Chapter 192: Mischievous
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"I don’t know," Riska said, frowning. After a few moments deep in thought, he shook his head. "Druids and elves are both getting weaker. Their secrets will likely die with them as well. Not a lot people remember their stories anymore. I only know about the two races because of the few books that recorded their history. I know their artifacts. This isn’t one of them."
"How could you know?"
"There would be a sign," Riska said, pointing to the sky.
"Interesting," Anfey said, frowning. "Is Bruzuryano that powerful?"
"He’s an Arch-Druid and is hundreds of years old," Riska said. "What do you think?"
"Alright," Anfey said, nodding. He didn’t know anything about artifacts, and he did not have the time to read about them. However, he knew how to use the leaf. As long as he had the leaf, no one could find them, but he could find anyone. Bruzuryano must have found them using the leaf as well.
If there were two ships engaged in a naval battle, and one had the most powerful cannon and the best defense, while the other had powerful radar, the ship with the radar would have the advantage.
At first, Anfey wanted to keep the leaf for himself. After Riska’s explanation, however, he had to abandon the idea.
Humans were greedy, and Anfey was no exception. What made him different from others was that he knew what he should do, and what he should not. Greed was natural, but a man who covets everything he could not have would be in terrible trouble. Controlling one's greed could be very hard. A man might consider his requests normal and justified, but others might think he was too greedy.
"Alright," Anfey said. "You two should get some more rest."
Riska and Suzanna rolled their eyes. They were already resting, and Anfey was the one who woke them up. Suzanna especially had conflicting feelings. Not only had she been woken up suddenly, she had been kissed suddenly as well. It wasn’t just a small kiss, either. It was a deep kiss that almost took her breath away. Anfey could pretend nothing had happened, but she could not. Even now, her heart was still fluttering.
However, Anfey’s attention was completely taken by the leaf. He was sitting there with his legs under him, ready to begin meditating again.
Suzanna opened her mouth to say something, but wasn’t sure what to say. She glared at Anfey, and returned to her corner again.
After Riska informed him about the artifacts, Anfey felt more relaxed and completely immersed himself in his meditation. He realized this leaf was not only a treasure for the Arch-Druid, it would also be a treasure for someone on the Path of Wu.
The Path was essentially the path of nature, and breaths were intended to take in the power of nature. With the druid’s treasure, the rate of taking in nature’s power increased significantly. Anfey realized his mind expanded and what he could see was much more vast than before. It was as if he could see every corner of the world if he wanted to.
Anfey was still worried about losing himself, however, and decided that he would allow everything to happen on its own accord. He didn’t try to probe or purposely see and listen. He did not allow himself to grow excited or happy. The only thing he did was keeping his breath even.
In the end, Anfey began to forget what he was doing, and it grew natural.
At first, his mind was like a leaf, quivering in the wind. It did not have any emotions and did not fight against the wind. This was natural.
Then, it morphed into the earth, vast and silent. It did not know what emotions were and it did not know what was fighting again. This was freedom.
For people on the Path, being natural when meditating was very difficult. It was the watershed between controlling one’s own mind and returning one’s spirit to nothingness.
Perhaps because he had practiced this before, Anfey quickly mastered controlling his breathing and his mind. Now, he was returning his spirit to nothingness. The stages before required hard work and dedication, but this stage relied purely on chance and insightfulness. Anfey was very insightful, but he could not completely relax because of his paranoia. His progress had been stalled because of his inability to relax, but using the leaf, he was able to learn how to let himself go.
Anfey slowly opened his eyes and saw the dawn breaking. His eyes were clearer than before. Even though he was very good at controlling his emotions, when he did not need to lie, his eyes would betray his thoughts. Now, the only thing in his eyes were calm.
As if she had felt something, Suzanna opened her eyes and stared at Anfey. For a young woman, her first love would be very passionate. She would learn what it was like to give instead of take. For Suzanna, Anfey was not only her lover, but also her commander and her leader. The love in her eyes was enough to move even the cruelest man.
Even though he had his back to Suzanna, Anfey could still see her face clearly. The serenity in his eyes disappeared, and he turned to her with a smile. "What are you thinking about?"
"You’re still awake?" Suzanna asked, averting his gaze. She felt embarrassed, her fingers picking at the walls of the cave. Perhaps she would get used to kissing after a few dozen times, but now, her mind was a jumble of emotions and thoughts.
"You felt different just then," Suzanna said hesitantly. She pushed herself up and sat down next to Anfey.
"Different? Maybe it’s because it was our first time."
"What first time?" Suzanna asked. Then she blushed and elbowed Anfey in the side.
"You can go out now," Anfey said.
Suzanna frowned. Behind them, Riska climbed up. He clearly had been awake for a while now. Not looking at Suzanna or Anfey, he straightened his clothes and walked out.
As soon as he was out of the hole, his figure disappeared. He landed on the ground with a loud thud. "What the hell?" Riska complained loudly. "How did this tree grow this much?"
"Really?" Suzanna frowned and asked. She stood up and wanted to see it for herself.
Anfey grabbed her hand and pulled her back. Suzanna stumbled and almost fell over.
"Are you running away?"
"Of course not!" Suzanna said. She sat back down with her back straight.
Both worlds had bold extroverts and shy introverts. Suzanna was obviously the latter. Her normal personality was very different from her personality when she was fighting.
Anfey grinned. He looked very at ease and relaxed, but was in fact very confused. He had just returned from meditating, and the way he looked at people and things had changed. If it wasn’t for Suzanna, maybe he would not return to his normal state for quite a while. Anfey didn’t know what to make of this new change. Only time could tell whether it was a good thing or not.
"Quit smiling like that," Suzanna complained. Perhaps it was because she was too sensitive, but she thought Anfey wasn’t thinking about her.
"I can do more than just smile," Anfey said. Suzanna was a fearsome fighter, but here she looked more like a young girl. Anfey knew that he was the only one who could cause this change in Suzanna.
Suzanna was hardly twenty years old, but she was already a senior swordsmaster, and was already exhibiting signs of a breakthrough. She would be lauded wherever she went. Not only was she skilled and powerful, she was very beautiful. She may be cold sometimes, but to her friends, she was always kind and loving. It was very hard, but satisfying, to win the love of a girl like Suzanna.
"Riska is still outside," Suzanna said. She was still scared that Anfey would do something like last night.
"He can’t hear us," Anfey said. "Come here."
"No!" Suzanna said, blushing furiously. She pushed Anfey away and stood up, but Anfey was persistent and followed her.
Suzanna didn’t know what to do except when she tried to push him away, but she didn’t want to hurt his feelings, either. Anfey latched onto her, keeping her from getting away. When she realized she couldn't get away, she moved her head as far away from Anfey as possible.
Anfey suddenly released her. Just as Suzanna thought he had given up, she felt Anfey lifting her into the air. Suzanna glanced at Anfey, and saw the mischief in his eyes. She sighed and closed her eyes.
After a few moments, Suzanna felt something warm on her lips, and it ended as soon as it had happened. "Alright," Anfey said. "Don’t worry. I won't do anything else."
Suzanna blushed and punched Anfey on the arm. She wriggled out of his arm and moved over to prepare breakfast. Her attention was obviously not on the food, however, because she was still taking food out even though she had found more than enough already.