Chapter 0145

Tyrant, Graden thought in his heart. He didn’t have the guts to speak the words out loud. Bei Ting Mao threw away his pride when confronted with Tempest’s domineering aura. How could the gentle, weak willed him dare do what the strong willed Bei Ting Mao dare not? He could not.

Actually, Bei Ting Mao caved under the bottomless black hole that was Tempest’s terrifying greedy nature, not any tyrannical presences Graden thought he sensed from Tempest. Whether or not Graden knew the true reason why Bei Ting Mao threw away his pride, it didn’t change the outcome.

Tempest gave Bei Ting Mao a beamingly bright smile then turned her attention towards Graden.

Scary.

The greedy charm seller is really scary.

It wasn’t her presence. Tempest was so silly and carefree that no one in the group would think she’s dangerous. She is like a dumb duck, sticking her head into the water in search of food and never realizing she how stupid she looks with her butt up in the air.

It wasn’t her appearance. She isn’t cute like a bunny, adorable like a kitten or sweet like a puppy. She is a silly duck. A stupid, harmless, silly duck.

It wasn’t her power. Even though Tempest had killed the Malignant Brown Bear, her skill, technique, and casting speed was above average. There was nothing spectacular about her display of magic. Starm’s display of magic was ten times, no, a hundred times better than Tempest’s display of magic.

It was her fervent zeal and determination that was scary. Tempest will do what she says regardless of the consequences. If there is a mountain in her way, she will cross it. If she can’t cross the mountain, then she’d flatten it.

It is hard for Graden to associate dumb duck Tempest with a vicious bull who charges forwards and destroys anything in her away, but that is the impression he is getting from her.

“Graden.”

“Uh...Tempest.”

“What is your affinities again?” Tempest asked genially. Graden began to sweat. He’d heard of this scenario from his father before. His father had taught him a lot about the opposite sex and their wily ways.

“Never worry about the reaction of a cold woman.” Graden’s father had always told him, “The more you anger them, the colder they become. You can freeze to death from their icy behavior but compare to the truly dangerous women I’m sure you’d meet in the future, the cold shoulder is nothing. You thaw them out once; you can do it again. It’s the smiling ones you have to worry about. No one can be happy all the time. A woman’s mood is like the tides. It goes out. It comes back in. There are high tides. There are low tides. When the water is pulled back to feed the waves, then you know a tsunami is coming. So when a woman gives you a bright smile, run. You’d know the tsunami is coming. It is just as inevitable as the tide.”

“89 fire, 51 wood,” Graden answered cautiously.

“If your affinities are mostly fire, then why are you bent like the branches of a tree?” Tempest asked.

When Starm and Bei Ting Mao heard Tempest’s question, they instinctively try to hide. Starm made a beeline for Yu Li Ming and Bei Ting Mao took several steps back, putting himself behind Fenix.

The two have nothing against gay men. It is not their place to say who Graden should or should not love. They are studying in the Magus Alliance, a domain known for their licentious ways.

They were surprised gentle Graden swing that way. The mage never gave any indication he was attracted to men. Actually, there were indications Graden is attracted to the same sex. He is more virtuous than the most virtuous woman in the Heavenly Mountains with his sweet gentle demeanor that didn’t have a hint of artifice.

Ah, no, the word here is feminine. Graden is very feminine with his sweet gentle demeanor.

The duo never considers Graden could be interested in women even though his personality is a little… soft. Tempest had a way with secrets. She can pry their deepest, darkest secret out of them without even trying. If she said Graden is bent, then he is bent.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Tempest meant you liked to bend over.” Fenix’s explanation didn’t help the situation.

“Uh.. come again?”

“Bent, you know, bend over backward.” Bei Ting Mao realized the futility of trying to use Fenix as a shield and quietly made his way over to the confused Yu Li Ming and the trembling Starm. Yu Li Ming might not do any good if Graden takes a fancy to the men in the group but she is better than Fenix. Fenix is one of those women. Instead of helping them, she’d tie them up and present them to Graden.

“Not bend over backward Fenix. Hmmm… the better word would be swing. He swings back and forth.” Tempest’s explanation wasn’t any better.

Graden couldn’t make sense of the conversation. He turns towards Bei Ting Mao, the other mature male in the group, for help, only to receive a worried look in return. Graden notice Bei Ting Mao’s expression turns to horror when he turned to Yu Li Ming with a helpless expression. Bei Ting Mao, and Starm too looked like they wanted to grab Yu Li Ming and run away from him.

What is going on? Graden was sure he didn’t do anything to warrant such fear.

“Swing doesn’t seem apt in his case,” Fenix said speculatively.

“What are you two talking about?” Graden decided to clarify the situation with the source of the weird atmosphere, Fenix and Tempest.

“We’re talking about how you bend over backward trying to please another person,” Fenix explained.

It is strange how a person’s mind works. Once they get an idea into their heads, bashing them in the head with irrefutable proof won’t change their minds. Anything strange merely reinforces their notion. In this case, when Bei Ting Mao and Starm heard Fenix’s explanation they silently tacked on “in bed” at the end.

As far as the explanation went, it was ambiguous at best. Fenix could have done a better job, but she has yet to realize how deep into the gutter the other males' line of thought went.

“I don’t understand.” Graden was beginning to get where and how the conversation got sidetracked and why the other two were looking at him the way they are. He needs to dispel their misconceived preconceptions immediately. He can’t outright deny it. It would be a case of ‘the lady doth protest too much’. The more he denies, the more they believe. “Are you saying I’m too kind?”

“What kind? We’re talking about how you sway.”

Breasts bounce. Hips sway. All men knew this. Even little Starm knew this. Their eyes dropped down to Graden’s hips at Fenix’s word.

Graden gritted his teeth and stood still as a statue. “I am a man!”

“What does your manhood have anything to do with this?”

“Of course my manhood has everything to do with this. You two have been emasculating me right in front of my face and you dare ask if my manhood has anything to do with this?” Graden yelled.

“Powerful men can be feminine.” Fenix retorted.

“Yeah,” Tempest jumped into the conversation. “Strong men can be sensitive as well. It has nothing to do with your wishy washy ways.”

“I’m not talking about my strength! I’m talking about my manhood!” Graden yelled.
“And I’m talking about your lack of mental fortitude. What do you being a man have anything to do with it?” Tempest yelled back. Trying to teach men to realize their personality flaws are hard work.

“Damn it, we're back to square one. Lay it down straight here. What are you getting at?” Graden rubbed his temples as a massive headache cracked his skull open and slammed into his brain.

“That’s the damn point. You aren’t straight.”

“Tempest!”

“Don’t Tempest me. Do you dare say you are straight in front of me? You are the epitome of the saying, ‘the wind does not break the tree that bends.’ When the situation blows one way, you bend your branch head to sway with it. You are so flexible in your thinking, like a tree branch swaying in the wind. You just follow the wind. Where is your strength as a fire mage huh?”

It finally dawned on the male in the group Tempest was quite literal in her metaphors, strange as it seems.

“Ohh, you meant bent literally.”

“How would I mean bent to be when used with a tree metaphor?”

“Uhhh…”

“Damn it. Men. You can never understand them! Whatever! Back to your cultivation. You still haven’t realized it yet, have you?”

“Realize what?” Poor Graden. He really couldn’t keep up with the twists and turns in the conversation. Perhaps if Tempest gave Graden time to digest the information she was imparting to him or rephrase the entire conversation using less vague words, he would have figured it out faster. Sadly, Tempest was already peeved at the boy’s denseness. She isn’t going to give him time to figure out what she is saying.

“Do I have to knock common sense in your head?” Tempest looked at Graden’s dumb expression and face palmed herself. “You are not firm in your convictions. When a situation arises, you can be bent, swayed, persuaded, whatever, to their way of thinking. It is as if you follow the mob and can’t think for yourself. I know we mages cultivate the heart as our immortal potential, but we still need strong convictions. Frankly, when I look at you all I see is a tree being blown by the wind. I don’t see any aspect of your fire powers manifesting in you. Your main affinity is fire, yet you haven’t been using fire spells. Instead, you have been focusing on your wood spells to the point of ignoring your fire spells. Not only are you denying yourself a set of spells with extremely high attack power, but you are also debilitating yourself. There is a reason why all the cultivators stress building a strong foundation. A mages’ foundation is their knowledge. You have been neglecting one aspect of your power, thereby creating an imbalance in your body which will harm you in the future.”

“Basically, you are saying not to neglect my fire spirits. Okay, I will put more focus on my fire affinities when we get back. Thanks for pointing it out to me, but what does me focusing on my wood spells have to do with my lack of conviction and my, ah, flexible personality?” Graden was going to say something else instead of flexible but the word confused in the first place. He doesn’t want to around and around again. The conversation is strange enough.

“I thought using a wood metaphor would highlight your lack of conviction because, you know, trees sway in the direction of the wind. Anyone could see that. As a bonus, it also points out your neglect towards your fire affinities.” Tempest said simply.

Fenix nodded in confirmation.

Bei Ting Mao and Starm also nodded their heads in support. If they shake their heads in dissent then they have to explain why they are dissenting and none of them want to talk about that.

Yu Li Ming, who was confused throughout the entire conversation, blurted out, “I don’t get it.”