Chương 45: Chapter 44: Departure

lt was odd, when you speak with someone casually, you never usually find the act significant. Not when Nero interacted with the chefs at the hotel back in the slums. Not when he interacted with Miya. Not when he'd initially interacted with Sunny. On all those occasions, nothing had felt strange, different, or anything of the kind. But now, when the girl of pale skin and silvery hair sat on his bed and spoke with him casually, it felt different.

He'd spoken with Sylvia before she'd become a Direct Disciple, back when she was still in deep shock from losing her father. It had felt normal then—sometimes it had even irritated him when she didn't respond to his attempts at conversation, when he tried to make her laugh and crack her depressive streak by making a fool of himself. He'd never felt lower than her; in fact, he'd felt superior, to an extent. But now? Things had changed. He didn't feel superior anymore. Quite the opposite, he felt indebted to her.

How strange. Have the words of my fellow disciples finally started getting to me? He shook his head. It couldn't be, debt, superiority, feelings of gratitude. None of it mattered, not when he was still a nobody. He broke out of his stupor at the snap of fingers. He'd been leaning against his house wall; when he looked up, Sylvia was staring at him with an accusatory, flat expression.

"You weren't listening to me at all, were you?" she said, puffing up her cheeks.

"Mind you, other people usually keep their eyes glued to me when I speak. Hmph!" Nero felt the corner of his lips rise at her act.

"Sorry, sorry. Where were we again?" She huffed.

"Seriously, we were talking about the expedition. Although I'd already gone ahead and made preparations so you could join later at your own leisure, would you like me to personally tell the Elders to put you on the roster immediately? We're about to depart in an hour." Nero considered her offer. The expedition promised a huge amount of benefit. Apparently, killing a single Ogre would earn one a full contribution point! That was massive.

Normally, even killing multiple Ogres and selling their parts wouldn't earn that much money. Plus, he'd be working on a team with other disciples, so the risk would be lower. Still, every enlisted disciple had an awakened Beast Core. He'd certainly face prejudice if he casually joined them on Sylvia's authority alone. But was avoiding that prejudice really worth giving up the money? Certainly not. For benefits like these, he'd happily endure whatever negativity they threw at him.

The real issue wasn't the sect mates' scorn, though. Awakening his Beast Core mattered more. It was his ticket to staying in the sect, and to accessing all the benefits he'd been locked out of so far. He also needed more time to fully merge his Cypher Art with its path. He needed time to learn the Cypher Art, the Transparent World, and then merge the two Cypher Arts with their paths and test the result.

He also needed to level up his Blue Phoenix Manifestation to intermediate rank—with an awakened core, he'd be able to sweep through the battlefield once he finally left for the dungeon, and rack up a mountain of points. And while cracking the top five of the Merit Obelisk was nearly impossible, they were held by direct disciples in training, like Sylvia, he had a decent chance at the lower top five if he could integrate all his abilities into a coherent battle system.

All in all, leaving for the battlefield now would net him cash in the short term, but cripple his long-term growth. If he could instead absorb and assimilate every technique he currently held... He felt himself nearly grin like a devil at the mere thought of it. So he declined Sylvia's offer. She stood to leave, but before she did, she turned back. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Ah, I also need your permission," she said. Nero gave her a puzzled look.

"For what?"

"To teach that Elder who recruited you—the one who's been treating you badly—a lesson, of course!" She clenched her fist into a ball as rainbow energy burst from it, sizzling with a calm but deadly fury.

"I could easily crush that elder with my current abilities. Even though he's in the Silver Core's mid stage, he wouldn't stand a chance against me!" Nero raised a brow.

"Oho, and how are you so confident?" Her lips curled into a wide, very unladylike grin.

"Hehe. It's because of this." She closed her eyes, and rainbow energy began to seep from her body. As the aura thickened around her, it rapidly darkened into something Nero could only describe as black flame. The temperature of the room dropped at once, and the skin at her forehead twisted and shifted. From somewhere deep inside, Nero felt a sudden, intense fear. Yes, that was the sensation, and it was justified, because her once-pristine, jade-white skin had begun to throb and writhe, darkening by the second.

The aura coating her body's surface seeped back inward, and where the darkness had passed, her skin now shone violet. When she snapped her eyes open, two sets of sharp white horns tore from her forehead, arching back with the grinding sound of bone on bone. Nero stumbled back, taking his eyes off her for a second. And when he looked back up, it was a glossy white skull mask which greeted him. Her body too had been sheathed in a matching white jacket, shimmering with a sinister darkness.

She fixed him with sharp blue eyes that gleamed with a cold, predatory light. She spread her arms wide.

"How's this?" Her voice came out hoarse and raspy.

"Wh—what is this?" Nero stammered.

"Hrmm! It's the beast soul Master Asura gave me. It's called... ah, yes, it's called [Arch Demon]." Nero stopped keeping his distance, curiosity pulling him forward to inspect the manifestation of her beast soul. Her hands had grown slightly more muscular, only noticeable up close, and their color had shifted to a light violet that, from a distance, looked almost like glistening matte black. Her usual robes were gone, replaced by black pants and a milk-white jacket.

After the inspection, Nero had a few questions for her.

"If you don't mind me asking, where did your, you know, former clothes go?" he asked.

"Ah, those were actually made of pure mana. I can retract that mana and use it whenever I want, in this case, I used it on the Arch Demon Manifestation."

"Oh, do all Direct Disciples get such convenient clothing?"

"Yep. In fact, Senior Earl Long wears one similar to mine. Though, his is of a higher quality..." She paused midway, then shook her head.

"Forget about my clothes! Don't you want to know more about my Beast Soul?!"

"Of course. What's its rank? Like, rarity?"

"Hmhm!" She puffed up her chest proudly.

"It's of the Desolate Rank!" The conversation stretched on a little longer from there. Nero asked about its abilities, and she told him one of its major powers was Demon Summoning—she could summon demons from another realm with it. Another was Demon Manipulation, letting her shape these demons into various forms to assist her in battle directly. There was one other special ability she couldn't explain, for lack of time, as the sect bell rang and she had to leave in a hurry.

Nero naturally trailed behind her after she left, making sure to keep his distance, because the moment she stepped out of their door, a flood of outer disciples scattered immediately at the sight of her leaving his house. He was certain he'd be grilled like a chicken over what business a Direct Disciple could possibly have with a nobody like him. Especially Shen, that guy had already shot him a killer look when Sylvia asked him to step outside.

So he waited until the moment came when Sylvia called together everyone enlisted for the expedition. Nero left the cottage then, since they were gathering on the other side of the sect compound. Sylvia helped by casting a spell to summon the portal that would transport them to Hira Forest, south of the seventh circle. After a moment of casting, she extended her palm forward, Qi surging around her, and the disciples, even a few inner disciples, stepped back.

A blade of sharp darkness burst forth, tearing through the very barrier of the sect as it touched the heavy clouds overhead, piercing straight through them. A great shattering sound followed as the line of light expanded, revealing the image of woods on the other side. The whole compound buzzed as the portal hummed in a steady rhythm. Some of the outer disciples took large, nervous gulps. Sylvia looked back at the disciples behind her before her gaze finally settled on him.

She gave a nod, then stepped through the portal first, resolute. Nero recalled the last words they'd exchanged.

"You don't want me to teach that Elder, and that Fang guy, a lesson?"

"Nope. I'd rather you focus on your cultivation."

"That's so like you, always focused on what matters."

"Say, I haven't awakened my core yet—so why do you think I should take part in this expedition?" he asked, finally voicing the one question that had been on his mind. Because she wasn't some normal, ignorant girl anymore. She knew about cultivation, far more than he did—he was certain of that. And yet she somehow still believed he was worthy of joining them on this expedition. At his question, she tilted her head, her expression hidden behind that skull mask.

"It's simple, because you are strong, Nero."