Sir Xiu

Jack had ignored Athelei for the rest of their trip towards whoever Lady Karire's husband was and wherever the man could be.

The pair found the man inside a simple room of white, grey, and light blue. The room was half exposed to the elements outdoors, with rays of sunlight filtering through the carvings above, as well as a veranda that opened up to a view of the sea.

An elegant tune was being played from a swan-like harp that lay at the very centre of the room. A man with cropped black hair and sun-tanned skin was strumming the instrument's strings with grace.

Nearby, a young, perhaps six-year-old girl was watching the notes being borne from the vibrations of a string.

Jack and Athelei's eyes met for a moment before they sat near the entrance.

Listening to the beautiful music piece, they waited. The song went through four distinct parts, each invoking different emotions as it sang a wordless story. Athelei admired the composition while recalling a few religious pieces that found themselves on the Information Network.

'Humans have created such a beautiful... creation,' Athelei was entranced by the new experience that his mental eloquence stumbled upon a roadblock. Lady Karire's husband had a gift that even the inexperienced child that Athelei was could identify and appreciate.

The piece went on for eight minutes, and when it was over, the harpist faced the small audience he had.

"Sir Xiu," Jack finally opened his lips again, his head tilted in a seated bow, "Was that Lady Karire's 'Crescent Islands'?"

Sir Xiu smiled gently as his daughter ran up to him, "Indeed it was. Beautiful, wasn't it? My wife has a way with the arts, musical or mystical.

"Is this reserved individual the one she chose perchance?"

"Yes, Sir Xiu." Jack replied, his head still bowed, "His name is Orien and was handpicked by Lady Karire to serve as the young lady's phantom."

"A young lad?" Sir Xiu was surprised, "I wonder why my wife made this decision."

Sir Xiu's gaze wandered towards Athelei, whose eyes depicted not a single ripple of anxiety. It glinted of a single emotion only, and that was curiosity. He felt like he was looking at a house cat instead of a human.

The two humans stared at each other for what might've been a minute. Sir Xiu was trying to discern Athelei's character while the latter was waiting expectantly for what came next.

Jack, who was by the side did not know if he should lift his head or not. He knew that Sir Xiu was an individual who adored puzzles.

When the sir and lady were young, Sir Xiu had fallen for Lady Karire because of her machinations and mysterious choices as one of the Blessed. It was a famous story known by many of the servants, as Lady Karire had composed a musical piece inspired from the day she learned of Sir Xiu's unique adoration.

In fact, it was a composition known throughout Illyas, entitled "My Missing Piece."

"Humour me, young Orien." Sir Xiu finally broke the silence, "If you were a fish among many in the sea, how would I find you if you were lost?"

Jack heard the question and peeked at Athelei who was sitting beside him. He wondered how the young boy would respond to one of Sir Xiu's questions. He had been asked a similar riddle-like question before.

Athelei took the words in for a moment before smiling, "I would hide, not wishing to be seen by anyone."

"Oh?" Sir Xiu raised a brow in intrigue, "And what would you do while hiding?"

"I would enjoy all the things I see, hear, touch, smell or taste." Athelei answered, "Whatever it may be."

"I see... I now know why my wife had chosen you," Sir Xiu chuckled as if the answer had been spelt out in front of him yet he was clueless of its presence.

"You're one of the Blessed, just like her."

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Athelei was looking back on what had just happened to him in the span of a few hours. He wondered how Sir Xiu identified him as one Blessed by the heavens, and if Lady Karire truly chose him for that exact reason.

The married couple he had just met was so different from the adults he had already come to know.

Thallium Yan was a woman who bore the weight of many lives in a battle. Her aura consisted that of resilience and confidence.

Irene Vistas was like a hungry shark, vengeful, power-hungry, yet somehow has a stable moral compass. Her aura consisted that of well-placed greed and a simple love for power.

Ysevia was a playful youth who enjoyed the fun of talking with people and learning about those he talked to through his silvery tongue. Despite the brief encounter, Athelei noted his aura to be one of cunning and analysis.

Knight Harley, who Athelei had been very familiar with was a man who had a strong will and sense of justice. He had a brotherly aura that Athelei had grown to be fond of.

Apple was one who loved the things in his possession and seemed to have a hobby of collection, at least that's what Athelei was betting on. The man's aura was made of a collector's love for even the simplest of objects or the most mundane of concepts.

Lady Karire and Sir Xiu on the other hand were difficult to read. Athelei had come to learn of the joys of guessing and the high one gets when those guesses turn out right. Guesswork was how he was beginning to see the world, and it mixed well with his innate curiosity.

He normally had guesses for a lot of things, and he loved to narrow those down as he went. The married couple had a more mysterious aura to them, which was goading him against making guesses.

Their aura combined like puzzle pieces of mystery, beckoning him to peer into their secrets with an empty mind. Making guesses when things were like this gave Athelei's mouth a bad taste. He was drawn towards the 'wait and see' kind of atmosphere they bore as if he was a member of an audience and the pair were directing a play.

A play that did not keep its audience guessing what would come next, and instead kept them expectantly waiting for whatever scene followed.

"Mmmmghhh," Athelei groaned as he lay in his new bed. After introducing himself to Sir Xiu and answering the man's questions, he was sent away for the time being and was given a room to stay in and clothes to change into. "I guess I will just see what they have to offer. No assumptions and no predetermined ideas. I'll play as an obedient pawn."

Athelei chuckled as he shoved those thoughts into one of his mental shelves. He picked out a book entitled "My Plans for Avina" and then placed it on one of the tables he imagined.

'I need to reorient myself to my new environment...' Athelei took mental notes as he mentally wrote things down. He had to prepare for the new tasks that might be placed on his shoulders while adapting a liquid-like mind. He would become the shape of his new container.

'This is a fortuitous encounter, that's for sure.' Athelei nodded to himself when he drafted his new plans, 'The decision-making abilities of an actual Blessed is amazing... When I try to see the way Lady Karire sees, it feels like the world is but a single board game.'

When Athelei wrote that down on one of his mental books, he suddenly felt his mind shake. An olive-gold light flooded the library he had imagined for himself out of habit. It gave Athelei a shock.

"A breakthrough in my Tangible Will?" Athelei muttered to himself as he felt the olive-gold light suddenly bear more substance. 'Peak Rank 0? Indeed, visualization and focus is really an important part of honing one's mind. I'm essentially meditating whenever I delve into my thoughts, after all.'

Athelei's experience on Apple's ship had inspired this use of his habits. And things were turning out too good to be true. He was jumping tiers despite only a few hours of practice.

With the heavy light flooding his mental library, Athelei properly took on a meditative state. Using the knowledge he had gleaned from articles on the Information Network, he began to properly refine his Will. He commanded the heavy light to rally to the centre of his mind.

He forced the light down, turning it into many small, circular particles akin to molecules and atoms. An innumerable amount of tiny specks of clumped up light was now populating the centre of Athelei's mind. When their numbers reached a certain point, it made something click as if everything had suddenly settled into place.

When Athelei opened his eyes once more and left his meditative state, he found his shirt soaked in sweat.

But a cool breeze was flowing around him... A breeze that gleamed with a hue of olive-gold.

'Rank 1 Dictator just like that...' Athelei was in awe of the turn of events. Rank 1s were usually achieved by adult humans. 'Is it due to the fact that I have a powerful consciousness? Or could it be a boon born from that time when I invaded Irene's soul while she advanced to Rank 3 Dictator? Was imagining myself as Lady Karire a subtle factor? How about my practice of visualizing a mental library?'

Athelei had no concrete answers to the questions of what had just occurred to him, so he simply jotted down his conjectures inside his mental library. It even included a special query that he planned to take note of.

=o=o=o=o=

-Can the Purple Nebula Gem influence the growth of the three classes through its eidetic memory function?

=o=o=o=o=

Athelei would've continued thinking even more but was wrenched out of his reveries by a knock on his door.

"Orien," Jack's familiar voice sounded out, "Lady Karire and Sir Xiu are inviting you to dinner in an hour."

'...It's already evening? It seems like advancing to Rank 1 Dictator had morphed my perception of time. It was indeed as the stories say... the first advancement usually takes a few hours.' Athelei thought to himself as he opened his door. He gave Jack a pleasant smile.

"Thank you for coming all the way here, sir Jack. It would be my honour to join them at the table."