Villain Seduces to Rise in Status

Chapter 30: 30 - Hidden Depths

Elowen thought to herself with growing realization. He is the same age as me, but even my father won’t have this much runic knowledge from all the information he possesses. Hah, I thought he was just a lazy bum trying to argue with the teachers that day during that class discussion, but he already surpasses many of the successors of big families. Despite being the king’s nephew, having royal blood running through his veins, he despises the king to the bone.

Cale had already finished telling her all the changes and upgrades to her cultivation technique. He noticed her staring blankly into empty space afterward, completely lost in her own thoughts and struggling to process what she’d just learned.

He put both his hands on her shoulders, the sudden contact causing her to jump slightly with surprise.

”Aah!”

”Don’t tell me you didn’t understand anything and were just staring blankly in the air like that.”

She shook her head to deny the accusation, her pride refusing to admit confusion.

”No... I... I was listening, okay?”

Cale sighed with obvious skepticism about her claim. ”Well, if you say so.”

”But you said there’s one more step. What’s that final part?”

Cale hesitated, clearly uncertain about how to proceed with this next phase. ”Uh... should we do that? It’s a bit inappropriate considering the current circumstances.”

Elowen shook her head with determination, her practical nature overriding social concerns completely. ”It doesn’t matter. I need to get cured before the next assessments arrive. Unlike the physical departments, the magic engineering department demands constant time and focus. I can’t be sick throughout the semester. Also, we need to continuously infuse our aura, so it’s important that it’s not impure.”

Cale nodded slowly, accepting her reasoning. ”Well, alright then. Don’t argue if you feel it’s indecent.”

He held both of her hands in his and then started using the technique to slowly transfer his own qi directly into her body. The transfer was controlled and deliberate, moving at a pace that made it easy for her to adapt to the foreign energy without facing any dangerous backlash.

Cale started the flow carefully.

”It might hurt a bit at the start.”

As soon as he said it, she let out a soft moan from the sensation. ”Aah...”

She sounded a bit cute, so Cale let out a silent laugh, trying to hide his amusement at her involuntary reaction to the qi transfer.

Another thirty minutes passed as he continued the transfer, maintaining absolutely perfect control of the energy flow. Sweat formed on his forehead from the intense concentration required for such delicate work.

Cale opened his eyes finally and wiped off his forehead with the back of his hand.

”Done.”

Elowen looked at him with gratitude shining in her eyes. ”Thank you so much.”

”For the next few days, try not doing excessive training,” Cale instructed, standing up. ”Your body needs time to adjust.”

She nodded in understanding.

”Once again, thank you so much. If not for you, I wouldn’t even have noticed this, let alone gotten a cure.”

Cale got up and stretched his arms, feeling the fatigue from the qi transfer settle into his muscles.

”It’s nothing. Don’t worry much about it.”

Elowen stood as well, her expression becoming serious. ”Please don’t hesitate to ask anything from me from now on. I will definitely help you, no matter what.”

”Alright,” Cale agreed simply.

Cale ran back to his group, leaving Elowen sitting alone in the clearing. She kept thinking about him for a long time, her mind unable to settle.

What are you? she wondered, staring at the spot where he’d disappeared into the darkness.

The night went pretty easily as they hunted more beasts and left before the sun rose again. The others had already left the beast garden while Cale went to the back of the grounds, which was outside the protection boundaries and therefore required no payment to access.

He did have a fuzzy memory about a ravine being present there, which had been the den of a three-star beast. It had hunted extensively in the area, so there would be a good amount of Yin energy accumulated there from all the death and decay.

To find it, Cale kept walking while trying to sense all directions around him with his aura sensing ability. After a few minutes, he got a distinct wave of energy wash over him.

”There’s already a reaction.”

He turned to that direction immediately and followed the wave signs for fifteen minutes until he finally reached the place. It was a big ravine between two huge cliffs. Cale tried looking down into it, but it was totally dark inside. A creepy silence hung in the air, and an ashy smell followed the breeze from the depths.

”So this is the place. It sure has a creepy vibe to it.”

He felt the qi rising from inside, his whole body tingling as the pores reacted to the presence of so much Yin energy concentrated in one location.

”It’s mixed with slight Yang qi too, and it’s way better than sunlight accumulation.”

Cale decided this place was far superior compared to his previous methods and hence he sat down at the ravine’s edge. Both the Yin and Yang qi naturally flowed into his body, slowly accumulating within his cultivation core.

As expected, this is way better than what I did before. I should visit here often.

The ravine was a thousand something feet deep, and from what Cale knew, it had been made by a fight between two fighters of considerable strength. The scarring on the landscape was evident even in the darkness.

Cale cultivated throughout the day there, sitting in meditation as energy flowed through him. Finally, he felt something different happen—a significant milestone achieved.

”Ooh... it... it formed!”

It was a slow and tedious work, but the reward was good enough to make him jump with genuine excitement. He had successfully formed his first essence drop—the Yin seal progressing significantly.

He got up and stretched his arms, feeling refreshed despite the long cultivation session.

He went straightaway to eat his dinner, though everyone had already eaten and he was pretty much the last one arriving at the dining area. When he went to check if there was someone to serve him, he opened the door of the small room and entered quietly.

He couldn’t see much inside, but then heard sounds of breathing which made him immediately alert and cautious.

But it wasn’t some enemy or threat, it was a Horken, a female one specifically. She was sleeping while laying her head on the wall in the corner of that room, clearly exhausted from her duties.

Maybe she is tired, but this isn’t the right place to rest like this.

A small opening in the roof made the moonlight fall directly on her face, which enhanced her beauty in ways that seemed almost unfair. Though she was covering the lower half of her face with a cloth, she was a beauty on her own.

Cale couldn’t help but be entranced and walk closer to her, drawn by something he couldn’t quite identify. He saw her pale white skin which seemingly resembled someone, but he couldn’t remember who.

Hearing Cale’s footsteps, the girl got up in a jolt, immediately alerted with her fists clenched, likely preparing to protect herself from what she perceived as a threat.

”Ahem... I am not an enemy.”

Cale thought with mild frustration. How many times am I going to do this?

But surprisingly, she lowered her fists as soon as she saw his face clearly.

”Cale??”

Cale tilted his head, wondering if she knew him from somewhere. ”Do you know me? What’s your name?”

”I... I am Scythe.”

”Uhh... okay, that must be some code name or something, right?”

She was flushed with embarrassment, a boy had seen her while she was sleeping and vulnerable. As a Horken, it was not good to be so easily noticed and caught off guard like this.

”Umm... I’m only here for the food, so... maybe you can just go back to sleep.”

She got shy and ran away quickly, Cale barely noticing her movements as she fled the room. He couldn’t help but wonder about her sudden shyness.

Heh, why is she so shy? Or does the job itself make her introverted?