Kate's Present

Shui made his way back to the clan before night. It was a bit later than usual, but Shui didn't think it was that bad. Before going to Kate's house, he changed his clothes and washed his face. His body was mostly recovered so he took off his bandages. Even he was surprised by how quickly he healed, but it made sense once he factored in his body cultivation. He was now a two-star saint body so cuts and bruises would heal perfectly in under an hour and even broken bones were minor injuries.

He had been pushed one point away from death, but he was now harder to kill than before. It would be wrong to say he had no mixed feelings regarding it, but he was mostly happy. He was to live freely, not safely. Only when he didn't have to worry about being stomped on by any random cultivator, could he do whatever he wanted. Dying was a no-no, but he wasn't afraid of risking his life in a fight he could win. Even if he didn't believe he could win back there, there were many talismans which could delay his death while causing a big enough commotion to get help. However, he had refused that option. The thought was logical but it irked him. He couldn't really understand it himself, but the thought of acting like that made him frown.

Nonetheless, the trial was over so he gleefully went for dinner, unaware of what was awaiting him.

When he entered the house, three pairs of eyes snapped to his direction, causing Shui to jump back in fright.

"Wha, what's wrong?"

Their gazes made him uncomfortable so he unconsciously shriveled up. Lilia would normally imprint this image in her memory, but there were serious matters that needed to be handled. Still, nothing stopped her from taking a brief pause to appreciate it.

"Shui, is there anything you want to tell me?"

In a normal case, this question would be vague. However, Shui had quite the secret to hide so he was shaken by this question. He checked Bartos' expression and was partially relieved.

'Whew~. Looks like I'm not completely out.'

"What do you mean Aunt Lilia?" Shui asked, confident that he wouldn't leak anything.

"Well you see, Kate and I went to see you at your forge but you weren't there. Your Uncle Bartos here told me that this was where you spent your free time, so since I didn't find you at your forge or in your house I went back to ask him again. Then he told me that he didn't know where you were. After I, scolded him,"

Lilia only made slight mention of it, but the the awkward expression on Bartos' face when she said 'scolded' made Shui aware that it was much worse than that.

'You've suffered Uncle.'

"We looked everywhere we thought you could be but still couldn't find you. If you didn't come in time for dinner we were planning on organising a search."

"Uh, I'm sorry." With Aunt Lilia's smile looking darker than he remembered it, he meekly apologised.

"Well, I'm not saying you did anything wrong but we were really worried."k

Shui quickly nodded, hoping this would be the end of it.

"Now then, why don't you tell me where you were?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, I was taking a nap in the forest."

"The forest?" Lilia asked.

"Yep. Mom showed me a good spot so I stay there every once in a while."

Every once in a while was actually everyday, but besides that it was all true. Lilia stared at him for a minute or so before sighing.

"Fine, as long as it's near the clan there won't be anything to trouble you. But don't sleep in the forest again, you can just sleep here."

"Yeah. I won't do it again Aunt Lilia."

He went to his seat while looking at the thumbs-up Bartos raised in response to his slick tongue. Shui thought that would end it but then he found Kate staring at him as well. At first he ignored it, but then she came in closer and sniffed. She must have discovered the odour of blood because her face paled and looked at him with a frightened expression. Shui quickly grabbed her hand and put his index finger on his lips. She seemed reluctant but she eventually acted normal again. However after dinner she dragged him into her room.

"What happened?" Kate asked with a serious face.

Shui knew she wouldn't back down if he didn't give her a reasonable explanation. However, he couldn't give her the whole truth either.

"What do you mean?"

"Why do I smell blood on you?"

"I just dropped off a tree. Nothing much."

"From a tree? Really?" Kate continued to look at Shui as if he was very suspicious.

"Yeah, I'm already healed so isn't it obvious that it couldn't be a serious wound."

"I, guess."

"Yeah, more importantly your birthday's coming up soon."

He had managed to divert her focus, but he wasn't sure if he could completely settle her suspicions, so he changed the topic. Luckily, it worked and Kate smiled while expressing her excitement.

"Yeah, what present are you gonna give me this time?"

"That's a secret. Let's just say you'll definitely like it."

"Ohh, you better keep those words."

He already had Kate's present, well the components at least. With the skin and core of the red tiger, he planned on making her a custom artifact.

The next day after he fought the red tiger, Shui began preparing the gift. He cut off the amount of tiger skin he needed and then used it to make a pair of open-finger gloves. He used the tiger's whiskers as thread and a needle of spirit iron to make it. Sewing wasn't his strong suit, but it was simple for him to do it after reading and watching Lilia sew. With the pair of gloves finished, the easiest part was finished. To do the rest, I would need Broc's help. Normally he would go to Yur but he wasn't very good at the this task.

"So, can you help me?"

"Well, I do have some free time, and this sounds interesting so why not."

"Thanks!"

For the next step, Shui needed to use a heart flame. A heart flame was the manifestation of a cultivator's aura that was formed when they reached Soul Realm. Heart flames had many properties, some were even strong enough to match the best fire spells created by Kings, while others could cure rare curses. Heart flames were also essential in refining delicate artifact materials.

Around noon, Shui was in Broc's forge with the gloves and an irregularly shaped red crystal. The crystal was as big as his fist and provoked the nature energy around it; this was a beast core. Once an evolved beast became a beast spirit, a crystal containing the source of its power and ancestry would form near its heart. The stronger the evolved beast, the more things were engraved in the beast core, for example, the abilities of its bloodline.

"Let's begin."

Broc put his hands together with his palms facing the ceiling. A second later, a flame with shades of light and forest green appeared above his palms. This flames released no heat until Shui placed the beast core and gloves inside it. The core started to melt and Shui carefully observed it. He used his martial intent to gather the liquified core to surround the gloves. When the core had completely turned into liquid state, the gloves seemed to be suspended in this red fluid. Since they came from the same source, the gloves naturally absorbed the liquid bit by bit.

Now, while the gloves sucked in the red liquid, Shui would need to draw a symbol using that very liquid. He had practised to do this with water, but he couldn't be completely confident it would work. The symbol he was drawing had the meaning of 'Memory', and would require mid-level skills in inscriptions if its effects were more consistent. 'Memory' would awaken an aspect of the beast spirit and pass it inside the gloves. If it was successful then Kate would be able to use one of the red tiger's abilities with the gloves.

Unlike usual, he was under a time limit while drawing the symbol. It had to be done before all of the liquid was absorbed by the gloves. Luckily, due to his repeated practice he could finish the symbol when the diameter of the remaining fluid was around six inches.

When only the gloves remained, Broc asked ,"Is it a success?"

"I'm not sure. We'll have to wait for Kate to put it on."