Chapter 7

Cecil inhaled deeply, her eyes gradually lifting open. She was greeted by a mystifying sight.

She was in the same position as before, and her surroundings were still the same. Even Kai was still beside her, but the mystifying thing was her vision.

The colours of the world has disappeared, only to be replaced by a black landscape with white lines drawing out her environment. The trees has been outlined by the white lines, but its leaves and bark were utterly black.

The ground below her was utterly black too.

Cecil was amazed.

This must be the so-called very first meditating experience with their element every individual will face in Hantulsennem.

Cecil glanced around once more, unsure of what to even do here. In the novel, though the author explained the process of the elements and how one arrived to the conclusion of their affinity...the meditation part was just a rushed process. The author simply did a time skip where the protagonist finished the meditation process and could finally use the elements for the first time.

Where is the detailed explanation, author? You cannot be so inconsistent or lazy!

[ Congratulations, you have stumbled upon your first plothole of the story! It is a necessary plothole to fix!

Optional mission 1 : Fixing the meditation process plothole in the novel.

Objective : Figure how the meditation process works, and how does one actually use their elemental powers for the first time.

Reward : 15 points.

There is no consequences of failing this optional mission. ]

"AI500, why is your system being so nice now? Optional mission with no consequences of failing?"

[ Yes, because the consequences of failing is not by us, but by the rules of the novel. You won't be able to get out of this realm if you do not activate your powers~ ]

"So, if there aren't any rules from the novel to punish me. Will your system do it instead?"

[ ... ]

[ I'm not obliged to answer that question.

Good luck, Cecil Lan~ ]

Cecil scoffed, thinking to herself for a moment as she stood up, pacing up and down.

She halted after a while, bringing her right palm to her eyes, observing it. A few seconds passed, and as expected, she did not see any symbol on her right palm.

Activating the symbol, and pressing it onto the ground.

That's the only logic I can think of, following the author's line of logic for this novel.

Cecil squinted her eyes at her palm, staring hard at it.

Nothing happened.

"...activate!"

Nothing happened.

Cecil inhaled sharply, thrusting her hand out into the air. "Hah! Abracadabra!"

Nothing happened.

Suddenly, Cecil's face twisted as she still felt the bitter aftertaste in her mouth.

"...Widerlich?"

Nothing happened too.

She withdrew her hand, unclenching and clenching it. "Earth, activate!"

...nothing happened.

Cecil felt her mouth twitching in irritation. She gazed at her palm, her mind swirling with another million ideas until one resonated with her.

Drawing the symbol.

She drew the symbol on her palm, it was a letter she did not know, but her mind understood that it meant "earth". It was a complex letter, filled with cursive strokes and Cecil did not know how anyone could describe it. Finishing the symbol, there was a green glow on her palm and the symbol hovered above it.

"Yes!" Cecil cheered. "It worked!"

She then proceeded to kneel down on one knee, striking her palm to the ground.

The result was instantaneous.

She saw bright, glowing green lines stretching out endlessly, the black and white world coming to life. The glowing green lines were reflected in Cecil's limpid eyes, showing how astounded she was. The lines scaled the trees, to the leaves and highlighting the roots of the trees beneath the ground. The green lines seem to pulsate at some points, before rapidly shooting out to another direction.

Cecil held her breath, and she started to feel something strange at her palm on the ground. Steering her eyes towards it, she could feel a pulse under her palm, and the movement of...something.

It was breathing.

It was warm, comforting and soothing.

The green lines were still racing outwards, towards the horizon.

"This is amazing." Cecil blurted out, awestruck.

She had never seen anything like this, never has she ever felt anything like this.

A wide smile adorned her beautiful face, and she could feel something beckoning her via her palm. Her eyelids felt heavy and she moved her head down, closing her eyes. Her ponytail followed her movement, falling over her shoulder, and she could feel a warmth encircling within the deepest depths of her body.

It was like a warmth enshrouding her soul.

It began to move, shivering slightly and it was seemingly absorbed by her very own soul.

"Cecil."

Her eyes fluttered open, her eyelashes tickling her a little.

"Cecil?"

Cecil blinked rapidly, turning to look at Kai. Kai was grinning at her, his yellow eyes twinkling.

"What happened?"

"Look carefully at yourself." Kai gestured to her body and Cecil followed his action, her eyes drifting down.

A layer of soft green aura enwreathed her body, and Cecil paused, observing her entire body with interest.

"I...did it?"

"You did it."

"This feels strange...but somewhat natural."

"It feels that way for the first time."

"Is this all to it? Just...like that?"

"Well, you are almost there," Kai chuckled, still seated beside her and he opened up his enclosed right hand, revealing a small rock on his palm. "Try making this rock move."

Cecil blinked at Kai, wearing an innocent expression. She nodded, narrowing her eyes at the rock.

Kai laughed at her response.

"Not like that, Cecil, you need to show movements." Kai placed the rock down on the ground and flicked at his right hand. A wisp of flame appeared on his palm, and he clenched his fist lightly, opening it up and directing the same hand towards the rock on the ground.

The tiny flame shot out, landing on the rock and left a small black mark on it.

Cecil watched the entire time with wide eyes, her clear eyes showing great interest.

"Now, you try it."

Cecil straightened her posture, shifting her right hand towards the rock and she felt a small tug at her hand. A blob of green aura had left her and covered over the rock.

She grew eager, making a flipping motion and the rock flipped over. Amazed, she bit on her lower lip, she flicked her wrist as if swiping the rock to the left.

The rock tilted to the left...and dropped back down, not moving.

"..."

Kai noted the obvious disappointment on her face, and grinned in amusement. "For your first time, making the rock flip is good enough as an earth elemental."

Cecil looked up at Kai, then looked back down at the rock, not saying a word.

"Just one more step, you need to retract your elemental energy. It's like how your body has limited stamina, it is the same concept for your elemental energy."

"How do I...retract it? Do I need to meditate again?"

"Yes, to retract, you just need to do the opposite of what you did."

"Hmm."

Cecil meditated, following Kai's instruction. This time around, it was easier for her to enter back to the realm of black and white, filled with thousands of green lines. She was back in the same position and she withdrew back, proceeding to clench her fist and close her eyes.

She opened up her eyes, finding herself back to the original world.

"Great job, you did well."

The praise tickled at Cecil's "fangirl" heart, and squealed internally.

The great lord protagonist! Praised! Me!

The very first alter, Kai! Praised! Me!

Cecil smiled softly, "It is all thanks to you, Kai. You have guided me well, thank you."

Seeing her pretty smile, Kai tensed, his heart skipping a beat. He scratched his head, his eyes wandering.

"I just used the method my master used on me long ago."

"You have a great master."

"Th-thank you."

...but of course! Your master is the principal of the school, and you are his most favoured disciple!

All his alters, and Xue himself, definitely deserves the best!

Kai rose to his feet, walking further away to pat at the dirt stuck to his black pants. His outfit was the school's outfit for every student, a collared long-sleeved shirt with buttons at its sides. The school's symbol was imprinted on the shiny, golden buttons. The shirt has mixture of colours, ranging from black, white and red. The red were used to shape out the diamond-shaped designs on the shirt. The school made an effort to make the shirt seem like a proper uniform. There was also the fancy, white boots that the students wore. Its colour scheme resembling the shirt.

The symbol of the school was a glorious eagle, and as one could guess it with a lazy author behind this book.

The school was simply called, Eagle Academy.

They were here on a school trip for two weeks, and this was an important event in the novel.

"I should head back now, I'll be in trouble if my teachers realised I'm missing from my room."

Glancing up at the sky, Cecil was surprised to find out that it was almost sunset.

"How long did I meditate for?"

"Three hours."

"And you waited here the entire time?"

Kai rubbed at his neck, nodding his head.

The great lord Kai is indeed caring just as described in the novel!

"Thank you, once again." Cecil said, her tone sincere.

"It's not a big deal." Kai grinned, he was proud that he managed to impress the woman that he was infatuated with.

Cecil waved her goodbyes, leaving first and Kai watched her go, the grin remaining on his face. The events today made him extremely happy, and once he realised Cecil was completely gone, he spun around, clenching his fist as he squeezed his eyes close.

"Yesssssssss." he cheered to himself, knowing that he scored.

Cecil didn't know about his reaction, neither did she think of Kai any differently. He was still her precious protagonist, and his first alter, the big and loving dog, Kai.

[ Optional mission #1 : Fixing the meditation process plothole in the novel.

Objective completed!

Reward : 15 points.

Reminder, your total points is now 35 points. ]

Cecil closed the message window, stretching her arms into the air.

She has finally made the progress she wanted to for the past week.

Cecil only had a few bites before skipping her dinner. The aftertaste of Widerlich was still present, albeit not as pungent as before.

Hopefully, it'll be gone after tomorrow, it should be 72 hours by then.

Xue wasn't present in the house today, though he had spent half a day with Hana, who gushed about it to Cecil during dinner and in her bedroom. Cecil was elated to know about their budding romance, and she was eagerly waiting for the day of their fateful first kiss. She knew when it would happen, and though it was still far away, she could wait.

After all, there were a few crucial things that needed her to formulate a plan. The first thing was, how could she ensure that Xue will bring her along on their journey to collect his souls and become the supreme god?

The second thing is, how could ensure that his impression points of her doesn't sink any lower?

...and the third thing is, making sure Xue wasn't suspicious of her arrival at the market tomorrow. She knew tonight that Xue would complete his mission in eliminating the evil spirit. He would eliminate it quickly according to the novel, in fact, it was effortless on his part.

I definitely won't let that store owner take advantage of my Xue!

I'll be there, no matter what...and then I'll just improvise if he's suspicious.

Cecil nodded to herself, determined and quickly tucked herself in for the night.

An ash blonde spider-man squeezed his way through the crowd. His grey eyes focused on a stall at the far left, he had passed by the stall yesterday, and his eyes caught an item.

An item that Hana would surely love.

The reward was given to him quickly by Dok Chul.

He was able to buy a gift for Hana, and he would have some spare change for himself in case of an emergency.

He was in a particularly good mood today, a hint of smile on his sensual lips. Though he still appeared aloof, he didn't appear as cold as ever.

He finally reached the stall and there weren't much customers. That was even better for him, and the stall owner gave him a perfunctory greeting, to which Xue didn't respond.

He was too preoccupied.

The stall owner was a petty and stingy old man, he didn't like it when a man younger than him, especially one as handsome as Xue, ignored him.

Youngsters these days...they have no respect for the elderly.

The item Xue was fixated on was a hair stick. It was an intricate and gorgeous design of a big flower with white petals followed by small little flower buds that were represented by shiny, stark white pearls. The stigma of the huge flower was a mixture between orange and red. The sticks of the hairstick complemented the stark white design, slightly glossy and silver-coloured.

"Price?" Xue pointed at the hairstick, asking in a curt manner.

The old man deepened his frown, a wicked glint in his eyes. "A thousand aupi."

The reward from the request was eight-hundred aupi, and he had two-hundred aupi remaining beforehand.

Xue hesitated, wearing a troubled expression on his face. He had no prior knowledge of accessories, and neither was he well-versed in the costs of the materials involved in making accessories.

Xue lifted his head up, his grey eyes became dark. "That is the actual market price?"

The old man grew tense, feeling sweat forming on his back at Xue's piercing and glacial stare.

"If-if you are not willing to spend, go somewhere else!" he hissed out, waving angrily at Xue. "How dare you doubt this old man's eyes and words!"

Xue was reluctant.

This design was something Hana certainly adored, and she loved accessories too. He hadn't seen any hairstick or any other accessories around here that was similar to this design.

"A thousand aupi?" Xue confirmed.

"That's right." the old man nodded, huffing indignantly.

Xue paused, sighing and deciding to reach out for it.

"It's not a thousand aupi."

A new voice intruded their conversation and Xue paused, straightening himself as he rotated to the left. He recognised the voice instantly and that surprised him. He wasn't good at remembering people since he didn't care at all. This woman was someone he didn't care about at all, and yet...he somehow remembers her.

A raven-haired beauty stood next to Xue, wearing the usual cold and haughty demeanor. Her limpid eyes were downcast, focused on the hairstick, her pale, slender hand reached out for the hairstick, her hair dropping over her shoulder as she did so. A part of her hair was tied into a small bun, held in place by a hairstick that was shaped in a flowery branch, its material shimmering in the light.

Along with her long-sleeved white dress that touched the ground, it gave an ethereal-like vibe that seem to cast a momentary spell on those who lay their eyes on this woman.

Xue was immune to her looks, due to seeing countless beautiful women in his life, along with Hana being the only woman in his heart, he wasn't as affected.

She is beautiful though, I can't deny that.

The old man was stunned by Cecil's beauty and Cecil only lifted her hand, pulling out the hairstick in her hair. Her hair tumbled down, and the part that was tied up was rather wavy.

"This hairstick I have here, it was created by an expert craftsman, and the materials he used weren't certainly cheap," Cecil placed both hairsticks in her palm, showing it to the old man. "Take a look at it, and tell me if your hairstick is still worth a thousand aupi."

The old man snapped out from his daze, realising that this woman was the young mistress of the Lan family. He gulped, obediently following her order.

Cecil's hairstick had a lustrous shine to it, compared to the hairstick the old man owned, it was absolutely pathetic.

Even the materials appeared dull next to Cecil's expensive hairstick.

"Ye-yes, Miss Lan. It certainly isn't worth a thousand aupi, this old man's eyes aren't as good anymore."

Cecil harrumphed, her eyes growing colder. "You are lying, you clearly told this man to not doubt your eyes and your words."

The old man began sweating.

"Trying to cheat the money of the people in my town? If I wasn't so kind, I'll have you thrown out of here!"

The old man and Xue, even those passerby who heard it, wanted to cough up blood.

Kind?! Cecil Lan is kind?!

There was no such possible thing!

The old man bowed his head, extremely guilty and humiliated. "This old man sincerely apologise to the young mistress, and admits his mistake."

"Tell this young man here the actual price, politely." Cecil demanded, giving the old man an arrogant smile.

"Young man, this old man apologise for trying to deceive you. The price is two-hundred aupi, and this old man will throw in an additional fifty aupi discount to repent."

Cecil turned to Xue, raising her eyebrows at him in a suggestive manner. Xue was silent the entire time, and he didn't deny this "kind" gesture of Cecil, forking out the money before taking the hairstick from Cecil's hands, his fingertips brushing against her smooth skin.

The old man couldn't stand being here, and he walked away bitterly, sitting down at the table far away to drink his tea.

"Are you trying to show off your hairstick?" Xue questioned coldly.

This time, the smile that Cecil wore was a cordial one. "Hana won't care about the price, she only cares about the design."

Xue furrowed his eyebrows, his handsome features showing a trace of panic. "How did you--"

"Hana will be very happy, do not worry. I will not utter a single word to her."

"...why are you helping me?" Xue asked, though he was never directly hurt her, he knew that Cecil noticed his biased attitude towards her.

Cecil seemed to think, her eyes looking down before she admitted the truth, offering another smile. "Because I want to."

Xue was shocked. "Th-thank you."

Cecil nodded, turning around and walking away. Xue felt himself unconsciously following her, feeling an urge to say something more.

She then halted after a few steps, and Xue stopped as well, still maintaining the same distance as before.

"Hmm...Lili made quite an effort to style my hair today, I hope she won't take this as an insult," Cecil mused to herself, not knowing Xue was behind her, listening. "I'll just explain it to her then, yes, that works!"

Cecil seemed to remember something and she spun around as she opened her mouth, jolting back when she noticed Xue standing behind her.

"Xu-Xue, you are still here?" Cecil stuttered out before smiling softly. "Good, I wanted to say to take care, and not to get cheated anymore. It is because of your aloof character that shop owners feel unsatisfied about, you should show them some respect--"

Cecil realised she was talking too much, and revealing too much. She could tell since Xue's stoic expression changed visibly.

"Uhh, take care now." Cecil smiled at him once more, spinning around and picking up her pace.

[ Impression points remaining : 85.04

Congratulations, you have increased by 10 points~ ]

[ Impression points remaining : 80.04

It seems like your words just now made protagonist "Xue" uncomfortable. ]

Cecil wanted to cry.

It was going so well! But I just got too caught up because of remembering the other experiences Xue will have, and how it would affect him!

However, Cecil couldn't afford to dwell on this now.

This was just the start to ensure that the protagonist achieves a happy ending with his beloved wife.

Pt. 1

《 start 》

Cecil Lan...even her name is pretty.

Her element is earth, that's nice.

I heard fire and earth don't mix well, but I don't care. I can't wait to see her again.

...I don't think I ever want to tell her that I had to spend thirty minutes finding that rock.

《 stop 》

Pt. 2

《 start 》

She's still a weird, pompous woman.

It's even more weird that she helped me because she wanted to.

Everytime I look at the hairstick, it isn't Hana I see.

It's that weird, pompous woman that I can't help but find beautiful.

《 stop 》