First Concert (4)

Alia had followed Shui to the concert with low expectations, but based on the opening, she felt that she should give credit where it was due. Although Amaryllis wasn't comparable to the fairies that she had the pleasure of listening to, it was still very impressive for someone who hadn't connected to the laws of sound or music. She especially liked the use of props and subtle artificial lighting to enhance the overall level of her performance as this wasn't something normally done in her time.

'Music sure has come a long way. I wonder if that blockhead would have preferred this over another night entangled with a courtesan.'

As Alia recalled fond memories while enjoying the show, she suddenly sensed a profound fluctuation from Shui. She didn't think it would be anything major, after all, he was just watching the concert, but she also underestimated the effect it could have on him. He would have been fine if he kept his guard up, but because he had such a strong soul, it had a greater influence on his body.

When she caught him mumbling, she immediately knew what was coming from his mouth and was shocked with both eyes wide open because she detected the use of rune language. He had barely managed to utter it once before by borrowing the power of a divine relic, but this time he was relying on his own power; albeit while he was in a trance. Furthermore, it wasn't basic rune language without any specific meaning, but rune language with a clear connection to the laws of music and sound.

'H, how?'

Despite her vast knowledge that had accumulated over several ages, Alia couldn't figure out how he could reach such a state of enlightenment from the song. However, she wasn't able to simply keep pondering as Maha noticed that something was off about Shui. Alia was a little late, but she was able to isolate the sound coming from Shui so that it didn't disperse from his mouth. As this required her to forcefully restrict the natural laws that were attracted by the rune language, Alia had to delegate a sizeable portion of her power and focus on maintaining it.

'Wasn't this supposed to be relaxing?!'

A few minutes later, Amaryllis finished her first song and in the gap before she moved into the second song, Shui was able to free himself from the trance. His mind was hazy at first, but a shout from Alia allowed him to fully wake up.

"Hurry up and guard your mind!"

Shui followed her instructions on reflex, but he didn't realize that he was in trouble until he saw Alia's scowl.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"'What's wrong?' I'll tell you what's wrong! You careless fool! Do you know-"

"Shin?"

Shui could tell that Alia was getting heated, but because he heard Maha calling him he turned towards her. Alia clenched her teeth, but she decided to let him off for now. Shui internally breathed a sigh of relief, but he began to feel guilty when Maha explained what was wrong with him.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Oh, you're back to normal. It looked like you went into a trance while the song was going on. You blanked out, started mumbling and wouldn't respond to me. It was quite frightening you know."

'That happened?!?!'

Although he was in a trance, Shui still faintly remembered what happened so he went pale as he finally understood the danger he was in. He didn't know that he had spoken in rune language, but considering how many mind-blowing secrets he possessed, it would be no surprise if he made a major mistake while he was unaware. Fortunately, it seemed Alia had prevented a dire incident, but he had to be wary of Maha in case she noticed something.

"Oh..., sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it. Let's just say you owe me a favour."

"I'd rather just pay you."

Maha chuckled in response, but she turned back to the stage without any intention of acknowledging his request. Shui knew that he had seriously screwed up, but all he could do was lament his carelessness. He could sense that there was a subtle improvement in his soul cultivation, but it wasn't enough to push him to nebula four-star so he left it aside as he got back into the show.

"By the way, I'm sorry that you won't be able to enjoy it without restraint, but try not to lose yourself in the music again, okay? I might be fine with it, but you shouldn't alert everyone else."

"I know."

Shui wanted to say that it was obvious, but after his slipup, he had no right to ask that she believe in his common sense.

With his guard up like it should have been, Shui tried to relax for the rest of the concert without any incidents, but after Maha, Alia began nagging him about how sloppy he was. He wanted to ignore her, but he figured that he could at least lend an ear to her rightful scolding. However, he had underestimated her frustration for she didn't stop complaining until the end of the concert.

'Well, that went poorly for my first time.'

As Amaryllis was telling the crowd goodbye, Shui went through his memories of her performance. It definitely could have gone better but, it wasn't bad.

Meanwhile, at the inn, Emily, Alex and Alicia were taking turns playing chess. It started out with Alex wanting to compete with Emily using chess, but after the first game resulted in his victory, Alicia said that Alex was glad that he finally had someone who he could beat.

Of course, Alex tried to deny her claim, but since it was indeed true that he had never won against his sister or his master, that didn't go very well. Usually, he would just accept defeat at the hands of his cunning sister, but with Emily present, he had more bravado than usual. He said that if they played again then he could win, a statement he regretted almost immediately after spouting it.

So far the standings were:

Alicia - 4 wins and 1 loss;

Emily - 2 wins and 3 losses;

Alex - 1 win and 3 losses.

Considering the fact that Alicia's one loss was on purpose so that she could teach Emily and have her go up against Alex, it was clear that he was already a punching bag at this point.

'I just wanted to have a game with her, was that so wrong?'

With a sigh after his latest defeat, Alex was keeping his eyes on the match between Emily and Alicia. Alicia was visibly holding back, but it was still to the extent that Emily barely had a fighting chance. Alex wished that she would go easier on him too, but he knew better than to expect such mercy from her.

The match continued without any surprising moves, but suddenly the serious atmosphere was cut by the vibrating sound of a device in the shape of a scroll that was on the wall next to the entrance. This was a communication terminal designed to only send or receive calls from the inn's administration. It was extravagant from the perspective of a vagrant cultivator, but those who could stay here tended to be from big forces so they didn't think much of it.

As he wasn't playing a game, Alex wondered if he should pick it up, but when he saw the look that Alicia was giving him, he realized that he actually didn't have a choice in the matter.

"I'll get it."

After placing his hand on the scroll, it stopped ringing and the staff on the other side of the call began speaking. Alex had a relaxed expression at first, but as he continued listening to the other person, his expression grew in solemnity. Noticing this, the two girls stopped their game and waited on him to get off the call.

At the end of the call, Alex removed his hand from the scroll and looked at Emily with his brows still furrowed.

"What is it?" Alicia asked.

"It's for Emily. Someone named Adrian is here for you, he says it's an emergency."