The Messenger of Death

"Relax, Alexander. I'm not going to eat you."

Nana walked to his side and sat beside him. "I just want to ask you some questions."

"About what?" He asked with his guard up. Now he knew that Nana didn't do things rationally and so he decided to watch how he speaks to her.

"Who is Sheila?"

"What?" Alex frowned and wondered how she knew about her.

['She might have read our memories as Voss did.'] Xander pointed out. Alex was furious now, he couldn't do anything to Nana but the fact that he thought she read his memories and peeped into his past without his permission was infuriating to him. He tightened his fist, and tried his best to hold his killing intent back.

"I don't like the way you are looking at me, it's distant and cold." She pouted. "I didn't do anything wrong. While I was healing your injuries, you grabbed my hand and kept on calling the name Sheila. I just wanted to know who she is." Nana said.

"Oh." Alex blurted out. "I thought you read my memory."

"Why would I do that? That's like rape. I don't indulge in such atrocities." Nana defended herself.

['Indeed, ask her what she wants so that we can leave this place, and in the future avoid any place that we see her in.'] Al stated.

"What do you want from me?"

"Nothing much. First I want to know who you are, and second I wish to collect the favor that you owe me."

"What freaking favor? You nearly destroyed my balls."

"Nearly, I didn't in the end. The important thing is that I taught you how to use telekinesis within an hour, and that is one of the first major steps in becoming an alchemist. So are you trying to go back on your word, Alexander?"

['Damn, why is she making it sound like I'm about to cheat her and go back on my word.']

['Just do what she wants and get done with her.'] Al suggested.

"What do you want in return for the favor?" He stared at her.

"Hey, you are avoiding my question. I want to know who you are first before I can ask you to return the favor. What about your family?"

Alex eyed her for a minute before he answered her. "I don't have a family, I'm an orphan."

"An orphan eh?" She smiled when she heard that.

"What's so good about me being an orphan that's making you smile?" Alex got irritated by her attitude.

"Nothing… for the favor you owe me, I want you to recognize me as your master."

"Huh?" Alex was confused.

"Huh what? Is my request not easy to understand? I want you to become my disciple." Nana snapped at his reaction.

"Your request is a bit too much for me?" Alex cleared his throat as he said.

"You were the one that said you would do anything in return if I taught you alchemy."

"Yes, but you were the one that took the lesson too far and you still haven't taught me anything."

"How could you say that!? We never spoke about my method of teaching before I proceeded with the lesson. And you were the one that pointed your weapon at me first. By the way, where did you get those weapons? I don't think they should be weapons from this lower realm plain."

Alex arched one of his brows at her statement.

"Don't worry, I don't want your weapons. I was only curious."

['Grace said that people of this realm wouldn't be able to recognize the weapons made by Daemon, so how could she tell? Unless…'] Al paused.

['Unless she's not from this realm, but a higher one. But what is she doing here in a lower plain realm? I recall grace saying that if she stayed in this plain realm for a long time, her cultivation will drop. Doesn't the same thing apply to Nana?'] Al and Xander were throwing questions back and forth in Alex's head.

'If she is from a higher realm and she wants to be my master. She might have ways to make me get stronger quickly. Even if I have the option of the Midas flower, I still have to search for it first.' Alex thought privately to himself.

"My answer to the favor will depend on your answer to a few questions I'm about to ask. How strong are you?"

"Hmm" she placed her hand on her chin. "If you want to know what my cultivation realm is then you have to be at least 2 realms behind mine, so I won't tell you anything about that. But, I can tell you that my strength is above the constraints of this plain realm." She smiled. 

"Do you have ways to help me get stronger in a short time?" Alex stared into her eyes when he asked that question.

"Yes, I do."

"Alright then. I accept your request to take me in as your disciple."

['What!!!?? Why? What are doing Alex, you didn't even consult us before you made such a decision'] Al complained.

Alex ignored Al.

['Hey rabbit!!'] He called out again but Alex still ignored him.

['Let him be Al.'] Lex said. ['There's nothing wrong with the decision he made.']

['You always take his side. Hmph,'] Al complained before he kept quiet.

"Hahahaha, good decision. Know this, my training will make you wish for death and you cannot back away from them. Secondly, as my disciple, you are now like a relative to me and no one in this lower plain realm can lay their stinking hands on you without my permission."

She thought about Argus after she said that. She had a feeling that he wouldn't back down as easily as the principal did.

"Now greet your master." She closed her eyes and raised her chin a bit. Waiting for Alex to praise her.

"Huh? Greet you for what?" Alex uttered flatly.

"You stinking kid. You are not nice." She scoffed and folded her hands on her chest.

"How old are you anyway? You act like you are still in your early 20s but you look like you are 40." Alex blurted.

['Crap, he just killed us.'] Al commented.

"I look like I'm in my 40s?" The corners of Nana's lips started to twitch.

"Yes," Alex answered.

"Kid, let's continue what we were doing before you passed out."

-Whoosh!

She grabbed his shirt and disappeared from the room…

**************

Camron just stepped into the reception of the pavilion of elements. The place was calm and the architectural design was almost as intricate as that of the guest inn…

"Are you here to rent a room to cultivate? If so, what type of environment would you prefer to cultivate in?" One of the staff in the pavilion stepped forward and asked him.

Camron removed the button-like token from his storage ring and showed it to the female staff that approached him.

"Follow me." She ordered after she examined the token. They passed by many metal doors that had no handles on the outside and stopped in front of one of the metal doors.

"This is the room that has been specially modified to fit your requirements. We were instructed to make sure that you do not stay longer than 12 hours in there and also to not let you go above the 7th difficulty in the room." The female staff mentioned.

"7th difficulty of what?" Camron wasn't sure of what she was talking about.

"And also, you are to take one of the pills before you enter the room. After your 12 hours limit, you are to wait for two more days before you come back here and use the second pill." The woman ignored his question about the difficulties she was talking about.

She opened the door for him. "You should take the pills now."

"Oh, alright." Camron brought out the white box and took a pill out. "I still don't know what you meant by difficulties." 

"When you are inside you will understand. My advice for you is to just sit and refine the pill you just ate, or do whatever you think will work best for you." The female staff said shortly.

Camron stepped into the room. It was an empty room with a metallic wall and rune inscriptions on random places on the walls.

A white light materialized and started to write in the air.

"Welcome. What difficulty would you like to start with?"

"The first I guess."

"Preparing a cultivating environment for the darkness elemental user. If you wish to give up while you are cultivating then you just need to utter the word 'Stop' and everything will stop."

"Start?" The white light wrote.

"Yes," Camron answered.

As soon as he uttered those words, the whole room transformed into an endless dark abyss. It was so dark that Camron couldn't see his hands as he moved them.

He recalled what the female staff said to him. He sat down on the floor and folded his legs and began to refine the pill he ate.