"W-we did our best to resolve his Innate Yin Affinity. I gave him the best Yin treasures you could find! You can even ask your dad, as he was right there with me in the search…" Klaus started explaining himself as he very much understood the threat that was Elizabeth. As Elizabeth turned to her father and saw him nod, she turned back to face Klaus; her expression unperturbed.
"Yeah, no matter what we did, Gasper would always say he had pain while cultivating. At that time we just thought he was being a rebellious brat. After all, how could we have known that he had an Affinity for Yin as high as this? With the number of Yin treasures we had him take, over a hundred Yin practitioners would have been able to resolve their Innate Yin Affinity! It's utterly inconceivable for someone that talented to have been born before the Celestial Phenomenon."
"I know," Elizabeth muttered through her gritted teeth. "Of course, I'd be because of this world's shit conditions that a potential god died..." The others didn't understand what she was trying to say, so she elaborated, "Mortal Grade methods obviously can't detect Affinity Grades that high, so it'd only make sense for you all to think him to be lying. But still… To not even try changing your shitty traditions and force him down the path of cultivating Yang… It's still an unforgivable act."
Elizabeth swiped her face with her left arm and destroyed any traces of blood, sweat, and tears that may have tainted her image. As she tied her hair and an even colder deadpan face than usual covered her visage, she asked, "So, what of him? Is he another failure that you've come to dispose of? Heh, I'd never in a million years think that the Solar Kinsterling Family would actually send one of their offspring to learn Yin. Even more ridiculous would be to think they'd send their child to become a Mage..." She carried her grudge like a scar for life.
"Please..." Klaus bit his tongue and actually took a knee.
"Dear, what are you doing!" Karena tried to pull him up from such a degrading position, but he managed to shake her off.
"Jasper's just like his late brother… I don't know how deep his affinity for Yin runs. But what I do know is that you're the only one I'd trust to teach him. You already know we're a family of Yang practitioners so Yin techniques of even remotely decent quality are nowhere to be found. Since you were having this audition… I came here prepared to do anything to see to it that his fate does not end up like Gasper's."
'A real cultivator at the Transcendent Foundation Stage is prostrating and begging before me...' Elizabeth was irked again, evident by her right eyebrow that rose.
"You are the best chance he has to make the most of his Yin Affinity, so even if it means having him stray away from his roots in Yang and Qi… I don't mind begging for you to teach him..." Klaus said from his prostrated position.
"Hmph!" Elizabeth snorted as she stood up and made her way over to Jasper. She let a finger rest on his forehead and with a probing pulse of energy and the call for her status functions, Jasper's Innate Affinities were revealed to her.
[Status
Name: Jasper Von Kinsterling
…
Innate Skills
Yin Affinity
Tier: Consummate
Wood Affinity
Tier: Excellent]
"Tsk," Elizabeth's eye twitched as she struggled to admit he was the most excellent candidate to learn either Yin or Wood Magic from her. Yet as she looked at him and found the image of her late friend, it became difficult for her to accept him. 'They tormented their son leaving me all along for over nine years, and now that this 'fake' has come in his place, I'm just supposed to accept this? Fuck no!'
'Yeah, just reject them as mercilessly as they rejected Gasper,' Lisa tempted her.
'I should…No, that isn't right… The kid didn't do anything… It isn't his fault his parents were worthless before he was even conceived.' Ellie rationalized her position.
'But he's just a fake! A copy, created to taunt you! Are you really just going to comply with your best friend's murderers? Do all those years you suffered mean nothing to you in the end? WILL YOU REALLY LET THEM GET THE LAST LAUGH?!' Lisa added more and more pressure until it felt like Ellie's head would burst.
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'Fuck off!' Ellie cursed as a wave of Death Essense from her Soul Land engulfed Lisa forcing her to back off. 'Klaus and Karena Von Kinsterling can die for all I care, but Gasper's younger brother had nothing to do with his situation. He's got the talent to join me, so...'
Before Ellie could complete her thought, Lisa screeched, 'YOU PLAN ON LETTING THAT TIME BOMB JOIN US?! Wake the fuck up, you shitty host! This isn't a fairytale, this is real life! That vermin became an enemy to us the moment you lashed out against his parents and you actually think it's a good idea to train him?! Unless his loyalty is guaranteed, he'll just be a looming threat!' Even outside the bounds of her manipulation into making Elizabeth more ruthless, Lisa thought her host would be better than this.
"Tsk, I know..." Elizabeth muttered aloud before she lifted her finger from Jasper's forehead. She flashed all the Kinsterlings a look before saying, "I'll teach him, but only under a strict condition."
Lifting his head from the ground, Klaus joined Karena and Kurt in gasping as they found Elizabeth's change to come too quickly. "As long as we can fulfill it, it doesn't matter what the request is..."
"Heh," Elizabeth chuckled, as her right arm rose. Within seconds, her Talent Stealing Blood Seal completely manifested as an illusory image above her brandished palm. With a piercingly bleak look, she stated, "If Jasper's to learn under me, he has to accept this seal..."
"What.. is that..." Klaus asked, his expression turned grim as he felt what seemed like pure evil emanated from the crimson seal.
"This is my special seal… It will guarantee that little Jasper over here doesn't get over his head. I don't owe you anything and instead, it would be extremely unfavorable to teach him given my history with you guys, his parents. So, I'm putting this countermeasure up on full display to see if all he wants is to learn Magic."
"This is ridiculous, let's go!" Karena yelled as she though Elizabeth had gone too far with her demands. Since the seal could be anything, she, like most cultivators, instantly assumed the worst — thinking the seal to be some sort of slavery pact or something of the like.
"Mhmm… It's up to Jasper, then." Klaus said as he eyed Elizabeth's crimson seal with caution.
"What?! Why?" Karena couldn't understand why he'd agree to such a ridiculous proposal.
"His brother died because of our insistence on practicing Yang. So, I don't want him to lose this… 'opportunity,' because of another one of our choices." Kalus stated. He continued, "He may only be a six-year-old child, but I think this kind of decision should be made by him as it's directly tied to his future as a cultivator..."
Now clutching onto his son's shoulder, Klaus said, "Go on, Jasper… You can decide if you want to accept her seal and become a Yin Mage. You'll probably turn out to be a splendid Mage if you follow her as she's credited with several ridiculous feats — Most of which you've heard of from the Wushi Tournament. While it's not as likely if you were to become a Martial Practitioner and learn with mediocre Yin cultivation methods… But we won't force you if you don't want to learn from her..."
Taking a step back, the little boy felt the pressure now concentrate on him as he was the one put up to the task of making the call. With everyone's eyes on him, and not a sliver of cultivation to support himself against the titans inside the room, Jasper fell to the floor. "I get to choose?" He felt all the more unsure as his father gave him a nod.
What was this situation to the child? He had just witnessed the two people he most revered in life, his parents, get ruthlessly berated, threatened, and insulted all by a teenaged girl and immediately afterward, his parents didn't lash back and erase her with the supernatural strength they possessed. Instead, they succumbed to the horrifying pressure she emitted and his father, the man he most respected in life, slumped down to prostrate before her…
Such a terrifying girl, such an unexpected scenario… And he had been at the forefront of it all as the girl had called him a fake and a replacement. How was he to react when he looked at his father and saw a hope for him to accept the demon's seal; to become her student and grow as a powerful Yin Mage under her.
'Has she used devilish powers to brainwash them? Should I accept or reject?! I don't know...' He felt he was going insane as this situation was too much for him to take in all at once. "I don't know! I'm scared..." Jasper admitted as he started crying and running over to hide behind his mom; hoping everyone would stop staring at him to make a choice.
"Tsk, tsk. Whatever, think it over and leave. My dad will send you guys the details of my classes when they are finalized. You'll have until the day classes begin to make a decision." With the matter decided, Elizabeth didn't see the Kinsterlings off. She just stayed in the interviewing room, taking about five minutes to manage her emotions before the auditions continued.
Thus the interviews continued as if nothing had happened. However, internally, Elizabeth couldn't quite as easily resolve the turmoil in her heart from seeing the expression on her face. She merely put on a cold front and continued to act as she had before the "unwanted guests" had interrupted her day.