YM778.TV Chapter 30- Respect
Rubbing his palm, Edric sat on one of the resting benches and contemplated things related to what Commander Aborne said today.
\'Emotions are a powerful weapon for a warrior. They fuel us with rage and drive us to achieve things we could never even dream of otherwise. But you must decide which has the power to disrupt your emotional stability more—your mother or your motherland."
Edric wasn\'t sure whether the Commander wanted him to change the subject of his trigger point or gain control over his emotional outbursts. However, one thing was for sure: Edric could not afford to act recklessly and get his comrades into danger once again.
Last year, during the competition, when he jumped in to save Amanda, he could have gotten his school disqualified. All the efforts that the other students put into the tournament would have gone to waste because of that single decision.
Although things turn out to be in their fortune, the fact cannot be refuted that Edric gets overwhelmed by his emotions and allows his feelings to dominate his actions.
\'This has to change....although it\'s a part of who I am, I cannot continue like this unless I am prepared to let my comrades suffer in the future...\' Edric took a long, deep breath.
*Crunch*
Hearing the twig snapping Edric turned his head and found a familiar blond passing by, with her shoulders slumped.
"Couldn\'t find him?" Edric asked, his voice making Celestria jerk out of her reverie as she turned to look at him.
"Edric...haah, no. I can\'t catch him entering the dorm at all, even though I waited for so long..." She looked devastated.
Edric heaved a sigh before getting up. Approaching the girl he asked, "Are you really that desperate to get his attention?"
It wasn\'t a question; rather, he was assessing her.
And as he thought, "Yes, I want to talk to him and apologize for what I said back then." With determination flaring in her eyes, stronger than ever, Celestria uttered.
Edric suggested, "Then you should probably bring some gifts for him that can help him in his training to gain some time to chat with Alex."
Celestria frowned, "What if he gets even more annoyed that I am trying to bribe him?"
Edric chuckled, "How wrong can you be? Even though you are his childhood friend, it seems I know Alex better than you."
Celestria blankly stared at Edric, "No one knows Alex better than me."
Edric\'s smile froze, "Ah, yeah...okay. So...what can you bring to make him happy?"
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A cauldron, sacred flames, spectral water, roots of a blackwood tree and the desired soul stone one wants to purify. These are the few requirements for soul stone refinement to extract soul energy from them.
These things can be found and bought. However, Alex didn\'t have the time nor resources to go and find all these things in the wild and get himself made a customized cauldron as well.
Buying them is the best option, but the cost is steep. The sacred flames alone are priced at over two thousand gold coins. Then there\'s the spectral water, costing five hundred gold coins per vox (about 1.3 liters), which would allow Alex to perform the process three times. The roots of the blackwood tree come in at seven gold coins each, and at least twenty are needed for a single refinement.
Altogether, Alex would need at least three thousand gold coins to refine a soul stone. Though he didn\'t currently possess any soul stones, he didn\'t actually need money to acquire them. All he had to do was participate in raids, and he could gather as many soul stones as he needed.
\'I am so broke...wish I could get a sugar mommy or something...\' While joking about his life, Alex began to close the books he had been reading.
*Knock*
Alex frowned, not expecting any visitors at this hour.
Rising to his feet, he approached the door and asked, "Who is this?"
"Ah, it\'s me, Devon. Can I have a minute?"
Alex parted the door while holding the knife attached to the door\'s handle, just in case.
However, on the other side, indeed the Grandmaster stood with a friendly smile.
"Can I come in for a moment?"
Alex nodded before he gave the man some space to enter the room.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Devon was surprised to find the room feeling cramped due to the sheer number of books scattered everywhere. He glanced at one of the titles and was surprised to see that Alex was studying potions, despite showing such remarkable talent in swordsmanship.
"I can only offer water...do you want some?" Alex\'s question was met by a shake of denial as Devon took a chair to get himself seated.
Alex sat down on his bed and heard the man complimenting, "I didn\'t believe them when they said that you are a bookworm, but now, I think they were right."
Alex sighed, "No one better than you would understand that rather than like to read books, I am a knowledge enthusiast. It doesn\'t have to be books, I enjoy getting new knowledge from any source."
Devon was surprised as he asked, "You know about me?"
"Well, kind of. You are one of the chapters of my history book."
Devon laughed aloud. This was truly fascinating for him.
"So, what brings you here, Sir Devon?"
Devon smilingly said, "Well, partly I wanted to meet the man who stole my Melissa\'s smile."
Alex rolled his eyes, "Did you believe in those rumours as well? Trust me, we were just having a simple conversation."
Devon\'s expression remained warm as he added, "I don\'t care what you were talking, but the very fact that she smiled is very comforting." Taking a pause and after removing his monocole to polish it, the man added, "You see, I respect Melissa more than anyone. She has devoted her life to her job as a medic. Her family abandoned her after she rejected the marriage proposal of a Baron.
However just after a day of all that drama, Melissa was seen in army camp, healing the injured soldiers without sparing a single moment of distraction."
Alex was surprised to receive her story. As mentioned earlier, this book didn\'t contain much information regarding the side characters, nor their background.
\'She is one heck of a devoted nurse...\' Alex muttered under his breath; his respect for the woman elevating.
Devon sighed and climbed out of his daze before he told him, "So yeah, I am thankful for making her smile. I owe you one."
Alex was baffled, "Don\'t you wanna say things like, \'Stay away from her\' and all?" Alex heard their conversation back in the infirmary so he was aware that Devon was head over heels for Melissa.
Devon laughed, this time it was full of confidence, "Oh she is mine, already. Just being a little shy and all."
Saying so he got up. Just as Alex also began to rise from his seat, Devon informed something completely unexpected,
"Tomorrow, Alex, come to arena four. You will be getting trained under me." The information was so unexpected that the silver head turned frozen midway.
And yeah, Devon began again as he pulled out a pouch from his pocket before resting it over the table as he said, "A hundred platinum plates for you as a reward for saving the Princess. Your Majesty wanted to give it to you by himself, but he is kinda stuck with some work."
Leaving those words behind, Devon walked out.
Several moments it took for Alex to register what he just said...and when he acknowdgeed that he was rewarded by fortune worth a lifetime, he fell down on the bed.
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1 platinum plate = 100 gold coins. Thanks for reading.