24 Conversation

"So, who did you offend?" Kiesh asked, eager to know the reason for Rubby's seclusion.

However, Rubby, who was not mentally present in front of him, instinctually responded.

"Huh?"

Swallowing the food in his mouth, he clarified, "This is a punishment ground, right? I am here because of a misunderstanding. An entitled princess cursed my mom, so I cursed her back, but my timing was wrong. I was swept into a portal, landing in front of the elder who was supposed to teach me the basics. He heard my curse and took it to heart, sending me here for punishment with a lightning bolt."

Kiesh grabbed the remaining part of his food and offered it to Rubby, saying, "So, how did you come here?"

Rubby, who was recovering from the shock of eating commoner's food, halted for a moment to take a breath.

For a cultivator, cultivation is everything; every part of his life is dedicated to the pursuit of immortality: eating, drinking, sleeping, sitting, and even the act of mating.

This pursuit was the sole reason for the development of various cultivation techniques like dual cultivation, devouring, slumber, dream, etc.

Trivial things like sitting are not even spared from this pursuit.

In a world like this, commoner's food is useless to elevate cultivation, so it's akin to eating trash.

The only good thing about this is the ability to provide the necessary energy to perform work and that's it.

But this food is not so bad.

It has a unique flavour.

Furthermore, the chef himself is a gentleman.

Rubby lips arched up in a faint smile as she accepted the treat and answered, "No, I am not here for seclusion. It's the opposite. There was something I needed which is only present in the Vatika forest."

"What about you? How did you end up here?"

"Me? It's a pretty good story. I was on my way to a pizza delivery, then I had an accident. Thank God the officer accepted the pizza; otherwise, I didn't know how I would have avoided his question.

Then I went home, with the timer on the corner of my vision as I was infected with Maya.

I anxiously sat with my family and had a good meal.

I disappeared in front of my sister when my mother was in the kitchen.

I wonder what excuse my sister made; she was so excited for me to come to the Mrityu.

"I heard the sound of drums when Rishi awakened my constitution. I was not able to follow the rest of the announcement." Kiesh explained the event shortly all the way to him to deal with the thief monkey. After the summary, he turned to Rubby and said,

"What's your story?"

"Oh, me? Well, it started way back; it will take so much time to explain."

"So what! I want to hear it. I have plenty of time to listen to you."

—Lub dub!

Kiesh's words seemed to charm Rubby, as she found herself unexpectedly drawn to his demeanor.

It was not like she didn't hear that type of word from anyone. It happened plenty of times. To the point, it lost its lustre.

But now, why did these words affect her?

Was that because this was the first time Kiesh showed interest in her?

No, this was the first time any man had shown interest in her, not in her position as the heir of the Iron Sect, the successor of the largest weapon market, or a jade beauty.

Nevertheless, she began describing her life, unaware that Kiesh simply asked out of genuine curiosity, as he truly had plenty of time on hand. He had already accomplished two missions for the day and even dealt with the thief monkey, so now it was time to celebrate and enjoy. While eating, he grabbed the freshly grilled rabbit.

But it was better left unsaid to Rubby, who excitedly told about herself.

"I think all of this started way back around my tenth birthday. I always watched my father, who worked on special orders for various weapons from some rulers. As far as I could remember, my father spent most of his time in the blacksmithy, as the orders he received could only be done by him. This left me and my brother to grow under my innocent mother, who let us do and supported us in all our work.

At that time, I had a seed of interest in me to do the same as my father, so I did it."

Finding a good opportunity to sneak into the empty smithy, I grabbed the tools and started repeating the method of the recent weapon my father made. Hammering and basic blacksmithing were not foreign to me, so I quickly entered the zone.

I was so absorbed in the smithing; that I lost track of time. That day, it took a whole rotation of my home planet for me to come back to my senses and discover I had made an epic-level weapon." Rubby stopped, conflicted to continue.

She was about to stop, but Kiesh said, "Haha, you made a weapon that only your father can, and that too when you were a child! Awesome! And what happened next?"

Rubby continued, losing herself in her storytelling.

"I was so excited that day. This sword in my hand is the same epic weapon.

After that, my father… gifted me some of his inheritance and took me in as a disciple.

He even hired a special tutor for me to learn various techniques and arts,

Things progressed quickly, and I aged with the same speed while learning about forging and cultivation. Whatever I asked for was readily available to me; every type of metal alloy, technique, ingredient—everything was within my reach.

I was lost in myself, in whatever was provided to me, mostly influenced by the opinions of those around me. Not realizing, I was sinking deep into the wishes and expectations of my surroundings, of people.

My parents told me this was the right path, and I wholeheartedly believed in them. It was not like what they told me was false or wrong. In fact, it was genuine.

But it was not meant for me. That was not me!

The moment I realized or to say discovered myself, I had already lost most of me.

It was not so late, so I chose my path, unknown to me and my parents.

Yes, they were against it, but nothing much; a day of not eating solves the problem.

Maybe I am wrong or I am on a lost path.

So what!

It's my wish.

This is what I want to do.

I want to be a player of the Cosmic play."