Chapter 13: The Lady's Offer

The landing wasn't the softest. The back of his head hit the paving stones of the walkway. Waiting for the stars in his eyes to disappear, he sat up, feeling for the nascent bump. Yeah, let's consider it a petty revenge for his cold reaction to a hot present.

His stomach growled unhappily. Yee Rhys grinned wryly. It would be a long walk from here to the canteen.

The types of work in the sect were divided in orders: first, second, and third. First-order chores were mandatory daily chores, such as cooking, carrying water, and cleaning the main rooms. The second ones were not so important, when a day could be skipped. Laundry, chopping wood, sewing clothes. Third turn - irregular and done when possible. Repairs, construction.

Yee Reece was charged with cleaning one of the remote corners of the sect where people besides him showed up merely once a week. It was a third job, and was not very important. At least in all these years no one had ever complained of poor performance. Apparently, that was the idea.

He stood up, shook himself off, picked up the broom that had fallen out of his hands, and began to think.

The most logical thing to do was to go out to eat. Work is not the wolf, it will not run into the woods. A work was waiting for him for a week and would last a couple more hours. Otherwise, he would collapse from hunger right here on the path, and then let the Lady pump him out any way she wanted. The only thing that stopped him from deserting immediately was that if the Elder had sent him here, she might well come back with an inspection. And find a legitimate reason for a new punishment.

The agony of choice was interrupted by the appearance of another pill in the sky, which rushed to the body learned by bitter experience. He reflexively clenched his teeth. As if offended, the pill hovered in the air, allowing itself to be seen.

Yee Rhys relaxed, took the ball out of the air and sniffed it cautiously. A normal nutrient pill used by wealthy cultivators of the Wisp Creation Sphere for food so as not to contaminate their bodies with impurities from the food of the mortal world. One pill contains a daily allowance of energy and nutrients. He was very familiar with these pills.

He often forgot to eat in the past few years and ended up collapsing exhausted somewhere under a bush. Where one of the babysitters would find him. Most often a Lady. And since it wasn't the Grand Elder's job to run around with plates and spoon-feed the dumb worker, she preferred to restore his strength with nourishing pills. And then send him on a direct flight home, to the river, or to his workplace, depending on the time of day and her mood.

Yep, it seemed to be a covert form of suicide. Since direct attempts were blocked by a suicide spell. Well, progressive forgetfulness was not to be discounted either. Memory stubbornly refused to tell him even what year it was, let alone the finer details of life. Three years after the merge had begun, he remembered more or less clearly. But beyond that, everything blurred into a series of seizures where the only thing left was the thought, "I have to hold on". How long had he lived like that? A year? Two? Three? More?

To summarize, no wonder the Lady was reacting to him like that. Probably wildly pleased that the subject had begun to feel something and there was an opportunity to take out the discontent that had accumulated over the years.

No longer hesitating, Yee Rhys put the pill in his mouth, immediately feeling the familiar taste. He chewed the pill and soon felt a burst of energy. Now that his food problem was solved, he could get down to work. He didin't want any unnecessary conflicts now. So, the best thing to do would be to clean up quickly and then go about his business with an honest conscience.

***

- Mm-hmm. - The girl stretched, waking up. Opening her eyes, she saw a sun-drenched, spacious room. An unfamiliar room.

Abruptly awakened, the girl sat up with a jerk, looking around warily.

- Good to see you awakened. - The lady tore herself away from the scroll, which she had been studying half-lying on the sofa.

- Ah! You... - The girl instantly remembered, and involuntarily staggered backward until she was against the back of the sofa. Her hand involuntarily darted downward, probing her lower abdomen. Was it or wasn't? The vivid memory ended with the appearance of a beautiful dress. What followed was a pink haze with indistinct fragments of memories.

Here she is hot and unbuckles her belt. Here's a young guy backing away from her like from a piece of cheese being shoved under his nose with a mousetrap. Here he is, but with the puzzled, frustrated look of a man who asked for a kitten and got three mice. Here he is, hovering over her like a mountain, his eyes fixed on something upward. He says something, then abruptly shuts up and swallows. After a few seconds of silence, he drops his gaze down to her, and his pupils begin to dilate. They stare into each other's eyes for a moment, and then their lips touch, and his mind finally leaves the body. Then there were just bits of tactility, like clenched hands and hot breath in the ear. There was also the odd sensation of thousands of warm sun beams bouncing across her body. But she wasn't sure about the latter.

They say it hurts after the first time. But why didn't anything hurt?

In any case, it was all arranged by a beautiful woman dressed as a Supreme Elder.

- Don't you worry so much, I fixed you up. - The Lady waved her hand lazily.

So it was. A frightening thought shackled her body. And then the girl sank, unconsciously, as if robbed of all her strength. What an ending of the little tale.

Elder grimaced unhappily. However, it did not particularly affected her plans.

- Well, girl. I have an offer for you. It is profitable for you. You want to be strong, right?

She nodded uncertainly.

- You have a good talent. I can give you techniques, pills and treasure. All I want in return is for you to get close to that young boy.

- To whom? - She said without raising her head.

- With Yee Rhys. Though you know him as Untouchable. But I suppose they'll soon forget that name and give him a new one.

- Why? - She felt nervous at the thought of seeing him again. Shall I go myself? No, no and no.

- That's not important right now. - The beauty lazily responded. - You don't have to do anything specific. It's enough to flicker in front of him from time to time and communicate when possible. How far your relationship will go depends solely on you. For me, the fact of regular communication is enough. It's not hard, is it?

The girl nodded uncertainly.

- Good girl. - She waved her hand, and a scroll, a couple of vials of pills, and a dozen paper talismans appeared on the table in front of her. - Consider it compensation for today's inconvenience. And if you accept my offer, you'll get more. I can even give you a sect's core technique. What do you think?

The Lady smiled slyly.

***

Yee Rhys stared gloomily at the flowing waters of the river.

He had had time to calm down and analyze what had happened during the cleaning. He did not like the result. And it wasn't because of what the Lady had done. The young man had already mentally prepared for the fact that she would spoil his life regularly and tastefully.

The problem was how he reacted. Almost snapped. He gave in to his anger.

And he wasn't in a position to let his emotions burst through now.

His psyche seems to have returned to normal after the merge. So inconvenient He'll have to rebalance his emotions. His status is still uncertain. Who in their right mind would allow an evil and vengeful genius to grow up? Especially a talented genius. From now on, anger, rage, hatred are taboo. Keep calm and rational. Exactly like this.

Yee Rhys turned his gaze to the drying clothes. The cleaning had been completed in only three hours. Clenching his fist, the young man listened to his sensations. It seemed his body strength had already reached the equivalent of two wisps. Perhaps more, without sparring, you couldn't tell. He'd like to check, but no.

Yee Rhys shook his head, pushing the compulsion away. For one thing, the Lady is just waiting for an excuse to put him somewhere far away. And there's no guarantee he'll be out of there before the tournament. And to miss such an opportunity is a grave mistake. After all, there are rewards at the tournament. He can only rely on himself right now. He did not want to ask the Lady, and she would not leave him any easy way. And secondly, he could test his strength during the tournament as well.

There were still a couple of hours left before dinner, so Yee Rhys took the opportunity to wash and launder. In the process, he discovered that his beard had not grown in all the time he had wandered as an Untouchable. Not even a stubble. And he had never once shaved. His hair was up to his waist. And his chin was clean and fresh. And before all this, at seventeen, he'd already had his first fuzz. I guess the lack of a beard was a racial trait, too.

He could cultivate while his clothes were drying. He had no time to spare, every minute counted.