"Huh?"
Lane frowned.
"What happened?"
Thyra questioned.
"He moved."
Lane spoke as she pointed at Nux.
Thyra frowned. She walked towards Nux's bed.
The others walked here as well.
Compared to the last time Nux had passed out, all the women were a lot calmer, however, excluding Amaya, all of them were still present in the room.
Nux's eyelids moved again.
The women frowned and soon, Nux opened his eyes.
"You are awake," Lane spoke with a smile on her face.
Nux smiled as well.
"What happened? It has only been 2 days, you woke up a day earlier." Ember questioned.
"Hmm?" Nux frowned as well.
"And this time, Astaria needed an entire day to wake up." Thyra pointed out.
"I did increase my defense stat, is it perhaps related to that?" Nux suggested.
"That might be the case." Felberta nodded.
The [Blink Fault] description only talked about the backlash one faces after using. It didn't tell anything about how it worked or anything like that. So increased defense stat might have made some changes.
"What if you increase it even further? You might reach a state where you won't pass out at all."
Thyra suggested.
A wry smile appeared on Nux's face,
"I cannot do that."
"You already spent all the Blank Points you had."
Thyra realized. Nux nodded in agreement.
"Anyways, Amaya will arrive here within a few hours.
We also received the Herms letter that he sent to Amletus after killing the search team. It can be used as a proof." Ember spoke.
"Did we find anything useful in the letter?"
Nux questioned.
Ember shook her head, "We did not. It only confirmed most of our guesses, we didn't find any new information."
"Rather than something useful, we only got a new deadline," Felberta commented.
"Huh?" Nux frowned.
"The letter asked for a reply as soon as possible, it was not a problem before, however, we realized that we cannot write a reply because our handwriting is different from Amletus's," Felberta explained.
"Huh? Just get anyone to copy the writing."
"We do not have any documents with Amletus's writing on it. He destroyed all of them after he became an Emperor."
"…"
Nux turned silent.
"Well, it's not like it's a problem. Alcimus is ready."
Evane joined the conversation as well.
"Is he now?" Nux smiled.
"Yes, we should get an announcement soon." Suddenly, Astaria walked into the room and spoke.
"Oh? You are here." Seeing her, a smile appeared on Nux's face.
"You did well." Astaria praised.
"I heard you were unconscious for a whole day." Nux teased.
"I was." Astaria didn't deny.
"It seems like training you was worth it."
"I still haven't defeated you yet," Nux replied.
"You did well enough already, you forced me to use my trump card."
"Well, I had to use mine as well."
"…"
Astaria didn't say anything but narrowed her eyes.
Seeing Nux acting like this…
It… angered her.
And this time, it was not in the usual joking manner, she was actually angry. Or rather… she was frustrated.
He was just a little boy whose bones were broken just because she used her Aura to test him a little and now, here he was, fighting her toe to toe and ending the fight with a draw. She even passed out after the fight ended.
This was… frustrating…
She felt weak.
A feeling she has never felt before.
Of course, she was happy that her student was getting stronger, but on the other hand, she felt annoyed as well.
It was a strange mixture of different feelings.
And her annoyance only increased when she sees Nux talking about how he had to use his trump card 'just like her.'
The two of them were not the same.
He was a King Stage Cultivator.
She was an Emperor.
They were different.
Astaria continued to observe Nux, and the man continued to look into her eyes, smiling like he usually does.
Astaria, however, felt something different.
She felt as if Nux already knew what she was thinking but was still smiling at her. It was as if he was mocking her way of thinking.
'You being an Emperor doesn't matter, I still drew against you.'
Astaria felt like this was what he was trying to say.
And more she thought about it, the more frustrated she got but at the same time, she also realized something.
Nux was right, the cultivation stage doesn't matter.
Nux fought her to a draw.
He was now as strong as her.
He was not 'just a King Stage Cultivator.' He was her rival. A man standing right next to her. A man she could go all out against without worrying and a man, who might overtake her someday if she is not careful.
Astaria clenched her fists and then, a smile appeared on her face.
"You still failed to defeat me though."
She commented.
"Heh, I'll defeat you the next time we spar."
"You said the same thing before and see the result, you are lying on the bed, while I am standing here." Astaria chuckled.
"Oh trust me, next time, both of us would be lying on the same bed,
Together."
Nux replied with a playful smile on his face.
"Y-Y-You!"
Astaria stuttered and her cheeks turned a little red.
'T-This bastard!'
She cursed in her head.
This bastard ruined the serious atmosphere they had created with that stupid joke of his.
Astaria couldn't help but curse him more and more.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
Suddenly, the group heard a knock.
"Who is it?" Nux questioned.
"Lord Nux, I have a letter for Queen Evane."
Everyone knew where to find Queen Evane.
"Enter."
Evane ordered as she quickly fixed her expression.
The servant walked in, he quickly passed the letter to Evane and stood still.
"You can leave."
Evane ordered.
The servant bowed and left.
Evane opened the letter and after reading it for a moment,
She turned towards others,
"It is from the Woods Dynasty.
They are calling for the Emperors' Meet."
"Huh?"
Lane frowned.
"What happened?"
Thyra questioned.
"He moved."
Lane spoke as she pointed at Nux.
Thyra frowned. She walked towards Nux's bed.
The others walked here as well.
Compared to the last time Nux had passed out, all the women were a lot calmer, however, excluding Amaya, all of them were still present in the room.
Nux's eyelids moved again.
The women frowned and soon, Nux opened his eyes.
"You are awake," Lane spoke with a smile on her face.
Nux smiled as well.
"What happened? It has only been 2 days, you woke up a day earlier." Ember questioned.
"Hmm?" Nux frowned as well.
"And this time, Astaria needed an entire day to wake up." Thyra pointed out.
"I did increase my defense stat, is it perhaps related to that?" Nux suggested.
"That might be the case." Felberta nodded.
The [Blink Fault] description only talked about the backlash one faces after using. It didn't tell anything about how it worked or anything like that. So increased defense stat might have made some changes.
"What if you increase it even further? You might reach a state where you won't pass out at all."
Thyra suggested.
A wry smile appeared on Nux's face,
"I cannot do that."
"You already spent all the Blank Points you had."
Thyra realized. Nux nodded in agreement.
"Anyways, Amaya will arrive here within a few hours.
We also received the Herms letter that he sent to Amletus after killing the search team. It can be used as a proof." Ember spoke.
"Did we find anything useful in the letter?"
Nux questioned.
Ember shook her head, "We did not. It only confirmed most of our guesses, we didn't find any new information."
"Rather than something useful, we only got a new deadline," Felberta commented.
"Huh?" Nux frowned.
"The letter asked for a reply as soon as possible, it was not a problem before, however, we realized that we cannot write a reply because our handwriting is different from Amletus's," Felberta explained.
"Huh? Just get anyone to copy the writing."
"We do not have any documents with Amletus's writing on it. He destroyed all of them after he became an Emperor."
"…"
Nux turned silent.
"Well, it's not like it's a problem. Alcimus is ready."
Evane joined the conversation as well.
"Is he now?" Nux smiled.
"Yes, we should get an announcement soon." Suddenly, Astaria walked into the room and spoke.
"Oh? You are here." Seeing her, a smile appeared on Nux's face.
"You did well." Astaria praised.
"I heard you were unconscious for a whole day." Nux teased.
"I was." Astaria didn't deny.
"It seems like training you was worth it."
"I still haven't defeated you yet," Nux replied.
"You did well enough already, you forced me to use my trump card."
"Well, I had to use mine as well."
"…"
Astaria didn't say anything but narrowed her eyes.
Seeing Nux acting like this…
It… angered her.
And this time, it was not in the usual joking manner, she was actually angry. Or rather… she was frustrated.
He was just a little boy whose bones were broken just because she used her Aura to test him a little and now, here he was, fighting her toe to toe and ending the fight with a draw. She even passed out after the fight ended.
This was… frustrating…
She felt weak.
A feeling she has never felt before.
Of course, she was happy that her student was getting stronger, but on the other hand, she felt annoyed as well.
It was a strange mixture of different feelings.
And her annoyance only increased when she sees Nux talking about how he had to use his trump card 'just like her.'
The two of them were not the same.
He was a King Stage Cultivator.
She was an Emperor.
They were different.
Astaria continued to observe Nux, and the man continued to look into her eyes, smiling like he usually does.
Astaria, however, felt something different.
She felt as if Nux already knew what she was thinking but was still smiling at her. It was as if he was mocking her way of thinking.
'You being an Emperor doesn't matter, I still drew against you.'
Astaria felt like this was what he was trying to say.
And more she thought about it, the more frustrated she got but at the same time, she also realized something.
Nux was right, the cultivation stage doesn't matter.
Nux fought her to a draw.
He was now as strong as her.
He was not 'just a King Stage Cultivator.' He was her rival. A man standing right next to her. A man she could go all out against without worrying and a man, who might overtake her someday if she is not careful.
Astaria clenched her fists and then, a smile appeared on her face.
"You still failed to defeat me though."
She commented.
"Heh, I'll defeat you the next time we spar."
"You said the same thing before and see the result, you are lying on the bed, while I am standing here." Astaria chuckled.
"Oh trust me, next time, both of us would be lying on the same bed,
Together."
Nux replied with a playful smile on his face.
"Y-Y-You!"
Astaria stuttered and her cheeks turned a little red.
'T-This bastard!'
She cursed in her head.
This bastard ruined the serious atmosphere they had created with that stupid joke of his.
Astaria couldn't help but curse him more and more.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
Suddenly, the group heard a knock.
"Who is it?" Nux questioned.
"Lord Nux, I have a letter for Queen Evane."
Everyone knew where to find Queen Evane.
"Enter."
Evane ordered as she quickly fixed her expression.
The servant walked in, he quickly passed the letter to Evane and stood still.
"You can leave."
Evane ordered.
The servant bowed and left.
Evane opened the letter and after reading it for a moment,
She turned towards others,
"It is from the Woods Dynasty.
They are calling for the Emperors' Meet."
