Chapter 368: So overt, it’s covert
‘Oh you have got to be kidding me…wait, aren’t these kind of events restricted to academy settings or religious temples or some shit? Either way, somebody please stop them.’
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“Ah, ah young master…Jerrick you have to be patient.”
“Oh boo~”
“Listen to…Nicole..young…master…”
“Okay, fine~. Whatever you say, Frederick.”
Before the young master named Jerrick could reach out and inject their aether into the crystal ball, the heroic looking woman identified as Nicole intercepted the hand with a gentle grab of their wrist.
The onlookers couldn’t help but be charmed by the interaction, because it reminded them of an older sister admonishing their naughty little sibling, with an older father figure watching over them.
“So the boy is named Jerrick, the lady butler is named Nicole and the old man is named Frederick? Oddly fits.”
“Old man? That dude looks to be better shape than most adults our age dude.”
“Trying to protect my ego here.”
“Apologies for our younger master’s…rash actions,” the young maid with sharp features apologized with an elegant curtsy
“Yeah. What she said,” the lanky young butler agreed while nodding as well.
“Huh? Oh no worries,” Sawyer accepted the apology, feeling an odd sense of disappointment.
He wasn’t entirely sure why, but he had a feeling something mind blowing would have happened if Jerrick had actually touched the crystal ball…the thing was though, he wasn’t sure what.
‘Wait…why am I disappointed a kid didn’t measure his ranking? They’re nine, maybe ten, how strong could they actually be?’
Perhaps picking up on Sawyer’s confusion, Nicole released Jerrick’s wrist before changing the subject, well pivoting to being about what it was before but with a little addendum.
“Just to clarify, in order for the young master and us to get in, do we all have to prove we’re stronger than Aether Masters or just one of us?”
“Huh? Oh, uh…just one of you will suffice,” Sawyer answered, “we understand that not everyone in a particular family or clan can reach those heights of power, so just being accompanied by someone who has is a prestige in it’s own right. Plus I know how rich clans tend to have rather powerful guardians for their children.”
“Right…,” Nicole nodded in agreement,” in that case, am I free to touch it or…”
“Go right ahead.”
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[No fair! I wanted to be the one to cause people’s jaw to drop in shock and awe!]
[We’re already doing this Aladdin style antics, and I’m fairly certain our lord wouldn’t us to suddenly cause an uproar in another town. Especially one we’re leaving in the morning anyways.]
[The fact we’re leaving is precisely why I want to cause and uproar!]
[So…chaotic…]
[If you mean “fun-loving”, then yes I am.]
[Is it always this…noisy, Razor Sis?]
[Technically we’re short two participants, but I think it’s because they’re busy recording us or something.]
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=Because we have arrays for that kind of thing, now hush! One of the kaijin is about to put on a show, as you like to say.=
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“Hmmm.”
Nicole studied the crystal ball for a couple seconds, moving her head about to observe the orb from different angles.
It was a bit of unnecessary for her to do so, as the Royal Reef Hotel had a reputation for honest business, but Sawyer understood her wariness.
He had once been screwed over in a power measuring contest because someone replaced the crystal at the last minute with a tainted one. Unfortunately this deception wouldn’t be revealed until long after the original competition ended.
“So I just…inject aether into this, right?”
“Yup, no unusual procedures necessary. As you inject more and more aether into the orb, the energy will eventually gather into a little balls of light. The number of lights is how we determine your ranking as it were,” Sawyer explained.
“It doesn’t measure rings?,” Nicole asked with sincere curiosity.
“Only the fancier ones can go that in-depth.”
“Ah, I see. Well then.”
Once she was given the go-ahead, Nicole proceeded to place a single palm upon the orb and began to inject her aether into it. As she did, the orb began to glow with a brown and red colorations.
“Oh, wow! She has two affinities of aether? Nice.”
“Terraqi and Iganti…oooh, she has Volcano Aether! That’s rare.”
“Ehh, more uncommon than rare.”
“I mean yeah, but it’s still impressive.”
“Hold up, what’s going on with the orb?”
“Huh? What you talking about? It’s just condensing the aether she injected into a visible display of her power.”
“Yeah, but look!”
As Nicole’s aether flowed into the orb, they began to coalesce into distinctive looking motes of light akin to stars in the distance.
In a matter of seconds, four distinctive stars formed within the orb and began to quietly float around.
The sight of the four stars of light caused the crowd’s eyes to go wide and their mouths to go shut, well most of the crowd.
Well I’ll be,” Sawyer nodded in surprised amusement at the sight of the orb’s light show, “a bonafide Aether Grandmaster…you guys can go right on in.”
“Much obliged. Come along young master, if we dawdle, all of the good seats will be taken.”
“Coming, Nicole…”
With the entourage now cleared to enter the hotel, the group proceeded forward and walked through the hotel’s entrnace. Once the group passed the threshold into the room, the crowd began to murmur once more.
“Uhh…guys? Each star in that orb represents a full rank, right?”
“Yup.”
“Meaning that…if one star represents a Novice, two represents an Acolyte, three represents a Master, then that means four is…a Grandmaster.”
“Indeed.”
“And they’re just…acting as that kid’s… butler?”
“Uh huh.
“Huh… who exactly is this kid?”
An Aether Grandmaster had enough innate power and prestige in this frontier region, that such people tended to become local hegemonies in their own right, usually the leader of medium sized sects or small to medium sized town.
So the fact that a Grandmaster of all people was acting as nothing more than a butler/presumed nanny for a nine year old child was absolutely shocking to everyone present.
Such a luxurious guardian either meant that this kid came from a family that was absolutely loaded as hell, prestigious as hell, or that whomever was their parent had even more power than a Grandmaster. The only question then would be, how much stronger?
“Wait…if that heroic looking lady butler was a Grandmaster…what about the rest of that entourage?”
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*Bing-Bong*
It has come to the writer’s attention that people maybe confused about who these people were exactly. In order to provide some clarity, here’s a list on who’s who.
Jerrick: Hurricroak in Jasper’s body.
Nicole: Nepherage.
Frederick: Frosttusk.
As for Razor Maiden and Spring Brawler, they have yet to be named in the previous scene, but for the sake of future clarity, they’ll be named now.
Razor Maiden: Rachel.
Spring Brawler: Sam.
Keep these names in mind for moments where the perspective of the story changes.
We now return to your regularly scheduled program.
*Bing-Bong*
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Royal Reef Hotel: Interior.
As the disguised kaijin entered the hotel’s lobby, some of them couldn’t help but compare it to the “Victorian era” style of interior design that they saw in some of the Library’s records. Granted, the fashion of the people milling about the lobby were dressed in a variety of styles that were distinctly different from the design of the lobby.
Of course, not all of them were admiring the people milling about or the naked lady statues.
[So…why did you decide to steal my thunder?,] Jasper asked as they went deeper and deeper into the the hotel, their facial expression not matching the tone of the question.
[Was that pun?,] Nepherage asked while readjusting her “tie”.
[Yes.]
[Well if you must know, it was to make people draw greater attention to you.]
[Padornne moi?]
[You’ve been watching movies with Pathos, what kind of child usually ends up the target for criminal types and boogiemen? The child who has shown great competence and obvious super powers, or the child who has yet to show off their abilities and have an absurdly powerful guardian?]
[The latter moreso than the form-oh, I get it.]
[Exactly.]
[I don’t?,] Spring Brawler interjected, [can someone explain? Please?]
Frosttusk was about to answer the proto’s question, but stopped when he realized he would take too long. Thankfully, Razor Maiden did not have that issue.
[Assuming that the people who took Jasper’s…]
[Little sister, her name’s Janice,] Jasper provided.
[Thank you. Assuming the people who took Janice are in the building, they’ll probably freak out that Jasper here is somehow alive and well, but that is predicated on them knowing that they are here in the first place.]
[Okay…]
[Now, if Jasper had shown off their abilities on that crystal ball from earlier, that definitely would have caused waves and attract all sorts of attention, but the kidnappers might freak out and bail because a nine year old Aether GrandMaster is absolutely horrifying and probably cause them to do something stupid in a way we don’t want them to.]
[Right.]
[But if Jasper shows up alive, with a guardian, they then end up thinking maybe they can kidnap them and get a ransom or something, since having a GrandMaster butler is absurd.]
[Ah…that makes sense,] Spring Brawler nodded.
[Good.]
[But…won’t everything we did be render moot if the guys we’re looking for are ahead of us.]
[What?!]
