Ren's gaze fell on Olivia's unconscious body and he sighed. Blood shed and death was something he had grown up with but the same couldn't be said for Olivia. Ren thought back to how she tried to stop him from killing that last bandit, her face filled with fear and desperation.
"She won't hate me now, right?"
Ren's question made Roxy smirk, Ren gave off the impression that he didn't care about what other people thought of him but apparently this didn't apply to Olivia now.
"After what you've seen, do you really think she's someone that shallow."
Whilst saying this, Roxy walked over to Olivia and squatted by her side, gently tapping her forehead. A moment later Olivia's eyelids began to flutter as she regained consciousness. She instantly sat up and her gaze fell on Ren who was staring back at her with a complicated expression, a single tear rolled down Olivia's cheek.
"Miss Olivia… I-"
Ren, who was trying to think of what to say, was interrupted by Olivia who jumped on to him, embracing him tightly as she burst into tears. Ren was frozen stiff at first but let her continue wailing into his shoulder.
After a few minutes, the water works ended and Olivia finally let go of Ren, giving him some time to breathe and gather his thoughts, he had spent quite some time thinking about what to say but in the end, he just spoke from his heart.
"Thank you."
This surprised Olivia, she felt that she should be the one thanking him, Ren had saved her from the bandits after all.
"Your eyes were really pretty."
Olivia said, referring to when Ren's trait activated. Ren was lost for words, he had received countless compliments throughout his life but why did this one feel so special, his cheeks flushed pink with awkwardness, making Olivia think one thing and one thing only.
"Cute."
Olivia said and her face lit up as she rushed in for another hug. This time Ren did not let himself get taken advantage of and jumped back, letting Olivia grasp at thin air.
"As expected of myself."
Roxy thought inwardly as a rare smile bloomed across her face, everything had gone to plan and the walls that Ren had put up were beginning to show some cracks. She didn't feel bad about making Ren kill those bandits, in this world one couldn't achieve true strength without getting their hands dirty. It was just then that she noticed something shiny and ring shaped, glinting among the scorched dirt.
"Tsk, I better punish the brat later."
***
After a peaceful night's sleep, Ren felt refreshed and ready to face the new day. After folding and putting away the sheets he had slept on, Ren looked around and noticed that his master wasn't present, he didn't think much of it though, by now he was already used to Roxy's frequent disappearances. Ren glanced over at the huge cliff next to their campsite and sighed miserably, When Roxy got back he would most probably have to scale that whole cliff side.
He scanned his surrounding and found a rock to sit on, waiting for Olivia to wake up and make him something to eat. To pass the time he started practicing with the fire attribute. Last night's encounter with the bandits had given him some inspiration.
Ren realised that due to the unstable nature of his emotions during the fight, his firebolt spells hit a lot harder despite using the same amount of Aether. His memories of the fight were a bit hazy but that didn't stop him from trying to figure out where that power came from.
After thinking long and hard, he came to the conclusion that during the fight his focus was constantly shifting, not letting put his full attention on controlling flames like he usually did when he launched the spells. Although this seemed contradictory and had Ren stumped for quite a while, when he thought about the behaviour of fire itself, the concept seemed to make more sense.
One of the most dangerous aspects of fire was its unrestrained nature, it wanted to spread to and devour whatever it could as fast as it could. Trying to control it would only hinder its destructiveness. If he were to persuade the flame rather than commanding it, he may be able to make massive progress with his magic.
Ren decided to put his theory to the test, since true magic gave him a lot more freedom with the fire element, he decided that's where he would start.
Ren knew the dangers of fire, if he was going to lessen his control of the flames then he had to prepare for what would happen if he completely lost control. He jumped of his rock and grabbed the sheet he had slept on, tearing it into three equally sized parts.
After doing this, Ren proceeded to wrap the sheet around any exposed skin, including his head and arms, making him look like a mummy in poverty. Not satisfied with this level of protection, Ren grabbed a small canteen of water and emptied the contents over his head, ensuring that his clothing was soaked all the way through.
With his confidence now on the rise, he closed his eyes and concentrated. A small golden flame flickered into existence on his palm, the light breeze around him was almost enough to extinguish it entirely. Ren took a deep breath and slowly released his control over the flame.
The results were instant, the flame on his finger danced wildly and flickered all over the place, almost like a feral dog on a leash. Even though the flame was roughly the same size, the heat coming of it was far more intense, Ren could only extinguish it before his hands started to burn.
These results where a partial success, Ren had proved that the flames were more powerful when left to their own devices but at the moment it was a double-edged sword. He had to find a way of playing with fire without getting burnt.
Ren thought for a while but he couldn't come up with any promising ideas, if he was releasing control of the flames to make them more powerful, then how was he meant to get the flames to listen him.
He continued to think on the topic and more time passed, just when he was about to give up, it was like lightning had struck. If the flames were like a wild dog on a leash that didn't listen to its master, then who would it listen to… A bigger dog of course.
He would fight fire with fire, the idea seemed unconventional to say the least but the more Ren thought about it, the more it seemed like viable. If he only controlled base of the flame and let the top roam free, he could prevent his hand from getting burnt.
If he took it a step further, he could then use the base of the flame to direct the top half like the barrel of a cannon. The dog didn't want to listen to him… fine, he would put the dog in a tunnel with a much scarier dog behind it.
Ren resummoned the flame, only controlling the base of the flame, just like he predicted the flames under his control prevented his hands from getting burnt. Contrarily, the top half of the flame flickered wildly like it had a life of its own.
Not distracted by his initial success, Ren moved on to the next step, he pointed his flaming finger outwards like a gun and formed the base of the flame into a funnel, this caused a stream of fire to erupt out of his hands violently, right now the stream was quite small, only reaching a length of around two meters but Ren could tell it was already as powerful as one of his full powered firebolts. The great thing about this was he could make the funnel wider which would decrease the range of the stream but it would be wider.
"I shall name this the fire shooter."
Ren exclaimed gleefully, he was more than pleased with his progress. After experimenting a little more Ren increased the amount of aether he was supplying, as one would expect the flames spewed out even more intensely than before. Ren felt like the flames he had control over were about to be overwhelmed so he quickly cut off his aether supply, not willing to find out what would happen if he lost control of such a large destructive force.
"That was pretty impressive… For a little brat that is. The name is utter shit though, flamethrower is better "
A rough female voice could be heard from right next to him. Ren who was still extremely focused did not notice the person standing right next to him until they spoke up, this caused Ren to jump back in surprise, only to realise that it was his master, oddly enough she wasn't alone and there was a boy who looked to be around fifteen by her side
Ren managed to regain his composure and started to un-mummify himself. He didn't pay Roxy's praise any mind and ignored the boy next to her, he was too caught up with his new discovery and still had a bunch of things to ask.
"Welcome back master, I figured out that fi-."
"Where's your fucking manners brat, can't you see I brought a guest."
Roxy yelled, gesturing to the boy by her side. Ren finally paid attention to him, the boy was a complete wreck, scrawny, pale and malnourished, his long black hair was messy and knotted. He wore tattered rags for clothing, this exposed quite a bit of his skin which was littered in countless purple bruises and small cuts.
Ren glared at him coldly trying to size him up. The boy wasn't intimidated by Ren's menacing gaze and continued to stare blankly, seemingly unaware of what was going on around him.
"Who is he."
Ren asked in a disinterested tone, Roxy sighed, she thought that the recent developments with Olivia would make Ren a bit more amicable, but clearly, he had a long way to go.
"Go on introduce yourself."
Roxy said while slapping the youth on the back, which brought him back to reality. When the boy regained his composure and met Ren's unwelcoming gaze, he looked down at the ground and slowly opened his mouth
"Li- Li Hong… Li Hongji"
The boy stuttered anxiously. At this point Olivia, who had woken up due to the commotion, drearily walked over to find out what had interrupted her sleep.
"Good timing girl, let me introduce you, this is Li Hongji, I found him in a bandit camp I happened by this morning. He's Ventian so I asked him to be our tour guide."
Olivia who was still a bit sleepy, glanced at the boy standing next to Roxy, when she noticed the terrible state he was in, she rubbed her eyes which had widened and she rushed over to him.
"Are you ok… of course you aren't, hold on I'll get you some food. Roxy heal his wounds, actually why haven't you already, he looks half dead."
She said while frantically running off to light the campfire. Roxy just shrugged her shoulders, this reaction was well within her expectations, she would have already healed him but Li Hongji's vitality was completely exhausted at this point, in fact, it was a miracle that he was able to even stand straight. Honestly, she was quite impressed.
Roxy took out a small green medicinal pill and handed it to him before listing out her instructions.
"Let this dissolve under your tongue, lie down and get some rest, then I can heal you."
Li Hongji was hesitant at first but eventually did as he was told, his exhaustion finally caught up to him and he fell asleep the second he closed his eyes.
After putting a cover on him, Roxy turned to Ren who was eagerly waiting for her to answer his questions, when she saw her disciple almost twitching with anticipation, she sighed inwardly.
"Tsk, out with it"
She said impatiently. This was the cue Ren had been waiting for and he immediately fired his questions at her.
"How come you never told me that you can improve magic like this? Do all the other attributes need to be treated differently or is it specific to fire? If it's the same with all attributes then can't you just tell me how to use them beforehand?"
Roxy took out her pipe and lit it with a small golden flame that jumped of her finger, she wasn't exactly fond of explaining things which was one of the reasons Ren didn't have any seniors. The fact she took in Ren despite this, spoke volumes about the child's potential, he had met and even exceeded all her criteria's, so she couldn't exactly complain about fulfilling her duties as Ren's master.
"Let me put it like this, poems can have many different meanings, depending on the reader a happy poem can be a sad one and a violent one, peaceful. Attributes are the same. Every Breaker has their own understanding of attributes and finding the path that best suits you, is something only you can do."
Ren was pretty satisfied with the answer Roxy gave him. Like with the way of the sword, it seemed that to truly be strong, you have to forge your own path. He couldn't rely on his master to teach him everything otherwise it would only hinder his growth but there was still one thing bugging him.
"Then how come you didn't tell me that something like this was possible in the first place?"
Roxy didn't want to answer this question. Instead, Roxy looked like she remembered something, her gaze turning cold. Roxy took out a silver ring, pushing it firmly against Ren's chest. Roxy started speaking in an icy voice that was neither soft or loud, yet each word sent shivers down Ren's spine.
"Last night you took the ring off, that was quite brave of you considering I was the one who told you to keep it on."
Ren froze, with all the excitement in the morning, he had forgotten all about that, cold sweat dripped down his face as he started to crumble under Roxy's fearsome gaze. Looking at her disciple, who had now turned paler then when she fished him out of the river, Roxy's lips curled.
"Since your smart enough to be scared, I'm sure your smart enough never to repeat this again and I'm definitely sure your smart enough to know what's coming if you do."
Ren nodded his head violently, afraid to make a sound. The terrifying atmosphere receded and Roxy's expression went back to normal. Wasting no time, he immediately placed the Suffer-Ring back on his finger, instantly an immense pressure far stronger than what he was used to swept over him, forcing him on to his knees. Roxy stared down at the fallen Ren menacingly.
"Good, since this is your first offence against my benevolent self, I decided to let you off lightly and increased the pressure of the ring around three times. Oh, and by the way brat, if you don't make it up by the time the sun sets, you can climb back down and start again."
Ren's face dropped, with the increased burden of the Suffer-Ring, forget night, even making it by tomorrow would be a miracle. Ren wanted to complain but taking one look at Roxy's chilling smile reminded him that would not be an option.
With the time limit, Ren didn't even have the luxury of getting something to eat. With a pace of a turtle, Ren put one foot in front of the other, slowly approaching the cliff. By the time Olivia had finished cooking he was already out of sight.
"Huh, where did Ren go."
Olivia, who had been fully engrossed in preparing the food had failed to notice his departure. The reply came almost immediately.
"Training."
Roxy was sitting down on rock nearby, smoking her pipe. Olivia noticed that the two of them were now alone and she became anxious, looking like she wanted to say something but was stopping herself. This didn't escape Roxy's eyes, who could easily tell that she had something on her mind.
"If you have something to say, then just fucking say it."
Roxy said rudely, Olivia didn't feel put off by this, in fact, Roxy's direct approach reassured her. Olivia took a moment to gather her thoughts and voiced them to Roxy.
"It's about last night… Ren's a kid, he should be doing things that kids do, not… not that. "
Olivia had been mortified when she saw what Ren did to those bandits, she didn't talk to him at the time because she wasn't exactly sure what to say to him… she still wasn't and maybe that was the reason she was speaking with Roxy now.
Roxy let out a puff of smoke, she could see where Olivia was going with this and knew that what she was saying came from a good place… but it was far too naive
"It's too late for all of that, after what you saw, do you really think that it was his first time killing? Look girl, you can tell me that killing is bad and I will happily tell you that your right but in this world being right doesn't matter, only strength does."
Roxy had lived long enough to know that the weak were wrong and the strong were right. Would a worm argue with a bird, no it would save its breath so it could run for its life.
"Girl, the world you've seen from the confines of that village of yours, isn't the world that the brat sees. He saw a world where those with strength decide other's fates, so he sought strength to decide his own."
To Roxy it was simple logic even if she didn't' like it, if your being bullied by someone, you can't deny the bully's existence and stop all bullies from existing, the bully is a product of a twisted world which gave him twisted ideals. Which is easier, changing the world or changing the victim. If your bullied then kick the bully's ass. You don't fix the underlying problem that created the bully but then again… it's not your problem anymore.
"The brat chose this path and he has his reasons for doing so. Will you tell him that he shouldn't do that solely because you think its wrong? Will you tell him that his motivations are worth shit, just because you haven't gone through what he has?"
No one goes through the same things in life, that's why people don't see eye to eye. If you knew what a mass murderer went through to end up that way, would you condemn him or condemn the world that created him.
"I think that you being in the brat's life is a good thing but don't forget he's his own person with his own past. You can give him advice, care for him, you can even raise him like your fucking son but don't tell him that the worlds all sunshine and flowers because he will call you out on your bullshit."
People can only see what's in front of them, right and wrong are constructs made by none other then those people. Can you say with certainty that someone is wrong, just because you feel they are? Can you question them without truly understanding them first?
Olivia fell silent for a long time, she couldn't help but feel the gap between her and Ren widen, it was such a lonely feeling. Olivia had long since noticed that Ren's iciness was a self defence mechanism, he must have gone through a lot to end up that way and Roxy was right in saying that she didn't know what was best for him.
She knew the world was a scary place outside the cocoon of the village but she refused to believe that was all there was to it, she wanted to let Ren know that just because there was bad in the world, he shouldn't reject the good.
That was all the more reason to close that gap and remind him that not everyone was out to hurt him. How could she close that gap, the answer was simple… strength.
"If becoming strong allows me to close that gap, then that's what I have to do. Please take me as your disciple."
"I refuse."
Roxy replied flatly, she had thought Olivia would come up with something like this. When Olivia heard this her face dropped, she looked like she was about to start crying but Roxy started speaking before her eyes had the time to moisten.
"I will only ever take in two disciples in my lifetime and my standards are high, the brat is my first disciple and to be my second, you would have to be as talented as him… if that's even possible. Frankly, you don't even have the bare minimum talent to become a Breaker, I've already checked."
When Olivia heard that her face dropped, she felt wronged, why wasn't she blessed with talent, was it really hopeless, before she could despair further Roxy picked her up off the ground and patted her on the shoulder and started talking once more.
"Don't get so depressed, I said becoming a breaker is impossible but that's not the only way to become strong, the people of this continent hold breakers in such high esteem that they don't even bother looking into other options. Even though you can't be my disciple, it's not like I can't teach you."
Olivia's eyes lit up almost immediately after she finished speaking, Roxy sighed it seemed that the girl in front of her changes her mood at the drop of a hat. Roxy paused for a moment and recalled the events off last night.
"Also, I think that the gap is a lot smaller than you think."