Yur Comes Back

After parting with Cleia, Shui went around the campus verifying the events of the trial. Tin had already left the academy since he completed the basic education and didn't have the talent to become a core student. Nikolai had come to the academy to choose a disciple and found Emily, but unlike in the trial they left Cyrus after less than a year. One more thing Shui wanted to check was Blue Mist Gorge, but he settled with confirming its existence and location for the time being. With his current strength, there was no need to fear anything in there and though he no longer trained in the World Assimilation Art, solarinite was still a precious material that could be useful in refining artifacts or making arrays. Furthermore, that wasn't the only treasure he found there.

Once his investigation was over, Shui went to the siblings' house and was greeted by Lily.

"Welcome back, Master. I imagine your day went well."

"You could say that. How are the kids doing?"

"All of them are in the room focusing on their cultivation."

"Oh, I guess what happened left a mark on them."

There was nothing off about the conversation, but something about Lily's attitude made Shui suspicious. It was especially her smile that was filled with nothing but polite yet playful intentions. However, he couldn't point out the problem even while he took a seat and watched her serve him a cup of tea.

"Is she your girlfriend?"

"What?!" The sudden inquiry almost had him choking on the tea that he was taking a sip of.

"I heard from Sia that you were rather close with a young lady. I'm asking if you're lovers."

"No. She's just a friend I got to know recently."

Though she seemed to be teasing him, Shui saw no need to make up a story so he answered honestly.

"Really? I won't say anything you know. You're my master and you are at that age after all."

"Lily!"

"What? It's nothing to be embarrassed about. As long as she's a nice girl and you take care of her, I have no complaints."

As Lily became assertive about digging into his love life, Shui found himself stuck in an uncomfortable position. He wondered how he would get out of this when he heard someone knocking the door.

"I'll get that."

Before Lily could react, Shui had his hand on the door knob and opened the door.

"Yes, who is it...?"

"..."

The one he saw was just a head taller than him, with thick muscles that wouldn't lose to the twins. Both Shui and the one on the other side of the door looked at each other, paused, and then spread their arms and hugged each other.

"Yur!"

"Shui!"

Both because he was happy to see him and because he wanted to escape, Shui told Yur that the two of them should go out and celebrate their reunion. It was getting closer to night, so Yur brought him to a nostalgic bar where they could get a good meal. Barbarian's Rest Stop was just as Shui remembered it, and with Yur beside him he felt a bit lost in the fond memories.

As they sat down with their food, Shui gave the same story he gave to Aunt Lilia and the siblings.

"Wow, you always have the craziest luck. At least you're healed now. You can even open your eyes." said Yur as he poured a jug of beer down his throat.

"Yeah, what about you?"

"Well, you know I was always better at business than forging. Right now, I'm travelling around as an assistant helping people sell their products, but once I have enough money, I plan on opening up my own place."

"Oh, sounds good."

"Mhmm, but...," Yur's expression darkened for a moment and he looked up from his drink to Shui's face.

"Hey, Shui, do you plan to continue forging?"

"Hm, probably, but I'm not sure if I'll be selling my products anymore."

With all the money he had and his goal of getting stronger, Shui didn't plan on becoming a full-time blacksmith. However, he still hadn't forgotten about the deep profundity that was hidden in the art.

"I see, I wonder if Master would be disappointed in us."

It was a depressing topic that didn't fit Yur, but he couldn't help it. It wasn't as frequent anymore, but he still had nightmares of Broc and Gus cursing him for running away. He knew that it wasn't so, that they entrusted him with their families, but somewhere in his heart, the doubt would always gnaw at him.

"I don't know. But I think that even if he was disappointed, Uncle Bartos would still give us a slap on the back and tell us to follow our hearts."

Shui said this more for Yur's sake than his own, but it still worked.

"...Yeah. Wow, that got dark." As Yur tried to shake off the clouds weighing down on them, Shui also changed the topic.

"By the way, how's your little sister doing?"

"Oh, she's fine. She's living with Gus' family in Rinto City. I was planning on settling there, but the damn brat seems to have hit puberty and doesn't want me over there too often."

"Heh, maybe she got a boyfriend."

"That's not even funny! Last time I went there I caught her giggling while talking to some scholar. I swear if I didn't have a job to do I would have followed him back to his house and taught him a lesson."

"Wouldn't that make her hate you though?"

"It's fine if she doesn't know who did it. What she doesn't know won't hurt her."

'No, I have a feeling she would probably find out.'

At this point of the conversation, Yur, who was about to take another chug of beer, stopped and raised an eyebrow before a creepy grin appeared on his face.

"Hey Shui, you're fourteen now right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"There's a place I want to take you."

Shui gave him a look of suspicion, but he didn't have any other plans so he followed Yur out of the tavern. The moon was beginning to show off, but Yur was walking towards the slums so Shui wondered where they were going, but once he saw the kind of shops that lined the street, he figured it out.

"Um, I'm not so sure this is a good idea."

"What do you mean? You're an adult now, you have to learn how to act like one." said Yur in a firm tone as he patted his shoulder.

"Maybe, but, what if someone finds out? What if Aunt Lilia finds out?"

"Calm down Shui, she won't. Think about it, when you meet that girl you want to spend the rest of your life with, do you really want her to be unsatisfied in bed."

"I, I guess not."

"Exactly! Just think of it as adult training and have a good time. Hahaha!"