Inside the Secret Hideout

After they were inside the space of the small, rather bare cave Momo sighed with relief. She must have lost track of time since Akemi Sensei was supposed to keep the graduating class for an hour after lunch. Which her stomach reminded her she'd missed. Again. But Momo wouldn't show weakness in front of Cifer, recalling the teasing that had resulted the last time. Growing up at the very bottom of the social strata had taught Cifer both how to pick his targets and how to have enough guts to challenge anyone. If he didn't have either of these he wouldn't have made it this long even!

The younger boy, who she considered like a little brother, lived with Aunt Azumi. She'd been trying for the past two years to get the stubborn woman to accept part of Momo's own cultivation resources to achieve her goal, but the only way that Momo had ever managed to get it accepted was when she sent them through Cifer. The boy might have been a bit blunt on occasion, but he had a way of getting things done.

Though sometimes Momo did wonder if she caught hints of red on his cheeks after they entered a private setting like this. She always ended up dismissing it in the end. It really seemed like Cifer either hadn't grown up in that way yet, or was made of stone. If it were another boy she wouldn't bring them somewhere hidden, alone even if she was far stronger than them. Momo wasn't that kind of girl. Sure, she knew the kind of looks that the boys a few years younger or older than her were throwing her way. That didn't mean she'd allow them to act on it. It was enough that Momo knew how she looked, and mostly took pride in having the kind of beauty that could dominate a room more effectively than any show of power could.

Even if she did have a few unique problems that others with more normal figures wouldn't have to deal with. It wasn't her fault that her family tended to have such dramatic shape! 'Great, now I'm complaining about looking pretty.' Momo realized. Then also realized how long they'd both been silent. Time to fix that before things really got awkward.

"What brings you here anyways Cifer?" She prompted him while putting away the mace she'd been training with. Far from her weapon of choice, it had been forced on her as part of the useless Ancestor's Cultivation Art, The Majestic Mace, that had been forced on her as part of the many downsides to trying to use the Ring of the Horses to bring strength and glory back to the Clan.

The sudden question was just the push Cifer needed to get him moving again. He got right to the main point without decorating it. "Akemi Sensei kicked me out for answering a question a bit too completely. She's been getting out of control. She was even taking her frustration out on another student after I left." He didn't care if people thought he was a snitch. They already knew he was close to Momo and would typically think of her stopping Akemi as her protecting him anyways. Regardless of how she learned. So he might as well be man enough to admit his problems until he was strong enough to solve them himself. He found it took a unique kind of character.

Momo's eyes widen in rage. "She did not." She denied. She picked up the Mace again and slammed it into the walls of the cave hard enough to knock loose rocks the size of a finger. Then repeated several times to vent her wrath. She didn't have to hold back just because Cifer was watching. He knew the Ring of the Horses did, so this level of strength that would normally belong to an Beginner Bottom Origination expert didn't shock him. It was expected when you had the ability to stack the results of cultivating 5 times. Your strength would always be completely beyond others your level, and would only grow more impressively so. But it meant you had to spend the time and effort to actually cultivate each of your 4 forms and your original body in turns. With other much more inconvenient side effects.

Momo was hardly thinking about such things as she expended her rage on the rock wall. Once she'd calmed back down Momo sighed. "What exactly did she ask and how long was your answer?" While she was entirely certain that Cifer wouldn't go overboard enough to justify any sort of action at all, Momo hated moving with incomplete information. Especially when it was to give out actual punishment to a real person. For all her anger against the rocks and training posts, Momo was known to be a real teddy bear to people.

Cifer answered her with the whole truth, from the question to all the boring details of the answer. It was long winded, but as accurate as any teacher could give. At most Cifer would have been asked to stay after class for a 2 second "be less wordy" if he were anyone else. Momo wasn't going to stand for that. Not when it was getting so close to time for the graduating class to learn the absolutely vital information about connecting with what would become the starting point of their Cultivation. "Wait... isn't today the 3rd?" Momo's random thought prompted the embarrassing question before she could squash it.

Cifer nodded. He often wondered how she'd ever learn enough time management skills to keep track of the entire Clan. After all, she was easily the most likely next Clan Leader. He started to say something to tease her about it. Cifer stopped when he saw the look on her face.

Momo was in a world of terrified, horrified realization. 'The Manifestation of their Origination lecture. That special lecture is today! The man who gave the lecture was hired by the Kingdom itself to tour all worthy Clans and Sects to give them information that could turn sparrows into phoenixes or add wings to an already ferocious tiger! If Cifer missed it he'd have to wait until next year or accept a far lesser fate than he deserves.'

It was one thing if Akemi's personal problem with Cifer kept him on his toes, or if it maybe cost him a random day of sitting and listening to lectures he was capable of giving, but the day that the lecture on the Manifestation of the Origination was given was irreplaceable. Missing that information could cause unimaginable harm to the future of the students! Momo knew it was later today, though no students would know until the lecture started. Akemi had to have known though! Of all the days to pick a fight with Cifer... it had to be today.

"Come on. We need to move. Now." Momo told Cifer urgently, taking off running back towards the classroom.

Cifer ran after her as fast as he could. It didn't matter that he was falling behind her Cultivation aided speed when he knew as well as she did where they were heading. Something was bothering him. He'd never seen Momo so angry or so serious. What was going on that had her acting so strange?