Cultivation

From the time she has awakened, Claire did not even enter her innerworld properly. 

It is time for her to sort everything out. 

She entered her innerworld. 

The contract was glowing in one corner, the connection rune oscillating mid air like a broken rope. 

Ignoring the contract, Claire searched among the gigantic library of spells for magic and illusion spells. Then she changed her appearance to the black bull spokesperson. A person who could create the connection rune could enter innerworld of any person. However, this process takes some prowess. To cause real damage, the inscriber needs to be a few orders more powerful than the mage, which is almost impossible. 

She had no idea how good or talented this inscriber was. Thus, she could only take precautions as if he was the most powerful inscriber in the world. 

The contract is made of multiple rare elements. The instructions are written using these rare elements. As long as those instructions exist in the innerworld, a psychological and magical hold will be placed on the body of the hunter to put the mission first.

Now, she has two choices. One is to use the same rare element as the contract, and overcharge the rune, gaining control over it, eventually, make the contract her own. From then on, the contract will not make the connection without her permission. 

The second choice was to create the opposite rune, erasing the contract from existence altogether. Both of them take a lot of time. Time which she did not have. 

Ideally, the moment the death soldiers go rampaging, their handlers should ask for an explanation from the inscriber. The inscriber will either investigate, eventually finding her innerworld, or go on the run. No matter which decision he makes, the time she has would be less than a day. 

So, it's imperative she starts dismantling this contract as fast as possible, and she must hide her identity while doing it too. 

In the end, Claire chose to erase it beyond any one's perception. If the inscriber enters her innerworld to spy on her, he will still think of her as the blackbull's spokesperson, so any retaliation would go to her. From what she heard in her past life, she was not a good person, so there is no need to feel guilty about putting the blame on her. 

After making sure her disguise is perfect from all directions, she started analyzing the magic circle of the contract. 

Slowly, she started subverting the runes. 

She lost track of time as she concentrated her all on changing ownership of these runes. 

Time passed. 

Brie and Zayne both waited outside the room cautiously. 

The night passed. 

Soon, it was day break. 

There were many times that Claire felt a different sort of presence in her mind, but she never paid attention to it. If she looks at them, then she needs to take care of them. Taking care of them means picking a fight. She did not want to pick a fight at this time. She had no idea why things were working in her favor, but she knew that she had a lot of luck these days. 

However, now that she has caused such a big trouble like this, the sharks would come for her blood any time now. 

Or, at least that should be the case. 

However, there was nothing, save for that ephemeral presence in her mind. 

When she opened her eyes, Brie and Zayne were waiting for her, their gaze full of tension. 

" How long has it been ? " Was her first question. 

" A day and a half. " 

That's faster than expected. 

It's once again reaching dusk.

" Sister ! Come look at this. " Brie called her excitedly. 

She took her to a room with a blue door. 

There was a gigantic tub in the room, set on a bronze clawfoot frame. The onyx of the tub is the most beautiful she has ever seen, oscillating like a starry sky. It was set against the open sky, with the taller end facing the door, open end facing the ocean. In front of the tub was a glass pane wall, allowing you to flash to the ocean any time. 

In these days of zero sea traffic, it means little. 

Then, by the wooden bamboo wall there are two sinks, made of glass bowls, and the surroundings are decorated with seashell themes. The mirrors are surrounded with shells and other kinds of beach treasures. There was a single metal tumbler like holder in between the sinks, and Zayne's and Claire's tooth brushes were in the tumbler. 

Claire skipped commenting on that. She looked to the other side. 

The bamboo wall was fixed in place using metal frames, and the third side, it was definitely a stone wall, fixed in a metal frame. The granite wall is perfectly polished, and the window atop that was a prop up window, which could be opened at forty five degrees any time, to vent the air out. 

By the other side was a toilet, separated from the tub by a screen, which was once again, muddy glass with colored glass embedded in it. 

On the other side of the tub was a gigantic sliding glass door, which she opened to find it was a shower. There were even hangers for clothes and towels. 

The floor was once again these polished granite tiles, leading to a perfectly round hole to drain the water. 

It looked like one of those upscale super expensive fire star hotels that boasted a killer view. 

" I gave the idea, but it's Zayne and the kids who made it. " Brie said proudly. 

Claire looked around with a smile. 

" Thank you. " She said, looking at Zayne. 

" You are welcome. " he said, a bit surprised. 

" Then, I will leave you to freshen up. Over there are towels, and this tap here is the one for hot water. Here, I got the soaps, not the bubble soap, just random soap. You can shower and soak, or just soak just to relax. " Brie told her, before closing the door behind her. 

Almost every muscle in Brie's body was stiff. She really needed that soak in the water. 

She showered quickly, and by the time she finished showering, the tub was filled with hot water. 

Claire entered the bath, and sighed in relief. 

While the flash does increase her agility and give her physique that could match that speed, it does nothing about the leftover pain. 

That depends on her own vitality, which was similar to it was before acquiring flash skill. After that fast paced exercise and this super still meditation, her muscles are groaning with pain. 

She relaxed as soon as she entered the water. 

For a few days, she will not touch her inner world. 

She would concentrate her all on gathering information about this organization. Thinking back now, she can not trust Caspian to erase her traces whole heartedly. As such, she would have to return to base 89 to make sure that her traces were cleaned beyond doubt. 

Forget it .. for now, just relax… 

She thought, floating in hot water, gently swirling the water around herself while stretching. It's been a long time since she exercised both her water and fire runes. Today is as good as any, she thought, as water swirled around her, she used fire and water to both raise heat, and let water swirl around with the effect of a jacuzzi. 

When she came out, it's already dinner time. 

The dinner was set with porridge and the local veggies. 

Claire habitually raised the vegetables, pots and pans and made a simple stir-fry, adding to the barbeque, and grilled fish. 

" Sister ! Are you staying with us from now on ? " The children asked eagerly. 

" Should be, for the coming week. " She answered easily. 

If nothing else, she had to collect information. Even if news is the least reliable way to collect information, the distraction she caused should be worthy of news, right ? 

Thus, just like that, their dinner ended in laughter and peace. The children looked at ease, having both Zayne and Claire at the table. 

Amidst all this, she did not notice Zayne's restlessness at all. 

He was compleetely focused on her the entire meal. 

◇◆◇

Zayne remembered the last time they parted. 

It was atop the cliff, when he almost forced his confession on her. 

Thinking back, it was … no different from coercion. He knew Claire needed him more than he does her, and she could replace him with Caspian for a hunting party in the dungeon. 

He was coming off the worst psychological torture, and he felt that she owed him. 

However, thinking back, if Claire were Morde's target, then he would have focused on Claire from the beginning. In fact, Morde's focus was him, from the very beginning. So, whether Claire exists in the picture or not, whether she runs away or not, the disaster will fall on him one way or another. In fact, it is not that she abandoned him, she was the one who got caught in summer rain on a clear day. Yet, she did not lose her mind, she took the wisest course of calling someone for help. 

In return, he tried to morally kidnap her. He tried to morally kidnap the girl he liked. He still remembered her answer when he said she must go on one date a month. 

She paused for a minute, hesitating all the while. 

" Okay. One date a month. I agree. " She said, her face full of determination. 

Thinking back, it's that very determination that has hurt his heart. Is dating him so hard that she has to gather determination to do it ?