Life Giver

Master Bluefire spent a few hours talking to Casmir, most of it was spent teaching him but they also talked about a few serious matters.

She explained that Casmir's ability to use the 'Will Resonance' state was very rare, he shouldn't tell anyone about his experiences apart from his first experience in the state, which was publicly displayed and could not be covered up.

Master Bluefire also informed Casmir that his reward for passing Redfire's tests would be changed, she was personally going to speak to the academy's higher ups about exchanging these rewards for a single treasure that Master Bluefire felt suited Casmir greatly.

Casmir felt a bit unhappy about losing the rewards, he should have received some cultivation medicines, a weapon and a Qi catalyst to help him cross the boundary between Qi Grade 1.5 and Qi Grade 2.

However when Casmir thought about it, he realised that Master Bluefire would not let him suffer a loss. She had taken him in as a student and was clearly intent on helping his advance, she wouldn't trade those resources away for nothing of value to him.

Yet just as Casmir began to think positively about his cold and malevolent Master, she suddenly started to interrogate him about his relationship with Zaya. Master Bluefire repeatedly reminded him not to be l.u.s.tful or harmful to Elena or Rose, whom she had somehow gained knowledge of, she even suggested Casmir attend a brothel as long as he was careful with his 'seed'.

Naturally Casmir's face was twisted into a horrible shape as he heard this, he had sworn to himself that he would never visit a brothel after what happened with Rose. Even though that experienced resulted in many good things, it was instigated by selfish d.e.s.i.r.es and a naive mind set.

After that seemingly endless conversation in which Master Bluefire held none of her thoughts back, she told Casmir to come see her next week on Sunday for a proper lesson on refining.

Then she simply left.

All that remained of her was the gentle pitter-patter sound of her b.a.r.e feet on the ground as she walked away, this gentle and elegant sound truly emphasized Master Bluefire's cold demeanour.

Casmir however refused to acknowledge any positive traits of his Master, his thoughts were filled with curses as he realised from her tone that she truly did see him as naive and inexperienced.

Casmir took a moment to calm down before he admitted to himself that his recent experiences did stem from his inexperience, he swore to learn from those experiences so that they would never happen again.

Soon enough Casmir decided to head home, the final test was still taking place but Casmir didn't hold much interest in the ferocious beast fights at this time. He wanted to talk to Zaya before he left but when he spoke to Instructor Brail to inform him of his departure, Instructor Brail explained that Zaya had already left.

In the end, Casmir left the academy with more weight on his shoulders than he entered with, he walked home quite slowly as his thoughts silently crashed against one another, like roaring waves in his mind.

Above Casmir's head, a small blue bird drifted through the sky. Its beady eyes shone with a cold unnatural light as they observed Casmir closely.

Deep in those eyes one could see a faint blue fire that quietly flickered, awaiting its time.

=========

On the other side of the academy was the creator of that small blue bird, she sat quietly in a messy chair in her disordered cottage, patiently observing a small black stone in her hand.

This stone was similar to one used by Josena, Zaya's sister, to observe Casmir's Qi energy and derive his affinity.

Master Bluefire had secretly taken a small portion of Casmir's Qi energy through some unknown method and placed it inside this orb.

She observed it carefully as she looked for the strange energy that Josena had described to her when she found her prying into Casmir's affinities. She quickly found it but just like Josena she couldn't directly observe it, it was like a ghost in the Qi energy, formless and yet possessing form that she could not directly perceive.

Master Bluefire puzzled over this 'ghost' for a time before she recalled something.

There had been a mention of something like this in a Refining Master's book she had once read, this Refining Master was more qualified than her and had been diving into the mysteries of affinities when he made note of a 'ghost of affinities'.

This was not to be confused with Ghost affinities, which were very special and rare affinities belonging to the Energy Race's like Elementals.

The Refining Master discovered a 'ghost of affinities' in a student of his whom had just failed to advance his cultivation from Qi Grade 4.5 to Qi Grade 5. This student had used a rare affinity granting Qi catalyst when he advanced, but upon his failure he asked his Refining Master to assess his body and cultivation for damage.

When this Refining Master checked his students Qi energy he found this oddity that he named a 'ghost of affinities' as it resembled the form of an affinity yet did not effect the cultivator in any way a normal affinity would.

After researching into it thoroughly he determined that this 'ghost of affinities' had a unique energy signature that matched that of the Qi catalyst his student used.

The Refining Master realised that this 'ghost of affinities' was a residual or partially formed affinity of some kind, formed when his student failed his breakthrough and yet still absorbed the Qi catalysts energy.

Unfortunately this Refining Master didn't get the chance to study it further as he passed away not too long after this discovery.

Master Bluefire tapped her fingers lightly on her armrest as she thought about this matter. From the Refining Master's students later experiences it seemed as if there was no danger to Casmir from this 'ghost of affinities' but there was also no knowledge about this rare phenomenon.

As a Refiner and researcher herself, Master Bluefire was uncomfortable with the feeling of not understanding something like this. She wanted to research into it herself but she did not have the knowledge or expertise to do so, all she could do was periodically check up on Casmir's Qi energy for any changes.

==========

At the Sing family home it would soon be dinner time and Rose was helping Felicity, Gloria's sister and Casmir's aunt, cook a large pie for everyone to eat.

Felicity had talked to Rose quite a few times in the past few weeks, Rose's naturally talkative nature helped open up the relationship and Felicity helped Rose to understand the rest of Casmir's family, just like Elena did.

Felicity was stirring a large pot full of meat and vegetables as they talked while Rose was preparing the pastry for the pie. Rose was less experienced with cooking compared to Felicity who took it as a hobby, so Rose was very grateful for her pointers and guidance.

In exchange for that guidance, Rose answered a few questions that Felicity had been 'asked' to say by her prying mother.

"I've thought of another one Rose... I hope you don't mind.." Felicity said slowly and carefully as if worried about Rose's reaction.

"Oh it's not about the baby again is it..? It's till too early for a lot of that stuff..." Rose responded politely, she understood that Felicity was being pressured by her mother, Barbara, to talk to her about various things.

Rose would do her best, with Elena and Felicity's help, to avoid Barbara whenever she could which is why Barbara ended up 'asking' Felicity for her help. Barbara was just too much for people sometimes, especially when she wanted to know something.

Felicity smiled a bit awkwardly a she spoke.

"No.. It's actually about you and Casmir, she wondered if you two were going to get married at all..."

Felicity then quickly added on.

"And don't worry if you prefer another type of union, that's perfectly fine!"

Rose, who was rolling out some dough suddenly stopped for a moment.

'Marriage..?' She thought slightly bewildered.

Rose had rarely even thought about marriage before, very few of the women she knew had ever been married for a variety of reasons. In a diverse city like Ellaris with its main population being Elementals, various cultures and traditions became less distinct, the human tradition of marriage was one such tradition.

Combined with the advent of the Lifeless Plague, Longer term relationsh.i.p.s in the younger generations became less common and people didn't stage events to celebrate relationsh.i.p.s, it became more focused on children.

Typically pairs wouldn't organise large events like weddings to celebrate a relationship, they would just announce that they are a couple and that would be the beginning of their lives together.

There were various contracts that people could enter together under the law, like sharing ownership of houses or the parentage of children, some viewed these like they would marriage. As for the 'other types of unions' that Felicity mentioned, they referred to those types of legal contracts and to other cultural ceremonies similar to marriage but originating from other cultures.

Many races had their own cultures and 'marriage' was a common tradition among many of them, these different forms of marriage became similar to 'styles' that people would choose from. If they enjoyed human culture then they might perform a wedding ceremony, if they enjoyed certain Floral culture they might perform a life-bonding ceremony.

It was all very confusing to Rose at this moment, she didn't think that she would marry Casmir but after Felicity mentioned it, Rose couldn't stop wondering about it.

"..Rose.. Rose..?" Felicity called out, waking Rose from her thoughts.

Rose lowered her head slightly and began rolling her pastry once more as she spoke rather uncertainly.

"I'm not sure.. I've never really brought it up with Casmir, we haven't actually been together for very long and I've never really seen marriage.. as a necessity." She explained

Felicity was quite surprised by this, she had been brought up by her married parents and she was married to her husband Hiraka according to his cultural traditions.

Even though she knew many people in relationsh.i.p.s who didn't get married, she still quite firmly believed that a couple at the stage of having a child should get married.

"Oh.." Felicity said not knowing what else to say.

The pair felt the previously talkative mood change quite swiftly.

"..I'm sorry Rose.. I didn't mean to stick my foot in it." Felicity said with an awkward chuckle.

Rose finished rolling her dough before she removed her apron.

"Don't worry Felicity, I know you didn't mean anything by it... I'm going to go wait for Casmir to get back.. Can you finish of the pie without me?"

Felicity smiled at her and nodded.

"Sure, sure! I only need to cut out the pastry and put it in the oven now. Thanks for you help."

Rose hung up her apron on the door as she quickly left, a pensive expression hung on her face.

Felicity watched her leave before sighing and cursing her mother for making her ask the 'perfect' questions.

"*Sigh* Ughh.. Dammit mum! I'm not asking anymore questions for you from now on."

However, although Felicity successfully swore that she wouldn't ask any questions for her mother, she failed to suppress the curiosity in her own heart. She didn't want to admit that many of the questions she previously asked Rose were to sate her own curiosity and not just her mother's.

Like mother, like daughter as they say.