I didn’t ask what she ant by "for now."
After that, instead of going straight ho, I went to see the inn girl.
[Fifty million divided by four gives ten million.]
The thought surfaced again, uninvited, and for so reason, it made want to talk to her. I couldn’t explain why. It just felt like the right thing to do.
She was behind the counter when I arrived, flipping through a worn ledger. She looked up when she heard my footsteps.
A smile blossod on her face.
Or did it?
It was hard to tell due to her eldritch head.
We spoke for a while.
I received the information that the ship officers were looking for , since they had found out I had impersonated an officer.
The single advised to stay low.
After a quick chat, I promised to et her again tomorrow, and left for ho.
Ho was peaceful, or so would I have liked to say.
The whole house was filled with hustle and bustle by the ti I was woken up in the morning.
It felt like I had walked into the middle of a small storm.
Since the new maids had co to help my mom, they had apparently decided that "helping" also included taking care of .
I had barely escaped the clutches of my parents after years of protest.
But now, the maids would change my clothes, bathe and do everything.
At this point, I had given up on saving my dignity. I just let them do whatever they wanted with .
Aunt Liora ca by later in the afternoon.
This ti, she brought one of my cousins with her.
Lucas.
He stood a little behind her, hands clasped in front of him, and stiff posture. His eyes moved around the house, taking everything in, but he didn’t say much at first.
Over tea, I learned what he was here for.
Lucas was under Uncle Elias’s direct ntorship, but he wanted to change masters. He wanted my father to take him in instead.
Dad refused, obviously.
Even though he worked as an instructor, taking a direct disciple was already a sensitive thing.
And taking the disciple of his older brother would be considered poaching. It was just rude, and could be taken in as an insult.
Later in the evening, Uncle Elias ca himself.
That was when I used Shadow Assimilation.
I slipped into the edge of the room, my body blending into the shadows near the hallway, as I eavesdropped.
"—You should take Lucas as your disciple. He has big ambitions, but I can’t help him reach those. Only soone like you can," Uncle Elias said.
Dad seed troubled about the fact that Uncle Elias also wanted Dad to take ntorship of Lucas.
From what I heard, Lucas was beginning to hit the limits of his talent.
That’s why he had co to train under dad.
Eventually, I slipped away before they finished.
Back in my room, I canceled Shadow Assimilation.
A familiar notification popped up.
[Shadow Assimilation: Level 4 → Level 5]
"Another level up," I smiled faintly.
The difference was imdiate. I could feel it in the way the shadows around seed closer, and more connected.
At Level 5, I could stay in Shadow Assimilation state longer, and more importantly, I could instantly move between shadows that were farther apart.
Fifty ters.
It was a large distance, and would help trendously in battles.
That night, I went back to the L Corp.
Saint Dexter t at the entrance. We talked briefly. It was nothing deep, just a check-in. He had the look of soone who was always half-thinking about sothing else.
After he left, Lyra ca to find .
The L Corp Director didn’t waste ti with small talk.
"It’s ti we began your operation to make you a Saint—"
"Here," I said, cutting in and handing her another stack of docunts. "Read this today."
Her eyes lit up the mont she saw the papers. Whatever she had been about to say vanished. She took them from like I might change my mind if she didn’t grab them fast enough.
"I’ll get back to you," she said, already walking away.
Had I not stopped her, I would’ve beco Instructor Jasmine today.
I watched her go, then turned and flagged down a Worker Jasmine.
"Can you bring to a lab?" I asked.
The Worker nodded and led the way.
"Ti to get the chanic Class," I muttered, cracking my knuckles.
The lab was quiet, filled with the soft hum of machines and the faint sll of tal and oil.
The Worker Jasmines brought everything I asked for. Parts. Tools. Materials.
I started working.
Days blurred together after that.
At ho, Lucas started coming by every day.
He would kneel at the doorsteps, saying he wouldn’t leave until Dad took him in as a disciple.
Dad ignored him.
After a week, Mom’s heart lted and she told Dad to stop being stubborn.
Dad sighed, rubbed his temples, and finally agreed.
From that day on, Lucas moved in with us.
At night, I would et the inn girl daily.
Since I was supposed to be staying low, I didn’t show up in the main part of the inn. Instead, I helped her in the kitchen. She laughed when she saw the first ti.
"Of all the things I expected, this wasn’t one of them," she said.
"I’m full of surprises," I replied.
I couldn’t touch the dishes they served. Even looking at so of them made my mind nauseous.
So I washed dishes.
We would talk while working in the inn.
At L Corp, I kept feeding Lyra more docunts. She kept disappearing into her office and coming out with that sa focused look in her eyes.
In between, I worked in the lab, building, adjusting, tearing things apart, and putting them back together in better ways.
Finally, after two weeks, the ssage ca.
Class [chanic] gained.
3 Dexterity, 3 Intelligence
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