B Rank

While Emily was still meditating in Shui's room, Alicia was filing her nails with a dark expression. She had been relieved after giving Shui that warning, so even when she heard that Emily visited his room in the night, she didn't react immediately. She believed that he wouldn't do anything to her because he didn't see her in that light, but she still stayed up throughout the night.

With every passing hour, the ominous aura she exuded, increased until dawn came and she couldn't stand it anymore. Alicia marched over and strongly knocked on his door but to her surprise, there was no sound. She wasn't sure of the exact technique he used, but she was certain that he had blocked outside forces from interfering with the room.

If she was her usual calm self, she would have quickly guessed that they might be planning something or carrying out a task that demanded their full attention, but even for a cultivator of her level, staying up all night in anxiety would leave mental damage. Unable to think rationally, she had the same misunderstanding as Adrian and believed that the two were 'sparring in the bed'. However, that was where their similarities ended.

Alicia was interested in Shui, but she didn't think she already had him in the palm or anything like that. She was just worried that she would be gaining rivals before she decided on a plan of attack. Furthermore, since this rival now lived in the same inn so her advantage became trivial. However, it wasn't all bad. Depending on how she played her hand, this new rival could become her greatest trump card.

As she thought of it that way, Alicia calmed down and went to her room to strategize. Nonetheless, as she kept a dark expression, her hidden guards couldn't help but think that she was burning in jealousy and consulted her brother. After hearing their explanation he thought the same thing, but he knew her better than them.

'The sister I know wouldn't just be sulking, she would be planning how to drop her enemy into the deepest pits of hell. Honestly, I pity that other girl.'

Alex told them to just keep observing her and Shui's room for now, so the hidden guards stayed put with their queasy stomachs.

Meanwhile, Emily had taken a bath, eaten breakfast, and was about to leave Shui's suite. If he had the time, then he would have asked her to stay, but since he needed to get to the underground guild, he held back that urge.

After learning how Shui felt about her, Emily thought that she could be more open around him despite the air of mystery that remained. Now, in addition to Adrian and her master, there was someone else who she wanted to make proud.

"I'll take the rest of the day to prepare for the evaluation that starts tomorrow. I'll definitely make it to the main tournament so you don't have to come to the preliminaries."

Emily made such a bold statement, but it wasn't rooted it pride or confidence, it was certainty.

"Oh? I'll look forward to it."

As he looked at this little sister of his, Shui subconsciously raised his hand and patted her head. Emily froze for a moment, but she allowed the pat to continue until the end before eventually reaching for the door with a slight blush on her face.

"Well then, I'll see you later."

"Okay."

When Emily exited the room with a flushed face, the hidden guards immediately reported to their masters. However, while Alex simply dismissed them like they expected he would, Alicia's reaction was... different.

"I can't believe I was so foolish! Why did I rush to conclusions like that? Now I feel like an idiot!"

It was a very rare occasion to see her so embarrassingly distraught, but they didn't understand why she acted like this. After all, they had the same misunderstanding she did, but unlike them, Alicia had realised the truth.

She should have expected it, but her intuition couldn't point out any proper details on Shui, and this apparently extended to those close to him. While Emily was in the suite, she had only her logic, but the moment Emily left, like she had finally found the missing piece, the mistaken puzzle she had fixed itself.

'It's a good thing I didn't do anything impulsive, but I can't allow any word of this escape!'

Once Alicia gathered her thoughts and sat upright, that was when the guards and her brother were struck by inexplicable fear.

Meanwhile, at the underground guild branch, were three individuals in a room. One was the assassin that Shui worked with, Maha, who still had on her fox mask. Another was the scarred man who explained the exam to them. And the last was the one the other two were paying the most attention to.

At first when she met him in this room, Maha only thought that he had a special position in the organization behind the underground guild, but as time went by without Shui showing up, the scary killing intent that leaked from him made her break into cold sweat. If she shared a communication terminal with Shui then she would have immediately told him to get his butt over here, but without one she could only wait in silence.

However, unlike Maha who had little authority, the rough looking man with a scar over his eye had a good grasp of his superior's temperament, so he didn't want the situation to get any worse than it already was.

"Sir, we didn't give a time for them to come by so there's a chance that the last successful candidate won't make it until night. Why don't we just go ahead with the procedure?"

"Hmph, that's not a bad idea but, now I've gotten interested in knowing what sort of bastard dares to make me wait like this."

'Rather than him making you wait, this is just you being stubborn.'

The scarred man had his opinion on his superior's action, but there was little he could do about it. Whether fortunately or unfortunately, Shui arrived soon after with his mask on.

He planned on apologizing for being late, but the moment he took a step through the door, a knife flew towards him at an outrageous speed. For the first time or perhaps one of the few times in his life so far, though he could see the incoming attack thanks to his godly eyes, he found his body unable to react in time. It would be a different story if he had full control of his Quasi-divine body, and based on what he could tell this knife wouldn't even be able to scratch him, however, this was an attack on his pride that he couldn't allow.

Back when he was a fledgling starting out on his path, he had always made good use of his small body and agility to defeat his opponents, and despite not meeting anyone who could match the strength of his current body, Shui refused to let himself be insulted like this.

Unafraid of the risk of anyone catching on, Shui tapped into the power of the speed essence inside him.

The expressionless young man who joined this meeting as an executive from headquarters, saw the need to humble these new recruits. He didn't plan on causing any serious harm, but he was certain that his attack would show this rude fellow the chasm that existed between them. And yet,

"What?!"

Between Shui's fingers, was the knife that the young man had thrown.

"Is this some sort of welcoming ritual?" Shui asked.

Although his face was hidden by the mask, anyone could hear the condescension in his tone.

"You-!"

The young man reached for another knife, but this time the scarred man stopped him.

"Please sir! This isn't the time or place to cause a ruckus. And you! Don't taunt him!"

The young man didn't want to seem unreasonable, and Shui had no grievances with him, so they listened to the scarred man and halted hostilities.