One sun-drenched afternoon, more than ten days later, Elara once again surreptitiously departed from Serene Creek Valley to rendezvous with Leric Stormblade.
In truth, "surreptitiously" was perhaps an overstatement. Physician Mor was, by now, thoroughly cognizant of her frequent excursions from the valley. Yet, he refrained from interfering in the slightest, granting Elara complete and unrestricted freedom of movement.
This ostensibly laissez-faire approach had initially caused Elara's skin to crawl, leaving her to wonder what intricate scheme he was meticulously plotting. However, after several uneventful entries and exits, during which she confirmed that no one was indeed tailing her, she gradually allowed her vigilance to relax, growing bolder in attending to her personal affairs.
Subsequently, after a prolonged period of careful contemplation and astute deduction, Elara had slowly begun to apprehend the underlying reasons for his remarkable leniency.
Physician Mor's apparent "forbearance" towards Elara was, in fact, rooted in his own complex predicament.
Although he held Elara firmly captive with the formidable twin locks of the 'Corpse Larva Pill' and the precarious fate of her family, he also recognized that employing such overtly coercive methods of control would inevitably sow deep resentment within her heart. Consequently, her dedication to cultivation would likely be reluctant and far from wholehearted. Were he to compound this by restricting her freedom of movement, it would undoubtedly prove even more counterproductive. After all, Physician Mor's ultimate objective was to inspire her to actively and willingly cultivate the Breath of Eternal Life, not to physically bind her and compel her compliance.
Once Elara had thoroughly unraveled the intricate cause and effect of this delicate situation, her audacity burgeoned. Previously, she had felt compelled to somewhat evade Physician Mor's direct line of sight, exercising caution when entering and exiting the valley, slipping away with quiet discretion. Now, her approach was far more direct; she would brazenly stride past him without so much as a perfunctory greeting.
On the surface, Elara projected an air of almost nonchalant carelessness, as if she were entirely unconcerned. Yet, deep within, she meticulously maintained her characteristic caution and prudence.
The very instant she stepped beyond the valley's confines, she would immediately activate the Breath of Eternal Life, elevating her senses of hearing, vision, and overall perception to an almost preternatural acuity. This allowed her to bring every discernible moving object within a radius of several dozen yards under her complete and unwavering awareness.
Elara was confident that even if Physician Mor himself were to attempt to spy on her, he would absolutely not escape the detection range of her exquisitely keen senses.
In a direct confrontation, she conceded, she might not be his equal. However, when it came to the nuanced application and mastery of her five senses, she possessed an unshakeable and absolute confidence in her own abilities.
En route, Elara skillfully evaded the outpost disciples patrolling the mountainous terrain. Navigating through the secret passage concealed within the hollow of the ancient oak tree, she crawled into the vicinity of the small, secluded pool where she had last met Leric.
The moment she emerged, she saw Leric Stormblade, his feet bare, seated casually by the edge of the pool.
His head was bowed, his uncovered feet dangling in the refreshingly cool water of the pool. He was vigorously slapping the surface with energetic plop, plop sounds, sending myriad iridescent droplets arcing through the air, thoroughly engrossed in his playful diversion.
Upon hearing Elara's approach, he didn't even bother to raise his head before launching into a direct complaint, "Junior Sister Elara, you're arriving progressively later each time! You consistently make me wait for what feels like an eternity. Is it truly impossible for you to arrive early, just once?"
"My sincerest apologies, I…" Elara began, brushing dust from her garments with her hand, poised to offer an explanation.
"Catch!" Leric, without waiting for Elara to complete her sentence, unceremoniously tossed an exceptionally large, cloth-wrapped bundle from behind his back directly towards her.
"What in the world is this? Something delectable to eat?" Elara caught it, her expression one of mild bewilderment. Immediately, however, she registered that the package was unexpectedly hard and surprisingly heavy—not at all like something edible.
"Food is all you ever think about! Weren't you the one who explicitly requested I bring out the 'Blink Strike Swordplay' manual?" Leric shot her an exasperated glare, then added, his face a mask of perfect seriousness.
"This is the sword manual? Are you quite certain? You didn't, by some chance, accidentally wrap up the whetstone from your courtyard, did you?" Elara stared at the veritable behemoth resting on her arm, her face etched with utter disbelief.
"It's incredibly heavy!" She strained with both arms, attempting to heft it, and nearly sent herself toppling over in the process.
"Haha!" Leric could no longer restrain himself. He erupted into gales of unrestrained laughter, eventually collapsing and rolling on the ground, thoroughly coating himself in grass clippings and loose soil.
Elara cast a suspicious glance at his bizarre antics, then redirected her gaze to the absurdly oversized bundle.
Thud!
She gave the bundle a tentative kick with her foot; it did, indeed, seem to possess the distinct feel of books contained within.
Ignoring her friend, who was now practically incapacitated with mirth nearby, Elara thoughtfully stroked her chin, then, with a deliberate jut of her rear, squatted down beside the cumbersome package.
In her estimation, attempting to guess the outcome of something that would be revealed in a matter of moments was a futile and foolish expenditure of mental energy.
A pair of fair, impeccably clean hands settled upon the tightly secured knot of the bundle. Her ten fingers then commenced a delicate, rapid dance, reminiscent of butterflies flitting amongst flowers. A fleeting blur of finger-shadows flickered over the bundle, and the knot, which had been tied with formidable tightness, miraculously, effortlessly, came undone.
Clap, clap! A sudden burst of crisp, enthusiastic applause shattered the relative quiet.
Elara, however, didn't immediately move to uncover the bundle. Instead, she turned her head to look at her incorrigibly mischievous friend, who had been overcome with laughter only moments before.
At some indeterminate point, Leric had managed to quell his laughter and had already donned his boots.
Now, he was clapping his hands with vigorous enthusiasm, cheering her on with all his might, seemingly oblivious to the fact that his palms were already flushed a bright, stinging red.
"Tsk, tsk! Every single time I witness you execute that 'Silken Thread Fingers' technique with such breathtaking mastery, I find it utterly incredible. This particular martial art seems as though it were divinely tailor-made for you. And to think, it has only been a brief two months since I first taught it to you!" Leric continued to applaud, his tongue clicking in ceaseless, vocal admiration.
"You didn't go to the trouble of transforming a simple sword manual into such an enormous bundle merely to coax me into performing this little trick, did you?" Elara inquired, her tone laced with exasperation.
"Certainly not. Open the bundle, and all will become clear," Leric replied, his playful demeanor abruptly vanishing, his expression shifting to one of profound seriousness.
Observing this sudden, stark change in his countenance, Elara's curiosity was intensely piqued. She turned her head back, her gaze once more settling upon the mysterious bundle before her. Tilting her head slightly in contemplation, she extended her index and middle fingers, delicately pinched a corner of the cloth wrapping, and with a smooth outward pull, unveiled all the objects concealed within.
"This… this is…" Elara's forehead instantly erupted in a dense, chilling sheen of cold sweat, her eyes widening to such an extent that they seemed on the verge of bulging from their sockets.
"Well? Quite a shock, wouldn't you say?" Leric ambled over slowly and gently patted her on the shoulder.
Elara turned with a wooden, almost robotic stiffness, staring directly at him, utterly speechless for a long, drawn-out moment.
"Why are you gazing at me with such an expression? I assure you, I'm not going to offer myself in matrimony simply because of this, you know!" Leric quipped, attempting to tease Elara once more with a mischievous grin.
It was only after hearing his jocular remark that Elara seemed to violently snap back to her senses.
"I am drawing a definitive and irrevocable line between us!" she shrieked, her voice trembling with a mixture of fury and disbelief. "From this precise moment forward, I shall pretend I never had the misfortune of knowing you! And you, likewise, have never laid eyes upon me!"
"I don't know whether my eyes are deceiving me, or if you have genuinely, certifiably, gone stark raving mad!" Elara's voice rose to a furious roar as she gestured emphatically with a trembling finger at the massive, haphazard pile of large and small martial arts manuals spread before her. "You've actually absconded with nearly half the entire collection from the Hall of Seven Arts' archives and brought it here! If this monumental transgression is discovered by those patrolling Enforcers, both of us will find it exceedingly difficult to even secure the mercy of a quick death!"
Conspicuously displayed on the upper left corner of the cover of each and every one of these books, the ostentatious words "Hall of Seven Arts Collection" were uniformly, damningly, inscribed in shimmering golden ink.