With Tristan concluding his story, a part of his mysteries were solved. However, Elizabeth was quick to ask, "Ok… But what"s the deal with your past devil"s weird obsession over girls that are prettier than him?" She was figuratively dying to know…Getting closer to Elizabeth, Tristan used his Qi to neutralize his words and whisper as softly as possible while still being able to transmit an intelligible message. He whispered "Umm… I"m a closet h.o.m.os.e.xual. Maybe not so much now, with how my devil acted… But since I was twelve I just liked boys more than girls..." Perhaps to anyone else, he would defend this secret until his death, but for Elizabeth… She could be privy to any of his secrets, especially with his current circ.u.mstances.
"Oh! You"re gay… good, good..." Elizabeth said, muttering as she felt that revealing that she"s transgendered — in the most literal meaning of the word — would be a bit less difficult for him to understand where she was coming from; albeit partially…
"And about your faction?" Elizabeth asked, turning the conversation to something less… personal.
"Them?" For a split second, Elizabeth could feel a rage and hatred comparable to hers in her worst state rise from Tristan"s body, before he returned to normal and continued saying, "They not only schemed to steal my body to improve their standing in the Martial Society as a mere puppet. When things went south for them they abandoned me without a second look… Probably a.s.suming I"d be permanently crippled if not from the injuries to my Dantian then through the injuries to my soul, they didn"t even bother to stay on the island to see me, having seen the real me replace the devil that possessed my body all those years…"
"Mhmm… So, what will you do now? I mean obviously, you won"t cultivate whatever technique caused a devil to possess you again. Do you already have a method picked out or..." Without bothering to finish her sentence, Elizabeth saw Tristan"s face turn downcast.
She stopped speaking to give him the chance to say something, thus he added, "Unfortunately, I only have affinity for Yin… My former faction"s technique is the only Yin cultivation method I have and since Yin is one of the rarer forms of energy with much less cultivation manuals of its type in circulation in the first place, it"ll be hard to get a complete method from the Martial Society after losing my connection to a Faction. Moreover, with my past actions, reputation, and standing as a member of the Skullflesh faction, which has enemies left and right in the Martial Society, I don"t see myself finding a Yin-type cultivation method without resorting to stealing..."
Unable to restrain herself, a smile appeared on her face as Elizabeth thought, "Mhmm… this could prove useful~" Having so many things point her in the direction of asking him for that technique, Elizabeth shamelessly asked, "How about this? I"ll trade my Yin cultivation method for yours, deal?" She would not believe it was a coincidence for Persephone to call him important after giving her a basic understanding of souls if it wasn"t for her to make use of his cultivation method somehow!
"You want that suicidal cultivation method? But… But..." Becoming worried at just the thought of Elizabeth losing herself as he had, Tristan became a stuttering mess.
"You worry too much… I actually know a thing or two about the aspect of soul, so I only want to use your cultivation method as a tool to continue my research." It was a half-truth as Elizabeth couldn"t guarantee she wouldn"t practice it until she understood the cultivation method"s mechanisms. Perhaps there would be a way for her to subvert the evil nature of Tristan"s cultivation method and make it work out for her.
"Ok… but be careful," said Tristan as he materialized a silver-red scroll. He tossed Elizabeth the scroll and in return, Elizabeth walked over to his side and distilled the essence of her [Darkyin Cultivation] method onto him with just the tap of a finger and a bit of soul manipulation. She waited for him to come out of his stupor by reading through the scroll he had given her.
After a cursory glance, there seemed nothing wrong with the cultivation method. But even though Elizabeth knew there was definitely something wrong with this cultivation, given that it would devour its user upon reaching mastery, Elizabeth had a tough time dissecting the method even with all her knowledge of the soul and Yin techniques.
It took over five minutes for her to figure out the secrets of the technique after trying out the 253rd method of decoding she had thought up. With her eyes being augmented just before the point of bursting via Yin Magic and Soul Pressure, she saw traces of the technique"s true nature.
[Name: Seraph"s True Nature (Partial)
Grade: Peak-tier [REDACTED] Grade
Description: Covering only a fragment of the complete [Seraph"s True Nature] method, this cultivation can bring pract.i.tioners of Yin to the threshold of Divinity. Though almost impossible to cultivate without a Seraph Bloodline, if successful in cultivation, one"s soul could be boosted to levels unfathomable to those in the same Stage.
Current Effect: Guides the user up to the peak of Eternal Tier for Yin. Teaches [Soul Variation], [Tiered Divine Sense], and [Voice Of Seraph].]
Frozen, Elizabeth felt a chill run down her spine as she finished digesting the scroll"s true contents. "How is it f.u.c.king possible for all these Spirit and above Grade techniques to be on Earth?" is what Elizabeth wished to scream at the top of her lungs, but by virtue of the fact that she was still in stasis, only Persephone could listen to her frustrations.
"Mhmm… Maybe, if you"d stop messing around and completed some of my side quests, you would be rewarded with another Divine Transmission and be able to learn about whatever you want." Chiming in, if only to pester Elizabeth into action, Persephone meekly chastised her.
Becoming even more frustrated, for reasons now unrelated to Tristan, Elizabeth didn"t know how to react; ironically rending herself out of stasis in the process. "Che! Gothic G.o.ddess, what else do you want me to do, exactly?" She had dozens of days to her break time, which might even increase if she reached the peak of the Saint Stage. Could she really not have a break, every once in a while?!
"Heh..." Returning only a chuckle, Elizabeth dismissed her bipolar G.o.ddess of a sponsor and turned to face Tristan. As she looked at him now, she couldn"t help but think, "Ah… the poor guy… He had been cultivating the trap these "Seraphs" laid down for anyone unworthy enough to figure out how to crack their code. By cultivating the wrong method of [Soul Variation], it"s no wonder the inner demons of his soul came out to devour him almost entirely. If not for the fact that it would perish without at least a speck of Tristan"s real soul, the real Tristan would be long dead..."
"Now… should I tell him the real version of this method? Or would it be best to keep him in the dark? He was, after all, the one to give me this method and given his exceptional affinity for Yin. It wouldn"t be a problem if he used this technique after Darkyin Cultivation"s effects take him to the peak of the Mortal Realm." Thinking things through, Elizabeth decided to keep the methods to herself for now. She would wait for Tristan to reach the peak of the Mortal Realm before teaching him the method to view the true contents of the silver-red scroll and he could make up his mind then. After all, it wouldn"t do him any good now, as he wasn"t like her — A Perfect Chaos Mage with an understanding of the soul and ways to augment it even in the Mortal Realm.
Seeing him looking at her, having left his stupor, Elizabeth tossed him the scroll back as she said, "Keep that stored somewhere safe… Now, if you"re serious about following me, let"s go~" Standing up to leave as she finished drinking her iced tea, Tristan followed as Elizabeth walked out of the inn.
The two headed for the Inn where Atid"s Dojo"s members settled down the night before the tournament day. Yrre was still there with Elizabeth"s moose Tamed Beast, while Sun and Jane were also conveniently there as well.
There, Elizabeth was met with Yrre who didn"t even wait for her to reach her room, as Yrre felt their connection grow stronger as Elizabeth approached and couldn"t help checking in the Inn"s hallway. "Thank goodness you"re safe! Last night I thought things were going pretty well for you! Having felt my cultivation rise to the peak of the Warrior Stage, you must have had a breakthrough. But then your soul became quiet..." Through their connection, Yrre recounted her experience last night as she appeared beside Elizabeth, checking her from every angle to make sure she was completely fine.
It was very awkward considering Tristan was standing about five feet away from them and from his point of view some random lady was just circling Elizabeth"s body. But eventually, Elizabeth managed to calm Yrre down and introduced her to Tristan, by saying, "Tristan… This is my, uh… servant. She"s like you, I guess..."
Yrre and Tristan each held a look of compet.i.tive spirit as Elizabeth walked into her room and found her moose Tamed Beast lying down. She thought, "Later, I should cultivate my tamed beasts" potential. If I could grant a Clearlight Sparrow to the point of Ancestral Awakening in just ten minutes, surely it would be just as easy, if not more so, to get this Macabre Moose to the level where it could communicate with me..."
Seeing its master enter, the moose instinctively seized up, stumbling as it rose from the ground trying to quell the fear it had for Elizabeth. It walked over to her upon receiving a call through their Soulbound Contract, but after receiving a handful of Terminal Berries, it eased up.