Chapter 102

“You know,” Emily said, leaning in close enough for her chest to brush up against his torso, her ears angled slightly back. “We only agreed to put off celebrating your birthday due to exams,” she said, giving him quite the annoyed look.

“Yeah, but I’m still only ‘9’ years old,” he said, not quite understanding why they were making a big deal of it. According to what he was used to, only birthdays that doubled your age were “important”, and thus celebrated.

“So?”

“It’s not like I’m turning sixteen or anything,” he said slowly, trying very hard to get where she was coming from.

It wasn’t just Emily, but the rest of the Study Group as well. They’d all gathered at his place after they’d taken a detour to their own residences to get prepared for what was planned.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Kassandra asked, looking genuinely puzzled.

“Don’t people normally only throw a big party…” he started, then explained the celebratory customs of his Clan.

“Joram?”

“Yes, Alyraele?”

“Your clan is… exceptionally… odd,” she said, trying to be as diplomatic as she could be.

“They’re just plain weird,” Sophia piped in. “Who does that anyway? Birthdays are supposed to be celebrated every year until you reach twenty-one,” she said, nodding to herself sagely.

“Fifty,” Gabrielle piped in quietly.

“One hundred for us,” Jae-Eun said, raising her hand as though she was still in class.

Joram looked around at the confused beauties around him, then shook his head.

“But heading off to the Heaven’s Bounty Restaurant is a bit much, isn’t it?” He practically pleaded, not wanting to go to the sister-company of the Heaven’s Bounty Auction House.

“No helping it,” Alicia said from the side, shaking her head. “Once Miss Layla learned about you from Kinkade and Asura, there was no going back.”

Joram really didn’t want to be seen as ungrateful to Miss Layla, as she’d been the one- outside of his immediate family and Avi- to help him the most over the years. Not that she knew it at the time, but that didn’t negate how indebted he felt towards her and her generosity towards them.

“I’ll kick Kinkade later,” he grumbled.

“Are you sure you can take him?” Daleira taunted. “He’s built much more solidly than you are.”

Joram just gave her a blank look. He hadn’t as yet shared that Kinkade was effectively just his “clone”, nor that Asura shared the same connection to Avi/Alicia. He was about to spill the beans when his aforementioned girlfriend poked him in the side.

‘No,’ she sent, her tone indicating that he had no room to negotiate the point.

“Anyway,” he said, clearing his throat. “If you’re all so set on going, then let’s just get going,” he said, heading for the door.

Before he got two steps, his arms were caught by Emily and Kassandra, both holding on for dear life as they were nearly pulled off their feet.

“What’s going on?” He asked suspiciously, his eyes narrowing slightly.

“You’re not going dressed like that,” Kassandra said, looking up slightly so that their eyes could meet.

“It’s the school uniform. What’s wrong with it?”

“It’s not formal wear,” Kassandra explained, sounding slightly exasperated. “We’ve been over this. Appropriate attire for the venue.”

“What do you have in mind…?” He asked slowly, suddenly having a premonition of things to come.

“We just need to get some formalwear,” she said, a glint in her eyes telling him that this had been premeditated.

- - -

Joram felt like an overworked runway model.

The whole cohort had come along, along with Bai Lian, Mo Yu, Wentian, Aya, Jezira, and even Megami. They’d spent the last hour at Francois’ Finery, one of the capital’s most sought-after and expensive clothing stores. He very much suspected that someone had either made an appointment ahead of time, given just how busy the place was normally, or they had pulled some strings.

Either way, he had been forced to model outfit after outfit for the Study Group and any employee “lucky” enough to be passing by at the time. Which happened to be a suspiciously large number of them.

“Is this one good?” He asked, hoping that they’d let him off the hook soon.

‘Nah, it’s their way of “paying” you back for helping all of them with their viridian silk clothing,’ Avi sent, amusement thick in her tone.

‘It was done in seconds! Why the prolonged torture?!’

The Study Group hummed and hawed, exchanging opinions amongst themselves for a few minutes before Emily spoke up for the group.

“This one should do,” she said, nodding to herself.

Joram took in the outfit he found himself in and sighed a bit.

It seemed as though fashion had veered towards “well fitted”. The pants were almost “skinny jeans” in how they fit, something that he’d openly mocked back on Earth. The shirt wasn’t much better, but was a weird cross between a dress shirt and a skin suit. It had a collar, cuff, and buttons. But was so well fitted that if it weren’t made using a very stretchy material, he could have torn it to shreds with a sneeze.

The jacket was slightly better, but was still well-fitted. Fortunately, the shoulders were a bit looser, so that saved the article of clothing from a short life.

“It’s a good thing I like you guys so much,” he murmured with a sigh.

That got him varied reactions from a tongue stuck out at him to a mild glare.

“Really, you look great,” Alyraele said, fussing over his lapels. “But with how much your personal style stands out, I’m sure that you’ll blend in better this way,” she finished with a smile.

Joram was glad that Alyraele was back to being herself again. After the debacle with House Arabanise, she’d withdrawn a bit, seemingly nervous about him. But after a few, obligatory, dates, she’d warmed up again. Now? Now she practically fussed over him whenever she had the chance.

Which, really, wasn’t that bad. That is, if the others hadn’t started acting like a stereotypical girlfriend as well. He was beyond astonished that they didn’t act jealous of each other; probably a throwback from his Earthly upbringing. No, in fact they had become the best of friends, even Bai Lian and Mo Yu. He wasn’t sure what was behind it all, but was glad that he’d at least be spared the ridiculous drama normally portrayed in popular media back on Earth.

That said, he was surprised that even Magami had started to hang out with them when she wasn’t practicing Artifice. At first, he’d thought that she was just getting to know everyone better, but soon found that she spent just a little bit more time with Wentian than anyone else. Not only that, but he soon found that Wentian, himself, started to dress just a bit better than he normally did.

Compared to the veritable avalanche he’d been subjected to, Megami and Wentian seemed to be taking things a bit slower. Probably because they weren’t as “sure” as the Study Group had been about wanting to pursue Joram. But, that was a good thing for the couple.

Joram was still unsure of how to proceed with things. Yes, they’d all grown closer over the past months. Yes, he’d gotten more comfortable being in social situations and even with opening up more with others. But. He was still working out his (irrational?) fears regarding serious relationships, let alone with more than one person!

As it was, he only shared a close and physically intimate relationship with Avi so far. It didn’t matter to him that over the past few months almost every one of the young women’s families had practically “given” them to him; more than suggesting starting up his own house and line with them.

Yes, it was exceptionally hard to reign in his bloodlines-fueled libido when around such beautiful women. Yes, [Barred Mind, Personal] had been doing more than a little bit of heavy lifting. If not for the added boost to his willpower that came with that Power, he was sure that he’d have started copulating with them long ago, the emotional consequences be damned.

“One time,” he said, looking down at his pants that must also contain some elastic materials in them, and frowned. It was one thing to wear a combat suit that was skintight, but quite another to wear “formalwear” that also happened to fit similarly.

“Oh, I’m sure that we can convince you otherwise,” Daleira said, a wickedly mischievous smirk twisting her lips.

He looked around, and got a general sense of approval for what Daleira had said, then shook his head.

“Nope.”

Now, even though they paid, left and made their way to the restaurant, the conversation didn’t end there. It just shifted to the Network where others couldn’t overhear it. Given their insistence that he comply to their demands, he eventually just muted the channel as he presented his student card to the staff at the restaurant to confirm his identity.

Soon enough, they were led to a large, roped-off section of the restaurant… on the third floor. It seemed as though the various membership tiers of the Auction House correlated with the floors of the restaurant and which you were allowed to access.

As soon as he saw the section, he knew that it was meant for them. Miss Layla, Aenwyn, Kinkade, and Asura were already there, dressed to the nines, as it were.

Asura was, well, Asura. She’d turn heads in a paper bag. Kinkade, cut a fine figure in his wonderfully not skintight suit. Miss Layla and Aenwyn, however, proved to be even more stunning than what they normally wore for work.

Which explained why he felt the guards of every member of the Study Group go up over the Network when they saw who was waiting for them.

“It is so good to finally meet you, Mr Aneath,” Miss Layla said, extending her slender hand for him to shake.

“Please, just Joram,” he said, then took her hand in his and gave it a quick pump, conscious of the group of young women behind him.

“Then I won’t stand on ceremony if you won’t,” Miss Layla replied with a dazzling smile before turning to the rest of the group. “Please, sit. We can speak freely here.”

It didn’t take long for everyone to be introduced, even the Trio. Miss Layla treated everyone like a friend, which surprised Joram a bit. Every time he’d met her in the past, she’d always treated both him and Avi, well, Kinkade and Asura, very professionally. Sure, she’d been warm with them, but always professional. Now?

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Now, she seemed to have… thawed a bit. Come out of her professional shell, as it were. Even Aenwyn, who was amused at hearing Faenwyn’s name, seemed more relaxed than while at the Auction House.

Dinner passed reasonably well, the conversation light, but still engaging. Then came dessert.

“~Happy Birthday, to you,~”

Joram froze, his perception focusing on the staff members bringing out a very large cake, flanked by yet more staff members who were singing.

Now, the words weren’t exactly the same as what he’d grown up on Earth hearing, but he chose to translate it that way, especially when his whole party took up singing as well. He was also pleasantly surprised to find out that everyone could sing well. Sure, most wouldn’t be able to make a career of it, but Jae-Eun, Alyraele, Kassandra, Renna, and even Emily sounded fantastic to the point of him seriously considering making a girl-band with them as the main vocalists.

When the singing finished, and he managed to clear the embarrassment from his face, he thanked them all, not quite able to meet their eyes.

* * * * *

Layla was having much more fun than she’d initially thought she would.

Even though she’d “done her homework” and had each of the “Study Group” thoroughly investigated, she hadn’t expected them to be as amiable as they were. Sure, their collective guard had been up when they’d first met, but they’d all soon relaxed when Joram continued to act as though nothing was wrong. As though he wasn’t in the company of many stunning women, let alone her and Aenwyn.

For her part, she’d been a bit nervous to finally meet the one responsible for creating the Viridian Silk, and its subsequent production. She had honestly wondered if she’d get the same… vibe as she got from Kinkade and Asura, but had very pleased when taking Joram’s hand in hers.

He wasn’t some sort of projection. He was a real live person.

Yes, his body seemed beyond weird to her, especially given what she’d “learned” about him through the investigations she’d ordered be conducted on him. At first, she felt that her people had gotten it right, that he didn’t have a magical cultivation beyond what body refining had done to him. But as the night progressed, and she’d found the opportunities to casually touch him for one reason or another, made easy by him sitting to her right, she’d started to feel that there was more to him than what people knew.

Even though she usually worked at a problem until it was solved, she let it go for now. She’d have plenty of time in the future to figure things out, after all. Especially since they were business partners.

Layla smiled when she saw Joram stiffen up when the staff came out singing. She didn’t stop smiling even as he thanked everyone for their kindness, his face still a bit red.

“A gift for both our first meeting, and for your birthday,” she said, then handed him a golden envelope.

Joram regarded her for a moment, seeming to almost look into her soul with how intensely he searched her eyes. It was all that she could do to keep her face calm and cool. She hadn’t felt such an intense gaze in a long time; not since meeting the Chairman of Heaven’s Bounty Auction House.

After what felt like much longer than it really was, Joram broke eye contact to carefully open the golden envelope. He then extracted the crystalline card inside and held it up for inspection.

As expected, almost everyone reacted in one way or another when they saw the card. Anything from a gasp of surprise all the way to exclamations were heard. It took a few minutes for them to quiet down, but when they did, Joram once again looked at her with his intense green eyes.

“I’m sorry, this is too much,” he said, even going so far as to twist in his chair to present the card to her with both hands.

“Nonsense,” she said casually, waving it off. “You’re a very important young man; someone to cultivate a good relationship with. A mere membership card could be said to be an insufficient gift,” she said, unconsciously sliding back into her professional persona.

“Hmm, well, then I should reciprocate meeting such an important person as well,” he said, making her eyes widen slightly, catching her by surprise. “It’s not much, but maybe you can have a jeweler set it into something,” he said, then handed her something small and cool.

When his hand came away, it was her turn to gasp in shock.

At first she thought he’d given her an amethyst that seemed to perfectly match her eye colour. But then her keen appraisal skills kicked in and she nearly gasped again. It wasn’t an amethyst, but a topaz. Even though it was larger than the ones she’d seen in the past, and again more recently, she recognized the cut and nearly gasped yet again.

Her eyes slowly made their way up to Joram’s, stopping several times along the way as she tried to calm her rapidly beating heart. Eventually their eyes met and she was sure that he’d deliberately given her that gem, if the mirth in his eyes was anything to go by, just to shock her.

“I’m sorry, but this is far too valuable,” she said, trying hand the priceless artifact back even though she was certain that he’d refuse her refusal.

“Don’t worry about such trivial things,” Joram said, waving at her as though he was trying to wave away her protests.

Aenwyn had leaned over to see what had caused such a reaction from her, studied the gem for a few moments, then nearly fell out of her chair when Joram finished talking.

Before she could say anything, Joram forestalled her by raising a palm to her.

“You’ve treated Asura and Kinkade well over the years, so this really is nothing to worry about,” he said, a soft smile intruding into his amused expression.

The room was much quieter than she thought it should be, but she didn’t break eye contact with Joram for a few minutes as she studied him in greater detail.

For as young as he looked, and for what was written on his application to the Academy, he had a maturity about him that belied his age. Now, there could have been many reasons for that. Anything from lying on his application to him being….

Her eyes widened again, but this time she managed to control herself enough to not be considered “gaping” at Joram. From her side, Aenwyn noticed her reaction, but kept her own expression from changing.

“I should very much like to speak with you another day,” she said, putting on her best smile for him. “Would it be possible to meet with you soon?” She asked, hoping that her pounding heart couldn’t be heard by everyone in the ridiculously quiet room.

“Sure, I think that’d be good,” he said, then nodded towards Asura and Kinkade. “I’m sure we’ll all have a productive meeting,” he finished, deftly framing their future rendezvous as a business meeting.

“Excellent,” she said, still smiling. “Now, who’s up for some cake? I hear that this recipe is quite popular these days,” she said, then motioned for the staff to start serving everyone up.

When everyone started to smile to one degree or another, Layla grew curious. Especially after everyone had taken at least one sampling of the cake. She knew very well just how amazing the “chocolate” cake was, so their lack of reaction raised a few flags.

“Oh, have you tried chocolate cake before?” She asked mildly, inserting just enough curiosity into her tone so that her question wouldn’t be taken the wrong way.

“Does the restaurant make it here?” Alicia asked instead of answering, her tone equally mild and curious.

“I believe so,” she said, nodding.

“My café specializes in chocolate desserts. I’ll have to be sure to keep an eye out for culinary… scouts,” she said, frowning slightly at the end.

“Oh, I didn’t know,” she said, silently cursing the hole in her intelligence on Joram’s girlfriend. “I’ll have to inquire with the staff.”

Alicia nodded her appreciation, then retrieved an absolutely decadent looking slice of… cake?, from her storage ring and sent it over to her with a bit of telekinesis.

“You should try our ‘death by chocolate’,” she said with a twinkle in her eyes.

Layla looked down at the slice of “death”, activating a few spells that checked for poisons and such. Then, to her great surprise, Joram burst out laughing.

“It’s just called that because of how rich the dessert is,” he said after a moment. “Nothing to do with actually dying or anything like that.”

Layla supressed a blush before taking up her fork, giving Joram a slight nod, then taking a small sample.

She didn’t know how to describe the riot of happiness and joy that assaulted her tongue, but it was fantastic. The layers of frosting… or something that she’d initially taken as frosting, melted in her mouth. It wasn’t heavy, but light and airy. The cake itself was fluffier than anything she’d had to date, while retaining just the right level of moisture.

She found that there were slivers of hard…er chocolate that nevertheless melted away as they touched her tongue. The chocolate slivers ranged from light and sweet all the way to almost bitter. But they all played so well with each other that the contrast just made the cake that much better.

Layla looked down at the slice of cake she’d had a few forks of, then back at the “death by chocolate”.

“I’m afraid that you’ve thoroughly ruined me,” Layla said, looking Alicia in the eye. “I don’t think that anyone will be able to compare.”

Alicia beamed at the compliment before speaking.

“Well, if you like it that much, why don’t you drop by Starfall Café sometime? We’ve got plenty of comparable dishes that I’m sure you’d enjoy.”

Layla perked up at that, her years of negotiations kicking in so that both her tone and body language weren’t seen as too eager.

“I would enjoy that, thank you.”

From there, the evening wound down; the conversations turning less “social gathering” and more personal. Talk of classes, assignments, work, and business started taking place. She enjoyed listening in whenever she wasn’t speaking with Joram, or one of his many… “friends”.

She wasn’t sure what to make of that, as both her reports and her own observations corroborated one another. The “Study Group” was pretty well enamoured with Joram, and she could see why.

But what really caught her interest was how Joram and Alicia interacted with each other and those around them.

As the night wore one, she was more convinced than ever that her suspicions were correct. For, no one surrounded by that many beautiful women, and being so young, would behave the same way that Joram was.

Eventually, everyone took their leave. Joram’s group leaving just her, Aenwyn, Asura, and Kinkade behind. Not that they lingered much longer, but they did spend a few minutes confirming a few business-related issues.

Once home, Layla lay back on her bed after having changed into something more comfortable and started really going over her time with Joram Aneath in her head. The whole evening played through her mind’s eye, then replayed again and again. Sometimes she’d go over one part dozens of times, but mostly just a few repetitions was good enough for her.

Except for her handshakes with Joram.

Those, she went over hundreds of times.

Every detail was gone over. From the texture of his hand, the solidity of the “shake” and his grasp, all the way to how it almost felt like shaking hands with someone wearing a gauntlet for how much give his skin had. Then there was his cultivation.

Over the years, due to her stubborn nature and genuine curiosity, she’d made some minor progress in Mentalism. Now, said progress wasn’t anything to write home about, nor would she ever find a career as an Artificer, Alchemist, or Array Master. But it had been enough to allow her to know if Mental Strength was being used around her, on her, or even if the person she was meeting was a Mentalist.

Yes, both her personal findings and the reports on Joram confirmed that he was indeed a very strong Mentalist. But between sensing for his cultivation as a Mentalist and her checking to see if he was a Mage, she’d gotten a… weird feeling from him.

Yes, he was a body cultivator and refiner, so the low-levels of mana in his system were to be expected. But the odd… resonance, she’d felt as her own mana and Mental Strength came into contact with him was, well, odd. She’d never felt anything like it before.

So it was that Layla lay in bed all night thinking, worrying at the problem; trying to figure out what it all meant.

* * * * *

Ivaryn was vexed.

Not only had his wife and her grandmother gone off to cultivate, but they’d also left him in charge of the Clan. Sure, many in the Clan had expressed interest in changing the Clan from a matriarchal one into a merit-based one. One where your achievements, learning, and cultivation determined who led the Clan, not lineage.

He was sure that lineage would play a role in the selection of the Clan… leader? Whatever they’d wind up calling the position, he was sure that lineage would indeed play a not insignificant role in determining the person’s eligibility.

He looked out his window, taking note of the overcast sky. It was the rain season now, so that meant less sunlight. Less sunlight to encourage the gardens to continue growing and blooming without external aid. Just another thing to think about, keeping up appearances and all that.

The Clan’s property in Stormhaven was very large compared to many of the others in the mid-sized city. That it was now re-occupied, many people had been stopping by to pay their respects, try to get to know them, or anything else that crossed their minds.

Ivaryn looked back at the stack of paperwork he was procrastinating tackling. He sighed.

Sulia was the academic. He was the fighter. A man of action. Decisiveness. Getting covered in the blood of his enemies to protect his wife, family, and Clan.

Not paperwork.

He very nearly got up to go find Joram and dump the mess of headaches on him and escape to cultivate alongside his wife.

But he didn’t.

That Joram had dumped several tens of slaves in his lap over the course of the last several months wouldn’t have been too much of an issue. Except his… unique son hadn’t done anything else. No instructions. Nothing.

From speaking with that Avi girl, he’d found out that Joram was very much against slavery. Sure, that was all fine and good and all that. So, why had he gone and purchased so many slaves? There wasn’t even a commonality between them besides being relatively young.

“’Just take care of them’, he says. Like that’s easy with how things are in the Clan right now,” Ivaryn muttered bitterly.

“At least some funds seem to be coming in to help with things,” he said, continuing talking to himself. “But what about the many branches of the Clan? I was hoping that he’d help with re-establishing the teleportation network. But noooooo~. He’s out there spending his time with all those young women. Geeze, where’d he get that from?” Ivaryn finished, shaking his head.

“Spending time with other young women, Uncle?”

Ivaryn froze, then looked over to see that Xixi had slipped into his office while he’d been distracted.

He couldn’t believe how tall she’d already gotten, now looking like a tall willow tree, all lithe and slender. Her hair had darkened, just like everyone else’s in the Clan as they grew up, now a deep indigo bordering on purple. The green loch of hair in her bangs had also darkened, now much closer to her mother’s deep forest green hair.

*Ahem*

“He’s busy with the study group that he and Avi organized shortly after starting at the Academy,” he said, hoping that she’d accept that explanation.

“Studying is important…” Xiora said, eying him as though she suspected he was trying to hide something. “So, are the preparations for the celebrations coming along?”

Ivaryn was once again stunned at just how mature, and how well-spoken Xiora had become in the past half year. That she was speaking like an adult already wasn’t too odd given how focussed the Clan was on education. But the level of maturity he could see in her personality was weird.

Well, he guessed that Joram had been weird like that too. But Joram was a Reincarnator, so that explained that. For all they could tell, Xiora was “normal” in that respect. Just… advanced for her age.

“The preparations for the New Year’s Celebration, and all of your birthdays, is well in hand,” he said, nodding.

“Do you think that Joram will attend?” Xiora asked calmly, but Ivaryn could tell that she was very much looking forward to having everyone there. Especially his son.

“I’ll make sure he’s there,” he replied with a smile that didn’t seem to convince Xiora.

“I’ll look forward to it,” Xiora said, then gave a polite bow before leaving his office.

“That little brat had better make it,” Ivaryn grumbled to himself as he once again looked down at the pile of paperwork waiting for him. “Demons’ balls! This sucks,” he said, then got to work.

Someone had to do it after all.