Book 1. Shifting Winds. Chapter 2. Unforgivable! (Part I)

Masi opened his eyes wide as he was momentarily stunned by Laien’s sudden shout. Then, with a satisfied expression, he unexpectedly turned to look at Cran. “Maybe you will go and escort our dear guest? Unless, of course, you’d rather have me find someone else to do it instead. What do you say? You seem to have some kind of relationship with our guest, after all,” he asked with a certain purpose in his mind.

“Let’s see what you do here, you hypocritical goodie two shoes,” Masi thought contentedly, happy to put Cran between a rock and a hard place.

From Cran’s viewpoint, the situation at hand truly was a problematic one. He cursed in his heart, having been forced into making a decision where neither choice would result in anything good. He needed to weigh down his beliefs and ambitions, what truly wasn’t an easy thing to do. Stand by Laien’s side, or continue playing Jasi’s friend?

Cran felt his blood boil with anger Currently, he and Masi were both associating themselves with Jasi for similar reasons; they sought benefits coming from befriending an important person. As for Masi, he surely had his own ambitions, but Cran wished to become a General, just like his father had. The powerful Martial Schools had a lot of influence in the country, however… only the great noble families and the royal family could appoint military generals, whose number in the country was limited.

For Cran, the easiest and most fireproof way to achieve this goal was to make friends with Jasi, the most likely future leader of the Valius clan. There were other possibilities, of course, but none gave him as high of a chance of succeeding as getting Jasi’s recommendation in the future.

The problem at hand, however, wasn’t frustrating only Cran. Jasi himself didn’t like the direction this talk was going into. In his eyes, Cran was a much more valuable asset than Masi and now, whatever would happen, Cran would bear a grudge not only against Masi but also against him, too.

“Am I really too soft, like my father is always saying?” Cran wondered bitterly, torn between following his conscience and pursuing his long-term goals. He had put a lot of effort into befriending Jasi during the last two years, it would be a great waste to discard it all just because of one kid… However, could he really make this decision and look at his own face in the mirror the next day without feeling disgusted?

Yet, just as Cran was about to open his mouth, another voice interrupted him.

“There’s no need for him to go with me. No point in someone of such a high wasting his time. Just call whoever you wanted to before,” Laien declared with a light snort and shrugged his shoulders. He couldn’t have not noticed how Cran have had a hard time making his choice. Cran had already lent him some face and he was grateful; he didn’t want to strain their relationship anymore as he didn’t feel the two of them were good friends or anything like that.

To be completely honest, there was also another reason for Laien’s refusal. He worried what would happen had Cran decided to abandon him completely? This way, at the very least, there would be a person who could take his side the next time Jasi or Masi think about bullying him.

“At the very least, I am more or less calm,” the resigned thought passed through Laien’s mind. He might have been only a ten year old, but he had experienced more than many adults would ever have. He had seen his parents sacrifice their lives for him and his little sister, he had seen the village they lived in being razed to the ground… and most importantly, he had gotten over all of that. Thanks to his past, he was more mature than any child his age and could keep or regain his cool when others would have fallen prey to stress and panic.

“Hm?” Masi’s forehead furrowed in a slight frown. He eyed Laien, then looked at Cran who already leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. From the looks of it, he had no intention of moving or going anywhere whatsoever.

“If that’s what you want, then fine. Just don’t regret it later,” Masi said coldly as he gazed at Laien, then gave Cran a meaningful smirk. “Go wait at the fountain in the back of the mansion. I will make sure to prepare a good ‘convoy’ for you,” he instructed Laien with a smile that surely enough didn’t indicate any good intentions. He stood up and gestured Laien to lead the way, but seeing as the ten-year-old didn’t intend to walk with him, he snickered and left first.

Ten breaths after Masi left the room, Laien also turned around and walked away, leaving behind a truly sour atmosphere. The four who remained in the room didn’t even feel like chatting anymore

Perhaps, this outcome had been satisfying only for Masi, who for his own good, should have realized it sooner.

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Laien shook his head, walking through dark corridors. When he needed to he could keep his calm, but now, he looked like a human wreck. “Beating Rune up… I won’t even be able to explain why I did it until tomorrow…” he thought with a sigh, wondering if he should have tried to endure Jasi’s bullying for a bit longer. However, now it was too late to regret his decision. What was done, was done and he needed to deal with all the consequences.

He understood that it was too late to regret, he understood, but… He still felt like throwing up at the mere thought of luring Rune out of his house, then attacking him without any explanation while having some bastards watch him do it from the dark.

“If I explain it later, he will surely understand... If it was me in his place, I would. Just a few wounds, nothing big. They will heal in a week or so.” Laien laughed resignedly. Who was he trying to convince? No matter what he would be telling himself, he wouldn’t trick his own conscience into believing it was okay to act in this manner. Logic was telling him to go through with Masi’s demand and settle all problems related to those young masters once and for all, but his heart kept yelling at him to come back to his senses.

Having arrived outside, Laien sat on the fountain’s stone ledge and almost habitually, put his hand into the water and stirred it lightly. Had it been just a few hours ago, he might have been able to enjoy the beautiful, clear starry sky... yet right now, he was nothing short of being depressed.

“There are people with lives worse than mine. No point in feeling sorry for myself, I need to do what I must,” he murmured quietly and took a few deep breaths, emptying his heads from any thoughts. Unconsciously, he still moved his hand about in the water as he slipped into a state very similar to the meditative trance.

Usually, when one immersed himself in meditation and training the spiritual energy, he would enter a peaceful, tranquil state of mind. The deeper such state was, the better results one could achieve. Usually, while training, spiritual practitioners would lose the sense of the time passing and would only be alarmed by an outside stimulus, or by the feeling of their body being too exhausted to continue.

Accidentally, Laien managed to fall deeper into the meditative trance than ever before. He had felt shaken, disturbed and anxious to the extreme, only to next second discard all those feelings and naturally switch to a tranquil state of mind. He switched from one extreme to another and thanks to that, reached something he shouldn’t have yet discovered. He should have barely touched upon it, his fingertips should have only slid against the surface, but instead, he fell inside with his whole body.

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With the unique experience, came an enlightenment of which even Laien himself wasn’t yet aware. Suddenly, the water of the fountain stirred, although no normal person would be able to notice any difference. The natural energy within the water shook and miraculously, pure water-type elemental energy extracted itself from it and began flowing to Laien’s hand as if being sucked by it.

The amount of energy which Laien’s body began absorbing at a rapid pace was truly astonishing. The spiritual energy which until now, lingered in the upper part of Laien’s chest in a form of mist began liquefying. It was increasing both in quantity and quality, being strengthened many times over. Yet, something else was also happening simultaneously, something arguably even more amazing.

The whole surroundings seemed to have changed in nature. Were one with acute senses to look at the scene, he would witness an illusory image of the boundless, calm sea. Those who lived by the great water would instantly recognize this sight; only at one time would the sea be as tranquil as that, and it would be right after a powerful storm! When the seas were angry, they could rampage mercilessly and devour anything within their grasp. However, after each horrifying display of their power, the seas would show their other face. For a brief period of time, even the waves would smoothen, as if resting and relaxing after having roared for many days. The sea would then turn truly… Tranquil.

Minutes passed as if they were seconds. The vast amounts of elemental energy kept pouring into Laien’s body, increasing his strength and at the same time, forming a clear, splitting image of the Tranquility of the sea. At one point, all the mist in Laien’s upper chest liquefied and instantly, formed a true Spiritual Core, which suddenly… disappeared from Laien’s body.

It disappeared, but had it truly? The process of absorption hadn’t yet stopped, it continued for a few dozen seconds longer, strengthening Laien’s cultivation base even further. It proved that the Spiritual Core was still there, only in a slightly different place.

After a few moments, the water in the fountain, which until now had been shooting high up into the air, mysteriously stopped flowing and in the end, came to a complete halt. As the absorption finished for good, all the water-type elemental energy which still lingered in the water surged and exploded, creating a great cloud of tens of thousands elemental sparks.

Feeling somewhat strange, Laien shook his head, coming back to his senses. Somehow, he could tell that there was something different about him. He blinked a few times, realizing that he was surrounded by tens upon tens of thousands water-type elemental sparks. He could see them much clearer than ever before; they were truly bewildering. They also carried a strange, soothing feeling to them… a Tranquil feeling, if he were to name it.

Laien slowly reached out with his hand, trying to catch some of the elemental sparks. He smiled as the small clusters of blue light slid through his fingers and escaped, just like water. His minds calm and clear, Laien continued watching the spectacle of lights that only he was capable of seeing.

After some more time passed, all the elemental sparks slowly fell down into the fountain, one after another merging with its waters. Within the time of one hundred breaths, all of them were absorbed, leaving but a barely visible glow over the fountain’s water.

Laien looked at the moon, noticing that it moved a bit in the sky. “Twenty minutes to half an hour passed, but when?” he wondered, rather confused, but surprisingly calm. Not even his heart was beating wildly anymore, his thoughts have become more clear, too; they were clouded by fear and anxiety no more.

Just as Laien started wondering why Masi’s minions were taking so long, he heard the sounds of chatting and laughter getting closer from afar. Laien recognized those voices very well. Smiling resignedly, he stood up and walked towards three incoming teenagers. “So you weren’t Jasi’s subordinates, but someone else’s. What was he called again, Masi?” Laien asked with a smirk, surprising even himself by his good mood. He couldn’t tell why, but for some reason, he was feeling so much better than a while ago.

Having learned of Laien’s situation and being quite amused by it, one of the three boys actually answered. “Haha, since you want to know, I might as well tell you. Young master Masi Boular, remember this name well so you know who to curse later,” the fourteen-year-old said and laughed with his two friends.

Laien raised his eyebrows, smelling something fishy in these words. Could Masi have planned for something else to happen what wasn’t a part of their original deal?

“Here, catch,” the fourteen-year-old threw a keychain to Laien, which Laien easily caught. Only one key was attached to the ring, a master key opening most of the regular doors within the grounds of the Valius mansion. “Now hurry up and go. Well, if you decide not to, then it’s fine with us, too,” the other one of the three boys said with a cheeky smile. He didn’t even ridicule Laien mid-sentence, what was pretty surprising.

“What are they planning? Oh, well… I will think about it later…” Laien mused, not feeling like thinking too much at the moment. He was still feeling really good, his mind drifting peacefully as if sailing through the lake. He was no longer worried about making a choice, he knew what he was going to do very well.

Soon, Laien arrived at Rune’s house. He sighed, contemplating his choices. It would have been for the best if he could have some time to speak with Rune beforehand… He looked turned to look at three youths who were still following behind him and shook his head.

“And what do you think you are doing, standing here? How is he supposed to come with me if he sees you, eh?” Laien asked with a surprised expression, gazing at the three like at some idiots.

This unexpected behavior of Laien’s threw the three off, they were so baffled that they didn’t know how to react. Previously, Laien had always been trying to appear meek before them; he would suppress his feelings and anger. However, right now he was so easygoing that one might have thought he was talking to his friends.

“Just go to the stables, to the big storage house at the back, you know the place, right? I will arrive in a few minutes,” Laien said casually and shrugged his shoulders, appearing to be rather resigned by the three’s cluelessness.

The three youths backed off by a few steps, then began whispering amongst each other. “It’s fine, right? If he runs he is screwed anyway,” one of them said, after what the other two agreed. “Right, and him telling this second brat will make it more interesting for us. Let’s do it.”

After giving Laien what was supposed to be a threatening, silent gaze, the three of them left. A moment later, Laien chuckled with a wide smile on his face. Now that he was so pleasantly calm, somehow dealing with everything became much simpler. “Idiots,” Laien murmured. From the looks of it, those three didn’t even know that he was a martial practitioner. They probably thought he was really weak, maybe at the first mortal realm. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have whispered so close to him. After all, Laien’s all senses were all quite a bit stronger than average man’s as he was at the peak of the third Mortal Realm as a martial practitioner.

“Aaaah, I really don’t feel like playing this game. But if it goes well, I will have a nice peaceful life guaranteed for at least a few years. It’s worth trying,” Laien complained quietly, then knocked on the door. Shortly afterward, Rune’s mother let him in, a bit surprised by his late visit. However, it wasn’t anything unusual enough to cause her to worry about it too much.

“You played together whole day, and you come to play in the evening, too? Come in, come in,” she said with a smile and gestured Laien to go ahead and enter.

Rune’s mother liked Laien quite a bit. Especially after Rune had stopped causing trouble with his overly shy behavior, she practically started looking at Laien as someone akin to Rune’s older brother. Of course, however, she would have never said those words out loud. She was aware that Laien belonged to the Valius family, no matter how negligent his status within it was. Sooner or later, the friendship between her son and Laien would end, or so she was convinced.

Recalling Jasi’s room and now once again seeing how nice houses the Valius family provided to common working families, Laien thought that they must have had quite some excess money to spend. To be honest, if he had a choice, he would rather live in one of such houses than in a room within the main mansion… but that would never happen. They wouldn’t let ‘one of them’ live like a commoner, even if they didn’t truly think of him as one of the Valius family in their hearts. What a hypocrisy, Laien thought.

“Big brother? Why did you come? Do you want to stay the night?” Rune asked the moment he saw Laien entering his room. On the other bed, Talian who had been sleeping until now woke up and rubbed his eyes.

“Nah, not this time. I need to talk with you for a bit. Think we could go outside for a moment?” Laien asked straightforwardly.

“Sure, let’s go,” Rune replied without hesitation and stood up from his bed. He didn’t know what it was that Laien wanted, but he wouldn’t think twice about following him if Laien wanted to talk with him in private.

As the two were about to leave, Talian pouted, smiling humorously. “First you all forget to help with moving my things, then you wake me up and leave wondering. Eeeh, all of you are terrible,” he said with a laugh.

Laien scratched his head, smiling awkwardly. “Sorry about that, buddy. Will you forgive me if I take you to eat something good in the city later?” he suggested and apparently, satisfied Talian perfectly.

“It’s a promise,” Talian stated merrily, then after Laien and Rune left, he went back to sleep.