Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"Alright," Zhaoxing nodded, and looked at Garen,"follow me. Julie, please take care of our two guests."
"Yes teacher."
Zhaoxing stood up and headed towards a wall on the right side of the room. The wall suddenly rose up and revealed a stone door.
Garen followed closely as they went in one after another.
The door closed behind him, Garen was now in a quaint study room.
A few ash white shelves sat in a corner, while some small tables paired with black sofas and yellow lights on the wall. It was a simply furnished room.
"Sylphalan plans to head east. He knows youâre looking for him, so perhaps heâs running away from you, or maybe he has other plans, but he is already preparing a boat. Him running away from you today was not a coincidence."
Zhaoxing said that once they got in.
"Whatâs your relationship with the old man Gregor?" Garen asked.
"My mother is Sylphalan and Gregorâs sister. The three of them were perfect siblings until one day my mom died in an accident trying to save Gregor." Zhaoxing casually turned on a gas light on the small table, illuminating herâs and Garenâs face with a flickering yellow light.
"Sylphalan believed that it was all Gregorâs fault, so they fell apart. At that time, Gregor was incredibly handsome and very powerful. His position among telekinetic practitioners was just like the position of the Immortal Palace Alliance today. Sylphalan couldnât fight him, so he distanced himself," Zhaoxing sighed,"Sylphalan seemed to have some sort of perverted affection towards my mother. Since the accident he started relentlessly pursuing greater and greater power in hopes of challenging Gregor one day. Finally, in the end, he killed Gregor."
Garen could sense that there was more to this, but the general summary seemed to be true.
"Sylphalan once had the opportunity to kill me, but he let me go, why?"
"He only has two lifelong objectives, one is to kill Gregor for revenge, and the other is to revive my mother," Zhaoxing said softly,"his relationship with Gregor was complicated. Everything he knew, he learned it from Gregor. Gregor was more than just his brother, he was his teacher. You are Gregorâs heir, so I believe he spared you for the sake of Gregor."
Zhaoxing shooked her head.
"Actually, Sylphalan went mad many years ago."
"I can see that," Garen nodded,"his mental state surely isnât normal right now."
"So what is your objective?" Zhaoxing looked at Garen,"find Sylphalan and avenge Gregor?"
Garen sat down and cupped his face in his hands, he couldnât come up with a response.
After a long silence, he finally spoke.
"Sylphalan killed Gregor, he also almost killed me once. I will find him, and I will kill him. This is my objective."
"Arenât you interested to know if Sylphalan found the path of the Blood Warriors?"
"Do you know?" Garen laughed,"I donât know anything about what you people call telekinesis. Even if he finds it, it has nothing to do with me, Iâm not one of you."
"As someone who is able to achieve this level of power at such a young age, the three of you arenât just ordinary people. I trust my guts, mere mortals would not possess talent like yours," Zhaoxing said definitively,"well? Would you like to test it?"
Garen hesitated.
"Sure, but how?"
"Itâs very simple," Zhaoxing walked to the front of one of the shelves and took out a few books, revealing a hidden compartment in the back. From the hidden compartment she took out one thick book.
The book was covered in a black hardcover, and on the cover were some twisted text that Garen couldnât recognize.
"This book.." Garen could however feel a sense of familiarity towards the book.
"This is the book of potential I got from Gregor. This used to be his telekinetic tool, it carried the potential of his abilities within it. Now that heâs dead, he mailed this to me before he died," Zhaoxing said,"open it, it will trigger the potential inside your body. The strength of your inert telekinetic abilities will be shown by how many words turn red as you open the book."
"Turn red?" Garen took the book over and casually flipped a few pages. The words on the cover, the words on the page, all remained in their typical black ink.
"Perhaps Iâve gotten the wrong book," Zhaoxing stared at the pages, feeling something was off.
"No, this is the right one," Garen disagreed,"Iâve actually flipped this book before in Gregorâs shop."
"Youâve flipped it before?" Zhaoxing was stunned, she checked the cover again and was certain that this was the book of potential.
Her face started to turn displeased.
"This canât be! How can someone like you acquire such great amount of power without any potential at a young age?! Keep flipping, maybe you need to do it longer."
Garen shrugged, he couldnât understand why this old woman was so tense, it was just telekinetic energy, not like it was a big deal.
"Alright, Iâll keep flipping."
As time passed in the study, there was only the sound of Garen occasionally turning pages.
Zhaoxingâs face also started turning more and more displeased. The excitement that was once in her eyes slowly faded away.
"Itâs not that serious right?" Garen noticed her changing expression.
"I shouldnât have had high expectations..." Zhaoxing sighed, her face seemingly turning older,"and there I thought our generation was saved. But all of it was just a dream."
"Well, I just donât possess telekinetic potential, whatâs the big deal?" Garen frowned.
"You donât understand. Gregor was the greatest master of our generation. He represents the continuity of our millennia of traditions and culture. But now, all this is for a naught, we will just die out...." Zhaoxing replied softly,"He gave you that book and that pendant. Only you have the right to inherit his abilities sealed within that book. Yet now, you donât just not have telekinetic potential, you canât even open the pendant...."
"As I said, donât you think youâre taking this whole thing a little too seriously?" Garen asked plainly.
"Telekinesis is everything to us," Zhaoxing closed her eyes, and replied in immense sorrow.
Garen slowly understood her perspective. Everyone has something that defines them in life, for this woman, it was the telekinetic culture.
"Screw it, letâs not talk about this for now," Zhaoxing opened her eyes, they were still filled with waves of tiredness,"now we can only rely on you, Garen. You are our last hope. Youâve given us hope, even though you failed to live up to my expectations," she smiled bitterly.
"Sylphalan seems to treat you like his enemy?" Garen asked,"he doesnât even care if you live or die, looks like heâs just going to bulldoze over everything that comes in his way."
What this meant was that Sylphalan never even treated Zhaoxing and group as enemies, they were merely like ants on the road that Sylphalan couldnât even be bothered to step on.
That, was the truth.
"While it sounds harsh, it is the truth," Zhaoxing nodded,"However i must ask you again. Garen, are you sure you want to completely settle your vendetta with Sylphalan?" her face suddenly turned serious.
"Of course, thatâs the whole reason why Iâm here." Garen replied plainly,"I am different from the King of Nightmares and Andrela. This is the sole reason why Iâm here."
The whole reason why Garen went on this quest to destroy Sylphalan was because of the fact that he killed Gregor, and almost killed him.
Ever since he arrived on this world, heâs had little close friends or relatives. If he were to rank them, the first would be his sister, the second would be Gregor and his teacher, his uncle, parents, then followed by Su Lin, Andrela and the rest. As for everyone else, he had known them for too brief a time to say much.
"What do you mean by asking that?"
Zhaoxing shook her head,"I just needed to be sure. The Immortal Palaceâs plans are way too elaborate, should you choose to pursue them, you must be prepared for the worst."
"Do you hear what youâre saying?" Garen stared at the old woman,"I donât think I can run into much danger given my abilities. Let it be Behemothâs Gate, or even the Immortal Palace, nothing can stand in my way. Heck theyâll only serve to entertain my journey."
Zhaoxing did not expect him to answer like that,"You are insane! Do you even realize how powerful Sylphalan is?! He even..."
"You should have more faith in me." Garen smiled as he cut her off.
"If you continue to be cocky like that, you will lose everything the next time you face the Immortal Palace!" Zhaoxing was visibly angry now.
"I am not cocky, I am just confident about my own abilities." Garen shook his head.
"This is cockiness! You arenât even certain of how powerful Sylphalan is, and yet you dare talk about him so lightly!"
"I told you, I am not cocky," Garen frowned,"Nevermind, I shanât waste my time on pointless arguments like this with you."
"You have no potential, you canât possibly fight Sylphalan! Today he was not being serious but if he goes into his full form..." Zhaoxing couldnât help but shiver for a bit, like she was recalling some brutal scene.
Garen saw the woman who was scared out of her mind before him, and was at a loss for words to comfort her. He had to respect her still, after all she is a relative of the late Gregor, and an elder.
"For his next step, Sylphalan is going to travel somewhere at a specific time, not sure if heâs running away from you or heâs planned this all along. If you are as powerful as you claim to be, then go ahead!"
"Where and when?"