While Yur made his way back to the Barren Canyon, Ris decided to linger within the walls of the fortress.
"Despite lacking in intelligence, these lower demons were capable of constructing such a place?" Within the grand hall—where the throne sat—she found herself scanning the details of the building.
Every piece of stone, every piece of wood; all of it was placed methodically. As if following a blueprint of sorts.
Pacing the room for a short while, she found herself distracted by the sere ground; the remains of Marr.
Her knees bent as she placed a fair finger on the ground, begriming the tip. "Such a powerful flame." Her voice echoed through the empty foyer. "To think a person only at the Nascent Orb realm could produce something like this?" Her addled eyes flickered with curiosity.
Standing back up, her body blinked; she appeared outside of the fortress once again. A light oozed from her slender body, radiating further around the fortress. She was searching, scavenging for Yur.
"Found him!" Her body flickered once again, trailing the distant man, albeit covertly.
[Human Approaching!]
A notification abruptly appeared as he raced through the Land of the Mother.
The distance between him and the fortress was ample, despite that, she had suddenly caught up.
"Keep tracking her Zul. Once we reach the Barren Canyon, I can get home instantly." His thoughts spurned, wanting to rid himself of the vex that seemed to be closing in.
[Human is watching from the trees!]
She's already here? A stain of irritation bodged his mind.
Without moving his head, his eyes snuck glances at the nearby trees, wanting to find a snippet of her figure. Unfortunately, she was completely hidden, and only Zul could to sense her.
"I know you're watching me, you might as well just come out." Yur heaved a sigh, accepting that he couldn't escape this girl.
Ignoring her would do him no good. She was on his tail the way the Trep was in the past, but this time the person was much more powerful.
Flying into the air would not help him. She would likely take him out before he could make such a move.
Yur was met with silence, but he didn't move; statued in place. "I know you are around. I'll point you out if that's what you want?" Though he said this, Zul couldn't pinpoint her exact location.
"Keen senses for a first rank." Like a whisper, her feet made a hushed sound as they touched the slimy ground.
"Why are you following me?" Fortunately, Zul was creating dialogue for him without him needing to ask. "Is there something you need from me?"
"Nothing." Her reply was as blank as her expression. There was substance, nothing he could gauge or learn from.
"Can you leave me alone?" A sulky expression was plastered on her face, showing obvious irritation.
"I'm curious about you." Without warning, her face appeared in front of his—only a few inches away. Though aloof, a hint of interest glimmered in her dark eyes. "How you are so powerful, why I have never heard of you, and much more."
Taking a step back, he looked at her oddly. "Though you look uncaring, you are quite nosy, no?"
"And what if I am?" She stated. Though seemingly like a question, Zul did not prompt an answer for him.
Silently waiting for the next part of his speech to load, he eyed Ris a bit more. Finally, there was something— a completely different tone from before. "My name is Yur…" Reaching out with his hand, he fulfilled Zul's instructions.
A little taken aback by this sudden change, she felt startled. However, it was only for a moment; she reached out right away and shook his larger hands.
"Ris." She replied. "I will follow you around for now." There was no hiding her intention, extremely straightforward. Yur found her character to be unusual, but there wasn't much he could do about it either.
"Whatever." His shoulders lifted into a shrug. "But, I do have a few things I need to do in this place."
"Like?" Her eyes glanced around. "This place is too small for someone like you, so what is here that you need?"
Zul, would taking her back home with me be a good idea?
[Host is advised against such an action! The Asheseed Relic is a rare item, signifying darker arts.]
Inwardly nodding his head, he began to think of his next steps.
He still needed to gather ten beings at the third rank. With her around, that would be impossible as the creation of Sigils used his blood. Zul, what could I do?
[Host is still able to make the Sigils in secret!]
How? He began his own conversation with Zul, leaving Ris to stand and watch him silently.
'Something about him is suspicious, should I just kill him?' Such thoughts raced through her mind, yet deep down she didn't want to do anything to him. She wanted to observe him.
[Host is able to create Sigils within the Cyralim!]
[Use this chance to learn about Human cultivation from Ris!]
Oh, that's smart. Praising his genius system, he smiled at Ris.
"What?" Alerted by his fake smile, she frowned.
"Since you want to follow me, can you help me with something?" It was an opportunity. The perfect one. Zul was limited in the information it could provide, thus Ris unknowingly became a fantastic help.
Zul created a few lines of dialogue he needed to repeat back to Ris.
"What kind go help?" Doubt filled her tone as she stared at him with intrigue.
Coughing just a little, mimicking an awkward expression, he proceeded… "You know how rogue cultivators don't have access to proper training and stuff, so would you mind teaching me?"
"Teach you? Teach you what?" Unable to grasp his questions, she asked further. Wanting more clarification.
"How to cultivate and how to fight."
"Huh?" Looking at him oddly, she thought back to the Tharok that Yur easily killed. "You are plenty powerful, what do you need to learn from me?"
"Who says I am powerful? Aren't you able to turn me into dust with a blink?" Humbling himself while putting Ris on a pedestal; Zul's brilliant tactic.
"What about those flames of yours?" She asked whilst tapping her dainty finger on her chin. "With those, you are not lacking in ability."
"Those are strong, but that's all I know how to use." His head fell a little, lamenting at his ow plight. "I have no experience with anything else."
Interested in his thoughts, she asked him with a subtle smirk—barely perceivable. "What do I get out of this?"
"What do you want?" Raising an eyebrow, he became alerted. "You are likely wealthier then I, so I don't know what I can give you."
"I want to learn those black flames of yours." Her true thoughts came out, making Yur frown a little.
"How could I teach your that? That's a unique ability of my Orb." Teaching some skills was no problem for most cultivators, but unique abilities were akin to their name—unique. It wasn't something that could be passed on or taught.
"There is a way to learn it." As she spoke, Yur noticed a small silver ring on one of her fingers. The ring was suddenly sparkling noticeably. Soon after, a little pebble appeared in her hands. "This is the way."
"What's that?" He questioned with raised eyebrows. Even Zul wasn't giving any readings on it.
Placing the pebble between her fingers, she showcased it to him. "This is a special item that allows one to learn someones else's unique ability. Well, not completely, but bits of it." After all, learning a unique ability was impossible since it was unique to the orb.
[Host is advised not to share Incineration!]
Why is that? He probed.
[Incineration is a unique skill for the Ashkavaal Bloodline! It must not be shared!]
Than what do I do? Saying no outright without explanation was not the best route. Ris had the item prepared and everything; she was eager to do this.
[Purchase a skill similar in the shop!]
The Afloria shop did carry many abilities he could learn, similar to the rituals he could purchase from the Zulmasharr shop. However, much like the latter, these Orb skills were very pricey, ranging at a thousand or more points.
His current Human points were:
[Human Points: 57]
Scratching the back of his head, he found the situation to be a bit difficult. Zul, how can I earn more Human points?
[Creating Quests…]
[Complete!]
Soon enough, various quests filled his field of view. The one that caught his eye however was a difficult, yet simple quest:
[Afloria Quest: Guardian Sect Task (Chain Quest)!]
[Learn of the task given to the Guardian Disciples!]
[Reward: 50 Human Points!]
"Ris…" He called out out of the blue.
"Are you ready to give me the ability?" She pushed.
"Not yet." He shook his head. "I want you to help me first, then I will provide the move."
A frown formed on her face. "What if you don't?" She hummed.
"I could say the same to you." He rebutted. "You could just take my ability and leave."
His words though accurate, were not so much in this situation. She was stronger then him, and both of them knew this. However, Yur wanted to take the chance.
"Then what do you suggest?" She said, her tone laced with iciness.
He cleared his throat before speaking. "Why don't I help you with one of your tasks? Once you feel like leaving and I get a bit of training, I will give you my move without holding back." He spoke with a sweet smile. Though for Ris, it was anything but real.
Ris took a moment to muse over his words.
"I thought you knew the task?" She suddenly questioned.
Shrugging, Yur replied with a hint of disregard. "Clearly I don't. I thought everyone was here on training."
Although doubt filled her mind, she still nodded her head. She wasn't planning on telling him her personal motives, but the tasks given by the sect were no secret. Many people knew of them; millions of disciples.
"Sure. There are two things we are here for." Sending the pebble back into her silver ring, she began to brief explanation. Of course, leaving out key details, just providing what was considered common knowledge. "First, we are here for training. Second, to save hostages that were captured by the demons."
[Quest Complete!]
[Reward: 50 Humans Points!]
[Generating Follow Up Quest…]
[Afloria Quest: Save the Hostages!]
[Help Ris with saving the hostages from Demons!]
[Reward: 300 Human Points (Stackable)!]