41 Inhibitory Runes (1/2)
Daniel kept cultivating for the rest of the evening, and when the two rank 4 beast cores had disappeared from his hands, two hours later, he had consumed six hundred karma points.
”Woah.. I should be careful when using the second level of 'Time is Precious'”. He thought.
As Daniel was in the middle of his thoughts, his two old teachers appeared within his room.
They both wore satisfied expressions, as they had found Daniel cultivating instead of wasting his time like many talented individuals did.
Daniel noticed them immediately. He rose up to his feet, and greeted them with a light bow ”Greetings teachers.” He said.
The old master-at-arms looked at Daniel and responded ”Sorry to interrupt you. We have come here to talk to you about something..” after a brief pause, he continued. ”For the next few weeks, it would be best if you don't leave the building.”
”Why?” Daniel arched his eyebrows in surprise, and asked.
This time, it was the old alchemist who talked first ”Your situation is.. Unusual to say the least. You have discovered something that many dreamed of discovering for tens of thousands of years.. You just don't understand it's significance yet.” He said while observing Daniel's expression. After noticing the lack of fear in his eyes, he couldn't help but smile gently.
The smile disappeared in the blink of an eye, and was replaced by a serious expression.
The old master-at-arms continued from here. ”We are aware of Mea's situation.” He said.
Daniel was surprised by the sudden revelation. He looked at the old master-at-arms and said ”Since when?”
”I've recognized the daughter of my student from the very first moment i've seen her. She is the reason why i've allowed the three of you to live here.” He responded
Once more, Daniel's face was filled with stupor. He almost couldn't believe the coincidence. ”Then, can't you ask the king to stop the extermination of her family?” Daniel asked with faint hope hidden within his voice.
”The influence of those who want her and the rest of her family dead, is now bigger than mine.. I've done all I could..” Said the old man dispiritedly.
Daniel observed the facial expression of the old man. He noticed guilt, and he was barely able to look at him in the eyes. He had a bad feeling about this, so he asked ”And what is that?”
The old alchemist looked straight into Daniel's eyes, and said ”We've picked her and your sister on their way to the Folding Crane School.. They are now directed to the main branch of the Golden Cauldron.. In secret.”
”WHAT?!” Exclaimed Daniel. He had now understood why the guilt within the old master-at-arms eyes, didn't seem to be directed at someone not present, but at him instead.
The old master-at-arms, after mustering some courage, looked back at Daniel and said ”Try to understand.. The very moment word of what you did will reach the other countries.. A war will start. There is no doubt about it.”
The old alchemist added ”When people will start investigating about you, and will find out about your relationship with the two girls, they'll be far from here.” He then paused for a few moments, and trying to comfort Daniel, he added ”My Golden Cauldron is a powerful organization. Our domain reached more than one kingdom.. Plus, my father is one of the few hundred rank 9 spiritual cultivators within the continent. He'll be able to keep both of them safe, I promise that.”
Naturally, Daniel couldn't disagree with the reasons given by the two old men.
If a war did break out because of him, any power that wouldn't be able to get hold of him, would go after his sister instead.
And yet, the news had hit Daniel hard. This had been the first time he had been separated from his sister, and even if he trusted in the old alchemist words, he still regretted not being able to say goodbye to her.
Suddenly, Daniel thought of something else. He briefly told his father's and uncle's story, not leaving any detail out.
The old master-at-arms said ”That's a small matter, i'll solve it for you.”
Daniel felt mixed emotion about what he had learned. One one side, he was sad for being separated from his sister, while on the other, the two old men had solved all of his unfinished business. Not in the way he would have prefered, but they still did.
The two old men gave Daniel a few minutes to digest all the changes and informations.
After no less than three full minutes, the old alchemist took two items from inside his spatial ring. The two items had the shape of two pills, but on their surface, they had two different symbols. One, was was a simple clear circle, with a just as clear dot in its center. The second pill, had a semi-transparent circle, from which multiple clear waves pushed through the circle's border.
He showed the two pills to Daniel, and said ”These are for you.”
Daniel looked at the two items with confusion. Then asked ”What are these for?”.
The old alchemist looked at Daniel with a slightly sorry expression, and then said ”These are called 'Inhibitory Runes'.. They'll slowly absorb all the essence within you, unless you stop it.” He then pinched the one with the clear circle, and said ”This one is for ki, while the other, is for spiritual essence.”
”Why do I need that?” Daniel asked in confusion.
”It will help mask your cultivation stage..” The old alchemist responded, then, after a short pause he continued ”Usually, a cultivator would only use one in their life.. The one corresponding to the path they chose.. But” He then stopped, letting the rest of the phrase thread off.
Daniel took the two pills from the old alchemist's hands, and as he was about to swallow them, the old alchemist stopped him ”Wait!” he exclaimed. The sorry look appeared in his face once again as he continued ”Maybe it's better if you take them.. One at a time.”