Imaginary Friends <Current Latest>

Less than a month after leaving the Free Spirit region, Shui arrived at a mining town with an elemental crystal deposit. The main elemental crystals found in the mine were earth elemental crystals, so Alia wasn't interested and Shui didn't lack earth elemental crystals, so he shared her stance.

As they walked down the street, he didn't notice anything special about this town, until he heard someone singing. The singing wasn't particularly good, but something about it drew his attention. Within less than a minute, he spotted a small crowd that had formed around a young lady. That description didn't insinuate the best of circumstances, but thankfully, this was a stranger case.

The young lady that caught their attention was in a colourful dress that was revealing, yet had an innocent appeal to it. In such an outfit, the young lady, who would rank a 7 on the ten-point beauty scale, sang and danced with a bright smile on her face. When he saw her, Shui was reminded of a special type of minstrel he read about, called idols. Idols were minstrels who sang and danced, but relied mainly on their personalities to attract fame.

No one knew who first used the term to refer to them or what its origin was, but along with their sudden emergence several decades ago, the term came into use. At first, they were looked down on and called inferior to minstrels, but with the rise of the famous Trinity Girls, idols were able to gain recognition in the Alterna Kingdom. Even so, it was a cutthroat society where only a few could have their names known across the land.

Idols weren't very popular here, but they occasionally performed in this town. However, this was Shui's first time seeing one, so he couldn't help but be intrigued.

"Dancing average, Outfit plain, Singing amateur. Her charisma isn't bad, but it's not enough to push her far."

While watching the show, Shui picked up on the mumbles of a nearby viewer. This viewer was also a young woman, but with one glance, Shui could tell that her appearance was fake.

"Are you knowledgeable about idols?"

"Huh?"

The young woman seemed surprised that Shui heard her, but she still responded.

"Just a little."

"I see. Could you tell me about them?"

The young woman showed a hesitant expression, but her uncertainty soon disappeared once the singing ended.

"If we meet again, then sure."

The young woman then left. With his curiosity maintained, Shui took a step in her direction before an extremely petite figure dressed in red suddenly blocked his sight.

The red spirit warned, "Hold it right there, playboy!"

"Huh? What is it, Alia?"

"Don't 'what is it' me! Aren't we heading back to stop that fallen? This isn't the time for you to get a girl in your bed."

In utter disbelief, Shui asked, "What kind of person do you take me for? I just wanted to talk to her."

"Sure, sure, 'talk'. You can 'talk' to her after we come back."

"Ugh. Aren't you interested in hearing about idols? They're basically the next generation of minstrels."

"Hmph, boy, do you know how many heavenly voices I've heard in my lifetime? A little girl singing and dancing is just a joke in my eyes."

Seeing that he couldn't persuade her, Shui slumped his shoulders and turned around.

While Shui was heading back to Silver City, a certain carriage was travelling down the sole dirt path of a dense jungle. A cultivator of the Soul Realm served as the coachman, carrying the alchemist and array master that sat inside.

Alchemists and array masters had always been respected in the cultivator world. One strong cultivator could fight off an army of weaker opponents, but an expert array master could defend a land for several centuries, while a master alchemist could refine pills capable of transforming a mortal into a Master. Each had their own paths, but it couldn't be denied that they were both capable of great feats once they reached far enough.

However, just like not all cultivators could become experts, not all array masters and alchemists were worthy enough to be respected. The apprentice array master sitting inside the carriage knew this very well. Her lovely face was hidden under a black cloak, even though only her companion was in the carriage. She used to feel proud to receive the curious and admiring gazes of others, but not anymore. Everything changed after her master died.

'Master Nikolai...'

Even though she stayed silent, her companion could still tell that she was in a poor mood. He was an apprentice alchemist with a good family background and a handsome face, so he could have taken a more comfortable trip to their destination, but he didn't want to leave her alone. 

"We should be seeing the city soon. How are you feeling, Junior Sister?"

"I'm fine. Just thinking about the assessment."

"You'll do great. I'm sure of it."

The young man wasn't saying this just to appease his junior sister. He truly believed that she did not need to worry, given her skills. She was planning on taking the tier 3 array master qualification assessment and her understanding of arrays was comparable to an experienced tier 3 array master, so there was no way she would fail if the test went like normal. However, the young lady could no longer believe in fairness.

"!"

With a jerk, the carriage suddenly stopped. Neither of the two were injured, but it still wasn't a pleasant experience. At first, the young man was about to complain to the coachman, but he soon discovered he was dead along with the horses.

"Junior Sister, jump!"

The young lady had also noticed the corpse, so she followed the young man's instruction without a question. As soon as they leapt out from the carriage and landed, a massive fireball engulfed the vehicle. Even with the protection array on her clothes, the young lady wasn't confident she would have been able to survive that blast without injury. She was naturally agitated, but not too surprised, since this wasn't the first time that she had been ambushed.

"Junior Sister, are you okay?"

After the explosion, the young man quickly went to her side.

"I'm fine. Right now, we need to think about how to get out of here."

The young man nodded, and they scanned their surroundings for enemies. They stayed hidden from sight, but not from spiritual sense. There were at least ten of them on both sides of the path, with cultivations ranging from the late Soul Realm to the early Earth Realm. The young pair both possessed mid Soul Realm cultivations, so even with their trump cards it would be nearly impossible to defeat them all without preparation.

"Senior Adrian, if you want to leave-?"

"Don't bother, Junior Sister. I didn't join you with shallow resolve. I won't leave without you."

"...Thank you. Stay close!"

The young lady threw a blue gem on the ground and, upon impact, the gem exploded with a brilliant azure light. The light was blinding, so the ambushers tried to use spiritual sense to find the two, but their efforts were fruitless. Even when the light died down, the two still couldn't be seen or sensed, so the assailants revealed themselves to search for the two.

The two's disappearance was the result of a tier 3 concealment array meant to block spiritual sense that had been stored using the blue gem, as well as artifacts that could hide them from sight. While they were hidden, the young array master quickly worked on a tier 3 illusion array that could trap these assailants. One careless move could reveal their locations, so she was under much pressure, but she was confident that she could complete the array with enough time.