Chapter 77

  To Stay, or Continue

  “Choices are always best made when made on a full stomach, let us eat lunch before you decide your future,” the ominous words of Mr. Yi. Words that haunted me from the moment we got to the Bloom Estate and were effectively given free time to do what we wanted to do. Especially after Markan realized the most important part of our operation had been missed.

  ***

  (Ten minutes earlier)

  “Dang it,” Markan exclaimed.

  “What is it?” Mr. Yi asked, a note of confusion in his voice, as he echoed my thoughts exactly.

  “That love brained idiot took all of our cores before we could divvy them up,” Markan exclaimed, then turned to Pierre, the unawakened Bloom bloodline holder and began to speak.

  “Pierre, prepare the meals for these two, and make sure to have a meal ready for the gen-Madame once she arrives,” Markan stated while gesturing towards Mr. Yi and me. “They are off duty rotation for the weekend and provide Mr. Yi with anything he might need.”

  “Very well, master,” Pierre responded with a bow. Seeing Pierre’s response to Markan, it showed how much clout Markan had in this house, despite not being a true Bloom bloodline holder. “Is there anything else?”

  “Yes, have Mr. Stevens prepare the second coach, as I will need to go to the Bezerkman’s hut,” Markan responded. Hearing his description and based on our previous conversation, I realized he was going to visit Mr. Karl.

  “Sir, Mr. Stevens is resting for tonight,” Pierre warned.

  “I know, but the reason we are going is that we need to make sure tonight goes as smoothly as possible,” Markan replied and then glanced at me as if to sell his point. Pierre seeing the gesture paused for a second and then seemed to nod in understanding.

  “Very well, I will prepare him at once, but he might need a moment to awaken fully,” Pierre offered.

  “That’s fine, from my understanding a minute should be more than enough time for Mr. Karl to complete whatever tasks he might be working on at the moment.”

  With that, Pierre not privy to the prior activities of the day just nodded awkwardly before leaving. That just left Markan, Mr. Yi, and me all in the waiting room. Markan and Mr. Yi both shared a look, and then seemed to nod in silent understanding afterwards. A million words and thoughts being spoken in that subtle gesture.

  “Should we wait?” Mr. Yi asked.

  “No, go on, I’ll get our share of the crystals and then let you two do your thing, while I eat. I’ll be fine.” Then like that, Pierre arrived followed by a groggy but still poised Mr. Stevens. “Thank you for this, unfortunately we needed a quick ride and your nephew isn’t back with the General yet.”

  Mr. Stevens looked like he wanted to say something, but ultimately just nodded and followed Markan out the estate to apparently get our crystals. That just left Pierre with the two of us.

  “If you two will go to the main dining hall, we will have a meal ready for you two in no time,” Pierre gestured for us to go. Which Mr. Yi used to escort me to the dining hall as if he had been here hundreds of times.

  It felt sort of odd walking with Mr. Yi, unescorted through the Bloom estate. As we were clearly two outsiders to the family, yet our statuses assigned by the matriarch made it so we were allowed free reign. Just as Markan, an apparent other outsider was also given reign and authority within these halls. The feeling was odd, as it seemed to stress importance of character over bloodline ties. Then again seeing Pierre act as a house butler due to his unawakened status, I wondered if it was more of an importance of capability rather than character that was rewarded. Still, for the moment it did help me for the moment.

  Only once we were in the empty dining room did the doors close and provide us with a sense of separation. Taking a moment, I realized that this was the first time that I did not feel an intrusive set of eyes watching my every movement. This was also the first time that I felt free enough to state my opinions freely. This was when I was hit with the bombshell of all lingering thoughts that could not be lost.

  “I gather that there is something important that you and I are supposed to talk about?” I subtly ask, trying to cut off the awkward moment, but instead found that I did the exact opposite.

  “Yes, though it can wait,” Mr. Yi offered in his deep cultured voice that spoke of taking care of important matters first. Hearing his words, I relaxed slightly, but still felt something niggling at the back of my mind letting me know that I needed to press this matter. Which I sadly did.

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  “So, this topic that we are going to wait on, isn’t that important?” I ask, a note of hope dangling within my words. At that comment Mr. Yi just shakes his head.

  “No.”

  “No? Why no?” I press, glad that Mr. Yi seems to be one of the few people that hates the parrot game as much as I do. That or he lets my first response go as he just shakes his head and offers possibly the most mystical and ambiguous response possible. That’s when he hits me with the words that will not leave my mind.

  “Choices are always best made when made on a full stomach, let us eat lunch before you decide your future.”

  Words that echo through my thoughts, even as the food comes out and tastes like ash and salt due to how my mind is too preoccupied to absorb anything other than sustenance from my food. I eat mechanically, making sure to get as many calories as possible, despite the food seeming to loose all taste as I wonder what is happening next. What choice could be so important that Markan of all people will wake up a tired Mr. Stevens to charge across town to interrupt the two love birds, all for this upcoming choice.

  The moment that Mr. Yi, dabs at his lips with his napkin and places the napkin on his plate, I do the same. Though my actions are completely unnecessary as I use the napkin to hide my judicious use of Trash to clean my face before dropping the napkin on my also cleaned plate.

  “You ready?” Mr. Yi asks, a sort of heaviness to his words.

  I nod, my throat suddenly tight as I realize that there is going to be something important that will be revealed at this point. A part of my mind goes wild, wondering if this is the part where I get initiated into an odd cult? Or maybe Mr. Yi finally reveals he is dying of some unending demonic essence that is draining his body and soul?

  Honestly, I don’t know what to think. The fact that I am with Mr. Yi is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing in the fact that I knew he would not lie to me. A curse in the fact that he was not the type to idly talk either. Which was how I found him seamlessly guiding me through the estate and out a set of doors that apparently led to the backyard training area. I could tell it was a training area in that it didn’t have any of the typical plants or vibrant shades of green that covered most of the Bloom estate from the front and sides. Instead, this was an open area that while covered in grass was flat and relatively bare. Only a few healed gouge marks in the land showed any sign that past actions were here. The fixed markings showed that this area was both actively maintained and used for training purposes.

  Following Mr. Yi, we went to the approximate center of the courtyard, between a ring of slightly brighter grass. Once we entered, Mr. Yi held out a hand to halt my progress. Then once he saw that I had stopped he nodded, then walked forward a few paces drew his metal sword from its sheath. I paused as I was not ready to face a master like Mr. Yi. But I did draw my own practice blade as well.

  Seeing the gesture, Mr. Yi nodded to himself before smiling and dropping to a lotus position instantly, his still unsheathed sword resting on his legs. I just stood there confused for a moment. It wasn’t until Mr. Yi held out a hand palm up, gesturing for me to sit and join him that I did.

  A wet plopping sensation hit me as I dropped, my body instantly recognizing the cool dew on the freshly grown grass. In my past life such a condition would have annoyed me, but in this life, it was just a minor inconvenience of my senses. Especially as I knew I could remove any such stains thank to my Trash Skill.

  Mr. Yi’s eyes never stopped their calculating gaze upon me as he monitored my face for any signs of discomfort or annoyance. Watching his own expectant gaze, I realized that this too was a test. One that I apparently passed as he nodded contentedly to himself before talking.

  “It seems that our time together has come to an unforeseen fork in the road, one where our original purpose for meeting has come to a close,” Mr. Yi began. As he spoke, I felt a slight hitch in my throat as I had not expected the conversation to go here.

  “Wait, what?” I found myself asking, words spewing from my lips faster than my mind can process.

  “Contractually, I have done all I was originally oath bound to accomplish. I helped you master your Improvised Weapons Skill, and walked you through the closing of your first rift. Karmically, my ties to you have been fulfilled.” Mr. Yi began. As he spoke, I felt an unexpected spike of pain fill my chest as I had just gotten used to him and his odd method of teaching by observing.

  “Or rather, my ties to your Master Anastasia Bloom have been fulfilled. Which is why I am now going to ask you, if you would want to take on the burden of being my own Apprentice as a Yaoguai Qūmóshī?”

  At his request, I felt a faint chill run down my spine, as I thought he was asking for the impossible.

  “Wait, I thought I could only learn one Class for a lifetime?” I asked.

  “You can, but for you the way of a Yaoguai Qūmóshī does not have to just be a class, but it can also be a way of life. You have what it takes, the fearlessness to face down monsters that are far more dangerous than expected. The determination to charge in and save your comrades at all cost. And most importantly, you have the latent Holy affiliation in your mana that is itching for a direction to be unleashed.”

  I finally heard Mr. Yi speak passionately about any subject, and it turned out to be a recruitment pitch for me to be a Demon Exorcist, or a Yaoguai Qūmóshī as his Class was called in his native tongue. While I still had my doubts, I was curious, curious enough to at least hear the weapons master out.

  “How exactly would we do this? It’s not like I can suddenly gain two classes, right?” I joked, but I could feel a faint sense of desperation in words. A desperation that made me wonder if such a thing was possible.

  “No, no second classes. That said, you are at a unique point in your life. One where you must make a choice.” Mr. Yi began, pausing to let the moment sink in that this was in fact important.

  I nod, keeping my mouth shut in an effort to try to hold back my mounting impatience at him and trying to get him to get to the point of this conversation.

  “Right now, you have done a remarkable feat and managed to MAX out two Uncommon Skills, your Eagle Eyed Skill, and your Improvised Weapons Skill.”

  Again, a long pause for seemingly no reason. I again nodded, trying not to show signs of annoyance on my face, as I was certain that this was part of Mr. Yi’s test. A final step to prove I was worthy of his time and efforts in teaching me the mystical ways of the Yaoguai Qūmóshī. Which was why I took a deep breath and waited for Mr. Yi to continue.

  “Now here is where your choice comes into play. You cash-out now,” Mr. Yi began, straining to get out the phrase cash-out, as if it was an idiom that made no logical sense to him, but he still used it, knowing that I would make sense of its use here.

  I again nodded. This time seeing that I understood his idiom, he nodded to himself and proceeded. “You can cash-out by getting these two Skills Badged and permanently removed from your Freel Slot list, allowing you to learn any two new Skills you wished.”

  Another pause, but I was already nearing the end of my patience, thus I pushed him forward slightly, “Or?”

  A faint smile crested Mr. Yi’s lips as he seemed to look away for a moment, and then regain his thoughts as he clearly and eloquently spoke. “Or I could teach you how to evolve these Skills, by taking the baseline progress you have made and showing you how to push these Skills to the next tier up. By showing you how to imbue them with Holy Mana.”

  I paused, my mouth going wide at that concept. Suddenly I needed a moment to process the capabilities that he was now presenting to me.

  “Your Eagle Eyed Skill, along with your Soul Sight can provide the perfect basis to help you evolve your Eagle Eyed Skill to be one similar to my Yaoguai Sight. We will just use your natural affinity for Holy magic to imbue your eyes. Then we can do the same for your Improvised Weapons Skill,” Mr. Yi began, first by causing his eyes to glow a golden yellow as he spoke about his Yaoguai Sight, then he made his blade glow a similar golden yellow as he spoke about evolving my Improvised Weapons Skill.

  My mind was alight with thoughts as the ramifications of what he was offering slammed into my mind. But before I could even fully process the fact that I could possibly expand my existing Skills to use Holy Magic and cause more damage, he continued.

  “Which is why I will ask you this once and only once. Will you take the easy way and badge your Skills now, or will you continue your journey and follow me down the path of being a Yaoguai Qūmóshī?”