CHAPTER 68 **The General’s Enthusiasm**

The pill was a magnet, and the better the magnet, the more spiritual essence you’ll be able to absorb!

Amazing!

Sadly, Sahara felt a little stupid now, for not giving the pill a good go first…But she wasn’t mad that her friend had it instead…Because he ‘dinged’!

He became a seventh ranked cultivator!

And Sahara had purposely retracted her spiritual essence to find out what happens when someone ‘dinged’ and it was…So cool!

The type of feeling that overcomes you, even when somebody else is ‘dinging’, makes you feel like you’re amongst someone special. But then it disappears, and everything goes back to normal…That was the strangest part…It reminded Sahara of going to a theme park, when she was a kid, and then having to leave…Or watching a great movie at the cinema’s and then seeing the credits. It’s the feeling you get when great things come to an end…

All she could do, after the feeling had gone, was sigh and remember it.

The white pill took three times the amount of time to finish then the grey pill, but the amount of spiritual essence received…

It was…An unbelievable pill!

This should sell for an ‘Omigod’ amount of money! …I mean…Sum

Sahara just wanted to make more! And put it in the ‘AH’, straight away!

*I just wanted to put here, that the term ‘AH’ is a saying Sahara used in the game called ‘WOW’. It means Auction House.*

As she thought about the differences between the two pills, Sahara thought about the ‘Bending Space’ meditation being like a primary color, and that all the other meditations that she’s come across so far are more like secondary colors. The reason she thought that, was because she can make the other meditations better by using ‘Bending Space’ Meditation with them or do it better completely using the ‘Bending Space’ Meditation instead!

By the time that Sahara opened her eyes, Naruto was nowhere to be seen and the friend beside her seemed so different that she nearly questioned if it was really him!

…He was smiling so much!

“I am already halfway through seventh rank! The pill works!” He said in a booming voice.

“…Are you the same person I gave this pill too?” Sahara asked innocently, with a cheeky smile on her face.

“Haha, yes!”

Sahara shook her head and took out some food, “What is your name anyway?”

I should be able to remember it…By now…So sad that we have come this far and I still don’t know his name…

“Steven. You?”

“Sahara. And grats for dinging!”

She got a strange, confused look in return.

Ah, right…

“Congratulations for ranking up!”

I like my way better!

“Much thanks!”

While they ate in silence, Sahara was in her own thoughts. She just felt herself full of ambition. She wanted to rub her hands together, do a dance and sleep with the money that she had yet to earn!

Of course, through this, Sahara forgot that it was ‘Sum’ here and that it wasn’t notes like that on Earth.

Ahh, I’m ganna be rich!

Sahara already wanted to get busy and make lots and lots of pills! She also needed to give some away. The General used to be at least a ranked five cultivator…She thought. So, she’ll give him three pills…Besides, he’s looked after her too, so she’ll give him four. Wait, haven’t I also caused him trouble?

Thinking about this, Sahara just remembered that Matthew and the General were friends! She only realized now that she was breaking them up, by saying what she had said to Matthew that morning!

After thinking this, Sahara felt really bad…Not only has she given the General problems, she stopped his friend from coming!

Staring at her food, Sahara decided then, that she couldn’t stay any longer. She’ll have to tell the General, to tell Matthew, that he can come back…

But where do I go then?

Being a little dazed, Steven saw this and remained silent. He was already very thankful towards Sahara, and now he felt like he had some kind of strange, new goal.

The way that they had met was not very good, but she seemed to have the personality of forgiveness and understanding.

If he were to ask to stay with her…

“Sahara?”

“Mmm?” Sahara said, distracted.

Steven went silent. He had never once asked to stay beside someone before…

“What’s up?” She said, finally realizing that she hadn’t heard a response.

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Steven only slightly smiled at her, then looked away, “It’s fine.”

Sahara sighed, people like him must have had a tough upbringing. Never being able to express your wants can be a big childhood trauma if never being asked about them in the first place…

Sahara knew that she could be wrong, but she wouldn’t be surprised if his parents weren’t there for him…

Seeing that there was something he wanted to say, but didn’t say it, Sahara wondered if she should pry it out of him instead…

“Ah! Little woman! Golden eyes! We meet again!”

Sahara looked up at the voice…It was the General. “My name is Sahara, this is Steven.”

“Ah, yes, I’ll remember! Are you alright dear, we went to save you, we did good right!? We didn’t kill anyone!” The General said proudly.

Since the time of the Crowned Prince had somewhat come to an end, the General was very happy. Even better, was that the Second Prince’s innocence had been returned! So, the General had somewhat reverted to a careless attitude now, already wanting to go back to train his men and get ready for war!

Sadly though, the emperor hadn’t given him any kind of orders and the General keeps forgetting that he had given his men some time to hide away for a while, due to orders from Joshua.

Sahara let out a small laugh, “Ah…Yes, you did good.”

She looked at Steven, a bit confused, and he said, “Naruto bit the one that was there, on the bottom.”

At first, Sahara was reminded of that cruel psycho, but hearing Naruto…Biting…Ass.

Sahara cracked up in laughter!

“Little woman, the stable will be repaired tomorrow, why don’t you stay in…Side?” The General said, still quite confused that she was always outside.

Ah…Not calling me Sahara, uh? Fine…Two can play this game!

“Big man, I won’t be staying. You can also tell Matthew that he can come back, that what I said, to not worry about it.” Sahara stated.

“What did you say?” The General asked curiously.

“Just say what I said just now to him.” Sahara looked away from him.

“…Little woman, did you have a fight with the boy?” The General asked, plopping himself down the ground next to her.

Sahara blinked, then said, “No! I…”

“Haha, that’s ok, make him show an angry face, uh!” The General said, smiling.

Sahara raised her eyebrows at the strange man…

“…Uh! If you won’t be here, where are you going!?” The General asked, after a few moments of silence.

Sahara sighed, she wanted to get a fox, which was out in the large, vast land area. She wanted to make pills and learn about sum, and that could be done there too. She also…Wanting to do something about her dantian…She wanted to hide it somehow. She never wanted what happened the day before to repeat itself! Not being able to fight nor use her spiritual essence had…

“Outside of Green Haven.” Sahara said distracted, then she had a drink and tried to stop thinking about the past.

“Why?” The General said, “The boy will worry about you.”

Sahara spurted out some drink and coughed, before answering, “…Matthew…Will be fine…Doesn’t he have to clear his name or something?”

Strangely enough, while everyone was in an uproar about what was going on with the Crowned Prince, Sahara had no idea about it…To her, this was quite normal. In her past life she never watched the normal type of news either, only watching the direct news, without as many ads, on the internet if it was a huge deal. But to others, like her grandparents and elder people…It was absolutely abnormal…

“Ah, he did, and the Crowned Prince is in the Cold Palace! Ah! I want to spank that boy until he’s bleeding!” The General hit the ground with his fist.

The ground only slightly shook, as Sahara was right next to where he hit the ground and it really did astonish her. She then moved things out of the way and hit the ground too, making the ground tremble for a few metres away.

Smiling, Sahara hit the ground again.

“Ah! Little woman, you are strong! Come to the battlefields with this one!” The General asked.

She laughed at him, “What battlefields?”

The General lost his smile and looked at her, pouting, “Perhaps, there will be one soon, uh?”

“Haha, yeah, hey, one battlefield right here!” She got up and walked away from him, getting her swords out, “General, come to this battleground and spar with me!”

“Oh! Oh! Yes! This General will get his sword!”

Before Sahara could say another word, the General scooted of so quickly, that he was out of sight before she realized that he needed to get his sword, as he hadn’t had it on him…

Sahara was sorta joking, she did like to fight and all, but how he had responded, was like he was so excited that he couldn’t contain himself…

She heard a chuckle from Steven, and she turned to him, “I think the General…Likes to fight…”

“I think so too!” Steven said, standing up and moving away, to make more room.

He, now knowing that Sahara was going out of Green Haven, was gaining his courage to ask if he could accompany her.

Even if she never knew that he was going for the sole reason to protect her, he just didn’t want to go back to having…Nobody…

Having someone so generally nice to him, and fun to be around, he wanted this courage so badly, so that he wouldn’t lose out on this chance…

The General ran back, still smiling, and said, “This General is ready, let’s fight!”

“General! I want this land! Look, I’m marking it mine!” Sahara said jokingly, while making a sword make an ‘x’ in the ground.

“Uh? That’s your mark? Hey! This is my land! Give it back!” The General said, going towards the ‘x’ marked on the ground.

That was how the spar started…

And the General was so happy!

***

The General and Sahara sparred for an hour, the sun now nearly gone, and the General was sweating profusely. They laughed a few times when she played some dirty tricks to distract him and he had even nicked her once, making her arm bleed.

But she had got him more…He was still ranked two, and she was rank five now, so the difference was a bit annoying…But his enthusiasm was superb!

Feeling bad, and seeing that he needed a break, they stopped, and Sahara went to heal him.

“We fight again! I’m ready!” The General refused to sit down, or even put away his sword. He was puffing and panting, and his eyes shined like he was a newborn.

“I will heal you, so shut up!” Sahara said, not taking no as an answer.

The General pouted but stayed there.

Seriously! He’s such a kid!

Sahara fixed up his slight injuries in half an hour and by then it was getting dark.

When she finished, Sahara dropped her arm from the General and had the certain need to look to the side, away from the residence.

“…Matthew.”

Having not known that she had uttered this word out loud, the General heard and turned too, as did Steven.

Matthew, having been found out, lowered his head and then turned, taking large jumps away.

“Your Highness?” Band One asked.

They had been standing there for so long, to suddenly leave?

Matthew didn’t say a word…He knew that he wasn’t supposed to be there, but he wasn’t able to help himself.

At a distance…He had told himself…Just stay at a distance. And yet, while he had watched the end of their fight and then her healing the General, he felt like he had been complete for the first time since that morning.

It hadn’t even been a day, and he already felt better, just by watching her.

Trying to stop his thoughts, he continued to go to his estate.

He had been formally invited to go to court the next day, and since he had nothing else that he wanted to do right now, he was going to rest…And try and catch up on sleep…Try…

“Master, he longs for you too.”

These words snapped Sahara back to reality, and the easy-going time that they had was passed.

Sahara looked at Steven, and said, “I’m going, are you coming too?”

Steven widened his eyes and nodded quickly.

The General pouted, “This General wants to fight!”

“Next time…Naruto!” Sahara said, looking around.

A few seconds later, and after another calling, Naruto came running and got up and onto her shoulder. He had a chicken in his mouth and looked like a devious, little stealer.

“Thank you General, for the stay, I’ll come back soon and give you a present! A very good present, one for fighting!” Pretty sure that this man’s heart was owned much to war and fighting, Sahara roused him up.

To be honest, having him hurt her arm while fighting and with the rank difference between them, Sahara was quite astonished. He’s personality though…

“Ah! Good, Good, go and get this one’s present then and come back very, very soon!” The General said smiling.

“In a couple of days, I’ll return.” Sahara said with one nod and then walked towards Steven.

He didn’t back away, which was probably the first time in a very long time…

When she put her hand out to touch him, he knew what was going to happen and didn’t get scared.

Trust…I trust you…