Chapter 8: Chapter 8 – Uninvited Guests

The two people were now standing in front of a small brick house. 

The woman glanced at the young man and they both nodded at each other simultaneously.

*Bang, bang, bang* 

The young man started yelling: 

“We know you’re in there! Come out!” 

After not getting an answer, the young man glanced at the woman. The woman shrugged her  shoulders in a carefree manner, as if leaving the decision to the young man. 

The young man sighed. 

“Ahhhh…So bothersome.” 

*Boom, crash!!* 

The young man kicked the door in, which in turn flew away and crashed into some wooden  chairs inside of the house. 

The young man then entered the house, followed by the woman. 

The young man looked around the house, and then smirked, as if seeing something interesting.

He pointed at something and asked the woman: 

“Ma’am, is this what I think it is?” 

The woman answered curtly, with a small sneer. 

“It is.” 

They were looking at a bed on which a tattered brown-haired young man laid. That brown-haired  young man was Luke. 

Luke was sweating heavily, and was flinching often, as if he was having a bad dream.

“This is kind of nostalgic…” 

The young man crossed his arms. 

“But where is the old man?”

The questions kept piling up. They came here to return what the old man stole, but were instead  greeted by a 20-something-year old going through the first phase of soul cleansing. 

The first phase of soul cleansing is something that people usually went through when they were  around 3-4 years old, so it was pretty weird seeing it here of all places, and in such circumstances. 

The woman spoke up: 

“Wait for him to wake up, then question him.” 

The young man nodded. 

“Yes, ma’am.” 

Even though they were in a bit of a hurry, they shouldn’t mindlessly interrupt someone’s soul  cleansing, as it could have unforeseen consequences, such as the person’s soul shattering. 

The young man turned around and started picking up the chairs that he knocked over earlier,  propping them back up. 

The pair both sat down and started waiting patiently. 

The young man then opened his mouth. 

“Ma’am, what if this guy happens to be that old man’s disciple? Should we get rid of him in that  case? What if he doesn’t wan-” 

The woman turned her head and glared at the young man, prompting him to stop talking. The young man then cleared his throat. 

“Ahem.. I apologize, ma’am.” 

The woman then crossed her arms and closed her eyes, while the young man kept glancing at  Luke. 

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

 

It was now early in the morning. 

Luke slowly opened his eyes. He could notice that he was a bit smelly and wet.

“Arghh…What the hell happened while I was asleep?”

Saying that, Luke sat up with his eyes still half-closed and rubbed his eyes.

He then saw something that made his heart skip a beat. 

Luke opened his eyes wide, and stared at the two uninvited guests sitting at the table in front of  him. 

‘What the hell? Who are they?’ 

The young man opened his mouth: 

“Ah, the princess is finally awake! Come, sit!” 

The young man pointed at the chair on the opposite side of the table from him. Luke dazedly stood up and started walking towards the table, feeling a bit creeped out.

‘They’re wearing the exact same silver robes that the old man wore…’ 

Luke plopped down on the chair nervously. 

“Who are you people?” 

The young man smirked. 

“Nah-ah. We’ll be the ones asking questions.” 

The young man glanced at the woman. 

“But maybe we should at least introduce ourselves?” 

The woman, with her arms still crossed, simply nodded. 

“I don’t see the harm.” 

The young man turned his head to look at Luke. 

The young man pointed at himself. 

“My name is Mark, and this grumpy old woman’s name is Alissia.” 

The woman, Alissia, then uncrossed her arms and slapped the young man, Mark, on the back of his head. 

Mark grabbed the back of his head, tears welling up as if he’d start crying.

“Ouch! What was that for?!” 

Alissia smirked at Mark.

“That’s for disrespecting your superiors.” 

Luke just stared at them dumbfoundedly, thinking that he might still be asleep and having a  weird dream. 

Mark looked towards Luke with a serious expression. 

“Okay, that would be the introductions. Now then.” 

Luke gulped, while Mark narrowed his eyes. 

“Who are you and why are you here?” 

Luke started thinking. 

‘I think that I should just tell them what they want to know. I might learn something useful from  them as well, and either way, I don’t think I’d be able to beat them if they’re anywhere near the  old man’s level.’ 

Luke took a peek at the silver robes they were wearing. He opened his mouth: 

“My name is Luke. I was saved by an old man while running away from a few Gleems, and then  he-” 

Mark grinned from ear to ear, and interrupted Luke. 

“Lying would be unwise in this situation, wouldn’t it?” 

Mark started gathering wind in his right hand. 

Luke could feel an enormous amount of mana gathering in Mark’s hand, and felt that he needed  to speak up before this spiraled out of control. 

“Wait! I’m not lying!” 

Mark started laughing, as it was funny to him. 

“Hahahaha! Sure you are! Everyone knows that even an 8 year old kid can take care of a few dozen Gleems on their own!” 

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Luke started doubting Mark’s words. 

“What do you mean?! I could barely kill a Gleem in a one-on-one fight, let alone if a few dozen  of them charged at me at the same time!” 

Mark glared at Luke. 

“Did anyone ever tell you that you’re full of bullshit?!”

A pure white wind blade consisting of an enormous amount of mana appeared in Mark’s right  hand. Mark then stood up, and pointed the blade at Luke’s neck. 

Mark spoke up. 

“You even put on a show of going through your first phase of soul cleansing, even though you’re  already an adult!"

Luke was confused yet again. 

‘Soul cleansing? What even is that?’ 

Alissia then decided to speak up. 

“Mark, enough.” 

Mark retorted. 

“Ma’am, just give me a bit more time! I have him cornered!” 

Alissia stood up, and waved her hand, releasing a gust of wind, making Mark’s wind blade  scatter in an instant. 

“I said enough!” 

Alissia glared at Mark, and as if realizing what he just said and did, Mark’s eyes widened and he lowered his head. 

“Ma’am! I am truly sorry! It will not happen again!” 

Alissia nodded her head. 

“Good. I’ll take it from here. Go and wait for me outside” 

Mark left the house, his head still drooping. 

Alissia sat back down and looked at Luke. 

“Why did you come to this forest if you can’t even defeat a few Gleems?”

Luke started thinking. 

‘What should I even tell her? That I fell asleep on a bench and just appeared here? There’s no  way she’d buy that.’ 

“I went through an incident, leading me to be here against my will.” 

Alissia narrowed her eyes.

“What kind of an incident?” 

Luke opened his mouth. 

“You could say that I was transported into this forest by an external force.”

‘What a scary old woman. Even I don’t know why I’m here yet you’re asking me that…’

Alissia scoffed. 

“Transported was it… Well, not that it matters much.” 

Alissia crossed her arms, and asked Luke directly. 

“Where is the old man?” 

Luke gulped. 

‘Don’t tell me…Are they here to rescue him?’ 

“What do you want with the old man?” 

Alissia started scratching one of her hands and looked down at the table. 

“It’s not really the old man himself we’re after. He stole something that is very precious to us.”

Luke narrowed his eyes a bit. 

‘He stole something? But the old man didn’t seem to have anything of value. Did I perhaps miss  something?’ 

“Could you perhaps tell me about what he stole?” 

Alissia lifted her head up and sneered at Luke. 

“No. Just answer the question. Where is he?” 

Luke started staring at the table nervously. 

“I, umm… I killed him.” 

Alissia’s face contorted. 

She stood up and stared at Luke. 

“You? The guy who couldn’t kill a few Gleems? Ha…Hahahahahahahahaha!” 

Alissia’s husky laughter was creepy to say the least. She grabbed her face with one of her hands and laughed like a madman.

“Phew… I haven’t laughed like that in decades! Thanks.” 

Alissia sat back down and smirked at Luke. 

“This is the last time I’m going to ask. Where is the old man?” 

Alissia raised up a finger and started swirling it around. 

Wind started gathering around Luke, putting pressure on his whole body. He felt as if his whole  body would pop like a balloon. 

“Okay, okay! I get it! I’ll lead you directly to him! I just have a small question first, alright?!”

Alissia snorted. 

“At least I can admire your guts. Fine, ask.” 

Alissia swirled her finger once again, releasing the pressure and causing Luke to sigh a breath of  relief inwardly. 

‘Phew, that went better than I thought.’ 

Luke asked: 

“What is the “soul cleansing” thing that that guy mentioned earlier? He said that I faked going  through it, but I don’t even know what it is.” 

Alissia was bored by such questions. 

“Didn’t your parents teach you anything? The soul cleansing is the process of strengthening  one’s soul after accumulating enough mana, thus being able to use, see, and sense mana even  better. Now, lead me to the old man.” 

Luke stood up. 

‘That was definitely not the full answer to my question. I will need to look into this as soon as  I’m able to.’ 

“Fine, follow me.” 

Luke left the house, with Alissia and Mark in tow. He was heading towards where he dropped  the old man’s corpse off. 

‘It’s night-time, but I think that even if we were to run into N’Gool, that woman would be able to  handle him.’ 

Luke glanced at Alissia and kept moving forward.

They soon reached the old man’s corpse. 

Alissia was surprised. She kneeled down and checked the old man’s corpse for a pulse.

“Huh, so you actually did manage to somehow kill him.” 

After confirming that the old man was indeed dead, Alissia turned towards Luke.

“One last question and you’re free to go.” 

Luke smiled bitterly. 

“Go ahead.” 

Alissia then said something that made Luke’s mind go blank. 

“Do you happen to have a silver hourglass tattoo on your chest?”

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