New Clothes

After John and Liz finished talking about their plans he thought it would be a good idea to hear about Eva's progress.

"Eva seems to have gotten the hang of your disguise technique rather quickly."

"She did indeed. To fast even. I think she might have a special bloodline and this could also be why those forces were after her."

"Her bloodline must be pretty important then. If they went after her will other forces come after me if they find out about my bloodlines?"

"Yes but only about two kinds, others wouldn't find any value in your bloodlines. Assassins and beast tamers will definitely take an interest in you if they learn of your bloodlines. Most will stop with just trying to recruit you but some will just try to kidnap you with no questions asked."

"That's good to know. Wonder what that last one is for?"

"Oh that. You probably have half awakened it but need one last stimulus to make it work. Usually bloodlines awaken all at once. The only exception is extremely weak ones or extremely strong ones."

"So I may end up with a useless one or a trump card?"

"Yep. Lets just hope it's the ladder."

As Liz finished talking Eva stopped meditating. John decided to ask if she was feeling good as she was a bit pail.

"Mm. I'm OK, just a bit tired. When will we be continuing on?"

"We decided before meeting you to rest for about 3 days here and then continue on. Is that OK with you?"

"Yes~."

"John make sure to try on your clothes and tell me if they need to be adjusted."

"Got it."

John went to the back of the cave and took off his robe. It felt weird to wear it at first but now he had gotten used to it after the past month. After taking it off he noticed that his body had become more muscled. Not in a bulky kind of sense but not in a lithe way either. His body was a balance of both but leaned a bit to the bulky side. Cultivating and all the exercise he had gotten had a large affect on him.

(Well enough of geeking out over my self. Time to try out those clothes Liz gave me.)

Before he got the chance though he heard a sound of a small pebble skittering across the floor. He turned quickly while snatching up his mace. From around the corner Liz and Eva's heads could be seen sticking out. Liz had the look of someone who was examining an interesting research subject while Eva had her face turned completely red from blushing.

"What are you two doing?" Johns voice had become quit serious.

(How long have they been watching me?)

Liz realized that she had been caught red handed.

"Well I usually check on you when your asleep or secretly when you bathe to make sure your body is doing well. Even if you do have a monstrous vitality practicing the Law Eating method is still pretty straining especially with how quickly you progressed."

"I I I wanted to see what Liz was doing and followed. I"m sorry!"

Eva bowed her head while apologizing. John couldn't help to forgive the girl with how she reacted but he had a few words for Liz.

"I forgive you Eva just don't do again. As for Liz, if you really want to make sure my body is showing no signs of problem just tell me. Please no more sneaking around."

"OK. I'll ask you next time I want to check on your body."

"Good. Now can I please change? Having you two here with me in only my underwear is more than a bit embarrassing."

"I... I'm sorry!"

With that Eva picked up Liz and was off in a flash. She had been flustered to the point that she looked like she had turned her skin back to its original red. It was also rather impressive that she could pick up Liz considering that she was by no means light.

(Good with those two gone lets see how these clothes fit.)

Choosing to stop thinking of what had happened John turned his mind back to the clothes he had gotten. The leaf cloth felt cool to the touch. When looking at a distance it appeared as if the clothes were one giant leaf that had somehow formed into a shirt and pants but at a closer distance it was easy to see that the clothes had many fine fibers that were almost indistinguishable from each other. The texture was very similar to synthetic fibers but gave a slightly rougher feeling.

After examining the clothes he quickly put them on. As he expected they were cool to the touch and comfortable. Now fully dressed he headed back to the front of the cave with his robe in hand.

Liz was giving tips on how to better use the disguise technique she had taught earlier. At seeing John Eva turned away not meeting his gaze with a blush. She told Liz she would go to the bathroom and be back in a few minutes. Seeing this he decided to not say anything. Turning to Liz he tossed his robe over, which was easily caught.

"Can you store that?"

"Sure. Oh also while we're here it would be good to advance your cultivation to the third level. You've been putting it off while we traveled and you are more than ready for it at this point."

"I know. With how much time I've given it I might just progress to the 4th level in the time we're here!"

"The fact you might actually do it is what irks me. While your doing that I'll help Eva with her cultivation. Most children her age haven't started to cultivate yet and here she is already at the first level."

"Do you know what method she uses?"

"She uses the Great Brawler method. It's pretty common among oni now apparently. The method I want to teach her is the Shadow Boxer method. It is much more suited to her affinities. Oh by the way I took the liberty to look at her affinities while you were changing. Her highest where surprisingly intelligence and dexterity with both being about 60. The rest were normal for an oni."

"Onies usually don't have high dex and int?"

"Yep. Oni are a race that specializes in strength and the darkness affinity."

"So that's how it is. Now that I think about it didn't you believe that she had a bloodline?"

"Yup and just as I thought it was a pretty good one. Aura sight. She can effectively learn any Aura technique as long as she has the affinities for it. This also explains why those forces were so intent on getting her."

"My guess is that this Aura sight of hers also has another use?"

"Yes. With it she can aid others with practicing Aura techniques by telling them in what places they are lacking. This can easily speed up cultivation by two to three times."

"Damn."

"Is that your only response?!"

"Well I can already practice at a pretty high speed so it doesn't really seem all that worth while to me."

"I had the feeling you would say that."

"Well either way for the next couple of days will be for me to cultivate and for you to help Eva."