Zerle casually strolled down the mountain at sunset, brows furrowed as he looked into the distance. He almost didn’t feel the disturbance of blood qi in the air as he approached the hut, but when he felt it, Zerle’s brows jumped and he rushed into his home with all the speed he had. Eon was on the floor coughing congealed blood onto the floor as he convulsed. The blood was wriggling like it was full of worms desperately seeking soil.
Sophia was desperately using several techniques to stabilize Eon, and for once her neutral expression had broke, leaving a deep frown had been carved into her face as sweat trickled down her face.
She hadn’t noticed that Zerle had even entered until he had placed his hand on Eon’s head, activating his qi perception to analyze Eon’s body directly. There was catastrophic turmoil in his blood qi surrounding Eon’s acupoint that he had been collecting impurities around. The acupoint, which looked like just a shimmer in Eon’s blood qi typically, was violently shaking, appearing on the verge of splitting.
This was unexpected by Zerle, and he had never seen something like this before, so he was at a loss for what to do other than help Sophia prevent the blood qi from splitting apart. They worked hard, but it was like trying to stop a sinking ship with a bucket, and eventually, the acupoint and the blood qi which formed it shattered like an egg, sending Eon to spasm even more violently than before.
The remains of the acupoint were a vacuum, sucking all of the surrounding blood qi in like a black hole eating a star. After a moment’s hesitation, Zerle used all of the true qi he had to make a barrier to surround the acupoint, preventing any more blood qi from being sucked in. He also needed to use some of his blood qi to make sure that the barrier would remain stable and wouldn’t hurt Eon even more.
Fortunately, it worked, and the barrier only rippled softly as the starving acupoint pulled on it. For someone as frail with age and crippled as Zerle, using his blood qi in such a manner would definitely incur a heavy backlash, but for right now it would be fine. Eon finally stopped convulsing, and he sat up while clutching his head.
Eon groggily asked, “What the hell happened?”
“You tell me. What the hell did you two think you were doing, how did this happen!” Zerle asked, anger evident in his voice.
Sophia chimed in quietly “I was just guiding Eon along to find his impurities and gather them as usual when his acupoint began to break down after he collected another lump of them. I tried to contact you, but you didn’t respond…”
Zerle looked down at his bracelet which was usually kept hidden under the cuff of his purple robe. The gem on the top was flashing red and buzzing, and seeing that Zerle’s expression sank. He was in deep thought since he had left the mountain peak and missed the emergency notification.
“So, this is my fault… Yes, I should have known better. Sophia, while you have a certain level of talent, you are still young, meaning you lack knowledge and experience, not to mention that you are still only in the mid-body tempering stage. Eon is going down an unknown path with thorns unseen by you and me alike. I have been too lax in Eon’s cultivation since everything was going well, so I allowed you to step in when I wasn’t here. I have been a fool.” Zerle said with eyes that seemed more wrinkled than before.
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“I apologize Eon, because of my negligence, you very well could have died tonight. It has been much too long since I have been a real master, and I have forgotten some of what that means. The responsibilities I have to you. This is a great sin for any master.” Zerle stood up and grimaced, putting his hand on his chest. He was feeling the backlash in his body from using the blood qi.
“I need to talk to both of you, but first I need some rest. You should leave for tonight, I will contact Sophia and have her bring you to me when I am ready.” Zerle said as he pointed at Eon. He then stumbled into his room and shut the door.
The following silence was deafening, and Eon and Sophia were unable to make eye contact. Although they had spent some time together with Sophia helping out Eon and them having meals together here and there, they were still only acquaintances, and Eon nearly dying had made things very awkward. Sophia was always formal towards Eon, so he had never taken the initiative to get to know her outside of some basic formalities.
After a while, the two of them wordlessly stood up and walked through the door out into the last rays of the setting sun. Eon looked straightforward, trying to think of something to say, but was left completely at a loss. He mentally cursed himself for still being totally clueless socially, feeling that he should say something to help smooth things over. Then, Eon heard a shaky breath next to him, causing him to turn his head. His eyes widened as he looked at Sophia.
Her eyes were puffy and she was attempting to wipe away tears, silently crying. Eon was stunned and nearly tripped over his own feet. The loss of blood qi had weakened his coordination, and he was still getting used to moving after the loss of bodily revelation. He caught himself, but it brought the two of them to a halt as they seemed to be unconsciously walking together.
Eon, not sure what to do in this situation, instinctively reached out and hugged Sophia. Sophia looked down with wide eyes at Eon, but she didn’t try to move away. She buried her head into Eon’s shoulder and began to sob.
After several minutes, Sophia’s sobs quieted and faltered, being reduced to heavy sniffles. Eon gently pulled away and looked at Sophia. It felt strange seeing her like this. Sophia was normally quite cool and collected, and only a couple of times around Zerle did she show so much as a slight expression.
This situation was far beyond Eon’s understanding of Sophia’s personality. He had always felt that Sophia was someone who couldn’t really be approached or fazed: like there was something in the air around her that kept everyone but Zerle at arm’s length. Eon thought that he was nothing more than an experiment to her, a resource to consult for her cultivation breakthrough. Nothing, in particular, other than Zerle and cultivation seemed important to her.
Eon never thought that he would see something like this from Sophia, and he had a realization, that he was just projecting his insecurities onto her. Sophia was her own person with her own thoughts and feelings, he simply didn’t attempt to get closer to her because he feared that she would reject him just like his peers on Earth had. She wasn’t the problem, he was.
Eon felt like an idiot. He vowed to himself to try to be more open to others, and that he was being cruel by not considering other people’s feelings. Thinking to himself, Eon slowly pulled Sophia away by the shoulders and made eye contact with her.
Eon asked, “My room is just up ahead, and it’s private. Would you like to come up?”