    ¡°What¡­ Brat! YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DISAPPOINTED!¡±


    ¡°Huh? Why?¡±


    ¡°ISN¡¯T IT OBVIOUS? COAL IS USELESS!¡±


    ¡°IT¡¯S NOT! I can use it to heat the furnace or make steel! It¡¯s bloody perfect!¡±


    ¡°... GODDAMIT!¡± Mister Santa said angrily before finally grabbing Mister Gon by the neck and throwing him away. ¡°Thanks for destroying my last enjoyment of this bloody night, you bastard!¡± He said angrily before walking towards the fireplace once again. ¡°Even lost my bloody hunger now.¡±


    ¡°Waaah! Shishou!¡± Miss Yuu said while running after the Golem, who was shoved halfway through the wooden wall, with his head popping out from the other side.


    ¡°That¡­ Looks painful.¡± Ruby said wryly.


    ¡°Well¡­ He kind of deserved it¡­ Right...¡± Master Roshi said while choosing his words.


    ¡°Haah¡­ Master is used to this already, so no need to worry.¡± Crys said with a wry tone.


    As if answering to her reply, we saw as Mister Gon slowly raised his arm and made a thumbs up while trembling in pain.


    ¡°Serves him right.¡± Mister santa said before his body disappeared in a bunch of lights and flew up the fireplace. ¡°TILL NEVER AGAIN, YOU BASTARD!¡±


    As his shout echoed through the room, we all stood there in silence for some time, everyone looking at each other while trying to find out what we should do next, but seeing that no one was doing anything, I sighed and gave a brief smile.


    ¡°Erm¡­ I think that¡¯s all?¡± I said while looking to everyone, seeing as they nodded to each other. However.


    ¡°WAIT RIGHT THERE!¡± Mister golem shouted angrily before forcing himself out of the wall, breaking it even more while scaring us with his fierce expression. ¡°WE CAN¡¯T CLOSE A CHRISTMAS SPECIAL WITHOUT AT LEAST ONE MISTLETOE JOKE!¡±


    ¡°Ah what?¡± Ruby asked confused, but only after a few seconds of asking, she suddenly blushed. Almost as if she suddenly understood what it meant. While I wondered about her reaction, I noticed how miss Yuu also looked confused.


    While all of us stood looking around confused, Mister golem started looking around as if searching for something, and after some time, his gaze finally landed on a spot above us. It was a small plant that was hanging on a beam.


    ¡°AH-HA!¡± he said in a proud tone before pointing towards it. ¡°Rules of christmas say that whoever pair is standing beneath the Mistletoe must kiss!¡±


    The moment he said that, everyone else blinked surprised and looked upwards to the plant in a hurry. I felt my cheek blushing slightly as the idea of kissing someone passed through my mind. Following the position of the plant, we all looked downwards, seeing who was standing right beneath it.


    ¡°...Huh¡­ Does it still apply?¡± Miss Ruby asked confused.


    ¡°...I guess?¡± Mister golem replied briefly in a confused tone. ¡°...This wasn¡¯t what I was expecting, to be honest.¡± He said in a confused tone.


    ¡°...So close. It looks like luck was on our side this time.¡± Master Roshi said in a relieved tone.


    ¡°...So, do I kiss Beepy then?¡± Crys asked confused.


    Yes, the two who were directly below the mistletoe were the floating pink crystal doll and the cool looking wolf robot. For a moment there was silence in the room as everyone looked towards the golem in confusion, and all he could do was shrug in confusion.


    Finally, we heard a sigh, and before any of us could react, we saw as the crystal doll lowered herself and gave an briefly touched the place where should be her lips right above Beepy¡¯s muzzle.


    It was a strangely cute scene looking the two like that. It seemed that I wasn¡¯t the only one that thought that, because I saw as the others also had small smiles.


    ¡°Ohh! So he¡¯s your type then?¡± Mister golem said with a mischievous tone.


    ¡°Master. Go die.¡± Was the cold reply that came back.


    As the small doll started staring at the golem, he waved at us before running away through the door that he had firstly come in, being followed closely by the angry Crys. Miss Yuu lingered behind for some time, before bowing to us and following them with both the cat and the fox.


    We turned towards Ylli¡¯s group and exchanged some wry smiles. After some time, Ruby finally gathered her courage and said.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Good bye then.¡± She said to us.


    ¡°Hmm. See you later!¡± I said cheerfully while waving to her. The robot made a brief beep while the cat girl nodded.


    After watching them disappear through their own door, we finally exchanged some glances between ourselves and nodded.


    ¡°This was interesting.¡± Master Roshi said.


    ¡°They were unique, indeed.¡± Miss Tian said with an amused smile.


    ¡°I liked them. Mister golem was really funny!¡± I gave my honest thoughts.


    The other two smiled wryly before nodding. After one last look to the dining room where we stood all this time, we finally walked through our own door and closed it, preparing to go back to our own story.


    ¡°GAAH! SO MUCH WASTED FOOD!¡± I heard mister golem¡¯s cry of despair from the room near ours.

 25th Chapter - A secret request

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. After almost a whole month, here we go with a new update.


    Different from my other stories, I don¡¯t really have any excuse to give for this delay. I had everything done for a good time now, all that I needed to do was copy and paste it here. Yet I simply didn¡¯t feel like it. Probably some kind of mental block due to having halted updates on my main project. (Let¡¯s go with that, it¡¯s the one that have the biggest chance of giving me some sympathy.) Anyway, expect another update this weekend, and afterwards i''ll go back to the thursday releases until my stock runs out.


    Anyway, storywise, I felt that this chapter was a good time for Lia to have some revenge on the annoying brat. Hope you guys enjoy it, and do know that there are still things to come in this arc.


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    The following minutes I enjoyed the attention and worry from the other young nobles, who came to ask me if I was alright after falling to the ground like that. I respectfully kept on replying that I was alright. I hope that I could find a way to make me anonymous once again.


    Tian stayed by my side during the whole time, and I could see as sometimes a mischievous smile would form in her face before changing into a mask of worry. Keeping that little piece for myself, I was glad that she caught on my plan as fast as she did, as it helped me a great deal thanks to that.


    ¡°That was a good one, Smart plebeian!¡± She praised me in a soft whisper.


    ¡°Thanks, big sis.¡± I replied in kind.


    However, it didn¡¯t escape my sight as another girl looked at me with a look of admiration instead of pity.


    It was none other than Aria Song, the girl whom Tian had her discussion with earlier. For a brief moment I felt a brief chill as she looked at me with a smirk in her eyes. It only lasted for a moment, though, as she turned her gaze towards Tian, who sighed briefly while looking strangely weary.


    Aria approached us with a look of pity that looked oddly similar to how Tian looked at me, since both seemed to put a mask over their true expressions.


    ¡°That was quite the trick there. I really underestimated you, young Lia.¡± Although her words were those of admiration, her tone sounded more like she was gently consoling me. While having a conflicting reaction towards that, she went on with her words. ¡°I really want you to become my aide right now.¡±


    And a bombshell was dropped! While I thought so and looked at her, eyes widened in shock, a sigh escaped from Tian, who immediately put her arms around me and pulled me into a hug.


    ¡°Sorry, but cute plebeian is already working for me!¡± She said with the same mismatching tone as Aria. I would feel extremely bothered by that if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that she also gave me a consolation petting. ¡°Go find your own cute and skillful plebeian if you want one.¡±


    Did I just become a commodity here?


    ¡°But how hard it is to find a cute girl like that with such acting skills?¡± She said while putting on a gentle look in her face. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that the other kids had taken some distance from us, they might have heard our talk and noticed how oddly mismatched were their tones with their words. ¡°And from what I saw, she was the one to come up with the plan, am I right?¡±


    ¡°I have a good eye for things like that.¡± Tian replied smugly.


    ¡°...And I wanted to use her as a dressing doll so much...¡± Song said before shaking her head and sighing. I felt my eyebrow twitch as her true motive came out.


    ¡°Oh, you are more than welcome to do so when you visit us.¡± MILADY! SHOULDN''T YOU BE ON MY SIDE? As I felt enraged beyond comprehension, I noticed that she put up a serious look and lowered her voice. ¡°Anyway, I might as well take this chance to do this.¡± She said with a serious tone. Sensing that it was something very important, I also focused myself.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Aria said while frowning slightly.


    ¡°Miss Ping asked me to make a very serious request from you, right before we left.¡± Tian said after taking a brief look around.


    ¡°...A request for me?¡± She asked confused. ¡°Not for my family?¡± She asked doubtful.


    ¡°Yes. Precisely for you.¡± Lady Tian replied briefly. ¡°This is something serious that shouldn¡¯t be left to anyone else but you. Those were Miss Ping¡¯s own words.¡± Both me and Aria looked at her in shock and confusion. What could it be so important that only the first daughter of the Song household could solve it for us? ¡°She wants some clothings like the ones your family uses so we can dress Lia. She figured you would have some older ones that you could lend to us.¡±


    Strange¡­ I have this weird feeling that I just heard something really outrageous come from lady Tian. While I thought so, Aria widened her eyes for a brief moment before putting on a serious look.


    ¡°I understand. I see now the gravity of the situation. You can leave it to me.¡± She said with an extremely serious tone. A relief sigh escaped from me. If she was reacting like that, it means that I indeed misheard what Tian said earlier. ¡°However, I have the condition that I must be there to see her wearing my clothes.¡± So I didn¡¯t misheard it in the end!


    Suddenly, I felt as the two of them turned to me while putting on a strange smile. The shivers I felt when the head of the Sol household was talking to me was literally nothing compared to what I was feeling being in the middle of these two girls. Even the other kids started to open some distance from the ominous aura coming from the duo.


    Feeling danger for my safety, I quickly tried to squirm my way out from the room, but the girls put themselves around me, blocking my escape.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Lady Tian?¡± I asked with a worried tone. ¡°You¡­ Are scaring me...¡±


    ¡°See that, Tian? She prefers to be my dressing doll.¡± I never said that! And I¡¯m not even an aide anymore?


    ¡°You are putting the same face as me, you know?¡± Tian replied with a smirk. ¡°Besides, she¡¯s already MY dressing doll, so you might as well give up.¡± I¡¯M REALLY NOTHING MORE THAN A DRESSING DOLL?!


    ¡­


    It took me some effort to escape the party room, since both Tian and Aria kept circling me so that they could keep me from escaping. But after a moment they finally noticed that the only moment they had to actually stop me was when we were going back home, so they let me roam free.


    For some time I stood nearby Miss Tian, who quickly went back to talking to the other kids, but the things they talked about were surprisingly¡­ Lighter, compared to what they had been talking about before. If before they were talking about politics, economics and such, now they started talking of things that seemed to fit kids a bit more, like strange rumors of a new warrior, a new type of food that appeared in their city and so on.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    This is probably the consequence of pulling up the ¡°child¡¯s play¡± card. Since what they talk from now on have no political weight anymore, I¡¯d guess that they don¡¯t really bother with keeping up their facades.


    Although it seemed that some didn¡¯t completely drop it, though. Miss Tian and Aria, for example, although they did start talking about less serious things, they did keep up with the occasional more political talk.


    But, as interesting and fascinating that politics and kids¡¯ talks can be, I right now had something else in mind.


    Taking an excuse of going to get some fresh air, I left the party and went to the gardens. Tian raised an eyebrow towards me, and I replied with few words.


    ¡°Just going to walk around.¡± I said and she smiled a bit wryly. The same thing happened with Aria, who seemingly understood what my plan was.


    Well, leaving the party for some calm and cool outside air was actually a good motif to come out, after all, it was a lot less noisy out there compared to inside. Feeling a strangely relaxing feeling while walking amongst the large living hedges and soft grass, I made my way towards the solitary person who stood on a corner of the garden.


    Taking a look around, I could watch a bit more of the outside of the mansion. We were on the back side of the mansion, and if we looked outside, we could see what looked like a small cliff that led into a beautiful forest. I say cliff, but it¡¯s nothing like a giant hole in the ground or something like that, more like only a two meters fall that was only enough to stop wild animals from getting up.


    The mansion stood on the very edge of the village, so this mean that it isn¡¯t all that odd for a forest to be so close by.


    Walking around, I briefly extended my spirit sense the farthest I could, closing my eyes for the moment. It was only barely, but I managed to feel far down the spirit of the animals as they roamed around carefree through the forest. I could also feel the heavy movement within the building, as people went back and forth doing whatever they were doing.


    Confirming one last time where the person I was looking for was,  made a slight fix to my trajectory so I could meet him on his path.


    Crossing through an opening on the tall green hedge, my eyes fell on the single person who was also out of the party, and not noticing that I was here, he kept walking with his head hanging low and a slight grumble escaping his lips.


    I wish I could say I had a smile of pity at the moment, but that was highly improbable since what I was about to do was to give him the final blow.


    I approached the heir of the Sol household without even trying to quieten my steps or hide my presence. Thus, it didn¡¯t take him long to hear me approaching. He lifted his eyes with an annoyed look and said:


    ¡°If you would excuse me, I want some time for myse...¡± He interrupted himself once his eyes landed on me, and a scowl appeared on his face. ¡°You...¡± He sighed before waving his hand away. ¡°Just get away from me, you servant. You already caused more than enough trouble for me already.¡±


    Seeing his anger, I simply stood there, watching him with a smile on my face. But he had already looked away and started walking his way back through whatever path he had been doing.


    For now, I decided to simply walk a few steps behind him, hearing as he walked around with his head down and angry steps.


    For a few seconds, we simply kept like that, no one saying anything and me following him wherever he went. But after some time, it seemed that he finally reached his limits, because he turned to me with angry eyes and said.


    ¡°What is it?¡± He asked. ¡°Do you want revenge for me trying to make you a slave? Or maybe for hurting you?¡± He stopped suddenly, as if something dawned on him and looked at me. ¡°Not that I think someone as young and of such low birth would actually care.¡± Another sigh.


    ¡°It¡¯s just...¡± I said, making him eye me curiously. ¡°I¡¯m curious...¡±


    ¡°... Yeah, that does fit someone on your situation better.¡± He said with a disappointed tone.


    ¡°I¡¯m curious about how it feels to be tricked by a plebeian girl two years younger than you?¡± I said these words, not even caring for keeping up my mask anymore.


    His expression froze solid as he stared at me, my words bouncing within his head from one side to the other. Incredulity, confusion, shock, disbelief, anger, sadness, surprise, admiration¡­ All of these emotions flashed on his face non-stop for a good whole minute, all the while I kept my most venomous smile on.


    ¡°You¡­ That was all an act?¡± He asked while still not believing his own words. I simply kept smiling at him and saw as his face slowly got a redder furious coloration to it. ¡°You, a mere plebeian tricked me? The heir of the Sol?¡± Once again, I simply kept on smiling, taunting him. His fist started to tremble in rage as fire burned in his eyes. ¡°THEN SO BE IT! I shall let it be known that you are a dishonorable being whose own words and actions should not be trusted!¡± He said in a furious tone. ¡°Never again shall anyone trust your words!¡± As he said that, he turned his back and stormed away.


    ¡°You really don¡¯t get it, do you?¡± I said in my best disappointed tone. He stopped with my words and looked back in confusion. ¡°Whatever it is that you tell them about me will be simply be seen as a kid who is angry for getting into trouble because of me.¡± I told him as if I was teaching a kid.


    ¡°You...¡± He said in a shocked tone, his eyes widening in shock as the word¡¯s meaning dawned on him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you see, you lost it the moment that I fell down.¡± I told him with a cheerful smile. ¡°You thought that with the backing of your father you could do whatever the hell you wanted? Well, guess what? This little plebeian here just destroyed your feeble little idea.¡± I poked his chest as I said these words, emphasizing them. ¡°And right now you are probably thinking of a way to get your father to deal with me, am I right?¡± His face paled as my words hit right on the mark. ¡°Well, guess what? As long as you keep thinking things like: ¡®I can do whatever I want¡¯ and ¡®daddy will take care of it¡¯, you¡¯ll always be only a brat.¡± With these words, I turned my back to him and started to walk away. ¡°Once you stop those idiotic thoughts, then MAYBE you¡¯ll be at a level I can look at you and think you are a noble.¡±


    ¡°Until then, you aren¡¯t even at the level of this lowly aide.¡± I told him while waving him goodbye and making my way back to the party.


    I never expected that destroying someone¡¯s self-esteem could leave me so hungry.


    ----


    Typer''s room: Mean Lia is Mean.


    Never get on a reincarnee''s bad side!

 26th Chapter - Talk in the park

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. As promised, another chapter by the weekend!


    For now, the plan is that the next update will come on Thursday, however, this also means that my stockpile of chapters is running dry. After a couple of weeks, we¡¯ll probably go to uploading whenever I write, and if anyone knows how my writing speed dropped nowadays, you should have an idea what to expect.


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    Taking the piece of meat to my mouth, I couldn¡¯t help but make a small satisfied smile while wiggling my legs cheerfully. From my side, I heard as Miss Tian gave her usual smug ¡®ho ho ho¡¯ laugh and patted my head while I ate the food cheerfully. She seemed to be having fun watching me enjoy the food, but I''m not going to complain about it since I did receive some petting as a reward.


    ¡°You really are enjoying your food, huh, cute plebeian?¡± She asked me and I nodded in response.


    ¡°The meat is shooo juicy!¡± I replied while smiling sillily and holding my cheeks in delight.  ¡°I never knew that meat could taste so good!¡± I said my true feelings.


    ¡°Ho ho ho!¡± She replied while covering her mouth with her fan. ¡°It also seems that you are also more cheerful out here than when you were earlier?¡± She added with a slightly confused tone. Blinking surprised, I briefly tilted my head confused.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± I asked confused before shrugging. ¡°I hadn¡¯t noticed at all.¡± I replied without thinking much. ¡°Though I always did enjoy being outside, so it might have been that...¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Is that so?¡± Tian asked me and I nodded. I always preferred playing outside to staying indoors doing nothing. Maybe it¡¯s something to do with my previous life?


    Right now we were on the outside of the building, sitting on one of the benches laid around the garden, we had snuck out a couple of plates of the food reserved for the nobles so that we could enjoy ourselves out here.


    Doing so, we now were enjoying some tasty food on the fresh air from outside, which only seemed to make it even tastier than usual. The quietness from outside was also very nice, as I did not have to deal with the noisy talks and tens of different spirits walking around non-stop.


    As I thought of those things, a sigh came from besides us, and turning my head to the opposite side of where Lady Tian stood, we looked at the third person present in the bench.


    ¡°So¡­ Why are you still here again?¡± The heir to the Sol household asked annoyed.


    ¡°We are eating, can¡¯t you see?¡± I said with an annoyed tone.


    ¡°Yes, I see that. But why the hell are you eating right besides me?¡± he asked while pointing to the bench we were sitting on.


    ¡°Because here we have a nice view of the forest, the wind blows just right and the other available bench looks like still have wet paint.¡± I replied while pointing to said bench. And yes, that was my true reason for being there. I didn¡¯t expect him to be sitting on the only good bench of the garden. And since I felt that simply backing away would end up being my defeat, I decided to take place besides him without minding our previous conversation.


    He stared at it for some time before finally sighing loudly.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then allow me to retire myself so you may enjoy your meal without this immature nobleman.¡± He said with an angry tone while raising from the bench.


    ¡°Geez, you are annoying.¡± I said annoyed before putting another piece of meat  on my mouth, then I smiled happily once again as the savory taste filled my mouth.


    ¡°Yes, yes. I¡¯m sorry for being immature.¡± He complained with a defeated tone, knowing that no matter what he said or did, he would be the one to take the worst part, it would amount to nothing at all.


    ¡°Geez¡­ And so what if you are immature?¡± I complained loudly while crossing my arms in annoyance. ¡°You are a five or six years old brat! You ARE supposed to be immature! Why the hell do all kids around here are always trying to act mature?¡± At my words, I felt as both Tian and him stared at me with dead eyes.


    ¡°¡°I don¡¯t want to hear that from you!¡±¡± They said in synch.


    Ignoring their rebuttal, I turned to the boy once again and said.


    ¡°What¡¯s really annoying me is that you are just using that to get angry at me for no reason!¡± He blinked surprised at my words, but I didn¡¯t give him time to recover. ¡°For god¡¯s sake! I¡¯m the one supposed to be angry here! You tried to make me your slave! But all I can do is get annoyed at how you are acting like it¡¯s the end of the world!¡±


    ¡°You...¡± He said while looking at me for some time before clicking his tongue. ¡°You have no idea what you just did to me there with your act, do you?¡± He asked angrily. ¡°You destroyed my image in their eyes. The amount of effort I''ll have to put into making them look up to me again will probably take the rest of my life since a single dirty aide managed to put me into a corner!¡±


    ¡°Hey! I make sure to keep my Cute Plebeian as clean as possible, so don¡¯t go calling her dirty before me!¡± Tian said angrily while hugging me. Yulai stared at her in anger for a moment before shaking his head. ¡°Besides, you are mistaken about an important thing.¡±


    ¡°Huh? What?¡± He asked confused.


    ¡°You think that you lost their respect all because Cute Plebeian managed to trick you. That¡¯s not the case at all, you know?¡± She put on a serious cold tone that even made me who was held tightly against her feel a chill. ¡°The moment you tried to get Plebeian all for yourself you lost face to almost all of us in the room.¡±


    ¡°Wha¡­ Why is that?¡± He asked in a sincerely shocked tone. ¡°I was displaying my power and position there, you know? Why would they look down on m...¡±


    ¡°Precisely because you were doing that that we became disappointed.¡± Tian stopped him. ¡°You were abusing the power you earned for something so frugal like getting a slave. Ignoring the reason behind it, the moment you did that, you showed that you had no power nor morals on yourself whatsoever. Even ignoring morals, that I know that most of us don¡¯t care about, the way you did it was extremely sloppy and rough. Prone to failures and extremely rough, with that alone they had enough reasons to lose their respect for you.¡±


    ¡°That¡­ No. If I had taken that girl for myself they would have become awed with me! I¡¯m sure of it!¡± He said while making a wide motion with his arm, as if trying to prove his point, but we ignored his attempt as Tian sighed loudly and shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s what father...¡± He added in a very low voice that seemed to escape Tian¡¯s ear.


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    ¡°It¡¯s not his fault, Miss.¡± I told the girl who was hugging me, and she blinked surprised for a moment. ¡°It¡¯s not like he had the choice of growing up while believing that winning equals being respected.¡± I said with a shrug, noticing that it was something a bit deeper than a boy trying to show off thanks to his last words.


    ¡°Oh¡­?¡± Lady Tian said with a surprised tone before turning to the boy. ¡°I see...¡± She said in an understanding nod, making Yulai, blink confused. ¡°So, it¡¯s just a poor education?¡± She asked.


    Nodding, I agreed with her words, seeing as the boy looked at us in confusion.


    ¡°What do you mean? Clan-head always told me that only the victors are respected, no matter what!¡± He said with a frown.


    ¡°And because of that you think failing is bad and winning will get you respect?¡± I said in a sad tone, and saw as he blinked surprised. ¡°Yeah, winning does gets you respect, but you seriously need to rethink your priorities if you think that¡¯s the only thing that gets you respect.¡± I put on my best scolding tone while saying that, making him step back in shock and confusion.


    ¡°Besides, failing is a lot more common than you think.¡± Tian added from besides me, making me nod in agreement. ¡°Don¡¯t go thinking that you can live your whole life without failing. Father always tells me that instead of learning how to succeed, knowing how to fail is even better.¡±


    Oh, I never heard that one. I like it, though. While nodding satisfied to myself, I saw as the boy tilted his head in confusion.


    ¡°Knowing how to fail?¡± He asked. ¡°That¡¯s foolish! What good would it do me if I were to learn how to fail?¡± His voice sounded irate as he shouted those words. Lady Tian became slightly surprised with his ferocity, but I simply looked at him feeling pity.


    ¡°And this is why you are being treated as a fool, you know?¡± I said annoyed. ¡°What do you think it¡¯s better? Improving the occasional gains or decreasing the frequent losses?¡±


    ¡°When¡­ When you put it like that...¡± He said with a low voice.


    ¡°See? It wasn¡¯t so hard to understand!¡± I said cheerfully while giving him a thumbs up. He and Tian looked in wonder at my action, but neither said nothing. ¡°Anyway, now that this annoying topic is over, I''m going back to my meat~!¡± I said picking the plate I had left aside earlier.


    ¡°...I sincerely have no idea how to react to that...¡± I heard him say, but ignored him as I cheerfully chewed on the meat snack I had brought with me earlier.


    I heard the sound of him scratching his head before saying something about taking a walk to think about it. Lady Tian gave one more of her Ho ho ho laughs before going back to cuddling me, and with this the matter is settled.


    Or so would I think it would have gone, but the moment Yulai was about to take a turn to leave our field of vision, I became startled, raising myself from the chair in a hurried motion and looking towards the forest.


    Tian reacted immediately, turning to me in a serious look and putting on an inquisitive gaze.


    ¡°I¡­ There¡¯s someone with a fair amount of inner spirit¡­ That way.¡± I said pointing towards the forest. Tian followed my finger with her eyes and squinted her eyes.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It walked a bit before stopping.¡± I said frowning and closing my eyes, trying to gather more information.


    ¡°Wait, what are you talking about?¡± The boy asked confused while turning back to us.


    ¡°She is very sensitive to spirits.¡± Tian explained to me briefly. ¡°And she said that she felt what looks like a spiritualist on the forest.¡±


    ¡°You are joking, right? Sensing something in the forest?¡± Yulai asked doubtful, but he quickly gave up when looking at Miss¡¯s cold eyes. ¡°Se-Seriously?¡± He didn¡¯t sound like he was believing in our words, but quickly shook his head. ¡°Anyway, even if that¡¯s true, from what I know, there¡¯s a spirit beast in the woods, so it could be that.¡± He said with a shrug before walking away once again.


    Blinking surprised, I turned towards Lady Tian with a confused look.


    ¡°Neh, what¡¯s that spirit beast they keep talking about?¡± I asked, noticing how it wasn¡¯t the first time I heard the term.


    ¡°Hmm? You don¡¯t know?¡± Tian asked surprised and I shook my head. ¡°Strange your father not having told you¡­ he was supposed to hate Spirit beasts...¡± Huh? Father? The same one that¡¯s always cheerful? ¡°Anyway, just like how we can be born with spirit within ourselves, the same can be said to the beasts that roam the forests.¡± She explained me briefly.


    ¡°Heeh? Is that so?¡± I asked curious, but when I stopped to think about it, it does makes sense that something like that could be possible. ¡°I want to see one...¡± I said getting curious, but Tian shook her head with a serious look.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even try. Spirit beasts are all extremely aggressive, and even the weakest ones can compete with a tier two spiritualist¡­ Or a spiritualist from the second heaven...¡± She said with a tone of warning.


    ¡°Heh? All of them?¡± I asked surprised and she nodded once again.


    ¡°Yes. All the Spirit beasts are strong and aggressive. In all history no one ever found a friendly spirit beast.¡± She looked towards the forest and gave a long sigh. ¡°Luckily, they aren¡¯t very likely to leave their territories, so we rarely have problems with them.¡± She said with a relieved sigh.


    I nodded weakly before turning back to her. If it was just a spirit beast that already lived on the forest, I guess it doesn¡¯t make much difference. Heaving a sigh, I decided to ignore it, but the moment I made that decision, I felt something else entering the edge of my sense.


    ¡°Huh... Lady Tian¡­¡± I said getting her attention back, she turned to me worried. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a spirit beast.¡± I said worried.


    ¡°...Why?¡±


    ¡°Just now, seven¡­ No, eight normal humans started gathering around it.¡± I told her with a worried tone. ¡°And it doesn¡¯t looks like they are fighting at all...¡±


    She looked at me for a second while processing my words, finally she nodded with a worried look.


    ¡°It¡¯d be better to warn father.¡± She said briefly while standing up.


    I nodded and followed her inside.

 27th Chapter - Break-in

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. I¡¯m a jerk, and deserve to be burnt on a stake.


    I promised releases on Thursdays, yet¡­ Well¡­ Anyway. Seeing how this isn¡¯t working anywhere as well as I wanted at first, I decided to give the choice to you. Should I simply post everything I have up already then simply post as I write, which should be every two weeks with my current plan (No promises there. I¡¯m starting to regret promising something and not keeping it up), or should I try once again keep up the whole Thursday thingy till I reach the end of my stock?


    Anyway, storywise, things are about to take a turn for seriousness. While it was all fun and games up to now, things will probably change in the next few chapters seeing how there will be some things happening. But it should be back to normal before long. (I¡¯d guess by the end of 30 or middle of 31).


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    Lady Tian and I ran back to the main building, and after a brief search with my senses, I confirmed master Bo''s location talking with the head of the Song clan. Noticing our approach, he looked surprised, but seeing our expressions, his face soon became serious.


    "I¡¯m sorry old ''friend''." He said putting strong emphasis on that word friend. "But it seems that something serious has happened."


    "Hooh, and your daughter brought you such news?" The head of the song clan asked doubtful, making Bo nod in agreement.


    "It seems to be the case. Don''t your daughter bring you serious matters on her own too?" Bo asked with a taunting tone, but his opponent kept his facade.


    "Why, yes! My cute Aria indeed does that! She even gave me help with some serious matters with the Song these days!"  He replied while laughing proudly.


    "It seems that we were both blessed with wonderful daughters!" Bo said laughing as his large frame shook.


    Both noblemen started laughing together in a scene that looked very friendly if it wasn''t for all the bloodlust oozing from their interaction. As much as I enjoyed watching this kind of thing, which I actually don''t, I had to interrupt them, by taking a step forward and lowering my head.


    "Master Bo." I said in a serious tone that made the two cringe in surprise. "It is my regret to tell you this, but this might not be the time suitable for pleasantries."


    Looking at me in awe, the head of the Song''s simply stared for a moment while Bo quickly cleared his throat and put on a more serious look, understanding that I was being completely serious at the moment. Nodding after seeing his change, I quickly spoke up.


    ¡°I¡­ Got knowledge that there¡¯s a group of people gathering at the forest nearby.¡± I told him, and with my words I saw him widening his eyes. ¡°And there seems to be a Spiritualist amongst them.¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± Bo said surprised before stopping to think. ¡°Are you sure about that?¡± I nodded while briefly extending my senses once again.


    ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, one of them is scouting just outside of the garden right now.¡± I told him and it seemed that he understood my meaning, frowning slightly and nodding.


    Xiang, the head of the Song household, was still nearby and hearing our conversation. I could have called master Bo somewhere else and talked to him there in private, but since this was the Song¡¯s house, it might be good that he also hears this.


    Bo seemed to notice my idea, as he nodded lightly. Xiang simply stared at me dubiously for a moment as if he wasn¡¯t accepting my words directly. Taking a deep breath, I looked towards Bo and awaited as he made his mind on what to do next. Sharpening his gaze while looking towards me, he soon made his question.


    ¡°How many?¡±


    ¡°Around¡­ Nine I guess.¡± I said while searching for them. ¡°One spiritualist and the rest are normal people.¡± I said after confirming.


    ¡°Any idea how strong the spiritualist is?¡± He asked me, but I shook my head. I was still unable to gauge the opponent¡¯s strength yet due to lack of references. With a sigh, Bo once again looked focused as he turned towards his aide. ¡°You, go to the carriage and bring ¡®those¡¯.¡± He said. Hearing that, I quickly tugged his robe, and after a moment he added. ¡°Hers too.¡±


    I smiled a bit cheerfully once he complied to my request, seeing that, he smiled a bit before turning towards Sui, who was still sitting on our table. They made a brief eye contact and soon enough she raised from the chair and started walking towards us.


    Seeing, that, the head of the Song household looked confused for a moment before turning towards Bo and asking curiously.


    ¡°Are you really going to believe her in that?¡± Hearing that, Bo frowned and turned back to him. ¡°She is still just a kid, so it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if she had only seen things.¡±


    Although I feel really angry that he is saying that, he does have a point. I AM only four years old right now, so taking everything I said at face value is a bit odd. While feeling slightly depressed over that fact, Bo simply turned towards Xiang and said.


    ¡°She has proven herself to me. You might want to increase the guards, though. Just to be sure.¡± Xiang crossed his gazes with master Bo for some time before finally nodding heavily and calling the butl¡­ The Head aide from his house.


    The old man sent me a brief curious look before turning to his master. I simply turned away wryly because I somehow knew he would see through me no matter what I did. Still, after hearing to Xiang¡¯s orders, he finally nodded and walked away towards the guards.


    ¡°What happened, dear?¡± Lady Sui asked as she approached us and put herself besides master Bo.


    ¡°Cute plebeian got information on a group of humans approaching the party through the garden.¡± Tian said briefly.


    ¡°People approaching?¡± Sui asked surprised before frowning. ¡°Why would they come here?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good question.¡± Bo said while nodding. ¡°It might be nothing at all for all we know, and they are only passing nearby.¡± As he said that, he gave a brief glance towards Xiang.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I made any enemy who would dare attack me during this party.¡± He replied briefly while shaking his head.


    ¡°Then, what about bandits?¡± Bo asked curious. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that just recently the Hon disbanded a bandit group near our territory.¡±


    ¡°It could be that...¡± Xiang nodded in agreement, but I couldn¡¯t help but feel doubtful. Shouldn¡¯t Spiritualists be all rich and powerful? Why join bandits?


    ¡°Then, what about someone else in the party?¡± I asked my doubt. ¡°Couldn¡¯t they be targeting another noble instead of you?¡± I asked doubtful. The two widened their eyes briefly before nodding.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Someone else? Who would it be then?¡± The two heads asked in synchrony while quickly scanning the room.


    However, it seemed that they either didn¡¯t find anyone who caught their eyes, or they found too many to get a definite answer to the question. Sighing loudly, the duo looked dejected while exchanging hopeless glances at each other. It seemed like they had reached the same conclusion as before.


    As they started to exchange hypothesis again, I saw as the aides from our household came back while carrying two large packets and a smaller one with them. They approached our group before passing the smaller packet to me.


    Smiling widely, I opened the packet and revealed the small crossbow-slingshot I had made some time ago and the strap I used to stick it to my leg. Happily picking it and a small bag with some pebbles, I turned towards Bo and Xiang, seeing as the old aide approached while accompanied by a woman around SuI¡¯s age.


    Wearing a simple white robe and with dark-blue hair, she had an extremely serious look to herself. Standing as tall as Sui, but with a more curvy body (Still smaller than Ping...), she held herself with extreme dignity even when amongst the two nobles. Not that it was strange, seeing how she¡¯s an spiritualist.


    ¡°Greetings, Lord Xiang.¡± She said respectfully towards the blond noble before turning to Bo. ¡°I believe you must be Lord Bo and family then?¡± She said while looking towards us. ¡°My name is Dia Son-lao, and I¡¯m acting as a teacher to Young lady Aria.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so you are her teacher?¡± Bo asked surprised before smiling and nodding. However, he soon put on a grimace. ¡°I believe you have heard of the situation?¡± The girl nodded before giving me and Tian a glance.


    ¡°Dia, would it be fine to count on you to take care of the spiritualist?¡± He asked discretely and the woman nodded. ¡°Thanks. If possible, try to take care of it in the garden. It would be bad if the guests got around knowing what¡¯s happening.¡±


    The woman nodded before looking towards the two aides from our households who were still carrying the packets, and then to me who was carrying my small crossbow happily.


    ¡°I take it that they will join me?¡± She asked briefly and Xiang nodded.


    ¡°Yes, we can¡¯t afford sending many guards and having the guests attention brought towards the matter.¡± He explained briefly. ¡°And should the spiritualist prove to be a worthy opponent, it would help having someone to take care of the smaller goons.¡±


    ¡°I see...¡± She said with a nod before turning towards the heads. ¡°And are you sure about a spiritualist approaching this house?¡±


    Xiang hesitated on her words, looking troubled as he chose his words, but Bo quickly intervened and nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯d say that it comes from a trustworthy source.¡± Bo said while holding his belly for a moment and putting on a confident look. I smiled a bit awkwardly to that while scratching my cheek.


    The woman seemed to accept his words because she nodded briefly before turning towards the aides and signaling for them to follow her. Going right behind her, I followed the aides, receiving a confused glance from Dia who seemed suspicious, but luckily she decided to ignore me, which left me a bit sad, but I guess that it would be better in the end.


    Luckily, it seemed like our actions didn¡¯t gather much attention from the others as I had expected. They had probably seen it as something like our household delivering presents to the Song. While wondering about this, I also wondered whether this would make the Xiang indebted to us or not. If so, then I guess Master Bo would get really happy with it.


    Once outside in the garden, I saw that there were a couple of guards outside already, although only a few as Xiang had said previously. In the end Lady Tian decided to stay behind so she wouldn¡¯t be much of a burden, but I followed them because there was one thing I wanted to see in action.


    As soon as we confirmed that no one else was out there with us, the aides opened the packets they carried, revealing something that Master Bo had been buying in bulk recently.


    Crossbows.


    They had a very rudimentary look and mechanism, with the fanciest part being the lever reloading system that I recommended, seeing how it was easier than pulling a string. The Song¡¯s guards looked at the two aides with confusion as they quickly set the weapons up and readied themselves.


    ¡°What manner of bow is that?¡± Dia asked curious seeing our weapons.


    ¡°Crossbow!¡± I commented slightly sullen for having my invention mistaken for something else.


    One of the aides smiled wryly at my reaction before turning towards Dia and saying.


    ¡°These are crossbows, Master Dia. They are a kind of bow that is easier to use and aim. Stronger too.¡± The aide said while remembering my explanation the earlier days. ¡°It uses a very unique method that allows for one take aim and shoot without the need for much training or strenght. It¡¯s so simple even an amateur can use them with ease!¡±


    While Dia raised an eyebrow amused, the soldiers all looked at it in awe and admiration, as they had more idea of what that meant in practical terms. Some gossips started running amongst them as they tried to get a closer look on the weapons, so I couldn¡¯t help but smile smugly to myself.


    But I didn¡¯t have the time to rejoice on those feelings for much long, because I soon felt as the people I was keeping an eye out earlier approach the area. Getting more serious while discretely hiding myself behind some guards.


    Sadly, this time Dia didn¡¯t miss my reaction, and she soon raised an eyebrow at me before widening her eyes as if she understood my reaction. Then she turned to the opposite side and strained her eyes. I could feel as she converged the chi towards her eyes, probably enhancing them.


    ¡°They¡­ Really...¡± she said shocked before turning to me with a confused look. I cursed in my mind for my slip in revealing my ability.


    Luckily, she didn¡¯t have the chance to ask me about it, because soon after we saw some people approaching the fence and climbing it with ease before jumping towards the garden and landing lightly.


    They immediately started running towards the door, but the moment their eyes landed on us, they screeched to a halt and stared at the formation of soldiers and aides that stood still in front of the main door. As they stared at us, a shadow fell in front of their group without even lifting a single speck of dust from the ground.


    Turning towards us, the figure wearing a strange cloth around its head stared at us and cursed.


    ¡°Someone explain me what the hell is happening here?¡±


    ¡­ Sorry for crushing your secret raid?

 28th Chapter - Heavy Burden

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. Since you chose it, I¡¯ll post what I have as soon as I can from now on.


    It took some time, but I¡¯ll post the two chapters I have up today and next week I¡¯ll post the chapter as soon as I¡¯m done with it. Should I write more than one, then more than one will be posted. On the bright side, it will be faster to implement suggestions and other things you guys say on the comment.


    Anyway, storywise, things got a bit darker as I said they would. I kinda wanted to leave Lia a still down to earth character, not a cold blooded person. I¡¯m NOT going to remove the light-heartedness of the story, but I do feel that such serious moments like these are needed.


    Lastly, I would like to thanks everyone who gave their opinions on the whole crossbow thing. As I said, political intrigues isn¡¯t my forte, so your comments help me a whole bunch at times like these, and if you see anything that could be improved, just point it out and I¡¯ll look into it.


    I should post the next chapter soon. At most before tomorrow afternoon (afternoon for me, so within 24 hours)


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    ¡°I don¡¯t know who you are or what is your intention in attacking this house, however, by the name of Dia Son-Lao, I swear that I will not let a single one of you through this door.¡± Dia said while taking a step forward and taking a fighting stance.


    Following her lead, the other guards quickly readied themselves, taking a stance with the sword before them and a low posture. The two aides from our household also took position, crouching on the ground while aiming the crossbow at the bandits underlings. Strangely enough, no one was aiming at the leader of the bandits, the one who was clearly the main threat.


    While I was confused about what was happening, I started taking some ammunition for my own miniature crossbow before loading it with a fairly heavy pebble.


    The enemy all hesitated for a moment while looking around in confusion, only the spiritualist taking a step forward and pointing towards us.


    ¡°How did you know about our attack?¡± The man in front asked.


    I noticed how the two aides looked at me briefly, just like Miss Dia. Smiling wryly, I knew that the answer would be up to me, so after a brief moment of thought, I finally sighed and took a step forward.


    ¡°That big brother told me when he came here earlier!¡± I said while pointing towards the man that I had sensed scouting the terrain earlier.


    For a good half minute, the whole garden froze as both sides stared at the man whom I had pointed to. While our side had a confused feeling to them, theirs had an almost comical murderous air while the man in question


    was completely taken aback with a clearly confused face.


    However, it was clear that it wasn¡¯t enough for them yet, so taking a brief time, I soon gave my best smile and pointed towards the general position I had sensed him a bit earlier.


    ¡°Big brother was over there, and when I saw him I asked what he was doing.¡± As I said that, I noticed the man flinching and trying to say something, however, I quickly regained the momentum and went on to speak. ¡°He said that he was looking if there were any problems for him and his friends to come and play!¡±


    That settled it, because not even a second later the Spiritualist surged with Chi and blinked towards the man and did something I couldn¡¯t quite see, sending the man flying through the garden until he hit the metal fence on the farther reach of the garden.


    ¡°Idiot, lowering your guard just because she¡¯s a kid!¡± The man said angrily while all the other bandits looked in shock and fear at their ally. Even I couldn¡¯t help but swallow dryly at the bloody mess that the man became.


    ¡°I see¡­ So that¡¯s how it was...¡± Dia said while glancing at me once again.


    Strangely enough, I had the feeling that she didn¡¯t quite believe my story, because the look she gave me felt more like a suspicious one than a surprised one. Faking my confusion, I looked at her while tilting my head, she simply sighed before turning to look to the bandits.


    ¡°Well, we wanted to make this nice and clean, but looks like we will have to do this the old fashioned way.¡± The spiritualist said while motioning towards us with his head. ¡°You lot take care of the guards, I¡¯ll deal with the girl.¡± The man said while staring at Dia. ¡°It looks like she¡¯s a spiritualist.¡±


    At his words, the men on both of his sides quickly nodded and took a step forward, opening their mouths to say or shout something. However, not even one step forward, and two of them fell back with a yank of their heads, as two short but stocky bolts pierced their foreheads.


    With only the dry sounds of the rope hitting the wooden surface of the bow, the bandits once again stopped confused, trying to understand what was happening, and even the spiritualist took a moment to try and understand what was happening.


    In that single moment, I noticed as Dia converged all her Chi towards her feet and ran forwards the other spiritualist. While I watched amazed at the scene, or rather, at the blur that happened, the other man barely managed to block the powerful kick aimed at his head, however a grimace appeared in his face as he jumped back.


    ¡°Fire chi?¡± He said annoyed while looking at her and holding the arm he had used to block, where the initial signs of a burn was there.


    Dia smirked briefly, before going back to her serious look, focusing on the man before her and channeling the chi towards her hands from the center of her chest. Like a river that met with a stone wall, her chi crashed into the man¡¯s chest, for a brief moment igniting the hand while the Man¡¯s Chi rippled dangerously after blocking the attack.


    Noticing how his Chi seemed to fail his control, the man quickly channeled the little he still had control towards his feet and jumped away, with Dia soon following him. However, he managed to trick her by making a feint to another direction.


    He took the time to recover control of his chi and quickly replenish what he had lost by spending his Inner spirit. While I wanted to continue and watch their exchange, I didn¡¯t have the chance to do so because the guards on our side quickly began their charge.


    The bandit¡¯s group managed to react on time, parrying the attacks and the ones at the rear were pulling out their short bows and started to tie the string on its ends


    Noticing that, I took a brief look at the two aides who came with us, but they were still trying to reload their crossbows, and since the two were women, it was taking a bit longer than usual, since these were made for adult men.


    Grimacing, I quickly took my own miniature crossbow and aimed at one of the men tying the string. Thanks to my training I had while bullyi¡­ Erm¡­ playing with the kids from the neighborhood, I managed to land the flying piece of pebble right on the spot where I aimed. A place right between the legs.


    I know this is considered a low blow, but I sincerely can¡¯t bring myself to fight honestly when I¡¯m barely a kid, can I?


    The man crouched down in pain, but since I didn¡¯t have enough time to try and attack the other one he managed to quickly tie the string and nock an arrow. Soon after, one of the soldiers from our side fell back with an arrow in his shoulder.


    Grimacing at the sight, I quickly hid myself behind one of the other guards and started reloading the small crossbow. While hiding behind the small wall of soldiers, I couldn¡¯t help but notice how little sound they were making, besides the sword crossings, of course.


    Briefly gathering my courage and looking over the scene, I caught the exact moment the sword from one of the bandits pierced one of the soldier¡¯s arm.


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    At the gruesome scene, I felt my stomach churning and convulsing, and when the blade was removed from the arm, I could see the meat and muscles from the arm.


    From being very small in amount, all the food I had earlier during the party didn¡¯t leave through the way it came from. Feeling my knee shaking as the situation finally dawned on me, I saw as the bandit raised the sword once again and prepared to bring it down on the man¡¯s head. Understanding what it meant, I quickly took my small crossbow and aimed at the man, trying to take aim to stop him.


    However, I missed.


    My arm was trembling, so the pebble missed by a fair margin when I pulled the trigger. For a moment the bandit blinked and looked towards me angrily, but he soon turned to look to the soldier, who was valiantly trying to hold the sword up despite his injury.


    But the three of us knew that he wouldn¡¯t get to lift it in time to stop the blade.


    And just as the sword started to come down on him, I heard the dry sound of rope hitting wood, and a bolt hit the bandit right on his arm. The sword missed its target by the sudden impact and brushed off the guard¡¯s armor.


    Not even a second later, a sword pierced the bandit¡¯s gut from his side, coming from another guard helping his friend.


    However, for me, that moment seemed to freeze, as I could see the man¡¯s face contorted in pain before widening his eyes in surprise. Anger, surprise, fear, sadness, confusion, relief, and contempt. All of those appeared through his face in a flash, before he fell to the ground on his knees.


    The soldiers quickly opened space so that he would fall between them, leaving the man to fall right to my side.


    This was the first time I had ever seen someone die. I could say many things on how I wasn¡¯t shaken or how I shrugged it off after a few seconds, but neither of those were true. I was literally scared stiff while seeing the dead body.


    There are some things you only understand when you are right there when it happens. Seeing someone die like that is one of them. No matter how much I put it into words, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever be able to explain this sheer¡­ Shock? Terror? Confusion?


    Whatever it was, I was unable to move while looking at the man whose eyes slowly lost their light.


    ¡°Little Lia!¡± I heard a voice calling me suddenly.


    For a moment I snapped out of my state, looking up to her and seeing as she made a motion for me to move out. Confused, for a moment I stared at her, trying to understand what she meant with her words.


    It was only when I noticed the two clumps of Chi approaching me from behind at high speed. No, one clump, the one that was unmistakably Dia¡¯s was approaching me a bit too fast. Moving away in a hurry, I saw as Dia bounced off the ground where I stood, almost hitting the dead man before hitting the wall on the back. A pained expression appeared on her for a moment, right before the bandit leader passed besides me furiously, channeling his Chi in a strange way.


    Right before his fist connected with Dia, I saw as steam briefly covered it, taking on the shape of a spearhead as it closed in on the spiritualist.


    ¡°Seems like we were a bad match, fire girl.¡± The man said while pulling back his fist and preparing to pierce the girl¡¯s body.


    ¡°Stay away from her!¡± I heard one of the guards shouting, right before taking the crossbow from the aide and aiming at the man.


    However, as fast as the bolt flew, the moment it met with the spiritualist¡¯s body, the shaft simply broke in half and the triangular head bounced off harmlessly. I watched the scene in shock and confusion for a moment, trying to wrap my head around what had happened.


    The man was mostly unscathed, and if it wasn¡¯t for a brief glance of his, we would think that he didn¡¯t even notice the bolt hitting his body. Dia took that brief glance of his to react. A victorious smirk appearing in her face right before she compressed a chunk of her chi in a sphere and left it right below her neck, where the man¡¯s fist was aimed at.


    As the battlefield froze for a moment, watching the scene, we saw as the bandit¡¯s mist covered fist approached Dia¡¯s neck, making contact.


    Then, the man was blown back while making a pained grunt.


    ¡°What?¡± The guards said surprised while opening some space for him to fall. Twisting his body, the man barely managed to fall on his knees amongst the guards, who all simply stood there looking at him confused.


    While confused as to why they didn¡¯t try to attack him, I was also amazed at what had happened. In fact, I was the only one who seemingly understood what happened at that moment.


    Dia exploded the chi sphere the moment that the bandit was about to make contact. The shockwave disrupted his control of his chi and led him to undo the attack. Even now I can feel as the Chi in his body thrashed around violently, as if suffering a backlash.


    He grimaced, before forcing all the tumultuous Chi out of his body, a large amount of energy seeping into the air around him before being absorbed back by the worldly spirits.


    ¡°Did you say something about match?¡± Dia said while standing up and cleaning a bit of the blood dripping from her mouth.


    The man grimaced a bit while trying to stand up and use his chi to run open some distance, but his Chi immediately became tumultuous again, possibly damaging his body while doing so, because he fell to his knees in a pained expression.


    ¡°Little Lia. It was enough for now.¡± I heard one of the aides saying while helping me up.


    ¡°Huh¡­ Wha...¡± I said confused, the words not really entering my head for a few moments.


    ¡°Master Bo said that this would be a good chance to get you used to such scenes.¡± She said while helping me up.


    ¡°What do you...¡± I asked confused.


    ¡°We, aides from the Lon-Ying household are usually trained to deal with this kind of situation sooner or later in our training cycle.¡± She told me with an apologetic tone. ¡°So that should something happen when our master is under danger we can deal with it with greater ease. This is why he didn¡¯t stop you when you said you wanted to come.¡±


    Ah¡­ I¡­ Think I understand. If I were to get shocked like that, Lady Tian might get into danger. Making a nod, I turned to the aide and saw as she looked at me with a slightly apologetic tone.


    ¡°Leave me here then.¡± I said while trying to free myself from her arms, somehow recovering enough to move myself.


    ¡°Are you sure? You already...¡± She started, but I shook my head.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said, and she let me go hesitatingly. Feeling my legs trembling, I quickly leaned back against the wall just outside of their field of view and closed my eyes.


    Feeling as the aide fell back to the conflict, I quickly counted the remaining soldiers and bandits using my senses. From the half a dozen soldiers and two aides, now only four soldiers and the aides were left, while the bandits lost about half of their original numbers, and only eight still stood.


    Besides them, the two spiritualist were still at it.


    Holding back the uncomfortable feeling in my stomach that threatened to expel all my dinner, I decided that, even if I wouldn¡¯t finish watching everything with my own eyes, I would at least know the result by myself, seeing how such situations might repeat itself in the future.


    So, steeling my resolve, I kept my eyes closed, and kept on watching the scene as the battle unfolded.


    ---


    Tyoer''s room: Another thing. I know that i''m not exactly an expert when it comes to writing wuxia fights, so feel free to point me to a direction that i can follow. Preferably without pointing me to a story in specific as i''ve been kinda burned out with Wuxia/Xianxia nowadays

 29th chapter - Doubts

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. Since you chose it, this is it. All I had is now up and next week I¡¯ll start my post as I write regim (This week is beepy, which I still have to finish¡­)


    Anyway, some of you mentioned this earlier, but I thought that this was a good point for me to have Lia think about all her choices in her long and difficult three years old life. (Sarcasm intended on the long part) This will also be a trampoline for a bit more character development, I think.


    Lastly, I would like to once again ask you guys to point out anything you find a bit off from the whole politics thing. It¡¯s not my strong point and I would like some ideas if you guys have any.


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    Closing my eyes the best I could and taking in deep long breaths to calm myself, still feeling shaken by what had happened a few moments ago. Focusing all I could in my sense, I somehow managed to get a grasp of the situation that was unfolding on the other corner of the garden.


    A bit surprised at how easy it was to observe the duel between the two spiritualists, I could also somehow manage to get an idea of what was happening between the soldiers and thieves, noticing how far back the soldiers had been pushed. That said, they were quickly recovering ground now that the bandits lost a good part of their numbers.


    With the soldiers and thieves having smaller spirit reserves filling their bodies, I couldn¡¯t quite make sure what their movements were compared to the spiritualists, but it was enough for me to have an idea of what was happening in the battle.


    That said, now that I had removed myself from the fight, I must admit that it was surprisingly quiet for something so violent. With the only real sound coming over being the clash of metal and the occasional impact sound from the spiritualists, it was easily drowned out by the clamour of the party. There were no sounds of pain nor anything of the like, as all of them held back their cry.


    While I could somehow understand why the guards were doing that, probably related to avoiding causing a commotion at the party and damage the clan¡¯s reputation. However, the thieves had already lost the element of surprise, so it was strange that they were still keeping quiet, seeing how they had little to lose.


    Wondering about that for a moment, I felt as a thief¡¯s spirit suddenly drained entirely, signaling his death.


    My already unsettled stomach churned once again, almost making me double over in a wave of nausea as the scene from earlier played in my mind, but steeling myself I quickly held back the bad feeling and managed to calm myself down as I slowly calmed down, feeling my heartbeat slow down to a more natural pace.


    Not a few seconds later I saw, with my own eyes, as the thief¡¯s boss jumped over the corner, focusing his spirit in his legs so that he could move faster, or what little he still had, seeing how Dia had been slowly burning all of his spirit with each of her attacks. That said, taking a look at their physical state, they were almost entirely opposite, with Dia sporting various bruises and what looked like a bad shoulder while the thief didn¡¯t seem all that injured.


    Staring at them, I noticed how they didn¡¯t even recognize my presence as their battle dragged to a corner of the garden. The man used some kind of enhancement skill that made him advance at a blinding speed towards Dia as a burst of steam came from his feet. Right as he was about to reach her, he made a roundhouse kick motion, to which the steam followed making a dangerous looking steam spiral in the shape of a serpent


    The nearby bushes were almost literally blown away by the attack, leaving holes on the ground where the roots were ripped out from their places. Luckily, Dia managed to avoid the brunt of the attack by leaping backwards at the last second, but she still made a pained expression as the serpent twisted and coiled around her.


    I didn¡¯t let my awe last for too long as I watched the scene with my open eyes. Trying to shake off my shock, I took the small toyish cross-bow I still carried with me and tried pulling it back. Surprised at how much my strength seemed to escape me, I barely managed to pull the string back before putting some pebble from the ground.


    Trying to take aim at the bandit boss as my hand trembled slightly, however, before I could even pull the trigger, Dia landed a kick on the guy`s chest while focusing half of her chi on each leg. The man managed to jump back and avoid the attack, once again getting to the outside of my vision angle and back to where the soldiers were.


    Dia gave me a brief glance that I couldn¡¯t quite understand before jumping after him.


    All in all, I think I didn¡¯t see them for more than five seconds here. While part of me regretted that I couldn¡¯t be more useful, another part of me felt glad that they left me. Not knowing how to feel about this, I simply sighed before closing my eyes once again.


    While watching over the battle and seeing as the soldier¡¯s started downing one thief after the other, I tried making sense of what was happening here.


    Master Bo did say that there were many possible reasons that could lead to this, but I felt that maybe I could find out more now. Possibly, their insistence on keeping quiet had something to do with whatever they came to do here?


    While I thought about this, I felt as the last thief seemed to stop in his track. Barely alive, just like two others that I could even hear as they moaned in pain. The rest were all dead. Not even traces of their spirit coming from their bodies.


    I breathed deeply to calm myself once again.


    Was this¡­ Really something that I would have to get used to? Thinking about that while remembering what the aides said, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder.


    Should I really keep doing what I am doing right now if I were to meet other situations like these? I sincerely don¡¯t know whether I would be able to hold myself together if this became a regular situation.


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Heh¡­ This is funny.


    I think this is the first time that I really started thinking seriously about this job since I started it. All this time it just felt a bit like a play. A really complex and taxing play, but still just something I was doing for fun.


    All that I wanted was to somehow find my mother and ask her why she left us that night. Maybe also take over my father¡¯s work on the smithy, start working on metallurgy. That seemed fun to be honest.


    ¡°...Okay, I¡¯ll ask. What are you doing? Is this another one of your tricks?¡±


    I snapped out of my state as the voice called me. Blinking surprised, I noticed that I had blanked out for a moment, with one more bandit dead now. From the looks of it, I was out only for a brief moments, seeing how Dia and the Bandit were still roughly in the same state as before.


    Shaking my head and looking around, searching for the owner of the voice, the one who I found out was, surprisingly, the brat of the Sol Household, who stood before me with an annoyed glance.


    His expression changed into one of surprise while I stared at him trying to understand what he was doing here.


    ¡°You look horrible.¡± He commented indifferently. ¡°Did you have a fight with that master of yours or something?¡±


    ¡°W...What are you doing here?¡± I asked while trying to stand up, only to feel as my legs refused to gather strength. ¡°Got tired of being alone in the party?¡± I asked trying to put up a front, but even I could tell that it was a horrible bluff.


    ¡°That was the worst attempt at a bluff ever.¡± He said coldly while looking down at me. ¡°Either that, or you are an excellent actor.¡± He frowned before taking his hand to his chin. ¡°...I sincerely don¡¯t know which one is the truth.¡±


    I grinned a bit while feeling my body refusing to answer me. From the looks of it he still hadn¡¯t noticed what was happening right behind the corner. With the soldier¡¯s triumph over the bandits, the louder part of the battle had been finished, and now only the spiritualists were battling, so it was considerably quieter.


    ¡°So, what are you doing here, noble wannabe?¡± I asked while trying to avert his attention. ¡°You still didn¡¯t answer that.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s none of your business.¡± He said bluntly, to which I felt annoyed. ¡°I have no reason to answer you.¡± He said before preparing to walk towards the back of the garden, only to stop as his eyes landed on the place where the bushes had been ripped off the ground. ¡°I don¡¯t recall that.¡± He said with a frown before turning to me with a suspicious glance.


    I gritted my teeth for a moment before stopping to think for a moment. Thinking about it, what reason did I have to keep quiet? It¡¯s not like I need to keep him away from the battle at all, right?


    As these thoughts crossed my mind, I felt as the two martial artists once again approached us, with Dia being chased by the man who had his entire body coated with the remaining of his spirit. Literally.


    Appearing from the corner as a blur, the two spiritualist froze for a moment as their eyes landed on the two of us. While Dia¡¯s face contorted in a grimace, the bandit¡¯s became surprised, and for a whole half second, the duo stood still.


    Then, a grin appeared on the bandit¡¯s face. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that I felt him channeling his spirit to his legs, I probably wouldn''t have managed to react in time. In fact, I didn¡¯t even have the time to think about what I was doing.


    Raising my toy-crossbow towards the bandit, I didn¡¯t even take the time to aim before pulling the trigger. Luckily, the projectile flew straight towards him just as he took his first step, hitting right on the face.


    He didn¡¯t even react to that while glaring towards the still shocked Yulai. Seeing as he seemingly disappeared into the air, an idea appeared in my mind.


    I pushed the brat aside just in time before feeling a sudden force yank me painfully to the side with such a force that I worried that it would break my neck. Gasping in pain as the feeling settled down, I could see that I wasn¡¯t in the same place as earlier. Feeling as a hand grasped me by the neck of my robe, I could feel my breath growing short as I couldn¡¯t inhale properly.


    ¡°Wha¡­ How did you...¡± I heard the bandit saying surprised before looking back at where the brat was, fallen to his butt with a confused expression. ¡°Shi...¡± He started saying once he noticed how Dia had disappeared from his sight already.


    To be fair, I didn¡¯t know what I was doing at the time. It simply felt as if something kicked in and I suddenly couldn¡¯t bother being afraid. At the time, I didn¡¯t really care why he tried to grab Yulai or why he even was trying to  However, I didn¡¯t miss the notion that he was in a bad spot right now. Grimacing as he tightened his grasp around my neck and prepared to throw me away, I extended my two hands and grabbed him by the ears.


    It felt more like I was trying to grasp steel rather than skin, but I didn¡¯t let that stop me as I reacted in a semi-frenzied way, all my thoughts suddenly changing on how to stop¡­ No, on how to defeat him.


    With my mind dyed red, I felt as he tried to throw me away, but grabbing on his ears with all the strength my little arms could muster. He turned to me surprised by my actions, and before he could react, I did the only thing that I could do that would have an effect on him.


    I spat on his eyes.


    ¡°Y-YOU LITTLE!¡± I heard him saying in a mix of disgust and anger, but I didn¡¯t care. So what if all my little weapon could do was bounce off harmlessly? All I had to do was hinder him in another way. After all, I¡¯m not the only one here after his head.


    Surely enough, right when he let go of me and I fell to the ground, a fist enveloped on a fiery coating reached him from behind. With his eyes covered in my saliva, he lost time trying to clean his vision.


    He didn¡¯t even see it coming.

 30th Chapter - Foggy mind

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. One day earlier from the original time so we at least have a net gain as of right now!


    Anyway, this takes care of the aftermath of the battle and we start trying to understand why they did what they did. I also decided to leave Lia weak-willed in this chapter too seeing how I doubt a person would recover fast enough after seeing someone die in front of them like that. Call her weak all you want, she¡¯s still a normal person.


    Next chapter should be the last part of the infancy arc, and then I should do the so waited time skip, where we start seeing some crafting as every good Warhawx¡¯s story does. (The only one to not have crafting yet is probably Project hero, but I doubt it counts... And its also pretty temporary.)


    Lastly, since i will start posting as i write, and because i was a lazy bum before, i kinda lost my editor, so if you notice a quality drop, i''m sorry!


    *Dogezas*


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    The following minutes went out on a haze. My mind was unfocused as I tried to understand everything that had happened in these last minutes. I remember seeing the bandit falling over after Dia managed to burn off the remaining of his spirit. For a moment I thought it was a pity that it ended up like that, but my mind went into a blur following that.


    I¡¯m not sure why it happened. Maybe I was a lot more affected than what I expected? Well, I didn¡¯t have the chance to find out, as a couple of minutes later I managed to focus myself a little bit more and saw another scene. The remaining guards, all with significant wounds were holding the Spiritualist down, since they didn¡¯t need to worry about him using his chi anymore thanks to Dia¡¯s skill, they quickly subdued him. The remaining guards went on to dispose the body of the other bandits and treat the injured.


    My position had also changed. I was now sitting against the fencing, a bit further from where the man had held me and where the scene had occurred. I looked around groggily for a few seconds and saw that the Yulai brat was nearby, watching the bandit be taken away with a scorn look on his face. I didn¡¯t even need to sense his spirit to know that he felt restless. He probably noticed that the original aim was to grab him, not me.


    I touched my neck around the place where the man had touched as I reminded myself of the scene, then lowered my eyes towards my hand as a thought crossed me.


    He could have killed me then.


    No, he would have killed me then. It¡¯s not a matter of could or could not. I just knew that he simply was going to kill me there. Just close his hands and be done with it. If it wasn¡¯t for the moment of surprise because of my aggressivity, he would have killed and discarded me without a second though.


    That thought scared me.


    I simply kept staring at my hand for what felt a few seconds while the thought crossed over my mind over and over again. When I finally raised my gaze back towards the scene before me, I could see that Dia was questioning the bandit while most of the other bandits had already disappeared. I became surprised.


    The amount of bodies was a bit too big to disappear in a few seconds. Had I blanked out again? Thinking about it, the brat had disappeared and one of the aides from our household was now sitting besides me as if trying to calm me. She noticed that I had woken up and brought up something to my mouth.


    I unconsciously drank it, a bit surprised after tasting the water going down on my surprisingly dry throat.


    ¡°..o muc¡­ ong...¡± She said something I couldn¡¯t quite understand. She sounded a bit angry. Strange.


    I wasn¡¯t in quite the best mental state, so I didn¡¯t manage to understand what was happening, and I simply looked around confused for some time until something caught my attention.


    With the corner of my eyes I caught sight of a purple-haired girl leaving the house through a side door. She walked on the garden hesitatingly for a moment before she saw me and made her way in my direction.


    I looked at her blankly for a few seconds before feeling my consciousness wane and my stomach churn once again.


    This time I didn¡¯t manage to hold back and threw out all my dinner on the ground. Luckily I managed to turn away from the aide in time and didn¡¯t dirty neither hers nor mine clothes.


    ¡°Lia! Are you alright?¡± I heard Miss Tian saying surprised as she approached me.


    Huh? Did she call me by name?


    I didn¡¯t have the time to worry about that, as my head grew light once again and I could feel my consciousness threatening to slip away from my grasp once again. Noticing this I gritted my teeth and tried to hold myself together


    ¡°I¡­ I am...¡± I said when I felt her holding my hand. ¡°J-Just a bit shocked.¡± I replied while accepting her help in getting up.


    I turned to her and tried smiling so she wouldn¡¯t worry too much about me.


    Why did she look so shocked? Why does she look so worried? As these questions ran through my head, she suddenly hugged me tightly. With my already impeded reasoning, I became even more shocked by her reaction.


    For a few seconds, I stood stiffly, not really comprehending what was happening. Then, I broke down.


    Before I knew I couldn¡¯t hold back my tears and hugged Lady Tian while weeping. Forget the fact that I should be more mature mentally or not. Facing something like what I just had to face was too much for me. No, most people would probably go through the same, I think. Doesn¡¯t matter if they are more or less mature. I should be glad that I managed to keep my cry to but an inaudible weep.


    I felt as Lady Tian gently started to caress my head, comforting me as time went on. I don¡¯t know when, but she had kneeled on the ground near me and held my head gently in her arms.


    I didn¡¯t move. Nor had I the energy to.


    However, I could at least feel as Dia seemingly gave up on trying to question the bandit and turned towards us. She stopped a couple of steps away from the two of us, seemingly waiting for us to finish.


    ¡°Is there something I can help you with?¡± I heard lady Tian ask while she turned her head around.


    ¡°...No. I just wanted to give my thanks to the young aide.¡± The spiritualist said with her serious tone. For a moment I felt confused, and although I knew the answer, I didn¡¯t exactly was in the right mind to understand it. ¡°She not only found out about the attack, she also helped in the battle and risked her own life in the end. If it wasn¡¯t for her, the thief would have killed the Heir of the Sol household.¡±


    ¡°Ris¡­ risked her life?¡± Lady Tian asked surprised, her voice becoming hollow for a moment as she held me a bit tighter. Her spirit became unruly as she turned to me worried. ¡°Is this why she¡¯s like this¡­?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Yes. It was none other than my own lack of judgement that ended up making her risk her own life like that.¡± The woman replied with an apologetic tone. I heard a sound of cloth moving and I think she might have bowed, but I couldn¡¯t be so sure.


    However, I clearly felt as Lady Tian breathing stopped for a moment and her spirit seemingly agitated itself. She was angry. Very angry. Noticing this, I tightened my hold on her and shook my head ever so slightly.


    It wasn¡¯t her fault what happened. I was the one who decided to go to that place, and I was the one who stepped in for the brat. It was no one else fault.


    For a brief moment there was an hostile silence around the two of them, but luckily, Lady Tian decided to hear my plea and calm down, letting things end with a simple ¡®I see¡¯.


    ¡°Still, we are indebted to her.¡± Dia went on after a few seconds. ¡°The Song household would lose its footing if the assassin managed to kill Young Master Yulai.¡± Huh? Kill the brat? Her words made me frown for a moment. ¡°While I may not be part of the household per se, I still hold responsibility, so if there is something I can...¡±


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°...No...¡± I said, noticing how low and weak my voice sounded. I cleared my throat to solve that while the two looked at me confused. ¡°He¡­ Didn¡¯t want to kill¡­ Him.¡± I said, my voice not sounding much better.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Dia asked seriously.


    ¡°If he wanted to kill him¡­ I wouldn¡¯t be alive.¡± I said briefly while feeling another wave of nausea at the idea.


    While Lady Tian only became even more worried and confused, at least Dia caught my intention with the words, as she widened her eyes in shock and turned back to the man. While he tried to keep a deadpan face, it was clear that he became a bit worried after my words.


    ¡°I see. If he truly wanted to kill him, he wouldn¡¯t have caught you at the moment.¡± The spiritualist said while taking her hand to her chin and thinking. ¡°Did he want to take the ransom for kidnapping the son of the Sol family?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Lady Tian shot the idea down immediately. ¡°I doubt anyone would assault the Sol Household without some kind of reason like that. Not even spiritualist would risk something of that degree, as they would get a fairly powerful enemy for little to no reason.¡±


    I nodded at her words while resting my head against her chest. It just didn¡¯t feel like a random rag-tag group.


    ¡°Then, if that isn¡¯t the reason...¡± Dia said with frown and a clearly annoyed face. ¡°The only other reason I can think of is politics. But I¡¯m not very good when it comes to that.¡±


    ¡°Then it would be best to report this to the Song and let them handle it.¡± Lady Tian said coldly.


    ¡°Indeed.¡± Dia said with a nod before turning towards me directly. ¡°Still, I owe you a great debt, so if there¡¯s anything that I can do to repay you, please do tell me so.¡±


    I took a moment to process her words as I still hadn¡¯t collected myself yet. After a couple of seconds staring blankly at her I finally nodded and said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t ask¡­ And don¡¯t tell.¡± I said briefly. For a moment the two looked at me confused, but Dia widened her eyes for a moment before making a complex expression and nodding.


    ¡°I understand. I shall not inquire about it then.¡± She said with a bow before turning back to the man and ordering the guards to take him away.


    For the following minutes I simply stayed there quietly while being comforted by milady. With the aide already gone back to report to lord Bo. After recovering enough so that I could at least walk without falling, we made our way back to the house slowly while she held my hand so that I wouldn¡¯t fall over.


    We made our way back to the party and received some curious glances from the other houses, but after faking a yawn, they decided that it was just me being sleepy so there was nothing strange at how I was looking.


    While I didn¡¯t exactly see it, I could at least hear that some music was playing in the hall meanwhile. Probably some artists that the Sol hired. Since the music echoed throughout the entire hall, it was no wonder that the sounds of the battle outside escaped their ears.


    ¡°Mother, father.¡± Tian said while we approached the table where the couple were.


    ¡°Ah, Tian, young Li...¡± Master Bo greeted us cheerfully, but he quickly stopped when he saw me, and a conflicted expression crossed his face. ¡°Ah¡­ I see.¡± He made a motion for us to sit on the chairs besides him.


    I tried to let go and pull the chair for milady, but she quickly stopped me and did the job herself while making sure to put the two close together.


    ¡°I take it that it really was an attack?¡± Lady Sui said while also approaching us with a worried face. I nodded weakly. ¡°... It really was too early after all.¡± She said with a sigh.


    ¡°Too early?¡± Tian and me asked confused.


    ¡°Too early to send you to the frontlines.¡± Master Bo said with a slightly guilty tone. I blinked surprised while looking at him. ¡°I thought that, seeing how mature you can actually be, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem sending you despite only being a child, but¡­ Perhaps it was a bit too much after all.¡±


    Ah¡­ I see. So he feels guilty that he should have stopped me.


    ¡°It should be our duty as a noble to make sure young plebeians like you never get to suffer something like that, yet we were the ones who sent you. I¡¯m so sorry.¡± Tian¡¯s mother said her apology. I simply stared at her blankly for some time, however Bo quickly took over again.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for doing this, but I need to know the aftermath from you two.¡± He said suddenly, his imposing aura surrounding the large man as he went back in politics mode. ¡°Is there any piece of information you got from that ordeal?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s...¡± Lady Tian flinched for a moment and looked towards me. However she quickly shook her head and made a serious expression once again, turning back towards Master Bo. ¡°Well, it seems that the bandits wanted to kidnap the heir of the Sols. According to Cute Plebeian, he didn¡¯t go for the kill even though he had the chance to do so.¡± She said briefly.


    ¡°So, it was a kidnapping attempt?¡± Bo said slightly surprised. ¡°And that boy of all people...¡± He said with a frown. ¡°That clear up a lot of doubts.¡± He nodded.


    ¡°...It was the Hons, right?¡± Tian said with a frown, to which Bo nodded.


    ¡°Probably.¡± Bo replied with a nod, but Tian¡¯s mother simply looked at them curious. ¡°With their recent loss of territory to the Nichi country, they are exhausted with their armies right now. If they also got a hold of the rumor of the Sol gathering weapons and supplies, it wouldn¡¯t be strange for them to worry about being invaded by the Sol while their troops are exhausted as they are right now.¡±


    ¡°Then, they tried to kidnap Yulai so that they could hinder the preparations, right?¡± Tian asked, to which Bo nodded once again.


    ¡°This should give them enough time to rest the troops, repair gear and prepare for any possible assault.¡± He said.


    ¡°But¡­ Didn¡¯t you say that¡­ They might not attack the Hon?¡± I asked confused as the memories from earlier came to me. ¡°And might aim for Nichi?¡±


    ¡°Yes. However, the Hon can¡¯t be sure of that. Neither can they take the risk.¡± Master Bo said. ¡°So it¡¯s not strange that they would take such action in such times.¡± I nodded weakly before leaning my head against the chair¡¯s rest.


    So, this all happened because of the feud between the Sol and the Hon. While heaving a sigh at the thought, I noticed how Tian kept eyeing me worried for some time.


    ¡°Well, even with that said, we can¡¯t be sure whether that¡¯s the truth or not.¡± Lady Sui said sternly, to which master Bo nodded heavily.


    ¡°Indeed.¡± He said heavily while contemplating for some time. ¡°I can think of a few other possibilities, but they are too unlikely to be taken seriously.¡± He said before shaking his head.


    ¡°Dear...¡± Sui said with a heavy tone.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that enough for now?¡± She said while giving a glance at me. I replied with a confused expression.


    ¡°Yes. Sorry.¡± Bo said with a nod before raising himself from the table. Sui smiled gently and followed him while making a motion for Tian and me to raise. ¡°It¡¯s good enough for now. Young Lia needs to rest for now, so it¡¯s better we retire for now.¡±


    I became surprised and tried to say that there was no need for that, but not only Master Bo, but also Tian and Lady Sui refused my words at once. After talking briefly with the head of the Song clan, we retired to a guest room on the other side of the mansion.


    It was something we had planned already, since it would take too long to return by carriage and it was late, so we didn¡¯t have any trouble.


    Surprisingly enough, I passed out immediately while sleeping besides Milady who refused to let go of me.


    That said, it was a restless sleep, and soon, morning came.

 31st Chapter - Destiny

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. BOOM, surprise release! Since the first arc was so close to ending and I was kinda pumped up for writing this, I went ahead and made a double release.


    Anyway, I decided to go ahead and make this ending part of the first arc sound a bit dramatic and all. I¡¯m not exactly good with non-funny/battle type of scene, I¡¯m not entirely sure about how this ended up.


    Lastly, Next week should be Beepy release week, but the following one I should go back to writing Lia. That said, the plan is for me to write a small side-story with the PoV of another retar*cough*character.  It will be a mostly for fun thingy and probably won¡¯t have any kind of plot point, but I felt that it would be a nice touch to this story.


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    I sat on the garden alone, feeling as the first rays of sunlight bathed my skin. However, I didn¡¯t have the time to simply enjoy the feeling, as I had to focus everything I had on simply trying to manipulate my inner spirit so that I could convert it into chi.


    Three weeks had gone by since the events on the Song¡¯s mansion, and surprisingly enough we were quickly back to the daily life we always had. It took me a couple of days to recover from the shock, and even up to this day I still have some relapses back to that moment, when I would feel a shiver creep up my body and my stomach would grow weak for a few seconds. At the very least I didn¡¯t throw up anymore, so at least I got that.


    In the meantime, Lady Tian had a huge leap in her training as a Spiritualist, and just a couple of days ago she managed to fill her body with Chi for the first time. According to her, once she managed to gather the first bit of chi, the rest was a lot easier to come by, and from then on she was officially a spiritualist.


    The same could be said for Aria Song, who, as promised, came to our household bringing a lot of clothes from her old wardrobe. The events following that, that involved not only Lady Aria and Lady Tian, but also Lady Sui and Miss Ping were things that I¡¯d rather forget and erase from my memories if possible.


    Feeling another wave of chills crawling up my spine, I sincerely thanked Dia for stepping in and protecting my chastity from the four hungry-looking girls and woman. Though I do wish she had stopped them earlier and not only kept watching.


    I¡¯m not going to think what it means for her to take her time on stopping them. I feel that it would only be my loss from there.


    Back on track, there was another shocking scene when we arrived back to our mansion. One of the aides openly argued with Master Bo for sending me to the frontlines even though I was so young. Even more shocking was that the same Master Bo also bowed to the aide and asked for forgiveness, and said that he was regretting it himself.


    After hearing the story herself, Miss Ping quickly started to comfort me and said that I could take the rest of the week off, but I quickly rejected her offer seeing how I needed something to keep my mind occupied at the time.


    This meant that while I didn¡¯t advance much on the spiritualist part of my training, with me single-mindedly focusing on my works as an aide, I could clearly feel a significant improvement on my work.


    I didn¡¯t tell father about what happened at first. Mainly because I was afraid of what would happen if the assistants heard of what happened. I don¡¯t think it would be strange if they suddenly trespassed on the mansion and beat Lord Bo to a pulp.


    Well, that is if Master Roshi didn¡¯t stop them first.


    After watching the fight and touching a spiritualist in combat first-hand, I couldn¡¯t help but have an entirely different view from the old man. From just a carefree looking elderly to someone that¡¯s actually pretty capable.


    But then he walked in when the girls were playing with me, and was slapped the hell out by Miss Ping.


    Wait, does this mean that Miss Ping is actually stronger than a mid-ranked spiritualist?


    I asked Master Roshi that and he simply said that he takes off his protection so that Miss Ping don¡¯t hurt herself when hitting him.


    I sincerely didn¡¯t know whether that was a respectable or an idiotic reason. So I decided to leave that as is.


    With all said and done, there was one last thing that still weighed on my mind ever since we returned. I still couldn¡¯t shake that feeling of doubt in my heart as I worked and trained here on the household. Since that day, the cheerful atmosphere had dimmed a lot for me.


    This was the first time that I worked and trained without the feeling that it was just a kind of playtime for me. It was¡­ Strange to say the least. No matter how serious I had been before, it always felt that it was only something I was doing for fun and boredom, but now it was different. Now it felt like an actual work.


    Besides, now it was clear to me that following Lady Tian would actually mean risking my life many times over. Basically, that wasn¡¯t the last time I would have to go through that kind of situation. This scared me, and many times in these three weeks I thought about simply stopping with this and go back to following my father around.


    ¡°I see that you are up early again.¡±


    ¡°Good morning, Miss Dia.¡± I said after hearing her voice.


    ¡°It¡¯s rare to see someone so dedicated so young.¡± She said while sitting besides me.


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s a shame she have such a unique condition.¡± Master Roshi said while sitting to the other side. When I peeked at him, I couldn¡¯t help but notice a red hand-shaped mark on his cheek. ¡°So, how¡¯s your training today?¡± He asked me before also closing his eyes and start to focus on refining his Chi.


    ¡°Muu¡­ I feel that I¡¯m almost there.¡± I said, however at the same time I couldn¡¯t help but feel that it had been troubling to focus recently. Not really surprising though.


    ¡°...Are you still thinking about his words?¡± Master Roshi asked seriously.


    I hesitated before nodding. Not too long after we arrived, Master Bo called me to his room and exchanged a few words with me. I feel that if it wasn¡¯t for that, I would probably have recovered earlier from my confused state, but thanks to them I can¡¯t help but feel that my actions since then had a different meaning to what they were before.


    Ah, no good. Almost losing control of my spirit, I had to quickly focus myself once again before the spirit I had concentrated within me  dissipated entirely once again.


    Once it had become small enough so that worldly spirit could enter me out of its own volition, I tried pulling out a small vortex of spirit to touch it. While previously I couldn¡¯t focus enough to do both at the same time, I now had a bit more of ease, and had the margin to go a bit further with it than usual.


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    I spent the next few minutes sitting silently with the two spiritualists. Knowing that only a little more effort would be needed so that I could get my own breakthrough, I decided to go as far as I could today.


    Stretching my inner spirit thin until it could reach the worldly spirit, I felt as the burden of trying to do both extremely opposite actions of contracting and expanding it weighed on my mind, quickly draining my mental reserves.


    For more than a couple of time I felt my own consciousness escape me due to the strain. I found strange that Master Roshi didn¡¯t stop me, but I didn¡¯t really bother with thinking too much about it and simply tried to finally make the breakthrough that escaped me for so long eluded me.


    ¡°LIA! MY DEAR!¡±


    A sudden familiar voice shouted, breaking my concentration as I blinked surprised and looked around trying to find the source of the shout.


    ¡°D-Dad?¡± I asked surprised as I saw my father suddenly hugged me and started looking me all over worried. ¡°W-What happened?¡± I asked confused, though I already had an idea of what was going on.


    ¡°You¡­ Are you alright? I heard of what happened from the aides!¡± He said while holding me by the shoulders and with a worried expression. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me about it?¡± He said.


    ¡°That¡¯s...¡± Surprised by the intensity of his actions, I ended up hesitating for a moment. Moment that another person quickly joined the confusion.


    ¡°I can guarantee her well being, Ran.¡± Master Bo said while approaching us.


    As I looked at him in conflict and confusion, my father quickly reacted by standing up and staring at him angrily.


    ¡°Bo! How do you explain me what happened?¡± Father shouted at him angrily. ¡°I entrusted my daughter to you. You said that she would train to be an aide and a Spiritualist. Yet, how come I hear that she almost lost her life in your little adventure? This isn¡¯t what you promised me, you fat bastard!¡± Before we knew it, father was already grabbing at the lord¡¯s clothes and staring him down.


    ¡°What happened¡­ Is entirely my fault.¡± Master Bo said briefly, which made me and my father blink surprised as I tried to pull him back. ¡°It was supposed to be only a visit to an old rival. Just a way to show her how the upper class works and probably have her have some fun.¡±


    ¡°And that fun is what left my daughter in danger?¡± Father asked angrily.


    ¡°No.¡± I shouted, stopping him. ¡°Dad! Stop! It¡¯s not master Bo¡¯s fault!¡± I scolded him, making him blink in surprise while looking at me confused. ¡°We had no idea that would happen!¡±


    ¡°Yes, but¡­ He still sent you to a dangerous place! Even though you are so young he dared to...¡±


    ¡°No!¡± I stopped him once again. ¡°I went there on my own.¡± He started saying something but I shook my head before he could finish. ¡°He never once told me to go there. I did that by myself!¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s still true that I had the option to stop you.¡± Master Bo interrupted me surprisingly. Turning to him shocked. ¡°It is true that I did nothing to stop you. That was something that most aides of the household would go through in their training, however, they usually receive prior warning of that so they can prepare themselves. We also make sure to keep the situation as controlled as possible.¡±


    ¡°Then...¡± My father started, but Master Bo raised his hand, telling him to wait.


    ¡°With Young Lia being as mature and skilled as she is, I sincerely judged that it wouldn¡¯t be a problem should I send her in this impromptu situation.¡± He looked at me with some regret before sighing. ¡°It was a large mistake of my part. No matter how mature she may be, she was still too young to see such a thing. Not only that, but the situation being out of my control ended up putting her life in danger.¡± He then took a deep breath before turning to father with a determined look. ¡°However, it is also thanks to her that we not only avoided any unnecessary deaths and injuries, but also saved the heir of the Sol family, putting not only the Sol, but also the Song families in our debt.¡±


    ¡°...Is that true?¡± Father asked me dubiously, to which I nodded. ¡°...I see. But does that means that she will have to go through that kind of thing again in the future?¡±


    ¡°Yes. She most likely will face that kind of situation multiple times in the future.¡±


    ¡°And you plan on having her take part on that kind of thing willingly?¡±


    ¡°No. I sincerely do not expect that.¡± Master Bo said once again before turning to me with a serious look. ¡°So, have you thought on what we talked about earlier?¡± He asked me. ¡°If you want to leave, you are free to go. Do you still want to work with us?¡±


    ¡°Ah...¡± Caught by surprise by his question, I hesitated for a moment.


    I¡­ Sincerely didn¡¯t know what I wanted to do. I somehow knew that what I was doing here was something I sincerely enjoyed. Even after all I went through in these last days, and even if the feeling of only being playing around was gone from my daily job, I did find it fun to work and train here in the Lon-Ying. Besides, training as a spiritualist was probably the easiest way to know something more about mother than what father himself knew.


    But I¡¯m also scared. Scared of losing my life. Scared of seeing someone die in front of me again like that day. If I were to say, my fear is probably bigger than my enjoyment at the time. And with me becoming a spiritualist, I just knew that I would probably end up in the front lines more times in the future. As a warrior, instead of an spectator.


    But¡­


    ¡°Ah¡­ Sir Ran.¡± Tian appeared following her father. A still sleepy look on her as her bed-hair hadn¡¯t been combed into submission.


    If I had that much of a shock by being in the frontline myself to the point that only Lady Tian managed to help me calm down. What would happen to her if she were to find herself in my place. Would she have someone who would comfort her like she did with me?


    I still remembered Lady Sui saying that she didn¡¯t have any true friends apart from me. Would she have to face that kind of thing alone?


    I don¡¯t think that what I did was something out of loyalty or simply friendship. I¡¯m not as much of a nice person as I make myself be. However, I don¡¯t like the idea that I would have to leave her to suffer alone when I couldn¡¯t hold myself together without her.


    Sensing that this would probably be my final chance to leave this place and go back to my own calm safe life as simply the blacksmith¡¯s daughter, I steeled myself while thinking that the amount of debt I have towards the Lon-Ying only grew even more, and said.


    ¡°Master Bo. Dad. I¡­ Want to continue working here.¡±


    Those words probably changed my destiny more than anything else I ever did in my entire life.

 31.5th Chapter - Meeting the demon

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. Almost late, but barely on time, here is this chapter of Lia. That said, this is mostly a side story from a certain character¡¯s PoV that I made for the heck of it and to mark the transition to the next arc of the story.


    Anyway, I made this chapter only for fun, and while it does show a bit of plot points here and now, feel free to ignore this and go back to the main chapter in a couple of weeks. Any important plot points will be explained once the time is right.


    Finally, this isn¡¯t a chapter to be taken seriously under any circumstances. I don¡¯t know if I made this point clear once I showed who was the character narrating, but better be safe. This chapter is made to be a caricature of reincarnates and such, so I went as clich¨¦ as possible before making fun of itself. Hope you guys enjoy this little side-track after the serious arc.


    For those wondering, the story will resume in a couple of weeks (next week is Beepy)


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    My name is Hiiro Wakabayashi, and, as you can see, I am a Japanese.


    No, wait. That''s wrong. I WAS Hiiro Wakabayashi, now my name is Yulan. For some reason people seem to mistake me for somebody named Yulai who seems to be a noble, but to be honest I never met the poor sod.


    Anyway, I mean that my name WAS Hiiro because I¡¯m no longer the same person I was before.


    No! Seriously! It¡¯s not that I have chuunibyou or something like that, okay? It¡¯s a lot more literal than what I mean!


    Well, you see, I was this normal guy in school. Average looks, slightly better than average grades and slightly below when it came to physical qualities. Overall, I was pretty much the typical background character you find in anime. It was so bad that I had even given up on becoming the main character and didn¡¯t even pass through a chuunii phase!


    But then, a bit after I had my fifteenth birthday, where I had an ordinary cake with ordinary friends at my ordinary house, things suddenly went strange.


    One day I was walking down a small street on the streets of Tokyo. It wasn¡¯t really a well used nor well known road, but I didn¡¯t really have much choice seeing how the usual street I used was now blocked due to some works.


    So, while walking down said street a bit distracted thanks to a message I had received in my cellphone, it suddenly happened. You won¡¯t believe me when I say, but, in a street that was barely wide enough for a car to pass¡­


    CAME A TRUCK!


    I mean, seriously! Who would have thought that a truck would even fit inside that street! It¡¯s a closer fit than trying to pass a strand of hair through a needle!


    Seeing the truck completely shocked, I tried turning around to run, but the truck was a lot faster than what the average me could be, so before long, I felt as the metal monster hit me on the back, and before long everything went dark.


    By now I had pretty much given up on living and all. I mean, who survives getting hit by a truck out of all things? So when everything went dark I just kinda thought:


    ¡°Wow. Afterlife is a lot more boring than what I expected.¡±


    I mean, who wouldn¡¯t think the same after spending a few hours without having anything to do, see and hear?


    ¡°Not even two minutes have passed, you know?¡± Someone said to me. Surprised, I turned around, only to see what looked like a cool looking man wearing some ancient chinese clothing. With long white hair and a great white beard, he had this look of someone straight out from a martial arts movie! ¡°Well, I am the god of Spirits, so it¡¯s no wonder such a thing happened.¡± WAAAH! He read my mind!


    Well, let me cut the story short since it¡¯s a bit too long and boring. After some time, said god (he called himself Shen something, I didn¡¯t really pay too much attention to be honest.) went and started making many other people appear around me. All of them being around my age, being at most three years older or younger.


    There were even some really cute girls here and there, so I quickly lost my attention while looking at them.


    Shen-sama quickly scolded me (with telepathy, so the others wouldn¡¯t hear it. THANKS SHEN-SAMA!) and I quickly turned back to him and payed attention to what he was going to say.


    From the little I understood, it seemed that we all had been marked to be reincarnated in a world where martial arts are power or something like that. Each and every one of us would receive a blessing from one of the gods lesser gods from that world and would then have a few years to grow up and train to become as powerful as possible before being pittied against each other.


    I kinda lost it when I heard that we were going to earn anime-like powers, and didn¡¯t really pay much attention after that. Something about settling differences and receiving a wish in reward for winning.


    Then, it finally clicked into me. I¡¯m just your average guy from japan, who dies while getting run over by a truck and then gets reincarnated into a world with magic (not really, but close enough) and gets on an epic tourney to get his one free unrestricted wish.


    Wasn¡¯t that exactly like that? You know¡­ Aren¡¯t I just like one of those anime protagonist?


    Then¡­ It should be alright for me to change a lot in this life, right? Like, maybe I could stop being so ordinary¡­ MAYBE I COULD EVEN GET MYSELF A GIRLFRIEND!


    With those happy thoughts, I decided to give my best in the new world.


    ¡­


    Well, cutting the story short here, I was born an orphan, grew up on a temple of sorts where they raised me. Since I was born, just like my patron god said, it seems that I can sorta feel this energy thing from everyone, I think.


    I mean, it is a bit strange, so don¡¯t judge me, okay?


    Anyway, I grew up on the orphanage where there was this annoying girl who would always fight with me. She was a bit annoying that she would alway follow me even though she only wanted to fight, but after some time I kind of got used to it, so everything went fine. (I was basically ignoring her. No use trying to put a girl who hates me in my magnificent harem plan.)


    With a clear goal in mind, I decided to start training ever since I was young so that once I found my first rival I would already be so strong that I would take care of them with one hand tied to my back!


    The only problem was that I had no idea on what I had to do.


    Then, I met this old man when I was on my third year as an orphan. His name was Mo Lu, and when you take his appearance in consideration, he¡¯s not that imposing looking. Long white and messy hair and as tall as a woman, I didn¡¯t really give him much credit until I felt how much qi he had.


    I immediately threw myself on the ground and asked him to teach me.


    What? Pride? Pfft. That doesn¡¯t give you girlfriends! Strength does! And to be strong, you need teachers!


    ¡°No. I don¡¯t take retards for disciple.¡± OI! WHO ARE YOU CALLING A RETARD OLD MAN? EVEN AFTER I WENT SO FAR TO SHOW YOU MY METHODICALLY TRAINED JAPANESE BEGGING SKILL!


    Well, I kept buggering him until I finally managed to prove that I had potential (which should be obvious if you take in account my background. I mean, I have cheat written all over me, you know?)


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Well, the next few months were mostly me trying to make master call me by my name instead of swearings (he seems especially keen on calling me a retard for some reason.), and after a few months unders his tutelage and almost reaching a breakthrough, or whatever it is that they call it, he received a letter.


    It was strange, because he first became angry, then curious, then angry again, then amused, then he burnt the letter, dissolved the ashes with water and buried it with the jar under the ground. Before finally using what he called ¡°Tormented wing of the celestial crane¡± to blow a crater on the ground where he had buried the jar.


    I REALLY want to learn that! I mean, he made something with his spirit then blew a hole on the ground using only his palms! AND THE NAME IS SO BADASS!


    Then he told me we were leaving.


    After showing his insignia around to some people and waving away his hands around, he found us a carriage that was heading to the same place as us (i was seriously thinking he was going to tell us that we had to go running over there. He can be a bit spartan with his training at times.) that took us to the place where whomever sent him the letter was. It took us a few days, but when we reached, we were in a small mansion (the ones on the city I was before were a lot bigger. Maybe it¡¯s because this is the countryside?).


    However, what quickly caught my attention was that there were three persons with strong spirits here. One was a spiritualist, seeing how his or her¡¯s was already on the Qi stage and he was as strong as my old teacher. The other two were still on the really early stages, and that¡¯s if they were even training their spirit, which I can¡¯t be so sure. Still, they were really good material for spiritualist. Master Mo Lu also said something about elements, and if I¡¯m not mistaken, these two were really pure in whichever element they were related to.


    What? I said this whole sensing thing is confusing.


    Still, depending on the age of these people, it might end up being a reincarnee too.


    ¡­


    THIS IS BAAAAAAAD! I STILL HAVEN¡¯T EVEN HAD MY BREAKTHROUGH! WAAAAH! WHAT IF I DIE OR SOMETHING?


    For a moment I panicked, but after receiving a hit to the head from Master Mo Lu, I calmed down. Then I remembered the god talking something about time to train and whatnot. Doesn¡¯t this means that I don¡¯t have to worry about being attacked?


    Oh yeah, thinking about it, this carriage is owned by this really pretty woman that rode it with us. And she also said that she was from the house itself, where her daughter was training.


    Wait a second, if her daughter is a reincarnee, doesn¡¯t it means that she got a serious head-start with her being a noble and all?


    No use thinking too much about it. Shaking my head and deciding to worry about it after I confirmed if the person is a reincarnee or not, I left the carriage and saw what was awaiting for us. A bunch of aides (which will never really get to the level a true maid without the frilly clothes.) and three other people, who were the ones with so much spirit.


    One was an old man like master, except that bald and with an enormous gandalf beard. The other two were two cute girls around four and six years old each. The older one looked a lot like the woman in the carriage with us, except that her hair was purple. The younger one had a long black hair and wore a strange black robe.


    How should I say it¡­ Both were extremely cute, and with the purple haired girl being (probably) the daughter of the woman in the car, I could know that she would grow up to be beautiful, so I immediately marked her to enter my harem plan.


    On the other hand, the black haired one¡­ Let¡¯s just say that I can guarantee that it¡¯s simply impossible to go wrong with her. Back in my other life, I met a case where a cute girl grew up to be plain once she hit puberty, and since then I¡¯ve always had a step back in judgement until the girl was grown up completely or at least had something to base on, like a beautiful mother. However, that¡¯s simply impossible with the black haired girl. I just can¡¯t see her turning plain in any way, and much less uglier.


    But what was scarier about her was truly the amount of spirit she had. One¡¯s spirit naturally grows until they reach puberty, where it reach its natural maximum and only with cultivation it will continue to grow. Yet the amount she had was even bigger than mine!


    While staring at her, I felt a hit on the back of my head.


    ¡°Yulan, how many times do I have to tell you to not act so disrespectfully?¡±


    ¡°S-Sorry Master Mo Lu¡­ It¡¯s just that...¡± I pointed to the girl. ¡°She have spirit equal to someone from the second star of the first heaven!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my pleasure to meet you, my name is Lia Liu Wang.¡± The girl said after some time while master stared at her. ¡°And I¡¯m Master Roshi¡¯s disciple.¡±


    I also started to stare at her even more. How the hell can a girl even younger than me be so well mannered? It¡¯s a fact, brats will always be brats until they grow up!


    It couldn¡¯t be¡­ Is she really an adversary on this whole tourney thing?


    ¡­


    Master went to talk with the bald man over in a room, so the two of them left me and the black haired girl waiting for them out on the door. It was a bit embarrassing, because only the two of us were left, and she was really cute, which made me want to keep looking at her. But then I would remember that she could be my enemy, so I would become unquiet.


    Also, she was four years old, so no way I would even touch her. I¡¯d rather wait for her to grow up a bunch more.


    ¡°I like that music.¡± The girl suddenly said.


    I cursed in my mind, because I ended up whistling that music I always do when I¡¯m anxious.


    ¡°Look, I¡¯m not into little girls, so stop right there!¡± I said quickly. I¡¯d rather wait a few more years before you fall for my reincarnated charm.


    Regret flowed through me as I felt some nasty goosebumps on my back before turning to the girl. She was smiling, but wasn¡¯t quite smiling. When someone with her looks does that it becomes really scary!


    MASTER! HELP ME!


    ¡°Listen to the others before making assumptions!¡± She said while bringing her fist over my head.


    HA! I¡¯ve been training under master for almost half a year now! Don¡¯t think that your feeble attack will land on me! Raising my hand, I quickly caught her arm as she brought it down.


    ¡°Hah! Don¡¯t think you can land a hit on Ore-saguaaah!¡±


    WHAT? SHE¡¯S STRONGER THAN ME? WHY COULDN¡¯T I STOP HER FIST? AND WHY THE HELL DOES IT HURTS SO MUCH? MONSTER! THIS GIRL IS A MONSTER!


    I mean, I still don¡¯t know spiritualism and all, but I¡¯m a boy! And I¡¯m older! I¡¯m supposed to be stronger than her, you know?


    Clutching my head in pain, I saw as she crouched besides me with that scary smile once again.


    ¡°Let¡¯s try that again. I like that music¡±


    ¡°H¡­ Huh¡­ Yeah...¡± I replied fearing for my life.


    That was the day I met the demon known as Lia, and how I met the only person I fear besides master. It was so bad that I even thought about revising my harem plan, you know!


    GIRLS CAN BE REALLY SCARY!

 32nd Chapter - A nobles morning

    Typer¡¯s room: Hello guys. On time and track today with an actual chapter! Hooray!


    Anyway, as you might notice, I did a small change in PoV for this chapter. Its not like the entire arc will be done only with her, but I thought it would be an interesting idea to go and try to make other character¡¯s views on the situation.


    On another note, I initially planned on releasing a fake ending for this chapter as an april¡¯s fool joke, but since I had to make something for my main story, I ended up losing the energy to finish the secondary ending. Still, for those wondering, I may post the April¡¯s fool version later (it¡¯s pretty dark considering the usual story).


    Finally, today I may also take this chance to ask a question that will, sincerely, change a LOT the destination of this series. To school or not School? For those wondering, I WILL start Lia on blacksmithing AND deeper spiritualist cultivation this arc, so no need to worry about either of these answers.


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    I slowly breathed out, letting all the air flow out from my lungs as I reached the final stage of my daily morning cultivation. Opening my eyes and feeling as the cool morning air entered my lungs, I saw a small white cloud form as I breathed out. Feeling my mind wander off for a moment while watching the spectacle, I shook my head to recover before looking around.


    Seeing the garden of my mansion without its usual greenery thanks to the coming winter, I felt a slight tinge of loneliness at the sight. Quickly shaking off the feeling, I let my Chi calm down before deciding to call it a day here. Master Roshi often said that overtraining might actually be harmful should one try to do too much, so we often only keep to his schedule when it comes to our daily training.


    Speaking of overdoing¡­ I quickly looked around me, searching for my usual companion in training. However, what I saw was simply the ever expanding grounds of the garden around me, where not a single soul stood besides the couple of guards I would often see in the morning.


    Well, if I think how the sun didn¡¯t even raise on the horizon, it¡¯s no wonder that most of the servants would still be sleeping.


    Sighing helplessly, I shook my head while preparing to stand up, only to stop when I felt something soft under my hand. Turning to my side surprised, what I found there was a neatly folded muffler that rested atop a small pillow.


    Muu¡­ Somehow I feel that she¡¯s always two steps ahead of me. How dare she!


    Picking up the muffler and coiling it around my neck, I felt as it slowly built up the comfortable warmth that one would come to expect. As I enjoyed myself, the sound of something hitting wood somewhere far in the distance echoed. Having my attention grabbed, I quickly turned towards the source of the sound and, following the stones set on the ground, I made my way to the other side of the house.


    What I found was the more than familiar sight of a young girl standing upright while holding a kid-sized bow in one hand and a metallic arrow on the other. With her long dark green hair falling all the way to the waist, she was almost an entire head smaller than me, which made the bow look oddly big in her hands.


    Wearing an alluring black robe that seemed to shine green whenever the light hit it, she had a strangely serious and mature look contrasting with her small, cute and round face. This only served to make me want to hug her even more, thanks to her short stature.


    ¡°Good morning, Milady.¡± She said to me when I was but a couple of steps behind her, a small smile appearing on her face.


    ¡°Good morning, Cuddly aide.¡± I said while approaching her and hugging her from behind, resting my head on her fluffy hair.


    Muu, why is her hair so fluffy? It feels so good to simply hug her and keep doing this¡­ I feel like I could keep my head here for the whole day if possible.


    While going through my daily charging routine, I felt as my Cuddly aide left her bow resting against the tree and put the arrow besides it. For a few seconds the two of us simply stayed there while enjoying each other¡¯s warmth on this cold day, but I quickly remembered what I wanted to tell her, so I put on my serious face and let go of her.


    She turned to me with a slightly curious look, and just as I prepared to say what I had in my mind, she quickly went on.


    ¡°Ah, yes. I already asked one of the aides to bring us our breakfast, Milady.¡± She told me with a wide smile. Ah, now that she mentions it, I am hungry.


    ¡°I see. Fu fu fu¡­ it seems that I indeed have an eye for capable aides.¡± I said proudly, satisfied that she knew me so well¡­ No! Wait a second. Noticing that I was getting caught up in her pace I quickly decided to put on a serious expression. ¡°Listen, Cuddly aide, you...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already prepared some warmer clothes for you to wear after you finished your cultivation, Milady. I can help you change whenever you want to.¡±


    ¡°Indeed. The weather today is a bit chillier than usual.¡± I said with a nod. Such a considerate young aide! Even though she¡¯s younger than me, she still¡­ And she did it again. ¡°...Cuddly aide¡­ You...¡±


    ¡°Heh? Did I forget something?¡± She asked me surprised while tilting her head. I stared at her for some time before finally sighing. ¡°H-Huh? Lachy Chiian? Wacha yuu doin?¡±


    ¡°Listen here, Cuddly Aide. Haven¡¯t you been a bit too assertive recently?¡± I said while pinching her cheeks and making her look at me. ¡°It is my duty as the noble to guide you on what you should do.¡± I told her annoyed. ¡°But with you being so proactive it becomes difficult for me to do that, you know? How am I supposed to guide you if you are always one step ahead of me, huh?¡±


    ¡°S-Shorry!¡± She said while holding back a laugh. ¡°...Neeh¡­ Lachy Chiian¡­ Can chuu lech go of mah cheechs now?¡±


    Hmmm¡­ But they are so soft¡­


    I sighed before letting go of my Cuddly aide¡¯s cheek, receiving a thankful smile from her as she rubbed her reddish cheeks, I couldn¡¯t help but smile amused. Jokes aside, I really had nothing to complain about her even after all these years she had been following me. Although I could have her be a little less overprotective at times, it¡¯s not like I can help it after what she had gone through.


    Turning my head back to the bow she was preparing to put away, I couldn¡¯t help but be slightly amazed by her creation as I saw the results on the opposing side of the garden.


    ¡°So, is this your new creation? Looks quite interesting for a bow.¡± I said amazed.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ But it¡¯s still not quite what I want.¡± She said with a sigh. ¡°It¡¯s still not a weapon for a Spiritualist as I hoped it would be.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? Isn¡¯t this something that only spiritualists can use?¡± I asked confused, but she quickly shook her head.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like it¡¯s not useful. It¡¯s just that in the end it¡¯s still just a bow...¡± She said dejected, but all I could do was look at the poor tree that had been used as target for my Cuddly aide.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think an arrow shot from ¡®just a bow¡¯ would manage the dig entirely into the trunk of a tree like that, you know?¡± I said while pointing to the short parts of the arrows that still stood outside of the bark.


    If the arrows were similar to the one she was holding before, it would be correct to say that almost nine tenths of the arrow is buried deep into the tree. As far as I knew, if only the arrow head was buried would be enough to leave most archers happy.


    Hearing a brief giggle from my aide, I couldn¡¯t help but smile with her.


    Still, I decided to take on her offer for putting on some warmer clothes. Even with our training making us a lot more resistant to cold and hot climates, it¡¯s still a very uncomfortable feeling.


    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    Making our way back to my room where, just as she said, a set of thicker clothes laid neatly folded in my room. Looking at it in wonder for a moment, I soon started removing my robe with the help of Cuddly aide.


    I somehow miss the way she would get embarrassed whenever we were taking a bath or she was helping me with my robes. It was so cute seeing her trying to hide her reaction by trying to act normal, nowadays she doesn¡¯t even bat an eye¡­


    Having helped me put on a winter robe, we immediately went to the kitchen, where just as she had said, one of the servants was preparing to leave with our early meal. She quickly seized the plate of food and, after thanking the servant, took it to the dining hall where she quickly set it up where I could eat.


    Seeing as my Cuddly aide simply stood behind me with a happy expression instead of sitting down, I turned to her slightly curious.


    ¡°Have you already eaten?¡± I asked curious, to which she nodded. ¡°When?¡±


    ¡°While you were midway through your cultivation.¡± She replied proudly.


    ¡°...Was that after or before you prepared my breakfast?¡±


    ¡°Before.¡± She replied briefly while tilting her head confused. ¡°Why do you ask?¡±


    ¡°Hmm...¡± I thought for a moment while choosing my words. ¡°I¡¯ve been interested in it for some time, so why don¡¯t you entertain me by telling me your doings this morning?¡± I asked curious. She blinked confused for a moment but nodded nonetheless.


    ¡°Well¡­ I woke up early as always and quickly went to take a bath before anyone else woke up for reasons.¡± She said while eyeing me suspiciously. I quickly put my attention back to the meal at hand while avoiding her eyes. ¡°Afterwards I prepared myself a meal and ate my breakfast and started preparing and cleaning the kitchen for the others to use. Seeing that our usual training spot was littered with dead leaves, I decided to take my time to sweep it away.¡± Waah, and that¡¯s all before she even woke me up? ¡°Then I took the few minutes of free time to start practicing archery with my new bow.¡±


    ¡°Which is when I found you.¡± I said with a nod. I must say that as her master I¡¯m feeling slightly ashamed of seeing her working so much more than me in the mornings like that¡­


    ¡°Not really¡­ That was later.¡± Huh? ¡°After I practiced a bit with the bow, I saw that it was about time for me to wake you up, so I started heating up the master¡¯s bath before going to help you up. While you were in the bath I separated your training clothes and the leisure clothes which I left in the changing room and your bedroom respectively. Feeling that it was about time for me to start cultivating my Chi I went on ahead of you and started my daily routine. That said, I had to sweep the grounds one more time since the wind blew some new leaves back our way.¡± She put on a small pout while saying this while I simply stared at her stupefied. ¡°When I was about to reach my limit, I saw Milady besides me and thought that the weather was a bit chillier than expected, so after leaving the muffler for you, I asked the new aide to prepare breakfast for milady while I went on to practice a bit more with my bow.¡±


    After being bombarded with her entire morning, I stopped for a moment to process all of what she had said while trying to understand what exactly she had done, as one small piece of information simply didn¡¯t seem to fit with what I had in my memories.


    ¡°...Cuddly aide¡­ Correct me if I¡¯m wrong, but¡­ After last night¡¯s spar you went to sleep at the same time as me, is that correct?¡± I asked her, to which she nodded.


    ¡°Hmm. I only changed clothes before sleeping. Why?¡± She asked me confused.


    ¡°Then¡­ Doesn¡¯t that means that you slept pretty late?¡± I asked, remembering how deep into the night we were after having our training. She nodded while tilting her head cutely. ¡°And¡­ if I understood, you¡¯ve been awake for much longer than me, is that correct?¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°...Have you slept enough?¡± I asked worried despite her usual cheerful expression.


    ¡°Yup. I don¡¯t need to sleep that much to be honest, so I¡¯m fine.¡± She said with a cute proud smile and clenching her fists as if making a fighting pose. After she gave a light bounce I finally sighed.


    ¡°But¡­ Didn¡¯t you sleep for at most two hours then?¡±


    ¡°Hmm!¡± She nodded excited.


    ¡°... Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve been doing that every day?¡± I asked seriously.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Cuddly aide. Sit down here. We have something serious to talk about.¡± I said in a low tone to her. Jumping on one of the nearby chairs, she sat on her knees while looking at me slightly scared. Waah¡­ She looks like a cute puppy! ¡°So¡­ For how long have you only been sleeping two hours a day? Huh?¡±


    ¡°Erm¡­ For¡­ Quite some time now...¡± She said while dodging my gaze.


    ¡°As my servant, I expect a more precise answer from you.¡± I said while staring down at her.


    ¡°Well¡­ Maybe¡­ Two or three years¡­ I guess...¡± She said as her voice slowly died out.


    ¡°You¡¯ve¡­ You¡¯ve been going almost sleepless for two whole years already?¡± I said in shock.


    ¡°Waah! But¡­ But¡­ I don¡¯t really get that sleepy¡­ And when I wake up I feel so fresh¡­ So I just...¡± She started saying, but I quickly stopped her.


    ¡°Cuddly Aide. From today forth you are forbidden from working while I am not awake.¡± I said briefly, only to receive a shocked expression from her.


    ¡°But lady Tian! I can¡¯t...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not accepting a no as an answer.¡± I said angrily, to which she replied with lowering her head and giving me an upturned look. Aaah¡­ I want to pet and comfort her¡­ NO! ¡°Cuddly aide. Even if you say that you are feeling fine, I can say that it¡¯s only a matter of time before you start getting sick due to overwork.¡± I took a deep breath before looking at her worried. ¡°It would be unbefitting of a noble like myself to see her Cuddly Cute Plebeian Aide friend get sick thanks to something like that, you know?¡±


    She blinked surprised for a moment before finally smiling awkwardly and nodding.


    ¡°...I might have to stop helping father with my nightshifts then...¡± She muttered.


    I felt a vein popping up on my forehead.


    ¡°Cuddly aide¡­¡± I said in a low tone. ¡°What did you just say?¡±


    ¡°I SAID THAT MASTER BO, LADY SUI AND YOUNG MASTER FENG ARE ABOUT TO ARRIVE!¡± She said in a hurry.  I blinked surprised for a moment before sighing and turning to the door. ¡°T-That was close...¡± She muttered while looking away. I sighed briefly while shaking my head before turning to the door.


    Just as she had said, not only a moment had passed before the doors of the dining hall opened, and in came father and mother, who carried my younger brother in her arms.


    ¡°As expected. Tian, Lia; The two of you are already awake.¡± Father said amused.


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking that these two have even more energy than young Feng here.¡± Mother said amused while gently holding my baby brother.


    ¡°It¡¯s not only you, my dear.¡± Father said with a brief smile before turning to me once again. ¡°Still, we have more important matter to talk about, isn¡¯t that right, my daughter?¡± He asked me.


    I simply blinked surprised while trying to remember what he could possibly be talking about. Frowning slightly I quickly noticed that nothing came to mind before I finally turned towards my Cuddly aide besides me, wondering if she knew what he was speaking about.


    ¡°It¡¯s your coming of age, Milady.¡± She told me with a playful smile. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you forgot about it?¡±


    ...AH! That¡¯s right! Today¡¯s my tenth birthday!


    Having completely forgotten about it, I quickly turned to father who had an amused expression.


    ¡°Well, since my little girl is finally reaching the age of an adult, a worthy present is needed, isn¡¯t that right?¡± My father said. ¡°That said, I¡¯ll leave that for after breakfast. The day is still long afterall!¡±

 33rd Chapter - Regret Ticket

    Typer¡¯s room: YAY! I¡¯M BACK! APPLAUDS PLEASE!


    Yes, yes, Cheer me more. What? No, I don¡¯t mind if you call me Warhawx-Sensei. Huh? Take over the world? Of course I¡¯d like that. Stop being lazy and write the next chapter? Now you guys are asking too much.


    Anyway, if it wasn¡¯t clear enough, I¡¯m back to writing on RRL. Now that you guys got your hopes high, lets tone it down a little. I¡¯m not coming at full force just yet. For now, I only plan on occasionally releasing a Spiritsmith chapter every once in a while. I still have no plans for going back to IO or Beepy as of yet.


    In other words, I only came out from around one sixth of my hiatus.


    With that said, you can go back to reading the story. Or you could go back to venerating me. Whichever you feel more likely doing.


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    I couldn¡¯t help but smile amused as Milady made a surprised expression as she tried to recall the date. Just as I had expected, Milady had completely forgotten about her own birthday. Taking the chance to try and please her while the whole lack of sleep thing was out of her mind, I started serving her food onto her dish. Making sure to put a generous serving of her favorite food, only after I was done I made sure to help her snap out of her deep thought.


    ¡°Milady.¡± I said while putting the plate before her. She blinked surprised before looking at the food before her. She gave me a quick thanks and started eating while I went back to the kitchen to help the other aids bringing food for the others.


    Walking to the kitchen while dodging the incoming aides, I soon found the head Aide, Miss Ping giving orders around the kitchen to make sure that the food would arrive in time and all the aides could also have time to sit down and eat.


    Giving her a brief acknowledgement nod, she smiled back at me before simply motioning towards a set of large plates. Picking the heavy-looking trays with ease, I still searched around the kitchen for a bit more to carry around. Thanks to my training as a Spiritualist I could muster a bit more strength than an adult, so it wasn¡¯t that rare for me to carry the heavier trays by myself.


    The fact that I ended up receiving some pettings as a reward for working hard was completely unrelated.


    Hmm¡­ Thinking about it, recently it seems that the number of people who have been petting me increased drastically. Both here and at dad¡¯s workshop. I wonder why¡­


    Well, I''m not complaining.


    Focusing back on the present, I made my way through the corridor back to the table and laid the trays down before the masters and aides who were already sitting down. Seeing how I already had eaten on my own earlier, I went back and forth a couple of times so that the other servants could settle down. Once I was done, I decided that I could go back to my room to prepare Milady¡¯s present.


    Walking down the house back to my room, the one besides milady¡¯s, I started scavenging through the drawers from my room in search for the things I had prepared for this day.


    I must admit that escaping milady¡¯s sights is a lot harder than what I initially expected. She seemed to always know where I''m going even when I''m on my break. With that, leaving to the city to buy something for her was a lot harder than what I initially thought, thus buying her a present was out of question as she would figure it out immediately.


    In the end, I had to resort to something handmade, so I discreetly started working on something whenever I was helping my father at his smithy. Taking some pieces of wood from the workshop and using the things I learned with Grandma in woodworking, I started working on a small present.


    That said, seeing how simple the present was in the end, I ended up adding a small extra to it hoping that Milady would enjoy it.


    I knew for sure I wouldn¡¯t enjoy it.


    Still, I wonder if this is enough for me to consider a worthy coming of age present. I mean, with ten years old being some kind of landmark when it comes to growing older, I feel that a handcrafted present plus an extra might not be enough.


    Still, as I pulled out the other specially-made robes that I had in my drawer, I finally found the small wooden box under the expensive silk clothes.


    Taking it out, I quickly opened the box and checked the items inside it. Once again feeling doubtful whether this was enough for a coming of age ceremony, I decided in my mind that if milady wasn¡¯t happy with this much, I would go out and buy something for her on my own. After all I had gathered quite an amount and even had an extra after paying for the specially-made clothes.


    When they told me that a spiritualist wage was high, I didn¡¯t quite expect it to be this high. The debt I had with the Lon-Ying had already been paid after a couple of years, even when half of my salary went to my father since I was too young.


    Still, for a eight years old to be worried about wages¡­ When I think about it, I''m quite weird, right?


    Organizing my robes back on the drawer so that I wouldn¡¯t get a scolding from the head aide, I focused my sense for a moment, finding milady to be wandering around the house after having finished her breakfast.


    ¡°Ah, Cuddly Aide.¡± Milady said when I approached her from a side corridor. ¡°I take it you went off to get my present?¡±


    ¡°...It¡¯s no fun when you already know it...¡± I pouted briefly and she replied with a smile and and petting me gently.


    ¡°I have to keep up some face by at least being ahead of you at least once in awhile, you know?¡± She said amused.


    I tried looking angrily at her for some time, but as she caressed my head so gently it became harder and harder to keep up an angry expression and soon I had an aloof smile splattered across my face.


    Muuh¡­ Well, I guess recently I have been the one foreseeing everything she will do¡­ So I guess I could cut her some slack¡­


    Muu...


    ¡°You really like this, don¡¯t you?¡± I heard her asking. Wondering what her words meant, I opened my eyes.


    I looked at her confused and she simply replied with a smile. Geez, if you have time to talk keep petting! While complaining in my mind she finally stopped. Well, everything that¡¯s good have to end at some time, right? Sighing annoyed I finally went back to focusing myself on the present.


    Looking around to see if there was anyone nearby, I hesitated before showing her the small wooden box in my hands. I mean, giving someone something hand-made is a lot more embarrassing than simply giving a common present.


    ¡°Here¡­ it¡¯s not much but...¡± I said while presenting her the box.


    Seeing as she widened her eyes and gave me a wide smile, I somehow felt a bit more relieved. Thinking about it, Milady isn¡¯t someone to bother about things such as value, right? Taking a deep breath, I smiled back to her.


    ¡°Happy birthday, Milady.¡± I said.


    ¡°...I want to hug you so much right now...¡± She murmured under her breath before giggling amused. ¡°Thank you, Cuddly aide¡­ Now¡­ Could you let go of the box?¡±


    ¡°...I¡¯m starting to have second thoughts, Milady...¡± I said while grasping the box even tighter and pulling it back.


    ¡°Let go, Cuddly Aide. You said that this is my present, right?¡±


    ¡°Sorry Milady, but I have this feeling I will regret if you open this. For various different reasons.¡±


    ¡°But didn¡¯t you say that this is for me?¡±


    ¡°I never explicitly stated that.¡±


    ¡°...Cuddly aide¡­ let go...¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t wanna.¡±


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.¡°If you don¡¯t let go, I''ll never again pat your head.¡±


    ¡°T-That¡¯s unfair, Milady...¡±


    The moment she blackmailed me into letting go, I slightly weakened my grip, and she didn¡¯t miss the chance to focus her spirit in her hand and pull it out in one go. I gasped surprised and tried reaching for it, but she quickly raised it above her head.


    ¡°Ah! THAT¡¯S CHEAP!¡± I said while trying to get it back, but she started giggling while pulling it away from me. I tried jumping up to get it, but she quickly opened some distance between us.


    ¡°Now, let¡¯s see what cuddly aide got for me...¡± She said cheerfully while opening the box. MEANIE! As I finally gave up and started pouting, she saw what was inside and fished up the simple item I handcrafted during the last few weeks. ¡°Geez, why did you say you were going to regret giving me this?¡± She asked me confused.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ It¡¯s just too simple...¡± I said embarrassed while she took out the small wooden armlet I had made. It was a simple wooden circle with one of the sides so that it could fit with more ease around her wrist. On the surface I used a carving knife to make a an engraving of a bird in mid-flight that stretched through the whole upper half of the armlet.


    ¡°Really? I liked it, though.¡± Milady said with a smile as she happily put on the armlet. ¡°It¡¯s simple, cute and made by my favorite little sister.¡± She said while smiling openly. Muu¡­ If she liked it¡­  Though¡­ ¡°Hmm? What¡¯s this?¡±


    GAH!


    ¡°N-NOTHING!¡± I shouted while snatching the box out from her hands and turning around to hide it from her. ¡°It¡¯s Just something I...¡± I started saying, but once I looked inside the box and found it empty, I couldn¡¯t help but pale a little.


    ¡°One Free Dress up¡­ Ticket? And ten of them...¡±


    WAH-WAH-WAH-WAH! THIS IS BAD! I SHOULDN¡¯T HAVE LET THEM IN THERE! While feeling desperate, I slowly turned back towards Milady who was still looking at the tickets in her hands in confusion. However, a scary scary smile appeared in her face as she started to understand their meanings.


    I took a step back while thinking on how to escape, but before I could move I bumped into something and felt as something held my shoulders.


    ¡°It seems I heard something interesting just now¡­¡± I heard a voice coming from behind, and as I looked up I locked my gaze with Miss Ping, who had the same scary smile that Milady had. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind if I also join in, Young Lady.¡± She said to Tian, who shook her head.


    ¡°Your help would be appreciated, Ping.¡± Milady said in an amused tone.


    ¡°...I KNEW I WOULD REGRET GIVING THAT PRESENT!¡± I shouted my regrets at the top of my lungs as the two dragged me back towards Milady¡¯s room.


    ¡­


    ¡°Best. Present. Ever.¡± Milady said while hugging me from behind and resting her chin on my hair.


    ¡°Fuu! It¡¯s been a long time since we last did this.¡± Ping said with a satisfied smile as she wiped sweat out from her forehead and sat on the bed.


    ¡°I¡­ Feel so violated...¡± I murmured in defeat while holding one ticket in my hands blankly. After a moment I quickly ripped it to shreds until only slivers of it were left.


    ¡°It¡¯s sad that we only have nine left now...¡± Milady said with a disappointed tone as she hugged me even tighter.


    ¡°Such a shame. You look so cute in clothes like these, why don¡¯t you like them?¡± Ping said with a disappointed expression. ¡°Even in your wardrobes, besides the uniform, all your other clothes are for boys.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ I don¡¯t like dresses...¡± I murmured. Even after so long, I still feel uncomfortable when they put me in clothes like these.


    Giving a glance to the mirror, I saw as the dark-green-haired girl looked back at me. Wearing a white eastern-style dress that Milady bought from the Song¡¯s weavers that fit me suspiciously well, I couldn¡¯t help but feel that I did look good in this. But part of me still completely rejected the idea of wearing a dress.


    ¡°Then how come you use the Aide¡¯s robe without complaints?¡± Milady asked confused.


    ¡°One, because I''m forced to. Two, it feels kind of different from other clothes. Three, after so long I grew used to it.¡± Fourth, it¡¯s surprisingly easy to hide the fact that I wear shorts when wearing those.


    ¡°And it¡¯s easier to hide the fact that you wear shorts too, right?¡± Miss Ping said as she pulled out the short I had been wearing previously. ¡°I must admit that I''m surprised you managed to conceal this for so long. I was sure something like this would appear through with ease.¡±


    ¡°Why do you think I had to make them so short?¡± I said with a frown. I mean, they barely even reached halfway into my thighs. I¡¯m almost sure that there was an actual name for this type of super-short short, but I wasn¡¯t entirely sure how it actually was called.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Well, as long as it doesn¡¯t really show through the uniform it shouldn¡¯t be a problem...¡± Ping said with an amused expression as she looked at them.


    ¡°...Thank you...¡± I murmured in a low tone while giving her a nod. At least I could maintain some of my dignity. While thinking so I subtly tried pushing the skirt a bit lower as I couldn¡¯t help but feel that it was too revealing.


    ¡°Well, not that I''m complaining, but is there any reason why you made these tickets?¡± Milady asked me confused. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure you knew how it would end up, and it¡¯s pretty clear you don¡¯t like things like these, so¡­¡±


    ¡°Muu¡­ It¡¯s just that I felt the present alone wasn¡¯t enough¡­ And since you like dressing me up like this, I thought it would be a good present... ¡± I murmured before sighing and hanging my head tiredly. ¡°I wasn¡¯t exactly thinking straight.¡±


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think you had to worry about something like that too much, you silly.¡± Lady Tian gently as she ran her hands through my hair. ¡°I¡¯m not giving the tickets back, though.¡±


    Damn it.


    As I mulled angrily at that idea, Miss Ping and Lady Tian simply kept on smiling and discussing on clothes they¡¯d have me try on the next time. With the feeling of impending doom growing the longer the talk went, I decided to go ahead and get away from them before they decided that it was worth to use the second ticket today.


    Jumping out from Milady¡¯s lap as she let out a surprised voice, I instinctively dusted off the clothes, even though they were still clean and turned towards the door. I hesitated for a moment, but in the end there wasn¡¯t much I could do. One of the points of the ticket was that I would have to use the clothes I had until the end of the day at least.


    ¡°...I need to be less detailed with that kind of thing in the future...¡± I murmured to myself.


    ¡°Where are you going, Cuddly Aide?¡± Milady asked surprised.


    ¡°To the market.¡± I replied briefly as I rested my hand on the door.


    ¡°Ah, that''s right. We still have to go get the ingredients for today¡¯s party, don¡¯t we?¡± Ping said, to which I nodded.


    ¡°I see.¡± Milady said with a slightly disappointed tone, but she shrugged it off quickly. ¡°Then I guess I''ll take the chance to see if I can get Father or Mother to spill some info about my present.¡± She said it with an amused expression.


    I couldn¡¯t help but feel slightly amused by her unusually childish statement. Something that had, strangely enough, started to appear more as she grew older.


    Well, not that I am one to say anything, I thought to myself with a bitter smile.


    ¡°Ah, don¡¯t forget to take the hat!¡± Milady said while throwing me a large straw hat that I caught with ease. ¡°It¡¯s part of the outfit!¡± She said with an angelic smile that only a demon would be able to pull off.


    I REALLY regret giving her those tickets. I grumbled while putting on the final touches to my two-steps-too-girlish attire.

 34th Chapter - Gone shopping

    Typer¡¯s room: One more chapter. (very(Very(VERY))) Slowly getting speed on the updates.


    Anyway, today¡¯s chapter is mostly a fluffiness goods one, I guess? Showing a bit of Lia¡¯s interaction with the people on the street and how she started to become known by everyone else.


    Well, with that, I also just went back to classes today after a whopping six days vacations (Sarcastic Hooray ensues), and here is where I would point out that updates might slow down, but¡­ Yeah, don¡¯t think it will happen.


    And also, for the new Den one who¡¯s concerned. When you post it, maybe I¡¯ll be publicizing it on my Lia¡¯s chapter. What do you say? *wink wink* (For those guys who aren¡¯t from the Den, skip this paragraph¡­ Wait, I should have put this at the beginning, right? Dang it.)


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    ¡°Oh. My. Goodnes. Lia, is that you?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ Ha ha¡­ yes...¡± I replied dryly to the surprised lady manning the stall. Seeing not only hers, but every single other gaze in the vicinity turning to me and my more than exotic clothing. Pulling down the straw hat a bit lower to cover my face, I felt myself blushing heavily. ¡°Hi¡­ Auntie...¡±


    I didn¡¯t even had the chance to say what I had come here before the lady from the stall quickly moved out of the way and grabbed me in a bear hug, spinning me around as she giggled happily.


    The others in the area also looked at me with gentle gazes as they saw me being spun around happily.


    ¡°What¡¯s this? You look like a doll! So cute! What happened to your usual uniform?¡± The auntie asked after she finished spinning me.


    ¡°Muu¡­ I¡­ Did something silly, and ended up like this...¡± I said in a small voice. As if finally noticing my discomfort, the auntie finally let go of me and looked at me with a slightly worried look.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Is something the matter? You don¡¯t seem all that lively today¡­¡±


    ¡°Muu¡­ It¡¯s just¡­ These clothes¡­ Too breezy...¡± I whispered embarrassed while pulling down the hem of the dress.


    As much as I didn¡¯t mind being the center of attentions, I¡¯d usually be using my aide clothes or at least something more boyish that I used on my days off. Heck, I never even batted an eye at using my cuteness as a way to earning freebies!


    But¡­ But¡­ Even then¡­ Muu, I hate dresses! How do girls walk around in these things? Could someone tell me? I¡¯m sincerely confused here!


    ¡°So you don¡¯t like those?¡± The auntie asked, and I nodded weakly. ¡°Geeze, and you look so cute in them. What a shame.¡± She sighed while shaking her head. ¡°Anyway, I guess you came here for the meat the Lon-Ying asked, right?¡±


    ¡°Un!¡± I replied with a nod, happy that the subject had changed from the sensitive subject it was.  ¡°We¡¯ll throw a party for milady today, so we¡¯ll need a lot of meat for all the aides.¡± I said, to which the lady smiled widely while nodding.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll get my husband to bring the meat. We cut it just earlier today, you know?¡± She said with a gentle smile before turning to the man who was half asleep on a chair besides her. ¡°WAKE UP YOU LAZY BUM!¡± She shouted, literally startling the man awake as he fell backwards.


    I would feel worried for him if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that it seemed to happen every single time I came here, so it was more of a daily scene than anything. Smiling awkwardly, I decided to wait as they went through their usual banter by going ahead with the other things I had to get.


    Leaving behind the small cart I used to bring things from the market back to the house, I skipped to the other side of the street while avoiding a horse to reach a fruit vendor. The old man quickly recognized me and gave a brief nod as I browsed through the fruits, selecting the freshest and sweetest looking ones. Thanks to more than a few years of experience and advices from the unexpected professional in fruit picking Master Roshi, I could even find a few hidden gems that didn¡¯t look all that good, but were in fact at their sweetest point.


    Once I asked him where he learned to pick fruits, he simply replied that he had a rough time with his old master when learning survival skills. For some reason I felt pity for him as he put on dead eyes.


    Managing to get a discount thanks to picking some uglier looking fruits, I beamed the old man a smile and he replied with a grunt as I passed him the coins. Although he had the usual dissatisfied look, he quickly gave my head a rub when I approached him before motioning for me to get going.


    I went back to the cart humming a bit cheerfully, only for my mood to drop again when a gentle cold breeze reminded me of my current attire.


    Putting the large sack with all the fruits gently on the back of the cart, I stood on my toe-tips to see that all the meat had already been set over on a large black blanket. As usual I quickly tied it around the meat so that it wouldn¡¯t get dirty. Since it had already been bled previously, the blanket became a bit moisty at most with the little that remained.


    I happily licked the little of blood that got stuck to my finger when I touched the meat. While I had the feeling that it should be a disturbing scene through my memory, I had also seen other people on the streets do the same, so I guessed it meant that this was usual in this world.


    And meat is good. Not as good as sweets, though. Or petting.


    Nothing beats petting.


    With the things set and ready, I gave one last look at everything inside the cart, seeing what I was still lacking. I had already picked up some wine and veggies earlier, as well as a good bunch of spices from some earlier stalls and with the meat and fruits now, it meant that only a couple of things lacking. Bread and flour, that I could buy from the same person, and candy.


    ¡°Muu¡­ But they are on opposite sides of the market...¡± I contemplated to myself. While the baker I wanted to go was the one who made the bread of highest quality, the sweet store was the one who I found out that, after a long time of research and repetitive tests, was most likely to give freebies.


    For a moment I felt split between which way to go first, but in the end, duty won over pleasure, to I turned towards the bakery and walked away from the sweets stores. Guuh, if it wasn¡¯t for milady¡¯s birthday¡­


    Well, I¡¯ll pass there afterwards anyway.


    As before, I lowered my head to try and hide my face out of embarrassment, but thanks to the fact that there was only one child in the entire city that would be able and be willing to pull a cart this size and weight, it wouldn¡¯t take people more than a couple of seconds before they were greeting me. I ran away after a brief greeting every time, feeling as they looked at me confused.


    Okay, let¡¯s skip the candies today and put an end to this the fastest possible.


    While deciding that on my mind I quickly hastened my steps to an almost run, avoiding people on the street the best I could while avoiding too much movement on the cart.


    Reaching the bakery and taking a brief moment to catch my breath, I gave a quick look back at the cart, making sure that everything inside was fine before turning to the entrance of the store. Since it wasn¡¯t a stand on the streets, I¡¯d have to leave the cart behind on the street, but thanks to the uniqueness of its ¡®too small for adult, too big for children¡¯ size, I¡¯m pretty sure most of the city knows who it belongs to by now.


    Entering the store and trying to avoid the homing eyes of the other clients, I awaited in line for a few minutes while the clerk went through the clients one after another.


    ¡°Good morn¡­ Huh?¡± The girl¡¯s voice echoed as she didn¡¯t see anyone at the counter.


    ¡°...Are we really going through this again?¡± I complained while looking up. The counter being just enough to cover my head, more than once I went through this back-and-forth.


    ¡°Ah! Lia!¡± The girl said surprised before smiling widely. ¡°And you look so cute today!¡±


    ¡°Not you too, Aya.¡± I complained to the baker¡¯s daughter, who giggled happily for a moment. Being one of the girls I used to play with before I became an Aide, it was annoying how she grew so much even though she was only one year older. ¡°Muu¡­ Anyway, here. It¡¯s for the delivery later today.¡± I said while depositing some coins on the table. ¡°Twenty pieces of bread and that.¡±


    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    Usually it would take some time for someone without proper education to go through the coins and make calculations, but knowing Aya for some time, I¡¯d noticed that she had a talent for the numbers, as she finished the calculations in a few seconds and nodded.


    ¡°Okay. I think everything¡¯s right here.¡± She said with a nod while taking the coins and putting them on a a small jar nearby, separating them by value. ¡°I¡¯ll tell father to deliver the bread and the cake later.¡± She stopped to think for a moment. ¡°After the second afternoon batch¡­ Is that good?¡±


    ¡°Umu.¡± I nodded. ¡°Thank as always, Aya.¡± I said before turning back and making my way to the cart. Once again I quickly ran a list on my head and made sure that I had already finished everything I had to do outside.


    Being sure that I already had already bought everything I needed and put them in the cart, and made sure to pay for the delivery of the bread and cake for milady¡¯s birthday, I nodded satisfied. While it was true that we could make our own bread and cake at the mansion, it was a fact that letting it to someone who almost literally spent their entire life working with them could guarantee a much better quality, so it wasn¡¯t strange for us to actually make orders for rare occasions like this one.


    That said, cake was a relatively new item introduced recently. Apparently it was something created by a ¡°genius kid¡± who liked cooking somewhere, then spread around like wildfire.


    The first thing that had come to my mind was the reincarnees.


    Well, it won¡¯t be me who will complain about more sweets to choose from, though.


    Reaching my stationed cart, I froze in place as a scene appeared before my eyes. A man, someone I don¡¯t remember seeing previously in the city, was loitering around my little cart. For a moment I froze in place and eyed him suspiciously once I noticed how he looked around warily.


    The moment I saw him approaching the cart, I had no doubt about it. Seems like he¡¯s totally new to the city. While everyone pretty much ignored him as he stood nearby, the moment he touched on the oddly-sized transport, glares started to pierce him without him noticing.


    I don¡¯t mean to brag, but in these last years, I¡¯m pretty sure I became one of the most well known persons in this village, you know? One of the reasons I don¡¯t bother trying to put the cart in a safer place is because every single person around knows it''s mine, so even if someone tried to steal it, they¡¯d know straight away it¡¯s a thief.


    Well, unless the one doing the stealing is new.


    Seeing the scene, I sighed annoyed. Well, I couldn¡¯t really blame him to be honest. There¡¯s a cart, filled with food and other goods lying around without a single person watching over it. Of course it would look like a good prey. It seems I might have grown a bit too confident recently.


    Seeing the scene, I thought on how I could react to it. For one, while my spiritualist training isn¡¯t all that advanced, I don¡¯t think I¡¯d have trouble teaching a grown man like that a lesson. The other one I could just let him try and take it, then have half of the street stop him one second later. Then, I could always take out the Slingbow version two point tree I always bring with me and give him something to remember.


    And then¡­ I could always¡­


    Feeling a bit mischievous, I quickly fixed my dress that was a bit displaced after my earlier run, and skipped towards him.


    ¡°Ah! Big brother is going to help me pull the cart?¡± I asked while eyeing him with my best happy eyes.


    ¡°...Huh?¡± The thief said dumbly while turning to me.


    ¡°I mean. Big brother is holding on to my cart, so that means he¡¯s going to help me, right?¡± I said while tilting my head to the side, faking confusion.


    ¡°T-That¡¯s...¡± The thief started to say something, but once he noticed that the people around started looked at him, he paled slightly. ¡°S-Sure. Big brother is going to help you. It¡¯s bad to let a young girl carry so much, R-Right? H-Ha ha.¡±


    Big brother. You are the only one in this city that would say that to me, you know? While smiling awkwardly to myself, I quickly ran to the back of the cart and climbed on it in a way that I would sit right behind him.


    The people around also replied with wry smiles as they looked at me. One other thing that I noticed recently was that I had probably over-used my extra-childish mode, as pretty much no one else would fall for it recently, probably grown used to seeing me when I¡¯m more in a normal mood.


    Well, Milady says that I still sound a bit childish when I¡¯m not acting, but it¡¯s a completely different feeling, according to her. Somehow being called childish make me slightly disappointed.


    ¡°Then, Big brother. That way!¡± I said while pointing up ahead. He followed my arm and nodded weakly before starting to pull the wagon. He missed the people looking at him with pity as he tried to not look suspicious. ¡°He he he. Thank you for the help Big brother.¡± I said in a shy voice. ¡°You are the best!¡± I said while hugging him from behind.


    Gaaah. That made me feel horrible. While looking away in an annoyed expression, I didn¡¯t miss how he flinched and blushed slightly. While I did feel a large undeniable blow to my dignity, I couldn¡¯t help but be satisfied that it had worked.


    Still, I acted cautiously, always directing him through the busier streets so he wouldn¡¯t have the chance to think something strange while pulling the cart with me. Of course, I was also taking the chance to advance a bit towards the mansion while not needing to make any effort.


    ¡°There. Take a turn there.¡± I said as we reached our destination. ¡°Stop here, big brother.¡± I said while jumping out of the cart. He let go while breathing heavily, finally noticing how heavy the cart was. Taking the chance as he took in a breather, I ran to the door of the building and knocked on it a few times.


    ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± I heard a rough manly voice echoed from inside.


    ¡°Dad! Uncles! It¡¯s me!¡± I shouted.


    Not even two seconds later the door was slammed open and the burly bald smithy came hugging me as he raised me to the sky.


    ¡°LITTLE LIA! IT¡¯S BEEN SOO LONG!¡± He shouted.


    ¡°It was just yesterday I came here, uncle.¡± I said awkwardly while seeing the rest of the smithys gathered at the door. Counting to three, the usual started.


    ¡°The goddess have descended!¡± ¡°She¡¯s even cuter today!¡± ¡°I¡¯m blinded! I can¡¯t look! The halo!¡± ¡°Forget my son! Marry me!¡± ¡°Shut up! She¡¯s property of all of us!¡± ¡°Oi! Dad! That wasn¡¯t what you promised!¡± ¡°Shut it! She¡¯s too good for you!¡±


    Aaaand a family feud have started.


    Well, nothing new to be honest.


    ¡°All of you shut up and go back to work! My daughter already said she would marry me!¡± Father said while brandishing his hammer around and giving a boot to the back of the bald uncle and grabbing me in his arms.


    Well¡­ That¡¯s just something I pulled to cheer him up some time ago. Please don¡¯t pay it much mind.


    ¡°Good morning, uncles.¡± I said while waving at them. ¡°Hi dad.¡± I said while hugging him.


    ¡°Aww. What brings my cute daughter here today.¡± He said while putting on a silly smile.


    ¡°Well¡­ I had to tell you some things, so I decided to pass here while I was doing shopping.¡± I said with an awkward smile as I recalled how Milady had forbidden me to help him with his night shifts. Father raised an eyebrow worried for a moment, but I quickly shook my head and looked back at my cart. ¡°Also, that big brother there tried to steal my cart.¡± I said briefly.


    The man widened his eyes in shock at my sudden words. Of course he wasn¡¯t the only one to react, and soon the uncles from the smithy had him surrounded, with the large uncle already passing his arms around his shoulders.


    ¡°Well¡­ It seems that someone here need to be taught on who our little goddess actually is.¡± He said with the brightest smile that didn¡¯t quite reach his eyes.


    The next time I met the thief, he was just one more in the entourage that came to greet me whenever I arrived at the smithy.


    There was no other way to explain what happened as anything other than brainwashing.


    Let¡¯s not make them mad with me.

 35th Chapter - Present situation

    Typer¡¯s room: Fairly short chapter today. Though it did come earlier than expected thanks to some situations.


    Well, today some preparations for the next arc as well as laying a bit of what happened in the background during the time-skip. While the Arc already started some time ago, it finally gets clear on the next chapter so let¡¯s see how it goes.


    Finally, as a joke that I plan on keeping my word on, here¡¯s a small announcement. Some days ago a member of the Den started posting his own GB story here in RRL, and I promised to give him some free advertisement. Some of you may know him from the comments sections as Xacual, and the fic he¡¯s writing is Crashed Into Fantasy</a>. Now go there and give it a go, okay?


    As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn¡¯t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^


    May your reading be enjoyable.


    ----


    ¡°NOOOO!¡± ¡°How will we live without our little goddess shedding light into the dark night?¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather die than work the night without our little goddess!¡± ¡°Little goddess, are you abandoning me?¡± ¡°I see. So this is what they call the dark ages.¡± ¡°Pain. All I see is pain in our future.¡±


    I smiled awkwardly while watching the uncles from the smithy doing their usual scene after overhearing my talk with father. Usually this would be the time when father would also come and stop their over-the-top reactions, but¡­


    Gently patting my father¡¯s back, I laughed dryly a bit more while using a tissue I brought from milady¡¯s house to clear the tears from his eyes as he sat on a chair and bent forward with dead eyes.


    ¡°Geez. It¡¯s not like I won¡¯t come back here again you know?¡± I said awkwardly while gently tapping his back. ¡°I just can¡¯t come help with the night shifts, you know?¡±


    At my words, everyone in the room froze in place for a moment before blinking surprised and staring at me, as if they had heard something amazing. For a few seconds they were completely silent, but finally the uncles all sighed in relief before dispersing back into their works as if nothing had happened.


    Some screams echoed from the back of the smithy, but I decided to not worry about it. Back to the man before me, my father finally snapped out of his shock and also heaved a sigh. I smiled at him waiting for him to recover, but before I had to the chance to react, he suddenly hugged me.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make your father worry too much! I almost thought that I would lose the only chance I had to see you!¡± As he said that he raised me from the ground and squeezed me tightly to the point that I worried if a kid would have been able to take that without being a spiritualist. ¡°And here I thought that those bastards at the household were trying to take you away from me!¡±


    ¡°And why do you think they¡¯d even do that?¡± I asked wryly.


    ¡°Cause they already have you living with them almost all week long!¡± He said in a tantrum.


    ¡°Well, my work does require me to stay with milady all day long though.¡±


    ¡°But you are only seven years old! And you also get into danger since Tian is a noble! How can I be calm knowing you are getting into those kinds of situations?¡± This would be a compelling argument if we hadn¡¯t gone through it at least a few tens of times already.


    ¡°I know dad.¡± I said tiredly. I learned first hand how dangerous this job can be after what happened on the Song¡¯s household three years ago. ¡°That¡¯s why I''m training myself. If I get strong enough, I won¡¯t have to worry about getting hurt.¡± Or letting milady get hurt for that matter.


    ¡°Haaah¡­¡± He sighed. ¡°If you say so...¡± He finally let me go so that I could once again stand on the ground. Bouncing a few times so I could get the feel of solidness under my feet, I nodded satisfied before smiling back at him.


    He smiled back in defeat before rubbing my head gently. I smiled in pleasure at the sensation. For a few seconds we simply stayed there, but soon he pulled back his hand, and I instinctively tried pressing my head against it.


    Pouting slightly annoyed when he finally pulled back his hand for good and gave a brief laugh.


    ¡°At least make sure that you don¡¯t get too hurt, okay?¡± He said to which I nodded so that I could calm him down. ¡°Still, why did she suddenly told you to stop with the night shifts?¡± He asked confused.


    ¡°Well¡­ She kind of got angry when she found out that I''ve been helping here...¡± I said while dodging his eyes. However, father quickly noticed my reaction was slightly suspicious as his eyes narrowed while staring at me.


    ¡°What¡­. Exactly do you mean, Lia?¡± He asked me. ¡°You didn¡¯t tell her you were working here with me? And that¡¯s why she¡¯s angry with you¡±


    ¡°Weeelll¡­ Not quite...¡± I said while looking away even more. Father¡¯s hand suddenly grabbed my shoulder and I couldn¡¯t help but have this feeling that I couldn¡¯t get free from his grasps even if I tried.


    ¡°...Lia...¡±


    In the end, I gave up.


    ¡°She¡­ Got mad with me because she thought I wasn¡¯t sleeping enough...¡± I explained  to him, to which he froze for a moment while he thought about my words.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Doesn¡¯t training as a spiritualist reduces sleep time needed or something like that?¡± He asked confused.


    ¡°Ermm¡­ That doesn¡¯t seem to be the case until later on?¡± I said awkwardly.


    ¡°So, she got angry because you were sleeping on the job after helping here overnight?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ I¡­ Wasn¡¯t actually sleeping at all?¡±


    For a moment father kept staring at me blankly for some time, but after a moment I heard the sound of something snapping and before I could run away father already had me explaining what exactly was happening.


    As soon as he heard the whole story I told to milady, he started scolding me much like how milady did, but since he didn¡¯t have anything to do, he went on for almost half an hour non stop.


    I left the room with my ears aching from such a long sermon from father. Seeing my state, the uncles quickly came up to me asking what had happened, and deciding to get some comfort from them, I quickly told them what happened.


    The result was that I spent another fifteen minutes hearing an earful from the uncles too.


    HEY! THIS ISN¡¯T WHAT¡¯S SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! I mean, I know you guys are right, but aren¡¯t you supposed to be on my side here?


    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    After almost a whole hour spent in the smithy only being scolded for not taking care of my health despite the fact that I sincerely didn¡¯t feel tired at ALL even with one or two hours of sleep, I finally managed to get my mind back on track and prepare to go back to the mansion.


    ¡°Then, I''ll be going.¡± I said while walking out of the workshop.


    ¡°Make sure to sleep enough tonight, you hear me?¡± Father said on the door as I walked away.


    ¡°Moou! I heard it already!¡± I complained while grabbing the handle of the cart.


    ¡°Anyway, will you come again on your next break?¡± He asked, to which I nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯ll probably come in¡­¡± I stopped to try and remember my schedule. ¡°Three days?¡± I tried to remember a bit better before nodding. ¡°Hmm. I should come around then.¡± I nodded before stopping to think and widen my eyes excited. ¡°Will you teach me how to make weapons?¡±


    ¡°No. You¡¯ll still stick to purifying the metal and train your hammering.¡± He shot me down quickly, making me blink surprised before pouting.


    ¡°But I want to start making weapons!¡± I said in a low tone. ¡°You promised you¡¯d teach me when I became five, but for the last three years all I''ve done was that!¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯ll keep honing your basics until I feel that you are good enough.¡± Father said while nodding proudly, his usual happy-go-lucky look completely gone as he looked serious.


    ¡°But¡­ The uncles said that you only trained them for a few months.¡±


    ¡°Why do you think that even with all of them together, they still can¡¯t make something better than me, huh?¡± Father said provocatively, and I finally widened my eyes understanding.


    ¡°Aaah. So Uncles are trash at the forge?¡±


    ¡°Something like that.¡±


    ¡°I see...¡± I nodded while finally understanding that father was actually looking after me in his own way. This didn¡¯t mean that I was completely satisfied with the current schedule though.


    Well, it¡¯s not like there was anything I could do about it. Thinking so, I finally sighed and nodded while grabbing my cart and carrying it away. As I left, the usual ruckus started.


    ¡°See you later little goddess!¡± ¡°Please, don¡¯t take too long!¡± ¡°Sleep well! And dream with me!¡± ¡°Forget my old man! Dream with me! Then marry me!¡± ¡°Forgive me my goddess! I knew not of your greatness!¡± ¡°We will save you offerings for next time!¡± ¡°You were so cute today!¡±


    Hmm? Strange. I could swear that there was a new voice there¡­


    It¡¯s better if I don¡¯t think too much about it.


    ¡­


    I quickly greeted the guard at the entrance of the house and received a shocked expression from him as he watched a young girl pulling a cart that was a few times her size, full with food without even dropping a sweat.


    Deciding that he must be someone new to the job, I greeted him and entered the mansion while leaving the other guard to explain things to him. Bringing the cart to the back of the house, near the kitchen entrance. As soon as I arrived, three aides quickly appeared and started unloading the cart, calling for the help of the nearby bored guards to help with the heavier things.


    Since I was on the stronger side, I quickly pulled up one of the large grain bags and threw it over my head while carrying it to the kitchen.


    The following hours I spent mostly helping out in the kitchen and setting up the main hall for the late party.  Since it was mostly something for those who live and work in the household, we didn¡¯t make anything too grand. We did bring a bunch of extra tables though, as we were also inviting the retired guards and aides over, so the usual table wasn¡¯t really that big enough.


    Meanwhile, it seemed like master was still holding back on his present for milady, as she kept pestering me on how he wouldn¡¯t tell her anything even though she had been following him all day long, yet he kept always postponing it. And since she was afraid of waking up her baby brother, she couldn¡¯t quite go after her mother either.


    Feeling refreshed by milady¡¯s unusual childish outburst, I went on carrying plates and cooking some basic things here and there. By the time it was the end of the afternoon, the bread and cake we asked for arrived and we had them brought in to the main hall


    With that we spent our afternoon simply preparing for the night¡¯s party, and once the night fell, we all gathered at the main hall, where the aides opened up some wine casks so that the adults could start drinking up.


    ¡°Congratulations milady!¡± ¡°Happy coming of age lady Tian!¡± ¡°May your life be long and healthy!¡± ¡°It almost feels like yesterday when you were just a young girl.¡±


    Sitting by her side as she patiently kept going through each and every one of the people who worked on the house, I couldn¡¯t help but feel amused by her while quietly enjoying my cup of warm milk.


    Well, technically, I''m already old enough to drink wine by this world¡¯s standards, but after finding out that I''m fairly weak to it, I decided to abstain from drinking too much. In fact, milady had a small cup of that exact wine in her hand.


    That said, the wine was sweet and I really liked it, so I kinda felt like drinking it again.


    Maybe only a little sip¡­?


    No. No. Last time all it took was two cups for me to get drunk.


    ¡°My My. Seems like I arrived at just the correct time.¡± We heard a familiar elderly sounding voice echoing.


    ¡°Master Roshi!¡± Me and Lady Tian said in synchrony as we saw the bald elderly man with magnificent beard on his chin.


    ¡°Hello there my young disciples.¡± He said while gently rubbing my head and nodding towards Tian. ¡°I recon you have been keeping up with your trainings regularly, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said with a nod that was followed by milady¡¯s. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you again!¡± He spent the last two months off traveling, sorting some personal problems and whatnot, so to see him right on milady¡¯s birthday was a bit surprising.


    ¡°Hmm. It¡¯s good to see you two again.¡± He said with a playful smile. ¡°Sorry for leaving so suddenly like that, but at least I bring you good news.¡± With his words, the two of us tilted our heads confused and curious. ¡°But I''ll tell you after the party, it will be your present after all.¡± He said amusedly..


    ¡°Not you too, teacher.¡± Milady said a bit annoyed as she pouted a bit.

 36th Chapter - Graduation

    The party was, as expected, fairly simple and enjoyable. Even though milady kept on pestering master Bo and Master Roshi for her presents, she didn¡¯t manage to get anything out of them until the very end.


    Me and the other aides took our chance to enjoy the party as much as possible, exchanging gossips and getting our fills of the tasty snacks that we had prepared for today. We took this as a chance of relaxing a bit before the ¡®True¡¯ party that would happen next week, when we would invite the nobles and such, having a lot more work to do than the usual.


    Thus, even though I spent most of the time near milady, I ended up taking more time to enjoy myself rather than serving her.


    ¡°Here you go, Little Lia.¡± ¡°Is this what you wanted?¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t she just make you want to spoil her?¡± ¡°Here you go, big sis got you a sweet!¡±


    ¡°Thank you, big sis!¡± I said with a wide smile as the other aides helped me get the food I wanted. The aides all let out a squee of happiness.


    Well, after so long working in here, pretty much everyone in the house already knows that I¡¯m not so innocent as I appear, and that sometimes I simply act cute to get the things I want. However, this still doesn¡¯t stop them from spoiling me, so I usually end up giving them a smile as a thanks.


    It¡¯s a symbiotic relationship. They spoil me, and I give them cuteness. Everyone wins.


    Well, sometimes I wonder if they don¡¯t take it too far, after all, some time there when I left to grab some more sweets from the kitchen, someone took my seat, and before I could search for a new place to sit, one of the aides picked me up and put me in her lap so she could hug me.


    After that, the other aides started complaining, and it took them no more than a few minutes before they had to pass me to the next person. It wasn¡¯t all that new to be honest, however¡­


    ¡°Don¡¯t you already get to do this everyday, milady?¡± I asked confused as I noticed Milady putting her name on the list..


    ¡°I fail to get your point, cuddly aide.¡± Milady replied confused.


    ¡°You already get to have her all day long, Milady.¡± Miss Ping said with a frown while tightening her hug around me. ¡°You should let us have little Lia a bit longer for ourselves.¡±


    ¡°Muu. Don¡¯t give me that! I barely get the time to cuddle with her anymore!¡± Milady complained while pouting. ¡°We usually are either training, studying, working or doing something of the kind, so I almost never get the chance to snuggle with her recently!¡±


    Hmm¡­ Thinking about it, it has been some time since I last sat down and let Milady pet me.


    ¡°But you still get to touch her during your spars.¡± An aide said while pouting.


    ¡°Sorry for listening in to your talk, but I feel I must defend my student.¡± Master Roshi said as he approached us, with a glass of wine and a red hand-marking in his cheek. The aides all stopped in surprise while turning towards him. ¡°Not that I am denying that Lady Tian is extremely talented, and not only that, but she also had a head-start in her cultivation.¡± Hmm¡­ I think I see where he¡¯s going with this. ¡°But young Lia is no slouch either. in fact, she uses her¡­ talent to great uses during a spar.¡±


    ¡°If Cuddly aide wants it, she can get really difficult to touch.¡± Milady said with a pout. ¡°Ever since she had her breakthrough, I haven¡¯t managed to land a single hit.¡±


    ¡°Indeed.¡± Master Roshi nodded while making a proud expression. ¡°Since she can read her opponent like no one it¡¯s almost impossible to outsmart her when it comes to sheer skills.¡± He sighed a bit tiredly while looking at me with an awkward expression. ¡°Even I have to resort to overwhelming her instead of trying to hold back to her level.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Really?¡± The aides said surprised while turning to me in awe. I blushed embarrassed while looking down. ¡°Hee. Little Lia is incredible!¡±


    ¡°I must say that if it wasn¡¯t the fact that she suffers from her condition, she might have been the scariest of all disciples I¡¯ve seen recently.¡± Master Roshi let out a proud laugh.


    Well, while he was proud, I was actually pretty annoyed by that. Since my control was pretty much limited to the inside of my body, and inside only, it was pretty difficult to deal significant damage when landing a hit.


    As I pouted annoyedly, I heard as the other aides started complaining to Ping that it was time for her to pass me around, and after a brief resistance from her, I was finally lifted by another aide and taken off her.


    Hmm¡­ it¡¯s difficult to eat sweets while being carried around¡­


    ¡­


    ¡°Well, I guess it¡¯s time for me to stop dragging the matter.¡± Master Bo said suddenly while looking at me. ¡°Could you go fetch it, Lia?¡±


    I nodded happily before squirming my way out of Milady¡¯s grasps and jumping down to the ground. For a moment Milady looked at us confused, but once the meaning of his words finally sunk in, she widened her eyes in shock.


    ¡°Wait, father¡­ You don¡¯t mean that...¡± She said while looking at me and her father.


    I gave her a teasing smiled while sticking my tongue out. Taking my chance as she was still staring at me in shock, I slipped out of the dining room and went towards my bedroom. To not end up dragging this for too long, as soon as I was out of sight, I channeled some chi into my legs and sprinted away.


    Enjoying the pressure of the wind against my body as I ran through the hallway, it took me but a moment for me to reach my room, and after making sure that there was no one peeking at me from the door, I reached for my wardrobe and pulled out a drawer. After that, I put my hand deep into the drawer slot and pulled unlatched a lock that I had installed. This unlocked the fake-bottom on the other side of the wardrobe.


    Under the fake cover of the wardrobe, I pulled out the present that Lord Bo had bought for milady.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Who¡¯d have known that making this fake bottom to hide my shorts would have another use?


    The other aides are probably still wondering where I keep pulling them out from if they can¡¯t even find them in my wardrobe any longer.


    He he. I put my woodworking skills to its best uses with that. It was a pain to get it done without the other aides finding out about it. Had to make the pieces whenever I was out in the city, then try to install them in the middle of the night without anyone finding out about it.


    Well worth the investment.


    Sadly, if my thoughts are correct, I¡¯ll probably won¡¯t see much use of it in a few months.


    Locking away the fake bottom once again, I put everything back together and walked back to the dining room. While in part I was wondering what kind of expression milady would have once I got back to her, on the other I was trying to wonder if master RoshI¡¯s present was what I had in mind.


    It most likely wasn¡¯t anything physical, or if it was, it wasn¡¯t big, seeing how he arrived straight to the party without carrying anything in his hands. On the other hand, he could just have left it somewhere else in the house, but that wouldn¡¯t exactly fit the image of his I had in mind.


    ¡°Cuddly aide...¡± I heard milady¡¯s voice once I reached the dining room as she pouted.


    ¡°Here you go milady!¡± I said with a wide smile as passed her the box.


    ¡°...You know what is this, right?¡± She asked me in with an incriminating tone. I nodded with a smile. ¡°...Why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡±


    ¡°You never asked me.¡± I replied teasingly. ¡°If you had asked me, I¡¯d have told you. After all the one who I answer to is you.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°That¡¯s unfair! You should have told me if you knew something!¡± She complained while pinching my cheeks as I tried to not giggle at her reaction. It is rude to laugh at your lord, after all.


    ¡°Hmm. You may be talented with politics and such, dear. But there¡¯s still a few tricks you need to learn.¡± He said to her with a cocky smile. ¡°Sometimes, the best place to hide something is right under the nose of the one who should not find it.¡±


    Milady sent an incriminating glance towards me and her father for a couple of seconds, but soon enough she couldn¡¯t hold back her curiosity any longer and picked up the box that was resting on her lap.


    Everyone on the room gathered together to peek on the box, and even though I had already done some peeking myself, I couldn¡¯t help but follow along with the others.


    ¡°Waaah. So pretty.¡± ¡°Beautiful.¡± ¡°Looks expensive.¡± The others said amazed as they peeked into box.


    Indeed, a beautiful and expensive looking necklace was resting within the box. Made entirely of gold, being fairly thick and durable in appearance, with a coin-sized jewel enshrined in its middle. The jewel had a beautiful blue coloration with a single darker, purple fragment in its middle, as if a shard from another jewel had been locked inside it.


    ¡°Oh, a Thunder-head Lynx eye.¡± Master Roshi said surprised. ¡°Quite fitting.¡± He said amused.


    ¡°Is that a type of spirit beast?¡± I asked curious.


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s mostly found on the west where¡¯s there¡¯s a high amount of feline animals.¡± He explained. ¡°And while this is called ¡®eye¡¯, in truth it¡¯s a strange gem that seems to be found near the hearts of some of the thunder-head lynxes.¡±


    I stared at him wide-eyed as he explained the details to us. While I had seen the gem before, I didn¡¯t know exactly what it was, so now I was a bit more interested. However, after a moment I felt as a jolt in my memory came along, and widening my eyes in shock, I asked.


    ¡°Then¡­ Then¡­ Is this some kind of monster core that can be used to imbue the things we craft?¡± I asked excitedly.


    However, the only response I got was an awkward and curious look from the others as I tilted my head confused.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know where you had that idea, little Lia, but no.¡± Master Roshi shook his head. ¡°Even though these gems have been under study for quite some time, their only use as of now is for storing chi outside of one¡¯s body and facilitating the absorption of worldly spirits.¡±


    ¡°Oh...¡± I nodded weakly, feeling a bit disappointed. ¡°Then it¡¯s kind of like my robes?¡± I asked while looking at my dark robe.


    ¡°Not exactly.¡± Master Roshi nodded. ¡°Your robes makes it easier for you to practice, while the gem actually aides you.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I see.¡± I said impressed. ¡°Then this is really good, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right.¡± Master Roshi said with a smile as he watched milady jumping into Master Bo¡¯s chest and hugging him tightly. ¡°On the other hand, since it¡¯s extremely rare to come by, you don¡¯t see it as often in the market.¡±


    I nodded in amusement while seeing milady happily put on the necklace around her neck. It looked a bit heavy, but it probably didn¡¯t make much difference for milady, thanks to our training. Smiling amusedly at the not so common scene of milady acting like a child her age, I silently took the necklace from her hand and helped her put it on.


    Despite its size, it fit surprisingly well with milady, matching her noble look. She enjoyed the feeling of the jewel against her body for some time before thanking her father a few more times.


    ¡°It looks good on you, dear.¡± Lady Sui said with a smile before turning to one of the aides and nodding. The aide approached the duo while carrying a large piece of cloth. She probably fetched it while I was fetching master Bo¡¯s present. ¡°Still, a good lady should have a fitting dress.¡± She said while motioning gently towards the aide, making sure to not wake up her younger son.


    Turning towards the dress, me and Lady Tian widened our eyes in surprise at the sight of the dress. Made with a cloth as dark as the night and embroidered with a shining purple lining.To add a bit more of a flair, small silver buttons ran down the sides of teh dress, going all the way to the legs.


    Milady quickly beamed a smile as she thanked her mother, meanwhile I took the clothes from the aide and folded it nicely. I considered whether to take it to her room immediately or leave it for later.


    But since I had just gotten back, in the end I decided to take it later, so I neatly folded the clothes and held it in my arm so as to not let it get dirty. After that, all the aides brought their presents, being mostly small trinkets and such. She happily received all the presents with a wide smile.


    Only after all the presents had been given that the Master Roshi approached her.


    The two of us approached him curious, as his was the last present left, and he had made quite the scene by refusing to tell her what exactly it was.


    ¡°Well, young lady.¡± He said with a smile. ¡°My present to you is this.¡± He said with a smile while pulling something from the sleeve of her robe.


    Me and milady leaned in to see the present, and what came out, thoroughly surprised us.


    ¡°...A letter?¡± I asked confused.


    ¡°More specifically, this is an invitation letter.¡± He said with a proud smile. ¡°An invitation to Silversong Academy.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ I see.¡± Milady said with a polite smile and nodding.


    Well, that was a bit disappointing.


    ¡°...You two just thought that this was disappointing, didn¡¯t you?¡± Master roshi said annoyed.


    ¡°¡°...No. We didn¡¯t¡±¡± We replied immediately.


    ¡°Haah. Don¡¯t the two of you know what going to Silversong means?¡± He asked us disappointed, and for a moment, me and milady simply exchange confused glances.


    ¡°I did hear that it was a prestigious academy, but it was pretty much a given that milady would go to one of such academy.¡± I said our thoughts, and master Roshi sighed in disappointment.


    ¡°The two of you should be a bit more mindful of things beyond politics, you know?¡± He said, and while I looked away embarrassed, milady nodded with a serious expression. Master Roshi cleared his throat before continuing. ¡°Well, going back to the present, Silversong Academy is also a major gathering spot for spiritualists country wide, which also means that not only the smaller clans, but even the four great clans keep an eye out to the students in the academy.¡±


    ¡°Ah.¡± I said surprised as the meaning behind his words started to dawn on me.


    ¡°So you mean...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already taught the two of you all the basics, so from now on, it¡¯s time for you to choose your own path.¡± He said while smiling towards us and gently putting the letter on milady¡¯s hand. ¡°The two of you are full blown spiritualist from today forth. Anything that I would teach you from today forth would be already the teachings from the tortoise clan, and I believe that you should choose your own destiny rather than simply following the words of an old man like myself.¡±