Chapter 204: Dealing with a woman (1/2)
Shingi told Marcy everything he wanted to tell his students and also gave her a list of items to prepare as soon as possible. Some had to do for his plan to persuade the other Guild people to join his Alliance, while others would help him in his plan to heal his eyes.
Replacing one of his eyes with Garry's had a significant chance of success since they were blood-related, but that didn't mean he would get back his power of the special eyes. Most likely, he would have the same one that Garry had, but he couldn't be certain, as he didn't know if something completely stored the power in his eyes. He had tried to look for anything close to that power in him, but he found nothing.
Still, he couldn't give up. Even if the benefits of his red eyes were great, especially the CHA stat, which was currently disabled, he was still powerful without it.
He left the Headquarters and headed towards the Dungeon to meet Zhen, and Garry, who should have gotten there some time ago.
He met the two King's Guards on the way out, who recognized him even with the mask and his different clothes, but didn't do it in a way to draw attention to him. It seemed that he really had made a good impression on them.
His time to reach the dungeon got shorter than what it took him to go from the dungeon to the town, as he had gotten used to moving faster. Of course, he still couldn't run at full speed, but he was almost comfortable moving at half speed.
He encountered some Players in the Dungeon trying to level up, but since they were quite low, he could avoid them easily, even in his current state.
The entrance to Zhen's Lab was void of any monsters, so not many Players were around that place.
Shingi did the secret knock, and the Oozes opened the door for him to enter, and when he did, they closed it again. He went down the stairs and reached the lab of Zhen, where he detected three humanoid figures.
Two of them were, of course, Zhen and Garry, while the third one Shingi recognized to be Ardent Scythe. He hadn't spent a lot of time studying and memorizing her aura, but he could easily recognize the Runes on her Scythe. They were bright while examining them with his MANA SENSE, and actually, their color fit the elements she currently had at her Mana Pool.
She currently seemed to have Air and Fire, as some runes were red and some were white. The color was just visible through MANA SENSE and similar Skills as it was him detecting the mana that was the core of these runes.
The Scythe's runes worked a bit like the design of the latest staff of Shingi, meaning that Ardent could change them to fit her needs. Normally that would be challenging to do and impossible for someone like Ardent, who paid little attention to the details, but the Scythe was made to be adjusted to her by itself. Another special gift she got because of her background outside Enerias Tower.
Ardent Scythe was the first to notice Shingi, and she ran, trying to hug him, but this time Shingi was on guard and ready. He sidestepped and moved quickly behind Garry, putting him as an obstacle between him and Ardent.
”It seems that you have learned your ways of dealing with women in those past months, son. I guess your body wasn't the only thing that grew when used that crystal of yours.” [Garry]
Garry still didn't know that he wasn't actually a 9-year-old or a 14-year-old as he looked, and Shingi kept it like that for now.
”There isn't much to learn for dealing with Ardent. What are you doing here, though? I thought Mizuneko told you it was best for you not to get back in Carda.” [Shingi]
Shingi could almost feel her piercing look, as she was still mad at him since he was openly avoiding her like that.
”I came here for Zhen. We have a date.” [Ardent Scythe]
”We do….? I mean, yes, of course, we do. I almost forgot it with everything happening. So… the person here was telling me something about this book?” [Zhen]
Shingi didn't need to hear their heartbeats to know that they both were lying, but he decided to play along.
”Yes, can you read it? It is said to be in the Old Runic Language.” [Shingi]
Shingi heard pages being turned as Zhen flipped through the book.
”I have no idea what it says.” [Zhen]
Shingi didn't notice Zhen's heartbeat to be acting like when he lied. Meaning what he said was the truth.
”But you should be able to read it. Does that mean that it isn't the Old Runic Language?” [Shingi]
”Ye, it is. But I still have no idea what it says.” [Zhen]
That response confused Shingi, as it made little sense for Zhen not being able to read it. He had seen him make runes easily, so his understanding was above normal, meaning he should be able to decode this.