What Are You Doing Here?(Chapter 24)

Hupia could locate the dojo where Lucy and Cero stayed using the limited resources available on the mountain. Making his way through the mountain, Hupia walks to an old-fashioned dojo, Investigating whether or not anyone still lived there. The duo inhabiting the dwelling returned from a hunt when Cero noticed an unfamiliar man who wasn't a Pega Dojo disciple. "What are you doing here?" Cero firmly asked the man. "W-water..." Hupia forced out, straining his throat; he hadn't had a drink for over two days, along with the combination of wandering the harsh mountains with no food; he was in a state of deliria, starving and dehydrated.

Lucy looked up at Cero and blinked curiously. Curling her lips, before she could speak, Cero knew what she was thinking. Taking his satchel off of his belt, he tossed it to Hupia. Catching it, he popped open the satchel hysterically, drinking the first sips of water he had in days. Trying to be considerate after he'd drank a few sips, Hupia threw the satchel back to Cero. Having quenched his thirst, Hupia started, "Ok, first off, thanks for the water. I haven't been able to drink any water in days. I know you are probably wondering who I am. The truth is..." He went on to explain that he'd lost his memory and how the grimoire he'd obtained led to a trace in Blood Mountain about his past.

Trying to understand his purpose in coming to the mountain, Lucy said, "Oh, I see. Well, where are you coming from?" She wondered. "Oh right, I forgot to mention, I was taken in by some nice people in the city called Guata inside of the province of Ari; that's where I call home at the moment," Hupia mentioned. Lucy wore a look of wonder, "Wait, seriously? Whereabouts is that? We are also from Ari in the city named Kyodi!" She said ecstatically. "Well, I'm not familiar enough with Ari to know about the distinct locations of different cities, but from what I understand, we are right on the border between Guata and Muul." Looking over at Lucy, Cero grew suspicious of him with this information. At that moment, Cero toted his dark-colored wings, releasing an intimidating aura that shook Lucy, delivering a menacing glare to Hupia. Sensing he was in danger, Achi sent his presence through Hupia's body, amplifying his physical ability changing the color of his eyes from brown to a combination of green and red. "Who are you really?" Cero demanded. Hupia did not feel the pressure emanating off of Cero's body since he learned to handle Achi's spiritual pressure; Cero's aura was weak in comparison.

Confused by the sudden change in his tone, Hupia inquired, "What do you mean by that? I've told you my reason for being here. As I said, my name is Hupia. There's no reason for me to lie; I'm just looking into my history." Cero stayed silent, pushing Lucy behind him, ready to fight, keeping his eyes on Hupia. "You have wings. Are you some human bird race?" Hupia asked, casually breaking the silence between them. This only annoyed Cero further, assuming he was playing dumb. "I'm not stupid. Only powerful cultivators can survive in Guata, so tell me seriously, why are you here? I won't ask you again." He demanded. "I've been telling you honestly about what I know. My mother is a cultivator. That's how I managed to make it out of Guata; if you don't believe me, that's fine. I'll leave you guys alone. Tell me where I can learn of a man called J who died on this mountain from what I've learned. He is my grandfather, and I won't leave until I learn why he left me this grimoire." Hupia replied, feeling annoyed that he was being discriminated against because of the area he lived in.

Cero retracted his wings and let out a sigh stretching out his hand toward Hupia, and said, "Fine, I'll believe you for now. Let me see the grimoire; I might know something about it." reaching into his bag Hupia pulled out the grimoire handing it over. Taking the book, Cero examined it and looked back up at Hupia, wondering where he obtained this strange grimoire. Taking another look at it, Cero tried to activate the grimoire and failed to confirm his suspicion, giving it back to Hupia. Cero said, "I don't personally know anything about it, but I might be able to help you out back at the dojo. First, I want you to tell me what stage of cultivation you've reached; I can't get a good read on you, so I'm still hesitant in trusting you." Hupia understood his reason for not trusting him after thinking about it; even his mother warned him not to trust the people in Ari. "I don't know anything about cultivation stages my mother never wanted me to cultivate in the first place, but I've only recently started practicing. I learned all I know in my inner realm, so I would assume that I'm still at a relatively low stage." Hupia honestly explained.

This surprised Cero, "not only was he not affected by my spiritual pressure, but he could channel his soul beast through his body." He thought to himself. Lucy whispered in his ear, "Let's trust him for now. I think he is honest; if he tries anything fighting both of us together would not be in his favor either way." This seemed to convince Cero; agreeing with her, he said, "Alright then, since you only started cultivating ill trust you, but if you try anything funny, I won't hesitate to kill you." Hupia nodded in approval, and they reached an agreement. Cero leads him to the dojo and explains how his grandfather owned the dojo before him. "I don't know about the grimoire, but my gramps might have some information about it in the library." Mimi was still watching over Hupia on the way to the dojo. Once they arrived, Cero told him to wait outside as Lucy followed him inside the library.

Vido had returned to Guata headed to Ido's shop to ask him about the grimoire because he knew that Ido was the last one to hold onto it before Hupia. Knocking on the door, he called out, "It's Vido. Open up. I gotta talk with Ido." Hearing this, Sergio opened the door. "Vido, it's been a while. Whatcha need?" Sergio asked. "I'm looking for Ido. I need to talk with him about a book he used to have." Sergio immediately knew what he was talking about, so he invited him inside, closing the door behind him, and went upstairs to wake him up. Ido came downstairs yawning, "Vido, you know I sleep around this time. What do ya need." Vido explained that he took Hupia to Blood Mountain because he searched for answers for something important to him. "Yea, we know he stopped by before he left. I'm surprised you actually took him. I thought you wouldn't get involved with mortals anymore. We figured he'd die trying to and walk through the dead zone by himself." Ido explained. "So you were going to let him go? You're one hell of a protector," Vido smirked. This struck a nerve with Ido; he looked at Vido with a frustrated expression. "Really? You know that's all behind me. We're in a different time now; why even bring that up?" Vido laughed, "I mean, you still could've taken the kid. I know you're able to, am I wrong? I mean, you gave him the damn thing in the first place."

Ido walked behind the counter and hunched over the island. "Yea, I know, but I mean shit, who woulda guessed that kid could actually activate it? We've been trying for years, and look where that got us," he complained. "I get where ya coming from, but that kid, there's something weird about him. When I found him, he was laying passed out in Violet's, looking at him now you can't even tell." Ido was shocked this was the first he'd heard of this; even Sergio looked over in awe. "No way! Talking with em' he seemed like a normal kid, aside from how nice he is, I woulda guessed he was born here. So that's why you're so curious about him, huh? it all makes sense now." Vido said, yea, somethings definitely up with em,' so anyway do ya know anything about the grimoire or the history of Blood Mountain? For some reason, he's deadset on the idea that he will find something there.