"Who are you old man?"
Xuan Li asked seeing the man curiously looking at him and rubbing his chin. 'Wait is he blind?'
"Mister, are you blind?"
He immediately changed the way he addressed him making Flav and Dumdum surprised. Why did he turn respectful all of a sudden? The weird situation intrigued them.
"Hoh, hoh. The young generation is getting respectful," the man heartily laughed eyeing Li and questioned. "Do you know that you just broke through into a rank 1 Cultivator?"
"wa-wait what? When? How? WHY!" Li understood the situation instantly and started touching his body.
Li felt sudden strength that he never had before in him. The man's words confirmed it and as expected by Flav and Dumdum, Li fell down looking lost. "why... just why! WHY IS IT THAT HARD TO DIE!"
"Did you not want to be a cultivator?" the man curiously asked.''
Xuan Li looked at the man as if he was an idiot and pulled himself from the ground. "Of course not! I want to die! Why would someone that wants to die cultivate! How did this even happen! Dumdum only killed me like usual... wait it must have been then..." Li went into thought trying to understand the situation.
"Anyway who are you?"
Li raised his head not even a second later and asked. His curious eyes landed on the scar that the man had and thought, 'such a pity. He would have looked handsome even as an old man without it... wait. Why do I keep having such thoughts!'
"My name is Ouht Black and I am the Vice Principle of the Ascension Academy," Ouht introduced calmly. His kind smile sent waves of calmness that stopped Flav and the others jumping from surprise.
"So you are the reason no other teachers came," Flav commented.
It made sense. After all, unless someone stopped them, everyone would have raced here to learn what caused the surge of Qi phenomenon that Li caused. If not for Ouht's interference things would have been complicated, but what surprised Flav the most is Ouht's lack of reaction to Li dying and regenerating.
"You must have many questions," Ouht crossed his arms behind his back giving off the mysterious aura that Flav felt when he looked at him for two hours. "I do too, mister Xuan Li."
"But this can wait."
"Wait? Wait for what?"
"Let's meet up with the young lady that you came with first," Dumdum felt no place to butt in when he saw the smooth conversation and unlike his usual self he didn't flair up and only gave Ouht a knowing and mysterious look. Ouht looked back at Dumdum and smiled, "it's been a while since I last saw your kind. I am glad that you still exist."
He then looked at Li, "you are very lucky mister Xuan Li." Ouht revealed vaguely.
"So, we are going to see Iris. Why though?"
At Flav's questioning Ouht smiled and waved his finger at him, "everything has its time, mister Flav. A voice transmitted to Flav's ears that made him widen his eyes as they turned cold. He cautiously stared at Ouht.
"Shall we go then?"
Ouht didn't wait for an answer and already started walking and as he expected the trio closely followed behind him.
***
After laying out some rules in the room Iris and Fiona sat down on their sides. Iris was used to the silence and didn't feel the awkwardness that Fiona sensed in the atmosphere. In no time they both started minding their own business.
Three hours after they finished talking Fiona started glancing at Iris and averting her eyes fast. After ten times of doing that, Iris sighed and looked at her new roommate with blank eyes. Fiona yelped in surprise.
"Is there something wrong?"
"n-No. I am sorry. You are just too beautiful and powerful. You are smart and even have great friends," Fiona muttered listlessly.
She looked down at her open palms, they were filled with calouses and scars showing how hard Fiona trained, and clenched them into fists. "Meanwhile, I am weak. I can't compare to you. My friends call me dumb, and a bitch all the time." Fiona didn't seem angry when she said that.
Realizing that she had been complaining, Fiona looked up at Iris before glancing down immediately after. "I am sorry. I wasn't trying to lay my problems out on you, especially a stranger. I-I didn't know what took over me just now." For some reason Iris saw something in Fiona that made her sympathize.
Unlike her usual self, Iris stayed silent for a couple of minutes before uttering, "don't be sorry. Although we aren't friends, we are roommates." Iris looked at Fiona with a calm and even look, "you can tell me your problems sometimes, I will try to listen but don't expect replies."
Fiona looked up in surprise. She covered her mouth as she stared at Iris with wide watery eyes, she looked like she would cry. "Thank you, Miss Iris."
'What's with this girl? She's supposed to be a cultivator so why is she acting like this?' Iris felt baffled but kept her thoughts to herself and nodded at Fiona with a nod before relaxing on the bed with her hand behind her head.
Fiona felt more relaxed after their brief talk. Her bright blond hair fluttered and revealed a scar across her collarbone that iris hadn't noticed. She started talking to Iris and started with Introducing herself.
She kept talking for an hour while Iris listened without speaking. Like that another hour passed before Fiona stopped. She seemed better after talking about herself.
Not long after Fiona finished relaying her story, a knock came from the room's door catching the attention of Iris and Fiona who exchanged looks. "Are you expecting anyone?"
Fiona shook her head as an answer.
Iris got up from bed and opened the door. Behind it were four people she recognized.
One of them was crazy young man who wanted to suicide, a cheery and strong cultivator with an air of mysteriousness and a adorable but fierce beast, and finally... Iris fixed her gaze at the old looking blind man as emotions surged in her.
Ignoring the others, Iris focused her gaze at the old man, "...elder black?"
"It seems that we meet again, young lady."
Ouht smiled back and glanced at the sheathed sword strapped to iris' waist. "It seems that the sword is in good hands," he said as his blind eyes looked between Iris and the sword as if he could see.
"Miss Iris? Do you know who's at the door?" Fiona asked as Iris blocked the door. She could hear the talk between the old man and Iris but she didn't as that would be an invasion of privacy.
"Can we talk somewhere else?"
Ouht said and gestured at iris who remembered Li and the others only then. Flav and Li looked at Iris with curious eyes wanting to know how she knew the Vice Principal but it wasn't the time to ask questions. On the other hand, Dumdum just kept staring at Ouht with the peculiar gaze he had ever since he saw him.
"Can you follow me please?"
After getting a nod from Iris, he watched as she told Fiona that she would be back and followed him with Li and others in tow.