TRT Chapter 115: End of a Shopping Trip (Patreon)

(Edited by Radriel7)

Over the next few days, I spent a lot of time shopping in Sunheart’s Sky District. With a potentially apocalyptic threat looming on the horizon, it was time for me to stop goofing off and start getting serious. When it came to fighting, I preferred charging right in sword swinging and spells flying. Back when I was Celestial Thunder, I could get away with it.

However, at my current level of power, that just wasn’t feasible. If I faced an opponent too strong for me to handle, such as anyone or anything at the Third Circle/Core Formation and above, then I would just get fucked. The undead attack, back when we left the Icefall Region, was a prime example of that.

In order to defeat my opponents, I would either need something to even the odds or I would need to burn my lifespan for a boost of power. While I wasn’t worried about losing lifespan, since I cultivated fast enough to make up for the loss, it was still a limited resource. I couldn’t just spend it willy nilly, not when I had other options. In my case, that meant using arrays and talismans.

Back when I started walking the path towards immortality again, that’s what I did. I fought smart. However, after I reached the Foundation Establishment stage and reached the Second Rank of my body refinement technique, I grew complacent. It wasn’t that bad then, back when there wasn’t as much urgency for me to become more powerful, but things were different now. The stakes were higher and I couldn’t afford to fuck around any more.

I spent a lot of mana stones in order to buy the supplies I needed. First off, I bought the cloth I needed to create a new set of array flags. The memory stone I received from Grand Inquisitor Corvus, the one that contained knowledge on arrays, also contained the method to creating array flags. They differed somewhat from formation flags, but there were enough similarities that I could use the Brightwood stands I carved in Rosewood City. I just needed to make some adjustments.

Inspired by the flying fan that my parents gave to Kaylee, I chose Spiderweave Silk. It was expensive, but it made for a decent set of array flags when combined with Brightwood. They would last me until I reached the Essence Collection stage. After that, I would have to find a more powerful set.

I also bought plenty of special inks and papers in order to create talismans. Like with formations, or arrays in this case, they were a tool that I had been severely under-utilizing. If I’d had a Ghostfire Sealing Talisman, or a Spiritblood Talisman Sealing Talisman, on me when we faced the undead horde, perhaps I wouldn’t have had to burn fifty years off my lifespan in order to kill the Winged Lion. If it had been alive, using a sealing talisman wouldn’t have worked since magic beasts were still strong even without mana. However, the undead were animated by Dark magic. Cutting off that Dark magic, even for a second, could have been enough to outright destroy that undead Winged Lion.

Not only did I buy enough supplies for my own personal use, but I bought enough for my disciples. I also bought several pieces of memory stone so I could create tokens for them. With the way things stood, I just didn’t have the time to spare in order to create talismans and array flags for them. Since that was the case, it was better to imprint my knowledge of formations and talismans into these tokens and have my disciples study them. That way they could become more self-sufficient. They couldn’t depend on me for everything for the rest of their lives. Even if they could, they shouldn’t. It would be detrimental to their progress.

This is something I should have done sooner, but I enjoyed the time I spent with each of them. Instead of tossing a few jade slips at them, or memory stone tokens in this case, I liked teaching them myself. However, with Lorelei becoming Lady Diana’s disciple and the amount of time I needed to devote to my own cultivation, it was time to make the transition. I also made sure to include the Key of Harmonious Union for each of my disciples. While it wouldn’t do them much good now, it would help them become much more powerful as they advanced in both their wizardry and cultivation.

Needless to say, I was busy in the days after the little get together with Annabelle and the others. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I even knew how to relax. I think I would die of boredom if I spent more than a month lazing about.

However, as I spent my days shopping and making preparations, I noticed a change in the way my friends and family looked at me. They seemed worried and concerned. I wasn’t sure why. It started off small, with a look here and a glance there, but I saw their worry deepen as the days passed. That said, no one said anything so I didn’t think much of it. At least, I didn’t until Corie confronted me.

***

It happened on the last day of my shopping spree, on our way back from the Sky District. I had finally bought all of the supplies I needed, and it was time to actually start crafting. It was a fine spring day. The skies were clear, without a cloud in sight, allowing the sun to shine down on the land unimpeded. Temperatures were rising, and summer wasn’t all that far off.

Corie and I rode in a rented carriage instead of a House Sturm one. In order to avoid attracting undue attention, I decided to disguise myself during my shopping trips, using a different disguise for each one. I also did it to appease Paladin Charles, the leader of the paladins of Tempest assigned to protect me. He wanted to have a contingent of paladins to accompany me every time I went out. However, I vetoed that idea real fucking quick. The less attention I drew to myself the better. I was already in the spotlight for a number of reasons. No need to make things worse.

Paladin Charles pointed out that as the Chosen of Tempest, I had plenty of enemies. Dark wizards, the faithful of Aeros and Aqua, and more. If I went out without an escort, these enemies would take advantage of the opportunity to target me. There were also others who would target me because I was a Sturm.

House Brant was on the top of that list, due to the history between our two Houses. Now that I had outed myself as the Chosen of Tempest, they might consider me an actual threat and seek to eliminate me. After all, their founder had been the Chosen of Brand. That alone gave them the power and influence they needed to challenge House Sturm and win, back when we were a Great House.

Now that the tables have turned, there was a chance I would use my status in order to get revenge on them and reestablish House Sturm as a Great House once more. Honestly, if it hadn’t been for the threat looming on the horizon, they would have been right. As things stood, I didn’t have the time to spare for revenge. However, they didn’t know that and any attempts to convince them otherwise would just backfire.

With all of this in mind, I decided to disguise myself when I went out. That way, I would be relatively safe without having a small army of paladins following me around. After all, who would expect the Chosen of Tempest to hide his appearance and skulk about like a wanted fugitive? Paladin Charles wasn’t happy about this, but he acquiesced in the end.

For this particular trip, I disguised myself as Brandon Norwood, or as close to him as I could get under the circumstances. Rather than use magic, I used mundane means. However, there was only so much make up and prosthetics could do. Still, I was satisfied with the results. Brown hair, brown eyes, plain features. No one who looked at me would realize I was Gabriel Sturm. Well, almost no one. Annabelle would, but she was a special case.

The rented carriage wasn’t as good as a House Sturm one, but it was decent so the trip was a smooth one. I had even been in a somewhat good mood, at least until Corie opened her mouth.

“Did you have a fight with Lady Annabelle, young master?” she demanded.

I turned to her and frowned. Corie also wore a disguise. It was well known by now that Lorelei, Corie, and Leroy were retainers of House Sturm; my retainers specifically. Since I was disguised, they needed to disguise themselves as well whenever they escorted me. I could have avoided this hassle by going off on my own, but Father forbade that. Even if I wouldn’t take the paladins with me, I still needed to bring an escort of some kind.

Like me, Corie looked a lot different than her usual self. Brown hair, brown eyes, and plain features. We looked as average as possible.

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“Did you have a fight with Lady Annabelle, young master?” Corie repeated. “You’ve been a mopey asshole ever since you last saw her, so we figured the two of you had a fight.”

I narrowed my eyes at her.

“No,” I said in a cold voice. “Annabelle and I didn’t have a fight. Even if we did, I fail to see how that is any of your business.”

Corie pointed a finger at me.

“See?” she said. “That’s exactly what I’m talking about. You’ve been short and snippy with everyone since that day. Not only that, but you spend every night brooding on the roof.”

She…wasn’t wrong. Ever since I realized that Annabelle and Dancing Lily were one and the same, I’d been in a poor mood. That must have seeped into my interactions with everyone else. I also spent my nights broo-…sitting on the roof and thinking. In my defense, I had a lot to think about.

“Also,” Corie paused with a nervous expression on her face. “Sometimes it feels like you’ve become someone else. You get this look in your eyes, and it’s like you’re a different person altogether.”

I tilted my head to the side.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked.

Corie licked her lips before answering.

“I don’t know if I can articulate it,” she said. “Your eyes become cold and sharp and overbearing, like…”

She trailed off, unable to finish her sentence. Not she needed to. I finished the sentence for her.

“Like an executioner’s blade,” I said.

Corie nodded, a somber look in her eyes.

“Yes,” she said. “That’s exactly it.”

I sighed and rubbed my face. A wave of exhaustion overcame me. Physically I felt fine. However, I felt drained mentally and emotionally. The war against the Golden Dragon had been a brutal and bloody affair. At first it wasn’t so bad, but as it went on and grew bigger and bigger in scope, the number of casualties on both sides skyrocketed. Countless beings died. Gods, demons, divine beasts. No one came out of it unscathed.

I killed more than my fair share of enemies in order to protect my loved ones. No. That was putting it mildly. I killed over and over again, until even the skies were stained red by a bloody mist. Mercy became a luxury that I couldn’t afford. It was kill or be killed, and I couldn’t afford to die. Too many people depended on me.

I enjoyed battle, I always had, but not wanton slaughter. To maintain my sanity, I put aside the kind part of me; the bleeding heart tendencies that Celestial Hound complained about so much. However, in doing so, I became someone I didn’t like so much; someone hardhearted and ruthless. It got to the point that even my own allies became wary of me. One of them called me cold and sharp and overbearing, like an executioner’s blade. I couldn’t remember who. In time, my allies came to fear me just as much as they feared our enemies. Perhaps even more so. The only people who treated me the same, despite the person I had become, were Celestial Hound and Dancing Lily.

For the former, it was because of our bond. The two of us were soul mates; brothers in all but blood. Or so I thought, until Celestial Hound stabbed me in the back.

As for the latter…I’m not entirely sure why she continued to pursue me even after I became a cold-hearted killer. Or maybe that was part of the appeal. After all, she was a sadistic sociopath who liked to toy with people’s lives. Perhaps she wanted to be with someone who was just as fucked up as she was.

Hearing Corie describe me the same way that my former allies used to left me feeling cold. Perhaps learning that Annabelle was Dancing Lily caused me to revert back to that version of myself. I hoped not. I liked who I was now, and I had no intention of going back to the way I used to be. Even back then I hated it.

“Annabelle and I didn’t fight,” I said, sounding exhausted. “It’s just…complicated.”

Corie gave me a concerned look.

“Is there anything we can do to help?” she asked. “You aren’t alone. You have people you can talk to.”

I shook my head and looked out the window.

“No,” I said. “Not for this.”

The only one I could talk to about this was Aurora, since she understood me in a way that few others could.

“Young master-…” Corie started to say, but I cut her off with a sharp gesture.

“Enough,” I said, a warning in my tone. “This isn’t something you or the others can help me with.” I looked at her. “This is between me and Annabelle.”

Corie looked hurt by my words, but nodded.

“I see,” she said with a scowl before looking away. “I’m sorry for poking my nose where it doesn’t belong.”

I sighed.

“Corie,” I called out to her.

She ignored me.

“Corie, look at me.”

This time she looked at me, though she schooled her expression into a neutral mask.

“Thank you for your concern,” I said, putting as much sincerity into my voice as possible. “I appreciate it. You have no idea how much it means to me.”

Her mask cracked.

“Then why won’t you tell us what’s going on?” she asked. “Everyone is worried about you, including Lord Sturm.”

Father was worried about me? Huh. Things must have been worse than I realized.

“Because it involves my past life,” I said, deciding to share some of the truth. “My life as Celestial Thunder that is.” I gestured to myself. “You know one aspect of me. However, the time I’ve spent as both Brandon Norwood and Gabriel Sturm combined is little more than a blink of the eye compared to the time I’ve spent as Celestial Thunder. I have more than a few unresolved issues from back then, and this involves one of those unresolved issues.”

Corie gave me a baffled look.

“But how?” she asked. “I thought you and Lady Annabelle first met back in the Otherworld.”

“So did I,” I said. “It turned out that I was wrong.”

Though perhaps a part of me recognized Annabelle for who she was, even back when I was Brandon Norwood. Before she came along, my life up to that point had been dull and gray. Annabelle brought color and life to any otherwise dreary existence. That wouldn’t have happened unless…I stopped that train of thought before it delved into dangerous territory. It wasn’t yet time for that.

“Does…” Corie said, her eyes growing wide. “Does this mean that Lady Annabelle is like you? Is she a reincarnation from Spirit Earth?”

I gave her a sad smile and didn’t answer. Instead, I looked out the window.

“Love isn’t always a good thing,” I said. “It can be beautiful and wonderful, but it can also be a corrosive poison that will eat away at your reason. Take care to not give your heart to the wrong person.” I glanced at her. “That isn’t to say that there’s something wrong with Leroy. In fact, he’s a fine man. Just…” I paused, looking for the right words to convey what I meant. “…have better taste than me. Don’t make the same mistakes I have.”

Corie didn’t answer for several long moments.

“I refuse to believe that,” she said. “There isn’t anything corrosive or poisonous about Lady Annabelle. No matter how upset you are with her, you shouldn’t badmouth her like that.”

I snorted.

“Do you really think I’m that petty?” I asked.

Corie let out a snort of her own.

“Do you want me to answer that question honestly?” she shot back.

I chuckled.

“Fair enough,” I said, before sighing. “But no, I’m not being petty. Annabelle isn’t who you think she is. Rather, she isn’t just who you think she is. There is more to her beneath the surface.” I shook my head. “That’s all I’ll say on the matter. The rest involves secrets that aren’t mine to share.”

That said, did I need to keep Annabelle’s secrets? Considering what she did to me, I would have to do a whole lot worse to her before we were even. However, I still loved her. I couldn’t bring myself to hurt her, even if it was just revealing her true identity. It would all come out in the end, when Dancing Lily “woke up”, but there wasn’t any need to hurry that along.

“I still find that difficult to believe,” Corie said. “Lady Annabelle is so…so…There’s just something about her that makes the world seem like a better place.”

“Yes,” I murmured. “She was always good at getting others to like her.”

Even I had fallen under her spell, though I refused to acknowledge it for a long while.

“What was that?”

I shook my head.

“It’s nothing,” I said before facing Corie. “Mopey asshole, huh?”

From the look on her face, she knew that I was trying to change the subject but went along with it anyway.

“Well, it’s true,” she said. “You have been acting like a mopey asshole these past few days. We weren’t sure if you were aware of it, so I decided to do the right thing and let you know.”

I chuckled.

“Tell me,” I said. “Did the others put you up to this, or did you decide to do it on your own?”

“A bit of both,” Corie said. “As I said, we were all worried about you and I volunteered to talk to you about it. We figured that I was the best person for the job since apparently I’m your favorite.”

She grinned at me when she said that last part.

“Impudent brat,” I said before reaching over and flicking her on the forehead. “Don’t act all cocky.”

Despite this, Corie looked pleased with herself. I just rolled my eyes and shook my head, before looking out the window again. We spent the rest of the journey back to Sturm Manor in silence. However, the air between us had changed. It had become lighter. That eased the worry in my heart a little.

The rented carriage dropped us off in Oakwood Hollow, since I didn’t want to advertise the fact that my disguised persona had ties with House Sturm, and we walked the rest of the way back home. However, when we neared Sturm Manor, I noticed a flurry of activity.

A train of magic carriages idled in front of the entrance to the main building, with an army of servants scurrying about near them. These servants didn’t belong to House Sturm. With my divine sense, I saw that they were moving luggage from the carriages to the main building. My heart sank. While neither the carriages nor the servants bore a crest or any kind of identifying markers, I had a feeling I knew who was responsible for all this. However, I hoped that I was wrong. I wanted to be wrong.

“What is going on?” Corie asked with a frown on her face.

My expression darkened.

“Let’s go find out,” I said, before marching towards Sturm Manor.

If I was right, and the twins were responsible for all of this, I needed to stop it as soon as possible. There was no way I was going to let them move into Sturm Manor.