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"Concepts?" Hai asked with a raised eyebrow.
He has an idea of what those concepts can be, but he is honestly hoping for it to not be what he thinks it is.
"Yeah. Concepts. That same old thing that divinities use. You know: the god of war has the concept of war; the goddess of sex has the concept of sex, lust or pleasure, and so on. Akashic Beasts use concepts." Akame explained while picking up her teacup and it refilled itself.
"…" Hai held in a sigh when he heard her words confirming his guess.
Looking at his face, Akame only displayed a small smile on the exterior while waiting for him to recover from this little bomb of hers.
After a few seconds, Hai finished digesting the information he heard and turned to look back at Akame.
Looking at her eyes, Hai noticed how his body didn't react as much as the first time he locked eyes with her.
'Adapting?' Hai wondered but threw it to the back of his mind.
"How should I say it…? This was unexpected yet perfectly reasonable. I think this would be the best way to describe my thoughts right now." He commented while taking his chin off his hand and patting Kryn's head, who was sitting on his lap by now.
Akame looked at Hai and after confirming that he wasn't acting, she nodded.
"You are quite an open-minded one, aren't you?" She asked back upon hearing his words.
Hai simply shrugged.
"So, how are those concepts used and what do they do in reality?" He inquired while also showing a rare glint of curiosity in his eyes.
Akame who noticed it nearly laughed at how well Hai can manipulate such little things to make them seem natural.
"Okay, okay, boy. Concepts are like what they mean: concepts. Let's take The Phoenix as an example. The Phoenix is a mythical being depicted since millennias ago; this being is mostly focused on its so fabled ability to return from ashes. Now, a phoenix is overall linked to: rebirth, pureness, fire and some other concept depending on the phoenix. The Phoenix we know, the owner of Nirvana, is actually more of a cunning Akashic Beast than a strong one. It has the concepts of: rebirth, pureness, fire and loyalty. Thus, making it an amazing big player when it comes to influence and economical power." Akame then paused to let Hai digest this information.
Hai kept head patting Kryn, who by now was in pure bliss, before rubbing his chin and looking back at Akame with a questioning gaze.
However, before he could open his mouth, Akame started to explain his doubts, as if she knew them from the very beginning.
"I know of this because I have already met a few times with some Akashic Beasts, and even fought against some. Although I lost to the stronger ones, Akashic Beasts in general aren't that much different from mages and martial artists when it comes to fighting. And about why I'm talking about all of this with you, well, you will know soon enough." She said while throwing the teacup away and putting both of her elbows on the table and supporting her chin with her hands.
"I suppose I will." Hai commented while showing a small smile.
'Is this level of power enough to contest against an Akashic Beast?' He couldn't help but be skeptical inwardly.
Although Hai doesn't want to sound arrogant nor overconfident, he knows for sure that Akame isn't the strongest and this is by far. But now, this same person whom Hai knows that he won't die if he fought against, is saying that she fought against some Akashic Beasts and lost only to the stronger ones.
This implies that there are more besides The Phoenix who focuses on business or other areas instead of their own power.
"I know that you don't believe in me, but I also know that you don't have much awareness about your own power, so I will use you as an example." Hai snapped out of his daze when he heard her voice.
"As of now, I don't know what the hell you did, but the you of now, the one who is still growing stronger, is able to take on at least an Akashic Beast on a one-on-one. Though, I don't know if you would win." Akame added and her explanation made Hai question the Akashic Beasts' power.
"No, it's not that they are weak nor that you are too strong. It's the simple fact that they stagnated." Hai closed his eyes to process her words and kept patting Kryn in the meantime.
'If they are stagnated as she said, then is it because of their own power? Too many possibilities are the fastest way to point out how narrow-minded beings are or can be.' He mused over his thoughts before coming back to reality.
"I see. Thank you for this eye-opener. What would you like to know in exchange?" Hai smiled while calmly gazing at Akame.
The latter heard his words and couldn't help but feel like she was talking with a fox instead of a man.
Hai's words just now cut off her little trap that was to slowly answer all of his questions and then, Hai in turn would have to answer hers. Because if he didn't, it would leave the impression that he is an ungrateful brat and that he is someone who doesn't respect deals.
The contract they signed just stated that they need to maintain this talk, a secret. It never stated they needed to be honest or answer each other's questions truthfully.
But now, all of this was nullified by simple eight words of his.
By asking what she wants in exchange, Hai laid it down clearly that this is a business talk and nobody is doing charity here. Hence, feelings like guilty for not answering when the other party has been "honest" with you are out of play now.
"You know, women don't like men who know too much. You know about it, right, boy?" Akame asked while releasing a low sigh.
Hai looked at her and for the first time, he gazed at her with a bored look in his eyes, as if he was hearing nonsense.
"Bold of you to assume I want them to like me." He commented with a plain expression.
Akame just smiled at his words and locked her eyes on his.
"I want to know, about something." Her expression suddenly took a serious turn and her slitted eyes narrowed even more, almost making their slits vanish.
Hai who saw this change, straightened his back and waited for her question.
"What I want to know is about Egregore." The moment her words fell, Akame closed one eye while slightly furrowing her brows.
"Do you know what you are asking me, woman?" Hai's eyes turned dead serious and his whole expression changed.
His demeanor was calm, but underneath it there was something, something scary just waiting to surface.
Akame was already half prepared for a similar reaction when she asked the question, so she was somewhat calm.
However, even though she was calm, she couldn't help but furrow her eyebrows even more.
The aura around Hai and the unconscious pressure he was emitting right now were something that even surpassed the Akashic Beasts.
Although not something tangible, Akame could still feel her body having some difficulty moving.
"Yes. This is why I apologize in advance. But I will ask it again: I want to know about Egregore." She strengthened her resolve and said it again while looking directly into his eyes.
"…" Hai stood quiet, silently looking at her while his hand rested on Kryn's head.
"Hai?" Kryn suddenly asked while looking at Hai and his previous pressure vanished.
*SIGH*
Sighing, Hai started to caress Kryn's hair again and calmed himself down.
"If you are asking this, I suppose I can assume you already know my identity." He stated to which she nodded.
"A reincarnator." Akame said without expressing anything in particular.
Hai nodded at her words before adding something.
"I would like to say that I don't remember my reincarnations and only have a few dreams here and there, so don't ask me about this." He explained before recollecting his thoughts.
"I will be brief as your answers don't have enough "value" for me to go in deep about something as Egregore." Seeing her nodding, Hai then started explaining.
"As you should already know, Egregore is a word that is used to describe things related to ideas, knowledge, emotions, and imagination. However, when you ask someone like a reincarnator what is Egregore, the answer you will get is something that is completely different, yet the same." Hai extended his left arm forwards and opened his palm facing upwards.
Then, he did a simple sphere made of cold mist that is constantly changing, expanding, contracting, twisting and separating itself before mending back.
"Egregore goes beyond a simple collection of ideas. It is a place where ideas, thoughts, emotions, knowledge, fantasies, books, movies, and whatnots, all of it is stored." Hai closed his hand and the mist dispersed itself.
"Wasn't such a place supposed to be the Akashic Records?" Akame asked in an unusually serious but curious mood.
Hai only smiled at her question.
"Well, that is it for now. Now, do you still want to continue this talk?" He asked while putting his chin on Kryn's head and caressing her hair. He came to know in the last few minutes that the individual known as Kryn is someone with the power of stress-relieving.
"…" Akame closed her eyes while digesting his words. Although what he said is something rather vague and one could even know about it by searching the right places and the right sources, she knows that among the ones who know about Egregore the best, the reincarnators are among the top.
"If you don't mind, I will." She opened her eyes and regained her previous smile.
Hai also mirrored her smile.
"Well then, please illuminate my poor mind." He said in a joking tone.
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"Ugh…" A groan escaped from Hong Li-Wei's mouth while she was doing some light stretching moves.
"Ugugu…" Another one who was having difficulties was unexpectedly Stella.
"Girls, focus on going until where you can. Don't force yourself." Chang Hua advised while supervising their little yoga session.
"Y-Yes…" Hong Li-Wei whispered while feeling like her soul was going to leave her body.
Stella on the other hand didn't respond but tried to further bend her leg.
*CRACK*
"Ahan~!"
Everyone suddenly stopped what they were doing and blankly looked at Stella.
The latter noticed her blunder and maintained a straight face even though her cheeks were rosy.
"I said it twice, and will say it again: she is a lost cause." Elena commented while also doing some yoga.
Different from her usual maid attire, Elena was wearing a simple black combat suit that clung tightly to her body, thus further accentuating her curves.
Chang Hua looked at Stella and really wondered how her nephew was always able to have the most eccentric people around him.
"This woman is sick." Hong Li-Wei commented while looking at Stella, whose leg had already regenerated.
Hearing her words, Stella's eyebrows twitched and she shot up to her feet before appearing near Hong Li-Wei.
"Wait!" Suddenly feeling something wrong, Hong Li-Wei screamed at Stella, but the latter paid it no mind.
Putting her hands on Hong Li-Wei's back, Stella further pushed her downwards.
As Hong Li-Wei was doing a stretching that she was sitting on the ground and lowering her upper-body to touch her feet with her hands, Stella's push further sent her down and her legs and back started to hurt.
"Wait, wait, wait! You psycho!" Hong Li-Wei screamed while trying to use her mana to push Stella away, but the latter didn't move an inch.
"Are you a f*cking whale!?" She screamed when she saw that her magic had no effect on Stella.
Stella on the other hand felt several veins bulging on her forehead and neck upon hearing Hong Li-Wei calling her a whale.
As a response, Stella further pushed her further downwards.
"Those two are … close?" Bing Qing said unsure while seeing their interaction.
"They sure are." Jia commented while gazing at them and then back at her milady.
"Milady, are you sure you won't accompany them?" Jia asked with a knowing smile.
Chang Hua saw her smile and could already see a mischievous comment coming her way.
"I mean, it's good to be flexible for you bounding time with your nephew." Jia commented offhandedly but a smirk could be seen on her face.
Chang Hua's eyebrows twitched and her face got red.
She turned towards Jia but before she could do anything, something else caught their attention.
*CRACK*
"STELLA, YOU B*TCH!!!"
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A/N: Hello there, I hope you are having a wonderful day!
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