That night, after the Halloween event was over, Lotus found herself back in her dream realm once more. She reached out and touched the waters before she decided to go over to the peak with the lilies, dry grass and large boulders. She reached over to what looked like a river and sat next to it as she began to cultivate.
Knowing Leona, the guy was probably still napping somewhere or coming up the mountainside for a better sleeping spot. It was only after circulating the energy in her body that she noticed something was off, which surprised her. The fire qi she had absorbed at Heartslaybyul's peak had vanished!
She raised a brow in bewilderment and paused before checking it out immediately. She looked into her body's dantian and couldn't find anything. She paused for a bit before getting up and returning to the previous peak.
She touched the waters of the pond filled with fire qi. She thought for a bit before stepping out onto the waters. She drew in the energy from the pond into her body and began to track its flow till she found the source being her chest dantian. The area was sweltering hot and filled with the fire qi she had gathered before. No matter how much she absorbed. It just wasn't enough. She remained quietly absorbing the energy and examining the source again. There was no form to this source and it had continued to eat away at her fire qi. She stopped and got off the water's surface before making it back onto the land with a frown and a hand on her chin in confusion.
She had yet to find the problem with her body and the energy she had used had always been off. Aside from that, her eyes is still an enigma she had yet to understand fully. Then, there was her body...
Not far from her, Riddle stood at a distance with the others as they had witnessed the strange occurrence. They had seen the dense ball of mana that was formed between her hands that had been a radiating disappear when she broke her own concentration. She had also stepped off the pool with ease as well to which Riddle speculated was from using mana without actually casting magic.
"This is the first time I've seen mana being used this way..." Riddle noted to himself seemingly curious.
"Riddle, what was she doing?" Trey questioned curiously.
"It was most likely absorbing mana into her body." Riddle responded, "This is my first time seeing this too, but why did she stop?"
"This is cultivating?" Cater said nervously, "It looks more like a constant use of magic to me..."
Seeing her lost in her own thoughts, Cater whispered, "What do you think she's thinking?"
Trey pondered curiously as well at the idea of the mind of this strange individual. However, Riddle stepped forward to their bewilderment.
"R-Riddle?!"
However, Trey's voice didn't stop the small leader as he called over to her, "What's the matter?"
Peony looked over to him and answered, "It's like this. I've been cultivating recently. However, I've noticed that the fire element qi that I've absorbed have vanished somewhere into my body. If this goes on, I won't be able to cultivate properly or even grow stronger at all. You could say this dilemma have become a blockade for me now."
Riddle looked to her in confusion, "Does this happen often?"
Peony nodded, "That's right. Cultivation is never a straight forward path. We always come across walls where we just keep gathering mana but never promote our strength. We often call that a bottleneck point. Full, but never bursting. However, my case is different. Something in me is preventing me from absorbing the fire qi. As if something else is eating it away."
"Would this become a problem against those intruders?" Riddle questioned rather concerned.
She shook her head, "No. They'll eventually die away on their own. I'll even erase their chance of returning as vengeful ghosts so no worries."
"Besides," She added with a mischevious smirk, "I already have a helper on hand."
"Eh?" Cater and Trey looked to her in bewilderment.
"He's already gave away my identity. How can I just let this go?" Peony sighed, "That's why Lotus will have to work under me during the time he's in Night Raven College. His knowledge in alchemy is so-so, but it can work. Since I just need him to run some errands during the day. In exchange, I'll unlock his meridians after graduation."
"Eh?!" Riddle looked to her in surprise, "But I heard that he can't cultivate?"
"Not right now he can't." Peony explained, "But, that's because he has no one to help him unlock it. He was born with his meridians blocked due to his mixed heritage. Basically, one of his ancestors isn't human. Something like that can also affect his ability to use qi, rendering him in a trash-like state."
"Seriously?" Cater looked up in disbelief, "Then... he might be able to use magic too?"
Peony hummed in thought before responding, "I don't know about that. I haven't tried using magic yet and I don't have a tool to use it safely. I don't wanna see what would happen if I end up having blot in me."
"Ah, that's right!" Riddle spoke up as he recalled something, "Do you remember the Zhi Lily pill you handed me?"
Peony nodded with a sigh, "I've already cleared the waters with an purification already."
"Eh?" Cater shook his head, "But that doesn't sound correct. You see, one of the freshmen could suddenly read the characters already."
"Hm?" Peony looked to him in surprise, "Who?"
"A student called Ace Trappola." Trey responded, "He came to the lounge after we were preparing for an event and found us reading one of Lotus's books. He could suddenly understand the books' characters. Just what language are they?"
"They're old characters is all I can say." Peony responded, "The east has many of those characters. Maybe someone from my hometown arrived here and ended up forming a small clan of his own. I don't know. But, the characters are said to be universal from my home. As you can see, that's not true. Do you remember the dragon outside of Ramshackle Dormitory? That exists in from my hometown."
She sighed wearily, "I've been going back and forth coming up with stories and even having to help Lotus prove his. My head seems about ready to explode already..."
"What story?" Riddle raised a brow.
"Hm?" She raised a brow, "I've been confirming Lotus's story and said that I came from the same hometown as him. One that likes to move around."
She yawned, "The teacher and the other students won't find out about me if I just don't attend class or appear before the staff often anyway."
"Wah... Lucky." Cater wore a dry smile with a slight hint of jealousy.
"It's annoying having to report to the Dark Mirror every now and then people keeps trying to appear during our discussion, though..." Peony complained, "'Don't cause trouble,' 'I've witnessed thou efforts'. He doesn't really change his expression while saying those things either. So, I thought it'd be pretty funny if I can get him to even smile a little, but he scolded me instead. 'Don't not stray from thou mission.'"
As she sighed, the three of them looked at her with a near dead panned expression.
"This is ranting about her superior, isn't it?" Cater muttered with a forced smile nervously.
"I didn't think the Dark Mirror had that side to him too..." Riddle grumbled, "He probably got annoyed with her antics as well..."
"Well," Peony smirked, "it was fun to see his expression when Pomefiore turned the Mirror Chamber into an exhibition! The comments the vice-dorm leader left about not having to worry about his reflection reflecting off of the Dark Mirror was hilarious!"
"Eh? Was it that funny?" Cater looked to her in confusion.
"Don't you know?" Peony smirked, "Rook indirectly insulted the Dark Mirror without understanding the other meaning of his words. 'Not being able to see your beautiful self, what a tragedy, it is,' or so he said. That indirectly mean that the Dark Mirror would've been left aside if it weren't for his value as a magic mirror. Ah, but I think he's used to that outlook for a while now. Haha!"
"Geh!" Cater gasped, "So, that's why he wasn't too happy this Halloween... Wah..."
Peony giggled childishly, "Regardless, it'd be great if Lotus stops coming to the Dark Mirror to assess his condition. The headmaster still doesn't want to believe that he doesn't have any magic with how far he's able to keep up in class."
"He's done that?!" Riddle looked to her in confusion.
Peony nodded, "Apparently, the teachers found it strange how he's able to pass school without magic and requested to assess his chance of having magic, but..."
She smirked and continued, "I wonder if it's all due to him having blocked meridians that the Dark Mirror can't find any magic in Lotus."
"Why can't you do it now?" Riddle questioned in confusion.
"If I do that, I won't know if he'll do as I say after I unblocked his meridians." Lotus responded bluntly, "After all, he likes pulling as much fun as I do. How would I know he won't go back on his word and leave or even let the secret out? He doesn't seem to be as concerned about attending the school as others are. He may even leave the school after getting his abilities back. Cultivators aren't tied down to mortal desires very often."
Trey shook his head and sighed, "Basically, you're worried he'd leave without giving you what you want."
"Would you be able to help him use magic, though?" Riddle pointed out with a frown.
"If I said I can, then I can." Lotus responded bluntly, "I don't mess around when it comes to medicine. I only speak the truth and don't treat unless I am paid. I have no intention of being taken advantage over much less being used for my generosity in alchemy and medicine. Helping me run errands with the danger of getting caught by staff and enemies followed by doing some alchemy stuff and medical checks for me would balance with him letting out my presence in the school and giving him back his cultivation abilities. He doesn't have money, so this is the only thing he can do and I usually don't do this. I normally require actual money. A lot of it because herbs aren't cheap."