'Aren't you going to comfort her? This is a good way to a woman's heart, you know.' Ailsa said cheekily.
Ryu didn't even know how to respond to that. He was the reason she was in this state to begin with, so how would he gain brownie points for comforting her?
Ryu shook his head.
"You have nothing to apologize for. I may have jumped to conclusions a bit too quickly, I'm sorry. What is it that you wanted to speak with me about?"
Sarriel sniffled, looking up at Ryu as though to make sure that he really wasn't mad. It was only then that she sighed a breath of relief and tried to regain her bearings. Ryu's aura was really too scary.
Of course, her reaction seemed to be odd itself. After all, she was ultimately the core disciple of an Eighth Order Sect and had been dealing with corpses all her life. Should she really have been scared so easily?
That said, none of that considered the steadily growing strength of Ryu's Bloodlines. It likely wouldn't be much longer until they could truly display their strength.
Though Ryu had four full Bloodlines, they manifested themselves in a far weaker fashion than even some beasts who only had a wisp. Little Rock was just one example of this… Unfortunately, this was the weakness of being a human.
But, as Ryu's body grew stronger, there would come a day where it unleashed a might not many could stand before.
"R… Right… I, I need your help."
"With?" Ryu raised an eyebrow.
In truth, he had to admit that Sarriel's innocence was grating on him, and not exactly in a bad way.
In the cultivation world, asking a person for a favor, especially when this person was a stranger, was an exceptionally odd thing. This was a world where the strong ruled, asking for a favor was no different than exposing your weakness to someone.
That said, a favor wasn't always just dangerous for the person asking. So, Ryu would normally have put up his guard again the moment Sarriel deemed to ask something of him. But, maybe due to the awkward experience the last time he had, he chose to be patient this time around.
"I…" Sarriel hesitated.
It was clear that she hadn't had much time to think about this. She had only just met Ryu, so there wasn't exactly a long period of reflection she could have taken.
However, it also seemed that whatever it was she was laboring over was exceptionally important to her, or else she wouldn't have taken this step.
"Can you… Can you…" Sarriel fiddled with her black disciple robes, looking down at the ground. "Protect me?"
Her last two words were spoken so softly that even Ryu almost didn't pick up on them. In fact, if it wasn't because he could faintly see her lips despite her lowered head, he would have thought that he misheard.
What did this little girl just say?
'She's older than you, you know.'
Ailsa didn't miss a chance at revenge. And unfortunately, much like her, Ryu had no response. He could only pretend as though he hadn't heard anything.
"Protect you? For what? From who?" Ryu's brow furrowed.
He could no longer hold back his skepticism. The beauty of a woman didn't decide whether she had a vicious nature or not. In fact, his Grandpa Kukan always used to say to be extremely wary of beautiful women…
Of course, that was because he had to deal with Mistress Holy Wing all his life, another beautiful woman who had kept his daughter from him. So, it was only right that his world view was a bit jaded.
Sarriel could feel that Ryu wanted to reject. Maybe if it wasn't for the fact she looked so pitiful, he already would have.
"… The Tri Palace… I don't know if I can survive… I'm very worried but I don't have anyone I can trust…"
Ryu's brow only knit further. "Why do you think that you can trust me but not people who have been in your Sect with you from the very beginning?"
No matter how you looked at it, this all seemed to be ridiculous. Well, that was the best case scenario. The worst case was that this was a poor attempt to lure him into a trap. But, that was exactly the problem… It was far too poor an attempt. What kind of unsophisticated, unprofessional try at entrapment was this?
"B… because…"
Ryu froze. The reason he froze was because at the very moment, Sarriel was no longer looking at him.
No, she was looking at him. But, she wasn't looking at his face. Instead, her gaze was very clearly on his shoulder and it was obvious to Ryu that she wasn't looking over it.
The only thing on his shoulder right now…
Ryu's aura became cold once more, causing Sarriel to stumble backward and fall. This time, she couldn't hold her legs up no matter how hard she tried.
"Are you threatening me?"
Ryu's voice came out like a bestial growl. Almost as though he was a prowling tiger stalking his prey, he stood over Sarriel. If she said just one word out of turn, he might very well decide to end her life here.
Ailsa's existence was a great secret to Ryu. Her appearing in her full form was fine because it was simply impossible to differentiate her from humans in that state unless you had special abilities. But, her miniature form made her identity as obvious as it could be.
Truthfully, the Ryu of now versus back then couldn't be compared. At least now, he had the capital to protect himself. So the consequences weren't as dire as they had once been, especially when The Apostles had been chasing him.
It could be said that his current reaction was less about how dangerous it was for someone else to know of Ailsa, and much more about how suddenly protective of her he had become.
Sarriel's petite body trembled. She found it far too difficult to control her qi in such a state and she burst into another fit of tears.
Unable to say anything, there was a sudden change in Sarriel.
Her skin became fairer, her features sharper and her cheekbones higher. What once was a face reserved for a cute girl next door became the face of a city toppling beauty. Everything from her elegant pointed nose to the proud point of her chin painted the image of a goddess descended from above.
From within her hair, two pointed ears became much more prominent. In fact, each grew by at least two inches. By the time they finish morphing, they hung out prominently from the side of her head and had no subtlety to them in the slightest.
Finally, her violet eyes became far more vibrant, her long black hair shimmering like starlight.
Ryu's forward momentum ground to a halt again.
Someone was in disguise before him… and he actually hadn't seen through it?
"I… I'm …. I'm s… sorry…"
Despite the fact her face seemed fit for an Empress of worlds, Sarriel's immaturity didn't vanish in the slightest.
"I… I… I thought… I cou … could trust you… b… b… because you have a… a Life Partner…"
At that moment, Ailsa was stunned too. She hadn't expect such a thing.
After a moment of hesitation, she entered her full form, standing beside Ryu as the grown woman balled her eyes out.
"An elf?"
"No… She's a Fey." Ailsa responded after a while.
Ryu's pupils constricted. He should have known that too, but something seemed to be messing with his judgment.
Elves had sharp ears, but they were nowhere near as large as Sarriel's.
However, the differences between the two races didn't end there. The Fey were a race no less ancient than the Ancestral Beasts. In fact, it was from them that Elves and Faeries were birthed.
As a result of this, they surpassed both races in almost all aspects, making them a monstrous existence. However… Much like all other ancient races, they should have been practically drowned out, left by the passage of time in the annals of history.
But, here one was. And she very clearly wasn't of mixed blood, or else she would look no different from an elf and the two wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
Ryu knew some things about Fey, but he had unfortunately never gotten the chance to explore any Ruins left behind by them. So, he was still in the dark about most things.
That said… What he did know was…
Ryu kneeled down beside Sarriel, feeling a headache about how to deal with this woman. He felt contradictory thoughts about wanting to kill her right now and protect her at all costs.
"You may be a Fey, but that doesn't explain why you can see Ailsa."
Sarriel hiccuped, trying to regain her bearings again. But, when she saw Ryu's face so close to her, she began to blush profusely, going from streaming tears to flushing red in the blink of an eye.
Her nose couldn't help but twitch as she took a deep breath of Ryu's scent. The instant she did, she almost felt as though she was getting high on a drug. Why did he smell so good?
Ryu frowned but could only turn to Ailsa helplessly.
"The Nature's Friend part of your Ice Jade Crystal body… Well, there's no race closer to nature than the Fey."
Hearing this, Ryu felt another headache coming on.
Shaking his head, he looked back toward Sarriel.
"If this is all you can give me, I reject your proposal." Ryu said plainly.
Sarriel snapped awake. "N-No! Wait! I can…! Just look into my eyes…!"
Ryu opened his mouth to reply only for his thought process to come to a grinding halt.
Sarriel's violet eyes seemed to have lost a hidden fogginess that had once covered them, leaving them exposed for Ryu to see through the core of. The result left him stunned.
The Seventh Ranked Heavenly Pupils.. Truth Pupils.