Kai looked at the girl who walked ahead of him and held his hand. Her long and black hair was developing beautifully at this moment.
'Her hand feels so nice to the touch...' - Kai thought as he looked at the woman's small well-groomed palm.
At this moment, Kai's conscience even woke up for a second. He wondered if he was being too self-serving towards this girl. Although he really liked her, Kai didn't regard anyone as a romantic object at all. He wasn't interested in that at all.
Basically, after Taemi's confession, nothing drastically changed in Kai's mind. He just decided that he would treat this girl more gently and if she needed help, he would definitely try to support her.
'Strange... Somewhat similar to how I perceive Brother Diso...' - Following Taemi, Kai thought.
In fact, Kai only had a few people he sincerely wanted to help. Those were Master Mo and his Brother Diso. And more recently, Brother Shuo had also appeared... Although it seemed that the latter didn't seem to need it much. Lone Buddha was still a free and aloof person. It was unlikely that he needed anyone at all....
At that second, Kai felt something similar for Taemi as well. It wasn't like friendly feelings, but it wasn't like love feelings either. It was more like she was getting closer to entering his circle of people close to him. While Kai wasn't shy about using them for his own purposes, he also gave them credit... It wouldn't be true to say that Kai and Diso's relationship was selfless. But that was the reason why they were able to quickly rise in the hierarchy of Border Beast City.
While pondering this, Kai quickened his step and levelled up with Taemi. He looked at her and asked:
- Listen Taemi... Why are you so excited about my answer? Overall, it's pretty ambiguous. - He blatantly gave it out.
Hearing that, the girl smiled slyly and also frankly replied:
- Even in our first meeting, I realised that you are not quite ordinary... And when I met you again a few years later, I was only once again convinced of this. I feel a strange but pleasant attachment to you. I realise that it would be foolish to expect the same from you, as you are a completely different kind of person. - Without holding back, Taemi explained.
It seemed that after her confession, she had completely stopped being shy. She now had nothing to hide and was completely free in her expression.
- You are someone who is only focused on yourself. With your behaviour, you might offend some people... But is that your problem? - Taemi asked smiling, 'I don't know why, but I can sense this trait of yours very well. And I like it! I didn't expect you to give me an identical answer to mine. I only hoped that you would take my words correctly... And you did! Hee-hee. - The girl happily gave out.
Listening to her reply, Kai didn't quite know what she was talking about....
- To be honest, I don't understand the meaning of your words... - Kai said with a puzzled face.
- Hahaha! - When she heard Kai's reply, Taemi immediately laughed, 'Anyway, all you need to know is... I'm glad you let me be near you. I don't expect anything in return. - Smiling sweetly, the girl added.
- But it's weird... It's not like we've spent much time together. Why do you want to be around me so much? - Kai continued to ask.
By some miracle, Old Man Mo's advice worked... Kai decided that he would continue in the same vein and be completely frank with Taemi. He really didn't understand this girl's motives.
- Yeah... Although we haven't spent much time in reality... But since our first meeting, I haven't stopped thinking about you. I don't know what's wrong with me, but when I saw you the second time, it just got stronger. - Looking at Kai, Taemi calmly replied, -In fact, we've only interacted a few times... But in my head, I've had you for years! Hee hee. - Laughing, the girl added.
At this moment, she was revealing all her emotions and thoughts to Kai without embarrassment. In fact, it takes a lot of determination to do something like this! Frankness of this level definitely deserves respect.
- I've been in your head for years? - Raising an eyebrow, Kai asked.
- Yes. After you were taken to the Border Beast City, I thought about you all the time. So when I met you in the restaurant, I was acting so strange...' she said a little embarrassed, 'Knowing you, you're going to disappear again soon. So, I want to have a real conversation with you before you go anywhere else. - With a smile, Taemi said.
''I still don't understand... But I also enjoy spending time with Taemi. At least with her determination, she has earned my respect. I need to give her credit and spend more time with her. Still, there's still time before the Tournament, and being stuck in the archives all the time isn't very sensible either...' - Looking at Taemi, Kai thought.
- Thanks for trying to explain all this to me. Heh-heh. - Kai laughed, 'To be honest, I'll have a little free time for the next month. I'll mostly spend the day in the archives of the Massive Alliance, and then we can go out in the evening. Or you can come to my place and we can chat there. - Kai offered frankly.
He wasn't trying to imply anything right now. He honestly told about his immediate intentions.
- Great! Then, when I have time, I will come to you! And already if we want, then from there we'll go for a walk! - Taemi replied, 'By the way, why only in the Massive Alliance? Did you stop liking Alchemy? - The girl asked a little sadly.
- That's right! You're an Alchemist too! Hehehe. - I'm going to spend the second half of the month on the archives of the Alchemy Alliance. Therefore, I might need your help! - He added with a smile.
- Yay! That's great! - Smiling radiantly, Taemi shouted out.
''Although this is all a bit weird... And I feel a bit out of place... But why not diversify my everyday life? Still, Taemi isn't as infuriating as Iris. She's really nice to spend time with.' - Kai thought and quickened his step.
He decided that for the sake of experimentation, he would try to spend more time with girls. After all, Master Mo had told a lot of interesting things about his adventures. And from his words, it was a very fun and pleasant pastime!
No matter how much Kai denied it, Master Mo's upbringing had taken its toll... Both incredibly useful and not so useful... For example, Kai's warped sense of humour and manner of snide laughter. Now it appeared that as soon as Kai grew older, he also developed a similar interest in women. And it wasn't yet clear if that was a good thing or a bad thing....
Though Kai assured himself that he did it for Taemi's sake and respect for her... In fact, he himself didn't mind spending more time with the pretty girl. Even the way he teased Iris was the first germs of his character in matters of love.
His free-spiritedness and cunning were also becoming elements of his manner of dealing with girls. He interested and subdued them without direct influence. Everything was done unhurriedly and quite naturally.
It seemed that Taemi was the first to realise this and immediately accepted it. She had an instinctive attraction to Kai himself, therefore this trait also attracted her. She had quite consciously agreed to be in his power, and had even told him so.
Except, so far, he hadn't been able to fully grasp the meaning of everything Taemi was trying to express. For now, he still didn't have enough experience in such matters....
Thus, Kai followed to his house along with Taemi. She waited quietly while he went to the hot spring and cleaned himself up.
After that, they chatted for hours on end. And there was really nothing but pleasant conversation. Taemi asked a lot about Kai's business in the Border Beast City and generally about himself. Kai was also, for the sake of propriety, finding out various things about Taemi. She told him about how she had travelled from Lord Flick's Mansion to the qualifying tournament in the Capital of the Moon Shine Empire. And how she ended up qualifying for the Shadow Sect.
Kai listened quietly and didn't interrupt her. He began, remembering Master Mo's advice and actively using it. Similarly, he remembered Shuo's words... He had said that Kai should just memorise what he was saying and sometimes ask leading questions. And as it turned out, it really worked well!
Taemi didn't linger too long, as she also had her own things to do. Kai asked the Shadow Palace staff to prepare lunch and give Taemi permission to visit his home.
After they finished their meal, the girl sweetly said goodbye and left. And Kai decided that he was already rested from the conversation and could return to the Array Alliance.
Even without meditation, Kai's body was slowly absorbing the energy from outside slowly bringing him to his optimal state. The alcohol was also slowly drained from his system. He was ready to get to work on his training!
The next two weeks were peaceful enough. Kai was constantly spending his time with the Array Alliance. He either studied their archives and developments, or spent time in the plaza listening to discussions. Over time, he began to participate in them himself and ask a variety of questions.
During this time, he became even better known in the circles of the Masters of the Array. Many people were surprised at how quickly Kai progressed in his knowledge. In the beginning, he asked a lot of stupid and obvious questions. By the end of the second week, he could stump even the most knowledgeable opponents with his arguments. This was helped by his additional knowledge of the elements of the ancient arrays and a deeper understanding of energy.
Naturally it worked the other way round. Kai similarly lost his debates many times. But each time, he accepted it with dignity and thanked his opponent. This quality became one of the key qualities that he began to be respected for in the Array Alliance Square. Kai was a Personal Apprentice, and Elder Caius had given him the highest ranked Array Master certificate. That said, he never behaved arrogantly with others.
Also, every few days, Taemi would drop by Caius' place. Most of the time, she would go to his house on her own and wait for him there. When Kai would return from the Array Alliance, the girl would already be sitting in his living room.
They had grown noticeably closer over the two weeks. Kai still continued to tease and embarrass her as well, even if it had become much more difficult. Taemi in turn had stopped being provocative so often. She was more outspoken with Kai and began to show some concern for him. For example, Taemi could fix his hair or clothes, or refill his wine when it ran out of Kai's glass.
Kai also began to understand Taemi much better. Although he was still as carefree as ever, Kai was generally beginning to realise the pleasure Master Mo was telling him about. Previously, Kai had already tasted the pleasure of sex. But it turned out that there were other pleasurable aspects besides that. He even began to wonder how Iris would behave in such a role....
They also went for walks around the Shadow City at night. Taemi had been here much longer than Kai, and had shown him many interesting places. It turned out that Kai remained a redneck about a lot of things...
Slowly, that began to change and Kai began to adapt to the true life in such a huge city. Kai much preferred secluded cultivation, or for example endless hunting like in the Shadowlands. But to dilute his life with such events as well was quite nice....
Time slowly passed and Kai began to attend the Alchemy Alliance. As it turned out, it didn't affect the frequency of meetings with Taemi much. She also had a lot of her own responsibilities and things to do as a High Apprentice as well as an Alchemist. In fact, not even all Personal Disciples had such a free schedule like Kai did. Still, one had to earn Reputation Points to live.....
Kai in turn had very skilfully closed this issue in the first few months of his arrival in the Shadow Sect. Perhaps he wasn't as rich as most people from the Top 100 Rank. But all in all, Kai didn't really care about that....
As long as he could quietly improve himself and not waste time earning Reputation Points, he was fine with it!
His main goal is to break into the Top 100 Rank and get a chance to go to Reincarnation Island! Another week and the exact date of the Tournament will finally be announced!