Better a diamond with a flaw

Then a pebble without.

-Confucius

"I would like to know where you are going." She deadpanned. Still reeling from shock at her fight with it, I do not take any precautions when I inform her of my plans.

"There will be a long journey, and I'm leaving the academy promptly." Vaguely, I explain the situation to her, not wanting to go into detail.

"Can I come?"

"Sure. If your leg has recovered by the time, I must depart you can come. I am leaving eight days from now at the break of dawn." There is no way that Ora's leg can be better by that date, and that is why I told her that. Something is off about her, Although I struggle to pinpoint what exactly it is.

I do not think she has the ability; she will become a liability if she dares to come on this trip.

Her eyes alight with joy. She bites her bottom lip trying to conceal her squealing. "Not a problem," she chirps.

"See you soon Mel." I give her a nod and a forced smile before closing the door.

Some of the patients follow me with their eyes as I leave the infirmary but that only makes me sashay out the place to piss them off. I can imagine Elizabeth clenching her teeth and it makes me giddy.

Before I could officially leave, I had to sign my name on the visitor departure list that Yui the arrogant 3-star alchemist so kindly shoved into my arms.

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I go into a corner hidden behind the infirmary, making sure that no one can see me I enter my space. Baozi is not in here, so I am alone. I make my way to the Koi fishpond and look at my reflection in the transparent waters. My pale hands touch my face where there should have been cuts. They have healed already because I've long since broken out of the body construction stage. If I am right, then Sebastian should still be in the Mental energy refining stage. That has how come he was able to create those paper planes and send them to where I had been.

{A/N Refer to chapter 14 for the stages}

A strong gust of breeze blows and my image in the water blurs. I remove my gaze from there and look at the vast expanse of land that surrounds me. A small portion of it has only been used so far.

I hold my chin with my hand as I contemplate herbs that I can plant here. If I am going to fight in a war, and If I want the help of the Emperor’s, Empress’ then I must be able to provide something of value for them.

I walk into the pagoda; my feet take me to the section designated for healing plants and salves.

The scroll reads, that you must rub the salve on your nether regions for four weeks twice a day. I will need two cyan-grade herbs-Moon star flowers and one yellow grade-fire branch. I have a strong feeling that the official wives and concubines in the beast taming kingdom will love this. The kingdom has a reputation of being particularly fierce when it comes to back manor scheming between the concubines and the official wives. It does not help that poison stalls are on every street corner.

Now that I have thought of something that could potentially bribe the wives’ I need something that will intrigue the king and all males below him.

I bite my lip, my mind whirling with potential avenues I can go down. What do men, powerful men need? In the beast-taming kingdom, they value strength. The stronger you are, the higher-ranked beasts you can tame.

I walk to the section in the pagoda that is specialized in beast taming since I do not know much about it. I summon Baozi as well; it would be beneficial to have him.

“Why’d you summon me. I was having fun flirting with the girls back out there. One of them was this close to-

“Shut it! Say no more or I’ll cut off my ears.” I cut him off before he can finish that sentence.

“Okay, sheesh. Dramatic much?” He exclaims.

In a serious no-nonsense voice, I reply, “Baozi…You’re a bird, act like one.”

“I am acting like one! Copulation plays a big part in me being a bird. I have been in this place for hundreds of years; you cannot blame me for having a little fun. Fish get tiring after a while.”

“Alright, alright no need to curse.” I do not give him a response as I continue searching on my own as well while Baozi is busy.

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Sebastian’s POV

I sit in a lotus position; It is night now, the only time I can cultivate. A few candles are lit in the room, providing a bit of light to the dark place. My eyes are closed. I concentrate on clearing my mind of all unnecessary thoughts.

I can hear the voices of others in my head, they have no idea that I am eavesdropping on their conversations. The thoughts that I am interested in hearing are not here. She could be asleep, but I highly doubt that. With the way she is acting, there is no way she can sleep this early.

I cannot get her out of my head. I must know what she is thinking. Just something about her that has me drawn to figuring out what is going on.

The way those doe eyes widen when they look at me makes me feel strange. My skin begins to crawl with goosebumps, my hairs stand on end and adrenaline rushes through my body.

My head starts to ache after 3 hours of being in that state, so I slowly withdraw the spiritual energy I released in the air and pull it back inside my body to refine them in my meridians and circulate it throughout again.

My eyes open and there is a small amount of golden light still emitting from my skin.

Footsteps approaching my door catch my attention. The person has been trying to hide. I cannot point out their intentions; with a flick of my hand all the candles go out and I am standing alone in the darkness once again. The stable rhythm of my heartbeat brings clarity to my mind. In situations like these, its best if one’s mind is not chaotic; it only spells disaster in the end.

The sound of a sword unsheathing translates to an eagle’s war cry. I summon dark energy, the spiritual aua in my dantian circulates wildly as I prepare myself for the enemy's attack. ‘One hit with my revolving demon shadow should be enough to finish the job.’ The closer the person gets; however, I notice that something is off. I sense no bloodlust. The person clearly has a high cultivation level, yet they purposefully make their steps heavier. I retract my powers. They are familiar with me.

Outside the door a voice says enthusiastically, “Long time no see Sebastian. How’s the little lass doing?”