It was weird. The meeting place was at an obscured and secluded place inside Yashura Household. In a little cozy wooden shed.

n.o.body was seen around, thus, Merly Yurin and Madam Ross felt a little bit suspicious.

“Maybe he was very secretive about his ident.i.ty? I know a lot of spirits do something like this,” said Madam Ross, thinking aloud.

“They should know their place. Look at this messy and dirty place, bleah!”

Madam Ross just shook her head gazing at her weak little girl.

“We mustn’t look down on things. How many time should I told you?”

“I know! It just… I know!” then Merly Yurin shut her mouth.

“Wait outside the shed.” Madam Ross paused a bit. “I think someone coming… and a spirit too…”

Merly Yurin obediently stepped outside.

The woman spirit furrowed her brows. Lost in thought. She can’t quite put her fingers on whenever she tried to detect the aura of the coming spirit.

“What’s wrong? Why can’t I felt his power?” Madam Ross whispered in her heart.

It shouldn’t possible for a thirteen thousand years old spirit like her to fails at something simple like this.

Unless, of course, the latter was more powerful or resourceful than her.

“Maybe I underestimated him a little bit…”

When Merly Yurin steps outside the shed, a silhouette of a carefree young man walks beside a hovering vulgar-looking spirit come into her sight.

“Is Lady Spirit inside?” asked s.h.i.+ra when he walks closer.

“She was inside,” the girl narrowed her eyes as she gazes the floating spirit up and down.

The spirit wears an outdated thin-strapped leather armor attire. She guesses he was an Adventurer Cla.s.s before he died. Or a bandit.

“You’re the spirit they all talking about?”

“Tch! You’re good-looking alright but still a little brat. You should have some respect for your elder,” the Good-Natured frowned as he hovering pa.s.ses the young Yurin girl.

“Ol’ Good-Natured Spirit!” s.h.i.+ra Yashura warned him: “Don’t do anything stupid. This should be a proper discussion so please don’t mess around.”

The roguish spirit snorted. “Hmph! I don’t need warnings from a little brat like you. Just believe me alright!”

s.h.i.+ra can only shut his mouth. The Yurin girl in front of her doesn’t have anything to say too.

So, the Good-Natured Spirit floats toward the shed with a confident stride. “Believe me alright!” that was all his grinning face was saying.

Three seconds after the overconfident spirit entered.

BOOOOOOMMMM!!!!

A sudden, giant explosion destroy the shed within a flash.

s.h.i.+ra Yashura and Merly Yurin were forcibly tossed meters away by the shockwave. They couldn’t resist nor react, helplessly rolled around the dirt before silently watching the then nice-little-cozy shed, now blazing high with raging fire.

Their minds were blank for a moment. None of the youth quite understand why suddenly the peaceful shed was exploded in an instant.

Amidst the flare of crimson wildfire, stood two black silhouettes facing each other. n.o.body spoke.

Moments later, the taller silhouette turned around, then exclaimed with a weary tone. “Oh, women, how pa.s.sionate!”

Madam Ross standing with flaming magic ready to cast on her white milk hands. Her then beautiful sharp eyes now totally red bloodshot, deeply alarmed. Yet, her opponent, the always grinning Good-Natured Spirit, wasn’t even bothered with her. He casually walks out of the raging fire unhurt and told s.h.i.+ra to takes care of the fire.

“What’s happen?” the dumbfounded s.h.i.+ra asked.

“You still askin’ questions? That woman was mad as h.e.l.l. I thought I could have some fun but I didn’t expect to see some old face.”

“You knew her?”

“A little bit. We have histories,” the Good-Natured Spirit carefreely waves his hand. “Anyway, don’t bother with her. Just put out the d.a.m.n fire.”

The roguish spirit went away.

Later, helps arrived. People were run around carrying baskets of water to put out the fire. A lot of people came watching. Although, they were able to put the fire out only when a Water Elemental Affinity Mage decides to lend them a hand.

On the other side, the panic-stricken Merly Yurin pulled Madam Ross to a less crowded area.

The woman spirit appeared dazed and was in deep shock, occasionally gasping for a tight breather. She wasn’t responded Merly’s pitiful yell at all. Thus, the worried girl began to cry.

“Mama! Mama Ross! What did that spirit do to you?!” she howled helplessly. But still, the spirit was oblivious to her.

Gazing into the empty s.p.a.ces… pieces of b.l.o.o.d.y, crimson-sky horror scenes flashed through her mind. Madam Ross’ pupil constricted all the time.

“Ru…” a fragmented word slips unconsciously through her trembling lips.

“What is it? Mama Ross? What did the evil spirit do to you?”

“Run… away…” the spirit’s ethereal body collapses, breaking into pieces of energy that silently entered a necklace on Merly’s neck.

The spirit pa.s.sed out. And it would take days for her to recover. Therefore, the weeping Merly Yurin was lost in deep thought.

Madam Ross’s last word, she didn’t understand. She didn’t know.

“Run away…”

That’s the common screams that rang aloud amidst the b.l.o.o.d.y air of great war, thirteen thousand years ago.

It takes a full hour for Patriarch Shuro and Sir Baront Staterwind to exchange apologies to each other.

The famous instructor didn’t ask s.h.i.+ra Yashrua any question today. Just a small and formal greetings, then he went off somewhere around Badril Village. The youth didn’t think about it too much, but the emptiness of guilty feeling keeps bothering him now and then.

“Really, Ol’ Good-Natured Spirit, what did you do to that spirit woman?”

“What? Why? I did nat hit her!” the spirit snapped.

“Then why now everything was a mess? What’s happen?”

“Life happens kid. Life is a f.u.c.kin’ mess, alright.”

s.h.i.+ra shrug his shoulder, didn’t bother him again. “Let’s continue training then. I need to learn to lose gracefully before the Blackwood Young Master.”

“Did you ready for my training plan of h.e.l.l?” Good-Natured Spirit asked with a suspicious looking grin.

“No.”

“f.u.c.kin’ coward,” the spirit mumbled.

Baront Staterwind and his two personal disciples sat at a roundtable.

Their faces were serious. Especially Merly Yurin, her eyes were red and swollen. Her older cousin Jerrin patted her back gently while consoled her now and then.

Baront Staterwind rubs a particular necklace. A dim light s.h.i.+mmered from a greenish gem inside it. Seconds pa.s.sed, enlightenment soon dawned on Baront’s face.

“She was okay. Just a little bit shocked,” he announces. All of them sigh a breath of relief.

“Did her opponent cast any mental attacks upon her?” asked Jerrin Yurin.

“It didn’t seem so. Madam Ross just struck by a natural shock. But was a very emotional one.”

Three of them have a deep understanding regarding the world of spirits. Thus, naturally knew that while spirit has some advantage upon physical battle, but against a mental one, all of them were vulnerable.

“Let’s rest. We need to a.s.sess the situation once Madam Ross awake,” the scholarly instructor said to his disciples. “Meanwhile, it wouldn’t be a good idea if we break our ties with Yashura Family right now. I will keep befriend them, see if I still hope to rope the spirit and the youth s.h.i.+ra.”

Jerrin Yurin agrees to his plan. But Merly didn’t speak a word.