Chapter 0082

Cardis stiffened at Tempest’s answer. The magnetic charisma filled with fiery passion drained from his body, leaving behind a stoic seriousness seldom seen on his handsome face.

 

‘A True Daughter of the Spirits. Only a True Child of the Spirits can speak with the spirits as casually as speaking to an invisible friend. No other affinity cultivator dare invoke the name of the spirits as easily as she did without suffering the repercussions of the spirits.’ These thoughts raced through Cardis’ mind as he continued to assess the little girl before him. 

 

The little girl's black hair was a messy and dull, framing a pale white face smeared with dirt and grime, pallid cheeks and dry cracked lips. Poverty followed the child as her clothes were cheap, worn, and ripped in several places.

 

Her clear black eyes showed a different story. They sparkled with life and vitality, edged with madness and chaos.

 

Cardis had seen similar eyes before. Long ago, before time dulled the pain of loss, a group of idiots he called friends had the same look in their eyes. Whereas this little girl before him still had a hint of innocence filled with strength and determination, his friends have only strength and determination in their gaze.

 

When he first met them, they look just like this girl did, slightly bedraggled from a fight, dirt clings to them as if they wore the element like a second skin, which one of the idiots did despite Cardis’ constant teasing.

 

In one event, he lost everything. His close friends, and even the woman he loved more than life, sacrificed themselves to save this realm.

 

Cardis laughed at the idiotic ideology of theirs. They were truly stupid.

 

Never had Tempest heard a laugh that was filled with resentment and hatred. The action was that of a laugh. The sound was that of a laugh. Despite resembling laughter, Tempest felt no joy out of it. Instead, she felt as if she drowned in a river of blood, buried under thousands of corpses, filled with a complicated hatred one didn't associate with acts of vengeance or sorrow but hatred borne out of helplessness.

 

It brought her back to a time she previously revisited in a dark closet. Everything crumbled around her and she was helpless to do anything.

 

“So what do the almighty helpless spirits want with little old me?” Cardis mocked.

 

Tempest gave him a complicated stare. Cardis knew more about the true nature of the spirits than all the mages in the Magus Alliance combined. Forget the propaganda spread by the people in charge about the spirits wanting to become whole through their mortals. It was merely simplistic teaching the higher up used to cover the intricate relationship they had with the spirits.

 

The spirits did want to become whole through the use of their mortal. The fact wouldn’t stand the test of time if it wasn’t true. If it was a lie, somewhere, somehow, someone would slip and the lie would unravel. Since nothing was mention contrary to the teaching, it has proven as a fact.

 

Tempest had spent over twenty years being intimately connected with her spirits. She knows there was more to it than the simple ideology covered. She never tried to dig deeper because she didn’t even know where to start.

 

Now there was a man who hinted at the convoluted relationship between spirits and their mortal. She wanted to pounce on the man and demand he tells her everything he knew about the spirits.

 

Tempest realized she needed this man.

 

She needed him to guide her through the cultivation world as well as the world of the spirits.

 

He was perhaps the only man who can empathize and understand her.

 

“I need a teacher and they gave me several candidates to pick from. You were the closest.” If they were to have any sort of relationship, then it is best to start with the truth. A relationship built on lies will soon crumble. A relationship built on truth, love and affection will last a lifetime, and in Tempest’s case, to the next life as well. Look at how she is trying to save the reincarnated form of the sisters of her heart.

 

“How do I benefit out of this whole arrangement?” Cardis smile a feral smile a lion would have before it pounced on the zebra. “As I said before, the teacher-student relationship is a sacred bond between mages, more important than the bond between a parent and child. Often, mortal couples give birth to a high potential cultivator, but because they are mortal, they can not guide their child as parents should. They lack the experience and the time to raise their child as a cultivator has a longer lifespan than a mortal. If they are lucky enough to be born into a cultivating clan, then the burden placed on the parent is lessened, but a greater burden befalls the child. Greed, schemes, resources, all the negative sides to society are exposed to the child. This shouldn’t be the way for a child to live.

 

A teacher takes on the burden of a parent. They raise and guide their students as if they were their own children simply because it is hard for high-level cultivators to have children. In return for their efforts, they receive love, affection, obedience, a sense of reciprocity from their students. I believe those from the Heavenly Mountains call it filial piety.

On the other hand, mages accept students to form a Union of Spirits. The teacher and student form a bond in good faith which synchronizes the spirits between the teacher and student, allowing both of them to cultivate at a faster rate. Should any of the party betray each other, the bond breaks with the student generally suffering the majority of the backlash.

 

I already became an immortal centuries ago. I don’t need to form a Union of the Spirits with a student to speed up my cultivation. There are no benefits in accepting you as my student.”

 

“He does have a point Ventus,” Tempest said to her spirits.

 

Tell him we can tell him where the last three shards of the Auric Stone are.

 

“You speak to your spirits and they reply to you without you going into a meditative stance?”

 

“Yeah. Can’t you?”

 

“Not everyone can speak to their spirits as easily as you do.” Cardis thought for a bit then said, “I’ve changed my mind. I’ll take you on as a student. You may thank me now.”

 

“Thank you, teacher,” Tempest said sarcastically to show her skepticism over his newfound magnanimity. After his lectured about the sacred bond between a teacher and student and then his blunt refusal to take her on as a student without any added benefits, he changed his mind and decides to accept her. The situation smells fishy! He’s up to something! Tempest knows it.

 

Tempest accepts because she needs him more than he needs her.

 

Cardis doesn’t have an ulterior motive as Tempest suspected. When she spoke to Ventus previous, Cardis felt the power of her spirits when it spoke to her calling on the power of his spirits. There is a bond between her spirits and his spirits. The accelerated rate of cultivation he gets from the Union of Spirits between the two of them can still benefit him.

 

Cardis doesn’t want the responsibility of taking on a student. It will cramp his carefree lifestyle.

 

Imagine a tall, rich, handsome bachelor cruising the bar scene, flirting with all the woman in the room only to have his uptight, disapproving daughter behind him the whole time. A student isn’t a daughter but in the Magus Alliance, the status is almost the same.

 

He changed his mind because the ramifications of him giving up his chance to take her on as a student is more dangerous than taking her on as a student.

 

Taking the little girl before him as a student is a nuisance but doable. He doesn’t have to spend too much time teaching her. He can even pass on the bulk of the work to other people.

 

If he were to pass up on her now and the other people in his guild were to know about it, he’d suffer a fate worse than death! Cardis is the oldest immortal mage in the Magus Alliance, but it doesn’t mean squat in front of the guild leader and the Council of Elders. Those guys will be on him faster than a piranha on a bleeding duck.

 

At first, he thought he could refuse her, but with their spirits touching each other, everyone will know she could have a connection to Cardis when they meet her.

 

Basically, his spirits will tell the spirits of the others and their spirits will pass it on. By this time the next day, all the strong mages will know.

 

The spirits are worse than a bunch of gossiping housewives when it involves affinities or bonds. In other subject matters, they keep their silence. It was harder to pry out the secrets from the spirits than robbing the treasure from a dragon and everyone knows how possessive of their treasure those lizards are.

 

“You already know my name, Cardis Gourd, but you never introduce yourself.” Cardis just realized he never knew the name of his newly acquired student. It will quite the embarrassment when those old guys asked him for her name and he’d answer “Student.”

 

“My name is Tempest Arashi Kataigida.”

 

“Alright Tempest, touch this high-level testing stone to. It will show you your elements and the corresponding affinities.”

 

“I fainted when I tested my affinities before.” Tempest eyed the high-level testing stone as if it was a snake getting ready to bite her. She still remembers how the dots bum-rushed her when she was testing for her affinities on the cliff ledge. It wasn’t enjoyable to be knocked out cold by adoring admirers. Tempest couldn’t yell at them for causing the subsequent headache either.

 

“You probably fainted because the testing stone you were using is a low-level stone. This one is better.”

 

“I already know what elements I have. I don’t need to redo my affinity test.”

 

“What are your elements?”

 

“Wind, water and lightning.”

 

“Storm.”

 

“What?”

 

“The spirits of wind, water and lightning are generally associated with the oncoming of the storm, so those who have affinities with the three elements are called Storm Mages,” Cardis explained.

 

“Okay, so I know my elements. I don’t need to do the test all over again.”

 

“Nonsense. Each mage must know their elements as well as the number of spirits they have for each element. Quit stalling and test your affinities.”

 

Tempest hesitated but in the end, she did as instructed. She put her hand on the testing stone. Just as the previous times, Tempest was able to see the elements floating around her. As if they have a mind of their own, the energy dots floating in the air rushed into Tempest’s body, knocking her out cold.

 

“Damn liar,” Tempest yelled before she fainted.