- After the Duel -
We arrived at the school dorms at around 8:30 PM, half an hour before the curfew. Feng Mian, Qing Yue, and the Yu sisters headed off towards the girl dormitories while i Gui stayed with . I glanced at her with an awkward smile on my face.
"Uh...i Gui, are you sure you want to co with into the boy dorms?" I asked hesitantly.
She nodded. "There will not be any problems for Master unless I am seen, correct?"
"Er, yeah...but if you are, then I will almost certainly be expelled from the school, y'know..." I replied sheepishly.
"Not to worry, Master. Even if you are expelled from this trash school, together, we will survive and beco stronger than anyone else."
"Hah...that sounds tempting, not gonna lie," I grinned. "But...there are still things I must do within this city. And right now, this school is acting as a perfect base for ."
i Gui perked up. "The Xuan Family, correct? I will aid Master in whatever he wishes - even the destruction of the entire planet, much less a re family."
I smiled and pat her head gently as we entered the elevator. Luckily for us, no one was around - I had checked with Detect Presence earlier, a very basic Level One Psychic Elent spell. It told whether or not there was anyone within an 100 ter radius. However, since my magic was boosted, I could detect up to 500 ters, and even people purposely using Conceal Presence, the Psychic Elent spell that directly countered Detect Presence, would be caught by my senses. Of course, this naturally ant that people using other thods to hide their presence would be rendered useless as well, for example - Vanishing Shadows (Level One Shadow Elent spell).
That being said, if soone was using a Level Two spell or higher to conceal themselves, I probably wouldn't be able to know. But really, who would bother using the mana for a Level Two spell just to hide their presence? Especially since we were in this relatively safe school dorm environnt. Unless soone was on a spy or assassination mission, they wouldn't bother using an advanced technique to hide their presence.
It was still better to be on our guard though, which is why I had i Gui run a Detect Presence on the entire dorm building as well. Her strength was three tis mine, so she should be able to detect even people using Level Two spells to hide their presence.
Alas, no one appeared on our radar - everyone was inside their rooms, and so the two of us had headed in. We entered the elevator and pressed the button that read '12', and the door closed behind us. I was still pretty nervous, since there was no telling when soone may leave their room and get on the elevator...though this was unlikely since it was already nearing curfew. Students had to be within their room by 9 PM, even being in the hallway of the dorms didn't count.
Around a minute later, we arrived on the 12th floor. I ran another Detect Presence just to be safe, and we left the elevator. I walked the familiar steps to my room, i Gui trailing behind silently. As I was unlocking the door's lock as usual, a thought popped into my head. Since I had magic now, I suppose I could use a Magic Array for my lock as well? They were far more secure and convenient than the security chanism I had right now.
That wasn't anything urgent though, so I just made a ntal note of asking Song Qian Long this the next ti I et him, and threw this thought to the back of my head. The door opened with a creak and i Gui and I stepped inside. I shut the door behind after i Gui entered, and locked it. I finally breathed out deeply, since the entire way up I had been in fact extrely nervous. After a while, I noticed i Gui staring at .
"Oh, uh...what is it?" I asked.
She looked at for a bit longer, but then shook her head. "Nevermind...Master, you don't have to trouble yourself."
I stared back at her, and tried to figure out the aning behind her words. I then realized her fidgeting with her hair, and realized that despite not being a human exactly, she was still a girl, and had basic necessities.
"Uh, the bathroom's over there," I pointed at the white oak door leading to the washroom. "You can take a bath and sleep first, you must be tired after teaching earlier."
She tiled her head. "But...what about you, Master?"
I shrugged. "I'll go later. Don't worry about ."
She shook her head. "No...Master, you should go first. You are more exhausted than I am."
"No no, I already said, I'll go later," I replied with a sigh.
However, it seed that i Gui wasn't going to budge. "I refuse. Master, you should go first."
I blinked. "...Look, i Gui...just go first, okay? I have so things to do still, by the ti you're done I'll be finished with my stuff as well."
"...That's a lie, I can feel your emotions."
I flinched, and stiffened up. "Uh..."
"..."
After a long and uncomfortable silence, i Gui finally broke the awkwardness lingering in the air.
"...Seeing as this argunt will not get us anywhere...in that case, Master, how about we take a bath toget-"
"Denied," I imdiately rejected her suggestion. "Just go first...that's an order."
i Gui appeared slightly unhappy, but since I had emphasized that it was an order, she had no choice but to obey. She entered the bathroom and I let out a sigh of relief. However, that was short lived...the door soon swung open once more, just seconds after it had been closed by i Gui.
I glanced at her exhaustedly. "What is it this ti...?"
"M-Master...I have encountered a slight problem."
I blinked. This was very out of character. Seeing her blush and fidgeting with her black dress wasn't a very common sight. I then replied, "Uh, okay...details?"
"I c-cannot seem to g-get this machine w-working..." she stuttered as she responded to my question.
I chuckled. "Ah...I see. I'll get the water running for you this ti, just watch so you know how to do it by yourself in the future."
i Gui nodded vigorously, and I finally knew what the source of her embarrassnt was. As a 'servant' (though I didn't exactly think of her that way) who called Master, she probably had a strong feeling of wanting to be useful. Thus, not being able to even start the water of a shower must've had a huge impact on her confidence. Though I had to admit...seeing her like this was kind of cute.
After I was done setting everything up for her, I left the bathroom and sat down on the couch. I began thinking of what to do tomorrow, at the main tournant. The other three teams, apart from ourselves, were all troubleso opponents. Xuan Kun was without a doubt the most dangerous, but Ming Hao was the most mysterious. As for the Solo Devil, Liao Fen...he has a very high and explosive power. They were the only team I had 100% confidence in beating, but they could definitely cause so damage to our team mbers, possibly causing a disadvantage for us in the next round.
As I was organizing my thoughts and devising a plan, ti passed faster than expected. Before long, i Gui had finished bathing, and ca out dressed in the sa alluring black dress she had been wearing earlier. Except this ti, her hair was wet, and I could sll the faint scent of flowers emitting from her from where I was sitting. Put bluntly, she looked like a beautiful fallen angel, clad in black. I subconsciously averted my gaze.
"Uh...why are you wearing the sa clothes as earlier?" I asked ekly, scratching my cheek in an attempt to hide my awkwardness.
i Gui looked down at her dress, expressionless as usual. Her embarrassnt from earlier was nowhere to be seen. "These are the only clothes I have, Master."
"Er, aren't they dirty though?" I continued, still not looking directly at her. Instead, I was gazing out the window, at the beautiful moonlight. I needed a distraction right now, or else I might not be able to hold back...I am a boy in my teenage years, after all.
i Gui, however, didn't seem concerned at all. "These clothes are brand new, Master - I can make them with mana. While they look the sa as my earlier attire, they are completely clean."
"Ah...I see," I nodded. "Still, you're a teenage girl, you probably want more clothes, right?"
"..." she didn't reply, but thanks to our telepathic link I could feel her emotions. She was troubled since she indeed wanted new clothes, but at the sa ti knew I was short on money and could barely support myself. She also didn't have any money, so buying it herself was out of the question.
I couldn't help but smile at her concern for . Despite her expressionless and cold deanor, she was in fact kind on the inside...at least, to . It was clear she didn't care about the other girls or anyone else whatsoever. That was a problem, as we were allies for the ti being, but maybe with ti she will grow close to them as well. Then it hit - this was a perfect opportunity to let her beco more friendly with them!
I snickered. "Hey, i Gui...if you want sothing, just say it. I might not have the money to buy anything right now, but the girls from earlier today certainly do. Why don't you go ask them?"
She imdiately shook her head. "...I do not want anything if it is not from Master."
I sank into thought. "Hm...what if I told you they are all my close friends?"
That was partly a lie, since to , they were allies and nothing more. Perhaps Qing Yue was closer to than the others, but I couldn't call them 'friends'. After all...I didn't even know what that word ant. Still, I would have to say this to convince i Gui. Since it wasn't a full lie, i Gui didn't notice anything off through our telepathic connection.
"..." she didn't say anything, but instead gazed at deeply, as if searching for sothing.
I smiled as warmly as I could. "They are all nice girls. Trust ."
She stared at for a while more, and for a second I was afraid she had seen through my gimmick. But then, she smiled faintly. Thought it was very small, could barely be seen, and left as soon as it ca, it was enough.
"...Okay," she replied.
I gave her a thumbs-up gesture, and stood up from the couch. I went into the shower, and finished after around 15 minutes. I pulled on a clean sweatshirt and shorts. i Gui was waiting for when I ca out from the washroom, and I pointed at the bedroom I usually sleep in.
"Uh, you can sleep on the bed, if you don't mind using sothing I've used..." I muttered. "I'll just sleep on the couch."
"...No, Master, you sleep on your bed," i Gui replied. I blinked, and thought it must've been since she didn't want to sleep in my bed. I didn't really expect anything different, but it still hurt being told that to my face.
"Ah...well, okay. I'll get you a pillow and blanket," I replied, and hurriedly went into my bedroom. Pillows and blankets were provided by the school, and each room had two sets. You were ant to swap between the two - use one while the other is being washed and dried.
I tossed the pillow and blanket onto the couch, and waved goodnight to i Gui, who was sitting on the couch on top of the blanket I threw her, and also surprisingly didn't seem tired at all. I didn't think too much of it though, and closed my bedroom door.
As I lay down in my bed, lights closed, I sighed and wondered...
...Would I ever be able to discover the true aning of friendship?
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