Canvas Town, Tseludia Station, Pantheonic Territory, Fifthmonth, 1634 PTS
“A Hadal?” asked Han, incredulous.
Gen nodded vigorously.
“Not just that, she’s a famous sword demon. Word is that she’s here to take revenge on her own family. Master defeated her in a duel a while back, and that’s why she decided to take a position under him.”
“Really?” asked Shadowblade, peering around the corner where the ‘demonic woman’ was talking with the Vice-Sect Leader. “I wouldn’t have expected them to even be welcome after what happened. I wonder if those two are… you know.”
“Isn’t he with the Vice-Sect Leader?” asked Han.
“I’m not sure,” replied Gen. “That’s what they say, at least. I definitely heard that someone spotted the two of them leaving his room one morning.”
Sha shook his head knowingly.
“I heard it’s happened more than once.”
The three of them had spotted the sect’s newest Elder while making their way from the showers to the mess hall after another training session with their Master. She was having a conversation with the Vice-Sect Leader outside another of the training rooms. They were far enough away that they could not hear what was being said, though Han did find himself curious.
“Anyway, she’s a spirit refiner, right? How strong do you think she is?” Han wondered aloud.
“Stronger than you, idiot,” said Qian from behind the two of them, startling Han. Though he had awakened his soul’s senses, he was not yet practiced enough to be using them all of the time.
“How long have you been there?” he asked, rubbing his cerebral dantian.
She shrugged. Standing beside her, Lin was chuckling.
‘We were curious what you were talking about, but it turned out to be pointless gossip. Where’s Blake? asked Lin.”
“He ran off without us, as usual,” replied Sha. “Wouldn’t it be weirder if he had still been with us?”
“Maybe he left because you keep talking about other people’s love lives, Sha. Last I heard, you had no experience on that front yourself.”
“I have no need for such things,” he said, turning his nose upwards.
Knowing his friend, Han did not find the effort persuasive.
“I’m curious what she’s like, though,” said Gen. “I’ve never met a Hadal.”
Lin smiled, happy to relay gossip.
“Reinwan said that she’s extremely strict when she’s teaching. She made them repeat the basics again and again for hours, apparently.”
“Why were you talking with Reinwan?” asked Gen. “I didn’t realize the two of you were friends.”
Lin shrugged.
“We happened to be sitting near one another during dinner, and besides…” she paused, and turned her gaze to Qian. “...not all of us have what we’re looking for, yet.”
Qian’s face went slightly red as she gave the other girl a scathing glance. Han glanced back and forth between the two of them, trying for a moment before realizing that Lin was talking about her love life.
Did this mean that Qian was dating somebody?, he thought? Han wasn’t sure how he felt about that, but shouldn’t he have known, given all the time they had been spending together? It almost felt like a betrayal for him to be the last to know.
“She’s quite pretty, now that I look closer, ” said Shadowblade suddenly, returning everyone’s attention to their newest Elder, who he was still glancing at around the corner. Taking another glance himself, Han had to agree. From a glance, nobody would be able to guess that her identity was that of a notorious demon. All he could see was the refined air she put on with others, and the elegant. robes and the highly complex braid that she wore.
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Hearing Sha's words, Lin gave him an amused glance.
“She would eat you alive.”
He scowled.
“If we’re discussing women, I’d say I prefer Vice-Sect Leader Rachel's looks,” mused Gen.
Han did not miss the fact that Qian seemed annoyed at the direction the conversation had turned. For some reason, however, she was glaring at Han, even though he had not said a word.
“The Vice-Sect Leader?” Sha paused, hesitating slightly. “Don’t get me wrong, she’s quite pretty, but she’s…” He paused with a chuckle. “I mean, you know what she’s like.”
Han began to nod sagely, but stopped when Qian’s glare intensified. Was she in a bad mood or something?
“A-anyway,” he said, changing the subject, “Aside from the Elder, what was with those rumors of a new Palace being built?”
“I have a friend who works for Ran, and she said the Staiven are building us a hospital,” volunteered Gen. “The Venin Group. Apparently they’ve been investing in the sect for a while now, and Master let them buy in because he’s worried we’ll be attacked again.”
“Master has been quite busy recently,” said Han.
“You mean Rachel and Kein have been busy,” chuckled Sha.
“Since when are you on a first name basis with them?” asked Lin, missing no opportunity to tease the boy. Sha quickly scowled at her words, but before he could reply, they were interrupted by a voice from behind them.
“I’m sure you have better things to do with your time than peeping and gossiping,” said the voice, “Don’t make me tell Cyrus about this.”
Han jumped, startled by the sudden appearance, and turned to see the Vice-Sect Leader glancing at them.
“Ceirra!” cursed Sha. “Give us a warning!”
“Apologies, Vice-Sect Leader!” chanted Lin, who had switched right back into her ‘teacher’s pet’ mode, as the others had come to call it.
Curious, Han turned back to look at Elder Karie, but she was still talking with another Rachel. It seemed one of the two was simply an illusion, though he was obviously unable to tell its flaws in any way. Just how did she do it? It almost felt like her illusory body doubles were the real thing, at times.
“Anyway, just keep it to where she can’t hear you, alright?”
With that, Rachel was suddenly gone, without even the slightest hint of ever having been there. After she was gone, the group of disciples remained silent for a breath, as if she would suddenly return.
“How does she do it, anyway?” Han finally asked, breaking the silence,“I feel like I always see at least two of her running around at any given time.”
“The illusions are one thing, but she was holding two simultaneous conversations, with us and the new Elder!” added Sha. “That would be beyond even my abilities.”
“I think it’s more than two,” mused Gen. “Aren’t the flickering group practicing right now? They use the room after us.”
All of those present knew that Rachel was currently in charge of teaching the flickering disciples, ever since Mung had disappeared,
“Does it matter?” asked Qian. “She’s an extant spirit refiner. Illusions are what she does, so I would expect her to be good with them.”
“...I suppose,” he said, still curious about how she was able to hold multiple conversations at the same time. Even without her illusion magic, it seemed like it might benefit him to learn, but he would simply have to drop the matter if it were a technique exclusive to her miasma.
Everyone had their limits, after all.
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In the past day, Karie had learned several new things about herself. The foremost of which was the fact that she did not enjoy teaching.
Most of her students were of extremely average talent, to the point where she almost felt like the sect had purposefully moved its talents to the other miasmas.Given the number of personal disciples that Cyrus and Orion had taken, Karie was fairly certain there was some truth to the idea.
Among the rubble there was a gem, however. His name was Reinwan Dan, and he was a talent that would have drawn notice even inside of the Hadal Clan. It was a shame that he had only started learning martial arts at this age, but if he was properly trained, his life-span would expand to a more than acceptable length. Had Karie been an old woman at the limits of her own potential, she might have considered taking him as a personal disciple.
In the current circumstances, she believed her time was better spent working on herself. She had far more potential to burn before she would stall. As for Reinwan, she simply appreciated that he understood what she taught him the first time, unlike all of the other brats.
At first, the disciples she had been assigned to were wary of her, and even held a certain amount of hostility towards her. This was nothing surprising, given Juen’s actions here, but it was still an annoyance that Karie did not feel she deserved.
Luckily, she knew a way to handle such issues. She simply had to replicate her mother’s teaching style. Pushing to their physical and mental limits was not only easy, it was also effective at training them to both develop their skills and to fear her. The title of the ‘Jade Empress of Pain’ was not cosmetic, as Karie knew far too well.
And neither, as her students would find, was the name of the Twinjade Demon.
The Twinjade Demon: [A dangerous criminal, formerly a member of the Hadal Clan, the Demon of Twinjade is a reckless and unpredictable terrorist that has been known to use explosives and physical coercion to achieve her aims. The exact nature of these goals is unknown, but the Justice Office has promised to handle any and all demons within Tseludia Station's boundaries. While her exact goals remain unknown, informants within the clan have claimed her goal may be to take revenge on her relatives, so it is suspected that she might stop laying low in order to involve herself once more in the ongoing hostilities between the residents of districts 3 and 6. Furthermore, there are rumors that she may have been harbored by underworld organizations around the area, a matter which is currently under investigation by our hardworking friends of the Justice Office.]