47 Chapter 47. Meeting Eupheme's master
"Leo, Eupheme is really taking his time," Aurora complained as she leaned on the clan gate, vaguely looking out onto the streets.
"Haha... Have patience, we arrived very early, there's still a minute left... Wait, nevermind. He's here," Leo spoke back as he stood up from the ground while carrying Lex on his back and looked into the far horizon.
"Gagaah," Lex inaudibly spoke adorably as he looked towards Aurora while pointing a finger towards Eupheme as if he was telling her that Eupheme had arrived.
Eupheme's silhouette vaguely appeared on the horizon as he slowly made his way closer to the two. "Sorry for the wait, I was terminating my contract with the Weaver clan," he apologized with a clumsy expression.
"No problem at all. You are actually early. Say, so why have you asked the two of us to me you here?" Leo curiously asked.
"How would you two like to join the Iudex sect?" Eupheme asked with a smile as a trace of excitement lit up in his pupils.
"What? Are you being serious?" Leo asked in surprise as his curiosity level peaked.
"Yes, I am. Let me explain it," Eupheme replied in all seriousness. During the first two days after the city talent ceremony, Eupheme had been spending his time immediately contacting his master who was at the sect. It had turned out that Eupheme's main reason for staying here at this city was not to work for the Weaver sect but to act as a scout of some sort to watch the affinity testing and report back.
"News traveled fast and now my master wants to meet you. That's why I called you two here, follow me," said Eupheme as he turned and began to walk towards the heart of the city.
"Woah..." Aurora commented in amazement and shock as she could not believe the news. The name of the Iudex sect was extremely prestigious and there was not a soul on the kingdom that had not heard of its name. Now having the chance to be a disciple of such a sect, it had shocked her quite considerably as she did not have much hope to qualify to join it.
The streets were bustling with noise and footsteps as people flooded the sidewalk and shops while carriages slowly made their way across the roads.
"We are here," Eupheme spoke as he stopped in front of a door. He had led Leo, Lex, and Aurora to a small secluded inn that was located at the end of a long peacefully quiet street in the heart of the city.
"Come in," an enchanting voice that seemed to come from a goddess rang out from inside the room as Eupheme took the chance to open the door, directing the trio to enter.
The room was very old but clean. The walls were dark and clearly aged but there was no dirt or dust to be seen on the bed or on the table. And in the middle of the room was an incredibly beautiful middle-aged lady who was wearing an extremely beautiful outfit sitting down on a simple wooden chair in an incredibly sophisticated manner. Her eyes intensely stared at the trio with incredibly judging eyes as they entered.
"Hello Mistress," Leo and Aurora greeted in unison as they took a seat on two chairs that were in front of them.
Eupheme's face immediately turned tense as he saw the duo sitting down. His master was an important figure in the sect and every disciple and workers were required to treat her with respect. Seeing the two sitting down without asking, his heart instantly dropped as he slowly turned towards his master.
However, he saw that the emotion in his master's eyes did not change at all but her attention seemed to be caught by Aurora as she looked at her with interest.
"It's nice to finally meet you. You must be Aurora. Eupheme has told me about your affinity result and I made my way here as soon as I could. I'm Ophelia Neuoa, an elder of the Iudex sect," the lady introduced herself as she sent a smile towards Aurora. She then turned over to Leo, "And who are you?"
"I'm Leon Areia. And this is my brother Lexus Areia," Leo replied as he pointed at himself and then at Lex.
"Areia?" the lady exclaimed mysteriously as her eyebrows suddenly creased in sudden realization.
"What was your father's name?" she asked.
"Reon Areia," Leo answered.
"What about your grandfather?"
"I don't know. Father never told me about him," Leo cluelessly replied as he blankly looked at Ophelia.
"I see. I'll move to my next topic anyway. I want to recruit you guys to the sect," Ophelia suddenly just waved the previous subject off.
"Don't we have to wait until we are fifteen?" Leo suddenly asked in confusion as he hid his excitement.
"You do but I found a better solution. I will take you two as my children and that will allow the three of you to be able to join the sect through those means," Ophelia informed as a happy smile appeared on her face.
"Why are you doing this?" Aurora spoke out nervously.
"Well... Let's just say that you are so talented that if I did not take you now then the other elders would do so in the future," Ophelia replied straightforwardly.
She then raised her hand and brought out a small crystal-like stone that looked identical to the one used in the affinity ceremony but this one was black.
"Place your hand on it and infuse your energy on it," Ophelia instructed as she placed the crystal in front of Leo.
"Why do I have to do it?" Leo cautiously replied.
"That day in the affinity test day, you did not take the test. This is due to two reasons, either you are a trash talent or a genius. I know the chances of the latter are low but if you do not have the required talent level then you won't be able to join the sect," Ophelia explained as she urged Leo.
"Sorry but I'll pass then," Leo spoke as he passed the crystal back towards Ophelia.
Tremendous shock filled everyone's faces as their minds lay shocked once again.
"Are you sure about this? By doing so, you will lose your chance to join this sect ever again," Ophelia coldly replied as she was suddenly rocked by Leo's response. If the chance was ever given then no one in this kingdom, not even anyone in the Crystal empire would reject this opportunity. And by rejecting this offer, Ophelia's doubts were suddenly answered as she concluded that Leo only rejected this offer due to the issue of his talent not being high enough.
"If this is the only way then I am sure that I don't want to join this sect. Talent means that the sect will be biased and favor only the people with the best talents. I have no intention of joining a sect that will be biased like this," Leo voiced his reasoning.
"I see... Then I am deeply sorry for you but this offer is no longer available," Ophelia spoke arrogantly in a scoffing tone.
"Wait, I don't want to join the sect without Leo," Aurora suddenly broke in as she confidently spoke.
"No, Aurie. Tch-Wait, please give us a moment. Aurie, let me talk to you for a moment please," Leo spoke out almost instantly as he bowed towards Ophelia and immediately took Aurora outside the room.
"How arrogant is that brat. He dared to reject an exclusive offer from me," Ophelia unhappily spoke as she stared at the door.
On the corner of the room, Eupheme was in an extremely precarious situation. He was profusely sweating as his back was completely drenched and he had an extremely fearful look on his face.
"Master, you seemed to stop for a moment when he mentioned his family name. Is there a reason why?" Eupheme curiously asked as he tried his best to release the tense pressure in the room.
"When I first heard about his name, I had thought he was a member of that 'Areia' clan but since he did not agree to do it. That can only mean that he is not a member of that clan," Ophelia spoke with a helpless expression as she raised her legs on the table and laid there comfortably.
"I-" Eupheme wanted to ask further but seeing how Ophelia had answered, he saw that she did not plan on telling him at all so he just kept quiet and did not complete his sentence.
"Eupheme, now that I recall it: while I was eating at the inn, I heard some people talking over how the Weaver clan had suddenly been removed from the clan ranking in the city. Do you know anything about this?" Ophelia asked lazily as she seemed interesting to her about a clan that was the second strongest in a city to suddenly be eliminated from the city.
"No, master. I asked some clan members at the Weaver clan when I went to terminate the contract but they did not want to disclose it."
"Go and find out about it," Ophelia instructed and Eupheme immediately jumped out from the window, not daring to stay there any longer. This meeting had gone a lot worse than he had expected.
Leo and Aurora spent a whole five minutes before they walked into the room. Seeing Eupheme no longer there, Leo was about him but Ophelia quickly explained, "I sent him out for a small mission. So... What is your answer, Aurora?"
Hearing this, Aurora suddenly became nervous as she looked at Leo with difficulty. Upon receiving an assuring nod, she answered, "I would like to join the sect. But I have a small request."
Hearing this, Ophelia's face suddenly turned more annoyed but she forced herself to calm down as she asked, "what is your request?"
"I would like to join only after six years," Aurora spoke as she nervously placed her head down.
"That is extremely questionable and would need a lot of unnecessary effort. I'll have to think over it for a while," Ophelia replied after a long pause as she could not decide whether it was worth it to spend so much effort on Aurora.
"I see. Well then, the main issue seems to be solved, Aurora and I will take our leave now," Leo spoke as he had no intention of staying in this place any longer.
"Well... no one is stopping you at all, you may leave if you wish," Ophelia replied as she had no intention of keeping the three either.
Leo and Aurora did not delay and immediately walked out of the inn and made their way on to the streets towards the Decan clan.
As they walked out of the inn, Ophelia stood on the balcony of her room and watched the trio from her window and her mind was subconsciously caught by the crowd. They all seemed to avoid Leo's gaze as they did not even once look at the trio as an invisible but very obvious tense atmosphere seemed to follow them.
'Strange,' she thought.
