At seven in the night.
Edgar and Bontu had been tailing Kane since morning. He didn’t wear the green scarf at any time, and he didn’t show any signs of making deals with people either.
“This guy looked so dull since the morning,” Edgar kept his eyes on Kane like a cat would on a little lizard. “Did someone from his family recently die or something?”
“From what I’ve seen, he’s always looked like that,” Bontu was nibbling on a mulberry leaf. “But looks can be deceiving, you know. By the way, where did you buy the palmyra sprouts? They were superb.”
“I didn’t buy them. I found them on the way while I was returning from the eastern shore,” said Edgar. “He’s entering the wood
The next morning.Edgar woke up only to find himself sleeping next to Bontu in what seemed like an open garden. And to his shock, Kane was asleep on the other side of Bontu. All their wounds seemed to have been taken care of.Edgar just noticed that in the distance, an old man was fishing in a pond, sitting on a rock like a sturdy tree. Though he couldn’t clearly see the face, he remembered that attire. It was Gavin.After tying up Kane to a tree, Edgar then went to the pond.“I was expecting you to wake up,” Gavin said without even looking back. The pole-holding arm was absolutely still.“I… I didn’t get to thank you last time in the discipline hall,” Edgar bowed more than just a li
Gavin cooked deboned fish soup and made six bowls of it. He put four bowls outside the house and kept staring at the skies.Soon, some crows came and filled their bellies and satisfiedly cawed a few times before they left. Only afterward, he started eating from his bowl.Helia arrived there and bowed. “High Elder, the assassin was from Metal Panthers.”“That’s not a gang from this region, is it?” he gave her the sixth bowl.“Yes,” she took the bowl and sipped some soup and crunched on a fried piece of fish. “It’s surprising that he managed to slip through our perimeter defenses and enter the sect’s grounds.”“Did you find out who sent him?” Gavin fi
After seeing his reflection in the water drop, Edgar was greatly surprised.The water drop had a form that wasn’t permanent. Its shape would fit the container it was in. It didn’t maintain its individuality in a group either. It could mix with other water drops and lose its identity. It could be absorbed by the skin or the ground. This made Edgar wonder if the water drop he was seeing was in its original form or not. There was no such thing as a complete water drop. One drop would merge with another, and together they become one. That was the water’s property.But then what about Drive? He thought.Whenever he released Drive, he felt like he was in a hot pool, but then he could breathe like a fish would in water.Though he didn’t feel uncomfortabl
In the evening of the same day.Unlike Bontu, Edgar didn’t hunt the fish or swim in the pond. He simply floated on the surface, his eyes looking up at the sky. He was trying to constantly and smoothly release the drive from his back to keep himself floated. He could do it normally, but he was trying to use drive to pull this off, and he was succeeding.“I was wrong. All this while, I’ve been totally thinking in a wrong way,” Edgar thought. “The tiny gaps in the fabric doesn’t really matter. What matters is knowing how you’re affecting things. As long as I’m clear with what I’m doing, the drive does what I ask of it.”About a minute later, his body started dipping into the water. “A little over three minutes is my current limit.”
Three days later.Edgar was sitting at the bottom of the pond. He slowly released his drive, creating only a minute disturbance, but it was more than enough to alert the nearby fishes; they swam away.Helia was also sitting at the bottom of the pond at a different spot, about twenty meters away from Edgar, but her drive leaked out so smoothly there was no disturbance around her, and fish swam through her drive without a problem whatsoever.Edgar eventually swam to the surface and looked frustrated. “What’s gotten into her? Since yesterday, she’s been copying my moves and showing off that she can do it better.”Helia also came to the surface and observed Edgar.“There she goes again.” He flo
Helia was sitting by the pond, staring at the small waves spreading about on the water surface.“Water and life… What a strange connection they have. No matter how much one fills or purifies, the other still thirsts and pollutes. It’s almost as if living itself is a curse.”At the moment, she could see the glittering reflection of the sun, the fish swimming about, the plants growing underwater, and also the groundwater slowly rising up into the pond. It looked peaceful on the surface, but if one looked closely, there was one type of fish busy eating snails, and another type fighting for territory. There were also those aggressive fish that naturally disrupted the peace in the pond. The proceedings of the pond reminded her of human society in general. People mainly competed or fought for resources. Even if they had resources, they would
In the Great Joint.Fabby was standing outside a room. A beautiful pink-haired girl who lost one of her legs was standing next to her, wearing a sad and angry face.“This is their room, right?” asked Fabby.“Yes, sister. They attacked me out of nowhere and not only stole my evergreat coins but also fed my leg to beasts,” she frustratingly said. She had a mole on her forehead. “I come from a poor family. With the state I’m in, I can’t earn enough to pay a great healer who can make my leg grow. My whole future has been spoiled by these two. Even if I go to the discipline hall, they won’t act. So I’ve come to you. Since you already have bad blood with them, even if you were to hurt them, the discipline hall won’t act. Please bring justice. I beg of you.”
The sun just started slipping below the horizon.“T-Thank you, sister,” Lily approached Fabby and bowed, shed tears and sounded emotional.“You don’t need to thank me,” Fabby could feel the weight in her words and more. “I partly did it myself as well. If there’s anything else I can do for you, then feel free to ask.”“Then please die for me!” A knife appeared in Lily’s hand, and she thrust it straight toward Fabby’s throat. She was too close, and Fabby was utterly stunned. She didn’t even have any time to react.A blurry figure whooshed past Lily, and the next second, she realized that the knife was gone.Fabby, who saw death up close, was still in