An eventful morning in Cairula

The sunny weather turned into a downpour and the smell of earth wafted around them, teased by the rain. Such scent tickled the nose and gave the tea a peculiar taste as they drank.

"But don't you find this odd?" the girl said as she put down her cup. "Isn't the fact that both of us here, conscious of one another, in different vessel but the same selves, violate the very concept of Nondualism?"

"There are much we still don't know about the world of the divine. Speaking of which, is it not time for you to start wearing weights?" Tian Gu asked.

"No. I am thinking of going a very different way this time," she unrolled her sleeves and showed her beautiful white arm. Slender and youthful, very different from her former body. "Just like how you can overpower me using just strength, there will be limits to what I can do in this body."

Tian Gu unrolled his own sleeves and compared his arm with hers. His was more than twice as large, bulging with muscles and riddled with scars.

"Instead of strength, I will focus on flexibility in this life. Soft over hard."

"I see you have planned for the future. Good. How about your disciples?"

"Don't worry about them. I have plans for Illumca. And for Ethel…something more geared towards concocting."

"Hmm…how about that boy you took in as your slave?"

"…I feel…something from him. I don't know what it is yet. I will find out sooner or later. If he turns out to be nothing but a hindrance, I will free him. And how about you?"

"My vessel is not stable yet. Currently I am more akin to a minor god that had just been born. I need to focus on making this vessel work. And for that to happen, I need to take the Essence and Yin Energy from your body. About 25 percent of what you absorb?"

"25?! That's a lot! It will slow my path to breaking through Treading Earth!"

"Compared to having to wait for years for our first breakthrough, I think it's nothing."

Connie ruffled her hair in frustration. "Dammit. How can I bargain with someone who knew me as well as I do?!"

"Alright. Because it's you, I'll go down to 20 percent," Tian Gu said while blowing a smoke, his smile disappeared and his gaze became mellow and melancholic. "Enough of the jokes. There is something I need to make sure. In this new world of Grea that you have been sent to…can you achieve the Ascending Heaven stage?"

Connie stopped ruffling her hair, her eyes showed a mix of uncertainty and sadness. She hesitated a bit before saying. "…the price it will take for that to happen is far too heavy for us. That is why the Heavens made it so that only the monsters who would sacrificed everything for the sake of power could ascend. More than us, Cloud Watcher, Feng Niu, and Wu Jiang were more fitting to be called monsters."

"…Yes. Those who are able to sever love and hate, whether out of duty or out of pride are the true monsters. We cannot do what they did," the old man paused, like a wizened hermit looking at a troubled disciple. "And now?"

Connie raised her head and accepted his gaze with a bitter smile.

"…" the two locked eyes with one another, saying nothing but knowing what the other intended. "We will cross the bridge as it comes."

A few moments later, Tian Gu seemed to have noticed something and gazed outside. "It seems that time is up. You will have to return soon. This place is returning to nothing."

"Understood. When can we meet again?"

"Not for some time yet. I will need to sleep and stabilize my body. So…" the man paused and appeared to hesitate. "Can I ask you something?"

"Hmm?"

"Before you return, I want to hold you in my arms."

Connie's expression was something between surprise and suspicion. "Sorry, what?"

"I…my body is not of flesh so sometimes…I doubt myself that I exist. I want to reconfirm my existence."

"By…hugging me? That…sounds a bit creepy."

"Creepy? I am you, remember? If I have sexual desire for you it would be the same as looking at a mirror and be aroused by my own reflection. Hmm, it seems being inside a female vessel have changed your personality somewhat," his eyes narrowed.

"What, what is it?"

"No, I'm just thinking. This female body you are in might change the way you think in the future. A water inside a vessel will change its form according to the vessel."

"…" Connie understood his insinuation and replied. "I will try my best."

"So, anyway…about the hug."

"Stop it. If you want to do it just do it."

Connie spread her arm as Tian Gu moved forward and put his arms around her. Being about two heads taller, he had to kneel so that they could be at a somewhat similar height.

It was a strange sensation. It did not feel as if she was holding an old man and felt more as if she was holding herself in her own arms. It was calming and blissful, as if she was her own consciousness, anchored to her material body with a single thread. The feeling of floating and almost falling. Being love, being silence – being nothing and everything.

And within that sensation, Connie found herself at peace for the first time in a very long while and slept until the sun rose in the east.

While Connie was still asleep, Illumca landed lightly by the window of her bedroom. She noticed that the bed was still made and there was no sign of her inside. She was rather disappointed as she was rather expecting to see Connie's sleeping face.

After letting out a long sigh, she hopped over to the next window and up to the roof before descending to the street like a cat.

She noticed that while wearing all black at night was a good idea, wearing it on daytime was another thing entirely. Everyone outside wore either colorful clothes or very drab working clothes and the black actually made her more visible. I need to get some plain clothes

"Illumca! Good morning!!" Sen greeted her cheerfully. She and Martell were pouring pills into small glass jars. The same types Ethel used to keep her materials. They poured about 5 pills into each jar.

"Good morning," Martell said, focusing on tying a small ribbon cut from to the neck of a jar.

Illumca's response was a curt answer and a slight nod. "Morning."

"Out and about last night, were you?" Ethel asked, gesturing towards the table by the kitchen. "We got some fresh bread, still piping hot from the baker. We also got some cheese and honey to go with it. Fill up first, you can continue with what you are doing later."

"Wow! This is a better spread than last week!" Sen ran up to the table and took a seat, then took a piece of bread and broke it off. The smell of warm fresh bread filled the kitchen immediately.

"We got nicer amount of profits so we can afford some nice breakfast."

"What were you two doing?" Illumca asked.

"We are pouring the higher quality pills into glass jars and decorated them, so they look prettier!" Sen answered, dipping her bread into the honey so many times it was more honey than bread.

"With better packaging, we can charge more. These Rejuvenation Pills were the ones Connie made, they are higher quality and can make you more energetic. At least, that's what Ethel said."

"It will take me some time to be able to produce something of that level."

"One step at a time, Ethel. You are old, you should know the merit of patience."

"Connie!" Sen threw her arms around her neck and hung there for five full seconds. Connie did not budge from the weight and calmly walked towards the seat and putting Sen on her lap. "Haha, you're all sticky!"

"It's honey!" Sen jabbed her finger still dripping with honey for affirmation. Connie playfully bit into it, causing her to giggle lightly.

After playing with her for a bit, Connie turned her attention to Illumca, who had been watching at her interaction with the little girl for a long time now. "Have you finished with your business?"

"No. Sorry, no. Just half of it. The other half I will do after breakfast," she said, dipping the coarse bread into honey and devouring it. "I need to tail and steal a target's item without him knowing."

"A tailing mission, then. Will you be done by lunch?"

"I don't think so. I have the knowledge of how to do it, but I don't have the experience. I need to relearn from the basic. And plunging into it head first is the best way, I think. Still, I do need to change to something plainer. And something to hide my ears."

"You can borrow my old clothes," Ethel said. "Also my hat."

"Thank you," Illumca said. Seeing her prickly and wary attitude had lessened a little bit towards Ethel, Connie smiled.

"Good Morning, milady."

Bertus and Nick walked into the kitchen while sniffing the air. "Hmm, fresh bread."

"Ugh, I'm finished with my breakfast," the dark elf said with a sour expression.

The blonde-haired girl sighed. One step at a time. Such traumatic experiences had damaged her trust towards people, changing that would take some time.

"What's wrong with her?" Nick said, grabbing a piece of bread and broke it in two.

"You," Connie replied simply, handing him a piece of cheese.

"Oh," the man nodded grimly. He did feel a bit of guilt for kicking her out into the slums, even though it was because he needed to keep his position. "She holds to a grudge for a long time."

"Like you're one to talk," The beastfolk boy retorted.

"I guess you're right. Haha!" he laughed awkwardly. "So, what's the agenda for today, milady?"

"We are heading to the Planthorne Fineries to buy the boy some proper clothes and then to the guild to sell some of the Essence Crystals we got yesterday."

"Great. My body is still sore from Dungeon Diving. A laid-back day will do us good. Are you also going to treat me to some clothes?"

"No matter what kind of clothes you wear, Nick, you'll make them look cheap and scruffy. Might as well just let nature run its course and buy yourself some clothes from a seamstress."

"You could stand to be a bit nicer to me, Milady."

"Maybe after you stop chewing with your mouth half open."

After the breakfast, the three left for Planthorne Fineries.

Planthorne was genuinely surprised to see some damage to his work and was rather cross about it, until he heard that aside from the silk, she had some rare materials that she wanted to use for the new clothing if porssible.

When he saw the materials, he almost dropped his glasses.

"These are…marvelous! Pelts and leathers are good, but this bark? You might not know this, but my grandfather used to make the most marvelous jackets and hats using fig tree barks. They have a rough texture with colors no dye can replicate. This vest I am wearing right now is actually one of his work. It was imbued with magic that made impervious to water. Pay attention to the texture and pattern on the lapels here, no other tailor can replicate such fine details."

"I can give them to you for a certain price. But these are not regular items. It came from a…Floor Boss."

The old gentleman nodded with vigor. Gone was the arrogance he showed upon meeting her the first time. He was now acting like an old friend.

"Yes, yes indeed. Lips sealed, as you say. And we can negotiate the price, of course. Now, how would you like the clothes to look like? Ah, let us add boots to it, shall we? You ruined the ones I ordered for you. This new pair will use the bark."

"How are you going to process this?"

"I have my methods. Well, my grandfather's methods. It would take a long time but rest assured, when it is done it would be no less protection to you than a cuirass made of blessed steel. Something fitting for even a Rank A Hunter."

"How long?"

"About one to two months? It is a delicate process. If I made a mistake in timing for the tanning process, it would lose the beautiful natural gradation of colors."

"That is acceptable," Connie nodded.

"While we're at it, would you like to purchase a dress for the ball?"

"No, thanks. Oh, by ball you mean the one during the festival everyone's been talking about?"

"Indeed. The prince and his fiancée had custom ordered a set for the ceremony from me. Delivered it not a day ago. As for the ball they…ordered from that superfluous little shite in the Capital," his polite words relegated to a very rough accent when he talked about a certain person in the Capital. "Pardon me, I tend to forget myself when I talk about Sideney, that shite."

"Sideney?"

"Second best tailor in the Kingdom – Second – mind you. His works are garish and superfluous…yet, I cannot deny that he is very skilled with frills," he shook his head and placed a measuring tape onto his shoulder with a sigh. "Never mind that. Let's get the boy measured, shall we? My word, quite the handsome boy, isn't he? No need to take off your clothes, my boy. I can do it over them."

While the three were consulting the old tailor about clothes, a hubbub was happening at the gate.

A heavily wounded man in suit carrying a half-dead knight arrived on a horse back before falling onto the ground out of exhaustion. The guards manning the gate quickly went over to them.

"P-please…!" The knight forced out words through gurgles of blood that had been slowly filling up his lung.

"Stay strong!" The guard took off his armor and attempted to take care of his wound, "John, what about the other guy?!"

"He's fainted! He hit his head on the ground!"

The knight slapped his hand away and grabbed onto his lapel, trying to muster strength enough to speak. The guard could only stare into those eyes that were filled with determination to relay a message.

"Ambush! Maiden of Water…kidnapped!!"

As soon as he squeezed out the last of his final words, the dying knight lost all his strength and fell into eternal slumber.