Chapter 137: Information Exchange

"So? What was that all about?" I asked, shooting Hina-nee a sideways glance.

"U-Um… you see, I was trying to see if you would get jealous after seeing me with another guy…"

"Yeah, I know. What I mean is… why you did that."

"Huh? Well, that's because… um… you are steadily having more and more good girls surrounding you, and I'm… hehe, it's pretty… pitiful now that I'm saying this out loud. I'm just… scared you won't want me anymore, compared to the others…"

I sighed and walked over to Hina-nee, hugging her gently and stroking her hair. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Hina-nee… it doesn't matter how many girls I'm surrounded by, or how good those girls are. You are the closest person to me in the world — both this one and Earth. I will never forget just how much care you've shown me for the past 14 years, okay? Even if you were an ugly monster, I would still treat you as my family. That part will never change, no matter how much time passes."

"Kaze-kun…"

"So that's why… you don't have to be so worried. Have some self-confidence, Hina-nee. Where's the spirit you had when running for student council president back in middle school?"

"That's… that's different…"

"Yeah? What if I told you… I like that version of you better? You know, the fearless, confident, and always positive version, never once doubting yourself."

"…" she fell silent, unsure of how to respond.

"And besides… did you forget? I can't feel envy anyway, so what you did today was really pointless."

At this, she pulled away from me and looked into my eyes. "Uh… I may or may not have forgotten about that detail…"

I closed my eyes and sighed. Hina-nee… she's usually smart and quick-witted, but she also had her stupid moments like this. I found them adorable though.

Patting her silky hair, I smiled. "Well now you remember. So don't try something like that again, okay? It'll only make me feel like you don't trust me or something."

She smiled faintly in return and nodded. "Mm… got it."

"So, uh… what do we do now?" I asked, scratching my head.

"A-Ahaha… going back in after that would be too awkward… wanna just get out of here? Hehe, we have the brochures anyway."

"Y-Yeah, I agree."

And so, the two of us left the Bounty Center behind, preparing to explore the area a bit more then head back to the Temple of Flowers at 7 PM, which was just a few hours from now.

According to Hina-nee, there were a few more locations Li Haixun mentioned, but they required us to first become a real disciple to access. In other words, they were off-limits from the orientation day that was today.

But of those places, the one that interested me the most… was the Arts Pavillion.

Of course, that would have to be saved for January, when I officially became a disciple of the sect.

*****

We ended up finding a good library to read and talk in for the remainder of that time, since we practically already explored everything there was to explore in these two quarters. We picked out a few books we found interesting, headed into a private study room, and shut the door, leaving just the two of us.

Because I was bored, I was busy scrolling through my System for any skills that stood out to me. There were so many that I couldn't read through them all in one go.

"By the way, Hina-nee," I said, not bothering to look up at her.

"Hm?" she appeared to be reading a book of some kind.

"How did you even meet that Li Haixun guy?"

"Oh~ so you're curious, huh?" she giggled deviously, shutting her book tight and glancing into my eyes.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't particularly care, but he is a high-ranking disciple at the sect. If I can use him…"

"Well, I do happen to know some information about him… which is why I got him to help me for free."

"Huh, okay… I see you. Hina-nee, are you getting influenced by my methods or what?"

"Heehee, there's only one person I completely trust in this world, and that's you, Kaze-kun. You can never be too careful, so it's always nice to have something up your sleeve in case they decide to betray you."

"I like that mindset. So? What's that guy's secret?"

"I saw him have a sort of… illicit relationship with a staff member of the sect, which is obviously not allowed, given his reaction when I told him I had seen everything," Hina-nee grinned deviously. "I used that Blackmailer art you told me about that one night to capture their whole conversation, which had some quite naughty word usage. It wasn't too hard to get him to do my bidding after that."

"Oh? I see. Mind sending me the recording?"

"I don't know how… though I'm guessing the trading system unlocked at Level 50 should do the trick."

"Definitely. But that Blackmailer skill… it's really helpful," I snickered, recalling my encounter with Long Yaqing. "I managed to get myself a pawn as well through it."

After I told her the story, she laughed.

"As expected of Kaze-kun… bribing him, then pinning the blame all on him instead. You're a real devil, you know that?"

I smirked. "Takes one to know one."

*****

I stretched my arms after a good few hours of reading. I went through all the books I had picked out. Unfortunately, this was a normal library and not one filled with books about arts, so it only had stuff like fictional novels and non-fiction works regarding Ascentia.

Naturally, I picked the latter to read, in order to expand my knowledge about this new world. I didn't end up discovering anything too useful, and the few pieces of info I found that I thought would come in handy in the future would be long forgotten by my memory worse than that of a chimpanzee when the time really came to use it.

Still, knowledge was knowledge.

Hina-nee was still reading her books after I finished mine, so I decided to check out my System once more.

And when I did… I was shocked. My stats — or rather, a single stat in particular — had changed drastically.

[STR: 330]

[AGI: 340]

[INT: 250]

[DEX: 200]

[MAG: 230]

[LUC: 30]

Indeed — my INT had shot up about 40 SP worth of ranks, from 210 to 250. For every 50 levels of INT, my arts had reduced cooldowns, so this meant I could recharge my skills even quicker now — sweet. I couldn't help but wonder what would happen once I was at max INT… if there even was a cap.

The only logical explanation here would be that this increase was derived from reading just now, since right before we started, I had casually sweeped over my stats once. At the time, there had been no change compared to that day when I leveled up to Level 35. But now…

Still, this explanation didn't really make sense. Back in Qilian City, I had studied at the library there too, but my INT stat didn't see such big of an increase. I wonder what could've happened to cause this difference.

Wait… didn't Elder Ning mention something about this sect being built here because this was an area rich in Essence?

Don't tell me… my stats passively leveled up quicker based on how much Essence there was in the environment?!

I gulped. If that were really the case… if I end up using STR and AGI a lot within the sect's grounds — which I probably will — my stats would skyrocket.

Goddamn it, Aisa… just how broken is this ability I — and now the other girls — have?

*****

Hina-nee finished reading soon after, and the two of us headed back to the Temple of Flowers to rendezvous with the other two. There was still an hour before we were to head inside the temple and talk with the patriarch once more, so we had time to exchange our findings.

When we arrived, the other two were both already there.

"You guys are here early," I noted. "Didn't I say to meet back here at 8, when the patriarch wanted us to?"

Furuwa scoffed. "You say that, but you're here yourself, no? Besides, it was pretty obvious you were testing us by saying that… seeing if we were able to actually think independently."

Oh…? Not bad, Furuwa. You're improving.

"Hehe~ after all, we split apart to speed up the information gathering and also cover more ground~ if we don't exchange the information we found, what point is there to doing this~?" Nadeshiko giggled, as if this were the easiest thing in the world to figure out.

"I had no such intention to test you, but…" I smirked. "If this were really a test, then congratulations — you passed."

"No intention?" Hina-nee laughed. "Sure, Kaze-kun. Sure."

After that, the four of us each took turns telling the others what we found, not hiding anything. Of course, Hina-nee and I strategically avoided speaking of the blackmailing we did and the lackeys we acquired, but that wasn't important anyway.

In retrospect, I must say today was quite useful. Most other new disciples were working alone, so we essentially had the power of 4 vs 1 against them. Naturally, we turned out superior in terms of the information we managed to gather.

Furuwa told us about the best restaurants here on Evergreen Peak, which was quite useful since food was necessary for survival.

And Nadeshiko… well. She wasn't too important. I mean, the information she got wasn't too important, as she was responsible for the entertainment quarter of the peak. Still, a little unwinding from time to time could do us good.

Overall, I was quite satisfied with today's results. Despite being completely new to the sect, we managed to get our hands on quite a bit of valuable information, giving us an edge over the other new disciples.

And as they say, knowledge was power.