~ He wishes for what cannot be received ~

The clouds were immersed in a soft hue of blue intone, dark yet subtle, floating in the peaceful sky. It was evening by now and the crowd that had been watching me during the examination had more or less dispersed, leaving behind a sense of achievement with all their praises that they showered me with.

I couldn't understand what was so great about what I did, even after Xi Ken had explained well just previously, still, my heart wasn't yet settled with what to think about the whole situation.

I did receive a certificate 'sort of' scroll and a small brooch which was made of iron, shaped into a symbol resembling dragon.

Almost not believing how lucky I had been in passing the examination, I started to hover around Xi Ken to ask him again if I was really a part of the natives now.

Although he was busy with conversing with an old man in some different tongue, so I couldn't ask straight away.

Free for a while, I looked around at the glamorous cathedral setting, only to note that it wasn't really a religious space but rather a gathering hall with rows of benches and tables.

"Raven," Xi Ken suddenly asked for me, his voice soft and melodious, "meet my friend Ser Vor, I believe you are already in acquaintance with his disciple Hummer."

Oh, I looked at the old man, who wasn't as old as I had first thought, but rather he was the age of my father, maybe a bit more old, but still not.

His hair was paling at the front yet the back was deep black, almost contrasting with his pale face. He wore rich robes, crafted with delicate styling and silk laces. Yet the robes were cream white and slightly dull in comparison to aristocratic expectations. Overall he looked down to earth, just like his disciple who wasn't malicious or arrogant.

At first I did think Hummer looked too haughty, yet that direction of thought changed after the small interaction we had during my assessment.

Well, appearances can be deceiving.

"Zuen Vor..." I acknowledged with a slight bow, a bit unsure if I had used the correct mannerism, and Xi Ken's subtle nod told me it was the right way.

So it seems that 'Zuen' was added before the second syllable of a name to show respect... then I was really not sure what adding Zuen after a syllable meant, since I called Xi Ken, Xi Zuen.

Ser Vor, seemed to mentally tally my good points and my bad points just with a look, although he refrained from saying anything malicious. His smile was rather well kept since he directed it at me and even nodded in return to my presence, "I was impressed with your result, you handled the first class spell rather effectively."

I smiled back, "Thank you Zuen Vor."

"When I see a gem I always hold it with care, who would have thought that one day I would meet another gem who had the skills to beat my Hummer."

I looked away awkwardly, "Then am I to believe it is a compliment?"

"Obviously!" He laughed regardless if it was the need of the hour or not, he seemed to be very boisterous.

All the while, Xi Ken stood by my side, just there facing the interaction.

I concurred he talked only when necessary.

"And Ken," Ser Vor shifted his object of focus, "I am not sure if I should tell you this, but there has been a rumor going around about your place, they say one of your underling was punished by the Supreme."

The news expected an outburst, yet Xi Ken wasn't much affected by it, "I will be leaving after a few more formalities have been taken care of, rest assured, I am not concerned with what they do to the offender."

Ser Vor laughed, "You mean to say you do not care at all of what your underling suffers through?"

"They aren't my underlings."

"But they stay at your place, surely, you must care for them?"

Xi Ken shook his head, "I haven't taken any of them under my wing, they stay on their own accord and take action without permission. I am averse to such personalities."

I secretly noted down his preference, under normal circumstances I wasn't one to focus on dislikes of other men, but since Xi Ken was sort of my benefactor, I had to maintain the decorum according to him, or who knew he might go back on his word.

Even in my school or university, I never acted out with others, I always wanted to be accepted and maybe precisely because of that reason my personality was often considered to be bland and unassertive, not the least attractive.

A few friends that I had would often joke about it, saying I might have an intimidating height, but I wouldn't be the 'in-charge' in any relationship.

They were right, I never had any girlfriend because whatever female came my way, they were either not interested in my indoor preferences or they cringed on my nerd style. So slowly they would drift away, even my nervous talk wouldn't keep them by my side.

And that deal with seeing spirits, that often dampened my aura and a few even passed me off as a psycho.

There was a time when their behavior and words hurt me, when I really believed what they said about me was true, however it all changed with time, I started straying from the life of solidarity to a desolated path, where enjoying social media, internet anonymity and geek adventures became a standard for me. The more lonely I felt, the more I wanted to stay behind, hidden and living a life of my own. The world of fantasy intrigued me and indulging in it became a favorite pass time.

Now that I was faced with such strange sights and people, I was numbed into adapting with the change. People like me were the ones who rejected change, were afraid of it, yet also adapted to it faster than average folks. Maybe it was the greed to be accepted by wherever we went, or maybe it was the ingrained instinct to strive for the normal.

I wondered when I would go back, or what would happen next, but my mind had started to accept the change. Although I missed my family, I also did not feel like I had ever been the happiest in my life there, yet I couldn't say I was happy here, because as far as I knew, Xi Ken had perfectly integrated me with his plans, which I wasn't very sure of.

But for the time being, I would trust him.

"Can we also accompany you Ken," Ser Vor suddenly asked, looking very optimistic.

"Then I hope we will be able to leave this town tomorrow?"

Ser Vor agreed, he and Xi Ken then made a few plans as to where we will make our stop and for how long, all the while I readily listened, mentally calculating how many days it would take to reach there.

"Then we will take our leave," Xi Ken nodded, which Ser Vor returned.

And we both left the area, following along a narrow path that led towards a hidden garden, which the hall touched on the east.

I saw various herbal plants and flowering pots kept around the arranged bushes, all of them trimmed and groomed, well kept and clean of weeds.

The natural stone path marking the garden really seemed to be straight from a fantasy world, the essence was mysterious and a sense of adventure shot through me.

"Where are we going?" I asked Xi Ken, as the man led me towards some unknown territory I was very curious about. The tall trees dotting the span scarcely shaded the pathway, yet they were all very wide in span and the branches were strangely pale white.

"Have you ever seen a spirit tree?"

"No," I shook my head.

"Then do you have any knowledge about it?"

"None at all."

He hummed, striding past me to go deeper into the garden, and we started to see a subtle change from only herbs and flowers, to more trees.

It wasn't even a few minutes along, when a more denser region intercepted us, and I watched transfixed as the rows and rows of tress started to diminish again, leaving a path for a central field, where a single humongous tree stood. The branches covering the entire field, and the leaves shading the sky from our view. And that was the sole reason why the shadows were more prominent.

I believed the white leaves and the tree we were seeing, was a spirit tree.

"These trees are the connection between souls, that binds the life to your fate. If you make a wish with this, that wish would be granted if you are worthy of it. But what I want for you to do is not make a wish but rather collect a shoot of its branch."

Xi Ken was as serious as always, so I nodded, "But from where should I break it? The branches aren't low."

"You learned the incantation just earlier, so try to make use of that here."

"But that would destroy the tree!" I wasn't very sure of how much damage I would cause. And right now, having a good hold on my powers was an issue.

"I trust you will be able to handle this Raven, so do your best."

I sighed, knowing I would reach nowhere if I was this slow. So dragging my feet, I started to explore, and the more closer I went to the stem, the more thicker the branches became.

"Remember to choose just a sample, I do not want an entire branch."

Xi Ken had been following me every where I went, so he must have felt my thoughts, if that was even possible.

"Then I think I will look there," I figured, passing Xi Ken and moving towards the outer extension of the tree.

A while later I stood right below what looked like the tree fruit, which was hanging from a single thin shoot. The fruit was also white, shaped round with an interesting shell pattern.

"What happens when one eats the fruit?"

I turned to Xi Ken, wondering if he had an answer for me.

He tilted his head up as if also watching the fruit, even if he had a blindfold on his eyes. "They are poisonous, eating them will rot your insides."

It was an unexpected answer, and I wondered if all those spirit fruits they ate in my fantasy novels were a lie. I giggled, "And here I thought I would be granted with some hidden skill."

"Skills cannot be granted, they have to be earned," he told me with a small smile, and I returned it with a pout.

Then focusing back on the tree I used the words which were written in the chit to strike the branch, preparing a small wave to help decrease the force I put in it. Yet nothing happened.

Which was puzzling.

I looked back at Xi Ken in question, wondering if I had done something wrong, and Xi Ken seemed to know my question.

"You cannot chant without reading the words from a surface. A chanter always carries the inked word with him."

Oh well, I couldn't argue there, because what would happen if I talked casually about the weather and suddenly it started to rain because I used my powers by mistake? It would be disastrous.

"But if you do not want to read and chant all the time, you can also practice the mute art. Where the practitioner refrains from casual speech and only chants when using his or her powers. It is an interesting skill."

Although Xi Ken was right, I wouldn't be able to live without speaking, so I declined his idea, however there was a problem, how would I speak when I had forgotten the chit in my dress pocket during the changing. I had been in a hurry and did not remember to take it back.

"I am sensing your unrest."

Damn right he was, I awkwardly shifted around on my heels, "I might have forgotten the chit behind, what do you say I do now?"

I was watching for his reply so I did notice the slight twitch of his lips, which later morphed into a soft frown, "I will write the words on your palm then, it would be temporary but effective in this case."

I nodded, and watched as Xi Ken came to me and took out his brush stick from inside his sleeves, drawing it into position elegantly, and gesturing for me to give him my palm.

I pulled up my own sleeve and pushed my hand forward, which Xi Ken took hold of, the touch alone sending in a shock of warmth through me.

Thankfully I did not flinch back and Xi Ken artfully pressed a symbol on my palm which I was shocked to see darken instantly, a similar lettering appearing as in the previous chit.

This time I read the words used to destroy, chanting softly and sending forward a wave towards the tree branch, simultaneously moving back to avoid getting hit by the falling shoot.

And to my relief, the casting worked and the branch fell down, along with a few leaves.

"The chanting need to be more precise," Xi Ken shared his thoughts as I collected the twig, "but I am impressed that you learned to control your power input in such a short duration."

I coughed to hide my embarrassment, "Thank you, I will do better next time."

"That is what I wanted to hear."

We both then left the garden, the way back not as mysterious and curious anymore, but the natural scent of earth and grass and herbs, very refreshing.

Since I was always aware of Xi Ken, I noticed him looking far ahead in the west, by now I was fluent in telling which cardinal direction we were taking, the sun and the starts helped me a lot.

I tugged Xi Ken's sleeve, the tip only though, since I was always a bit nervous in getting close to him, and just a simple tug was enough to distract him, or when he wasn't listening, I would call him Xi Zuen, which was the fasted way to receive his attention.

"Raven?"

God, I really liked the way in which he pronounced my name, it wasn't the American accent I was used to, but rather something else, and it had been a while since I realized I was affluent in whatever tongue they spoke in. But the surprise element had withered with time and now I didn't think much about it.

"Xi Zuen, you seem to be bothered by something, you always keep looking at some point and I noticed it is now west. Are you waiting for someone?"

He stopped to favor me, "You seem to be adjusting to me quite well."

"Haha, right right, but what is bothering you?"

"I rather not discuss about it." Then he moved ahead, resuming his stride as if nothing was wrong.

I did know he was some powerful entity, but that did not mean he needed to be so on guard all the time, I mean... he could tell me, I wasn't out for his blood.

"Xi Zuen~" I whined, carefully stopping him by his elbow, the soft silk of his sleeve easy to grip. However my actions seemed to have startled him, since he immediately stopped and looked at me. Or faced me... whatever.

"..."

"Um, I... wanted to know what it is, I wouldn't tell anyone, you can be assured."

I nervously stared at him, my head a bit down as I wondered how he would retaliate. "I swear." I added later, in case he was still doubtful of me.

I moved a bit back when he suddenly bend his posture to face me, his fingers coming up to caress my hair, just slightly gliding across the charm chain.

"I know you wouldn't defy me, but it would be worrisome if you are aware of what is happening."

"I can handle it," I stated firmly this time, trying to gain his sympathy.

He sighed, "Someone is following us, that is all you need to know, so do not stray away from me."

I blinked, "I wouldn't, you can be assured."

He smiled a bit, carding his fingers through my hair, the tips sending a shiver with their touch. The grip really seemed to be controlled, and I felt how much strength he really had in him. It made me marvel why an ink master would need such brawn.

"Don't be worried, I wouldn't let anything happen to you."

I nodded, his touch leaving me as he moved away, taking with him his scent of wood. Somehow, my eyes focused on his back, the wide shoulders and thin waist, looked more alluring than before.

Mentally slapping myself, I carried on with following him, trying to focus to keep myself sane.