Moving Forward

Before Shui left, Alice gave him a spirit-rank sachel artifact with spatial expansion. In other words, the sachel could hold much more than its size suggested. The only downside was that the actual weight of the items stored in it still had to be carried by him.

"Are you sure you can give me this?"

"It's fine. If it bothers you then just return it when we meet again."

"...Fine."

"Oh, and don't think you can run from me. Once I reach Sky Realm I'll look for you myself."

Shui laughed. Though it sounded ridiculous, he didn't doubt that she would do it.

"When we see each other again, I'll have a gift ready for you."

"Ohh, then I'll look forward to it."

After leaving the room, Shui clenched his fists while walking. He knew that no one was at fault for their separation, but it was still proof of his powerlessness. Thanks to this he had another reason to get stronger.

During the time Shui spoke with Alice, Lilia was on a spiteful shopping spree. She had realised that Yur had betrayed her by helping Shui sneak off to the homewrecker, so she purposefully bought extravagant gowns and skirts while fantasizing about the one she wanted to wear them.

When Shui went back to the room he left them, they were long gone so he asked an employee where they were. That led him to finding Yur with a large amount of female clothes and Lilia skipping across the street. Shui sneaked up to Yur to ask what happened.

"She realised she got scammed so she's making me pay for it, literally."

"Ohh, should I pay for those?"

"No, I'll just treat it as part of the deal."

Shui was a bit suspicious of Yur for not wanting him to pay, but he didn't press the issue. What he wasn't aware of was that Yur had figured out who was the one the clothes were meant for after hearing Lilia murmer, "I wonder if this will fit Shui's?" while looking at a frilly pink dress.

'My condolences junior.'

Once Lilia had entered three more stores, she finally noticed Shui and they went back to the clan. On the ride back, Shui saw the look Lilia was giving him as she laid her hand on the clothes she had bought, and was frightened by the thought of what she might be considering. Luckily, she seemed to be saving them for a later date so he was spared for the meantime.

Over the next few weeks, Shui would occasionally stare at empty space with a dazed expression. This was especially the case when he looked at the sachel artifact. Unlike a storage ring, it could only expand the space of the bag. Due to this, he used his martial intent to pull out items since he lacked spiritual sense and the space in the sachel would be too deep for him to reach the bottom of it with his hand.

The sachel was a constant reminder for him to work hard, yet because of it, it was hard for him to stay focused. He knew he would have to get his head in the game, but for the time being their conversations filled his head. Even though the communication terminal was no longer in range, it was still always on his wrist. Another reminder that promoted procrastination.

Over at Kate's house, after dinner when Shui had gone back to his house, Kate went to her parents.

"Mom, Dad, what's with Shui these days?"

In response to her question, the couple looked at each other. They had also noticed the change in Shui's attitude and had a good idea as to why he was like that. However, both of them found it difficult to explain the answer.

"Well, um, your dad will explain it."

"What?"

Bartos was stunned by the dirty work that was dropped into his lap, but he knew he couldn't give it back.

"Uh well, you see,"

Bartos reluctantly told Kate about Alice and how Alice had left Cyrus. During his explanation, he closely examined her facial expression, but saw no significant change. Though this did make it easier for him, he wasn't sure if he was reading her correctly despite being her father.

"I see, so he misses his friend, right?"

"Yeah, basically."

"I can understand, I would miss Shui if he left too."

"Yeah..."

Hearing Kate's response to the news, Lilia and Bartos thought she was still innocent and so she didn't pick up the hidden implications of what Bartos said. However, Kate wasn't pure enough to overlook this transgression. Even if Shui really was missing his friend, acting like that around her was a big no-no.

'I'm right here! Why didn't he talk to me?'

Though she didn't express it, she was feeling a bit miffed for not hearing this sooner from Shui. She really wanted to roll up to his house and smack him in the head but, she knew she needed to find a way for him to cheer up first.

"What should we do to make him happy again?"

"Uh, uh."

He might have had a daughter and taught Shui, but Bartos was no expert when it came to children. He knew that it would be good if Shui could cheer him soon, however he also thought it would happen eventually and that there was no reason to rush. With Bartos unable to help with this issue, Lilia took the floor.

"He needs to take his mind off her. Should we make him take a break from work?"

"I don't think that'll help. It'll only give him more time to think about it."

Bartos couldn't offer any advice, but he could see still insert comments to help the situation.

"Hmm, then it has to be something that can attract his attention, something fun,"

The three of them thought of fun things that Shui liked. After subtracting blacksmithing, there was only reading, but could simple books change his mood? And how would they find books that were good enough to do so?

In the silence, Kate remembered Shui watching her during training and an idea flashed into her mind.

"Oh! Why don't we make him come watch the inter-clan competition?"

"Hmm, that's, would he like that?" Lilia wondered.

"Yeah, I think so. I see him watching me when I'm sparring sometimes so he must like seeing me fight. So if we bring him to the inter-clan competition, he can watch me more and forget about that girl."

Though there seemed to be some ulterior motives here and there in her words, Bartos agreed with her idea. Among them, he was the only one who knew that Shui could cultivate. Even if he didn't personally take part in it, seeing others fight would be beneficial to him even if his mood didn't improve.

"That's not a bad idea. I'll ask him tomorrow."

"Mhmm."

As Bartos and Kate settled the discussion, Lilia was still doubtful.

'Could that little angel really like such a crude event?'

The next day, during breakfast, Bartos asked Shui if he wanted to watch the inter-clan competition.

"Huh, oh, what's it about?"

"It's just a martial arts tournament that's held every five years among the younger generation of our, the Glaize and the Clite clans. It's split into ten and under and over ten categories with the upper age limit being twenty-five. The winning clan gets the right to manage the resources of Crystal City, where it's held. Kate's going to be in it so we're planning on going with her to watch."

After Bartos' words, Shui took a few seconds to comtemplate, but his decision was set.

"I'll go."

Exactly because he had been thinking about Alice so much, he knew that he couldn't slack off. He had to resolve his current problem and get stronger.