Legacy of Hatred-Chapter 59: Flowers

Nothing could have prepared Liam for how far his Master not-Master would have pushed his directives. He knew the Alchemy Elder had meant every word, but what came next bordered on realms beyond mere obsession.

Liam did nothing but practice with logs during the private lesson. The same also went for the following ones, and things didn’t end there.

The privacy of Liam’s cave vanished once those lessons began, since he started receiving logs and piles of books alongside the daily food deliveries.

In mere days, Liam’s small cave became cramped with wood and pages upon pages containing all kinds of information that went from the basic Kingdom’s layout to endless lists of alchemical materials.

As if that weren’t bad enough, the Alchemy Elder always interrogated Liam during the private lessons, alternating questions with the cane.

So, after two weeks of that extreme training, Liam did the unthinkable. Once the flame in front of him turned dark red, he stood up and crushed the burning log with his foot. His splitting headache told him that it was time to take a break.

’I’ve had enough of damned logs!’ Liam cursed in his mind, kicking the burnt wood shards away while navigating through the maze that the piles of books had created.

Of course, those books earned themselves Liam’s bloodshot glares, too. He had lost count of how many of those he had read, and his patience had long since reached the breaking point.

’It’s always more studying,’ Liam cursed again, ’More logs, more stupidly complex words, and even more damned logs!’

Truth be told, that practice was helping Liam greatly, no matter how much his annoyed mood refused to acknowledge it.

Logs aside, knowledge had always been Liam’s greatest weakness, and that extensive reading was fixing it. The information about alchemical materials felt useless since he still wasn’t allowed to touch a cauldron, but everything else gradually removed his cluelessness over many topics.

Liam simply struggled to adjust to that drastic change. He was a monkey-boy to the core, but he seemed to have transformed into a scholar in those two weeks.

Still, obviously, Liam couldn’t do just that. Two other aspects had improved, too. The circulation technique was now always active and barely needed his input or odd breathing pace anymore. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

As for the second aspect, Liam couldn’t help but stop at the proof of his progress. He was standing in front of his cave’s wall, where two hand-shaped holes had carved through its rock.

’I’m getting better at it,’ Liam smirked, nodding to himself, placing his hands into those holes, which fit them perfectly.

The Sect’s caves were the result of inscriptions, making them quite resilient, so Liam didn’t know how that damage translated in the real world. Yet, that cultivator-like achievement improved his mood nonetheless.

Afterward, Liam exited his cave, closing his eyes to breathe in the fresher and colder air. Morning had yet to arrive, but that worked in his favor since he planned to kill time. He wasn’t physically tired, but his mind needed to relax.

The hour was too early for the Sect to have any activity, and Liam didn’t exactly have hobbies there, so he went for the communal baths, hoping that the cozy waterfalls would remove his concentration-induced headache.

The communal baths fulfilled Liam’s wish, taking away his stress, annoyance, and headache, as well as more time than he had ever spent cleaning himself up.

So much time, in fact, that the sun had risen by the time Liam left the hut wearing a clean robe. The Sect had awakened, and with that came unwanted attention.

A few dozen outer disciples reached the first plateau to head to the other side of the Outer Hall, probably wanting to attend lessons.

Liam was in the way, so a series of greetings unfolded, threatening to rekindle his just-defeated headache. Of course, the dreaded pleasantries also arrived.

"Junior Brother, how are your injuries?"

"Junior Brother, are you free today?"

"Brother Liam, was the magical beast truly four meters tall?"

"Brother Liam, could you spare me some time later? I wish to hear it all about your valiant battle!"

The questions seemed to have no end, which was understandable. Liam had isolated himself after defeating the magical beast, only coming out at night to attend his private lessons, so the outer disciples didn’t want to miss that unexpected opportunity.

Yet, as the question piled up and a small group gathered around Liam, his brain defaulted to the word that had afflicted him in those weeks.

"Logs," Liam inadvertently uttered.

The random response enforced an awkward silence. The young women in the group tried to smile anyway to avoid insulting Liam, only to worsen the atmosphere.

Luckily, Liam had two unlikely saviors that day.

"Stop bothering Junior Brother," Kyle’s voice resounded over the plateau.

"Disperse!" Erik’s voice soon joined it.

The group showed disappointed faces but complied, allowing Liam to see the approaching members of the disciplinary committee. Despite the initial rocky meeting, their authority in the Sect had worked in Liam’s favor now.

"Thank you, Senior Brothers," Liam genuinely greeted when the two young men stopped before him.

"Junior Brother, it’s rare to see you outside," Kyle announced, smiling from ear to ear.

"Junior Brother, I’m glad that you seem better," Erik added, bowing, showing far more politeness than his companion.

Liam straightened himself and threw a glance at Erik, but didn’t say anything. Things were still strange between the two after the mission, and Liam couldn’t really find the desire to patch things up.

"Junior Brother, are you here to check on our Senior Brother?" Kyle asked, disregarding what Liam and his companion were going through.

"Which Senior Brother?" Liam wondered.

"Inner Disciple Randall is here today," Kyle explained. "He said that he missed his fellow outer disciples."

In the past, the explanation would have confused Liam, but his extensive reading allowed him to connect some dots now.

"Senior Brother Randall who won last year’s tournament?" Liam questioned.

Outer disciples could become inner disciples by winning the Sect’s annual tournament. According to what Liam had read, that practice was quite common among Sects.

"Exactly!" Kyle confirmed. "Do you want to come with us? The previous and current geniuses should meet!"

Liam didn’t know if dealing with even more people was the smart thing to do. He didn’t have a good track record, either, but more logs were his alternative, and he would do literally anything to avoid that.

"Is it a lesson?" Liam questioned. "I don’t have contribution points."

"It’s just a social gathering," Kyle chuckled. "Come on. We don’t know how long Senior Brother will stay."

Liam nodded, and Kyle led the way, accompanied by the silent Erik. The trio crossed the Outer Hall to get on the other side of the Sect, where the other Halls expanded.

Those areas were livelier than last time. Smoke blew from the open cave higher in the mountain, a small crowd had gathered over one of the plateaus with the wooden dummies, and a few figures roamed the gardens.

And as the trio kept advancing through the rising path, Liam recognized a familiar face working on one of the gardens, as well as her plants releasing a red halo.

’Lucy!’ Liam thought, smiling, waving his hand at that distant figure in the hope of being noticed.

Luckily, Lucy did notice Liam and smiled, too, only for her to remember something and pout, promptly diverting her face.

’Is she still angry?’ Liam wondered, only for something else to claim his attention.

As the climb continued, the crowded, small plateau grew closer, and the scene unfolding on it became clearer. Twenty or so outer disciples had gathered around a tall young man with long brown hair who was performing battle stances.

"It has already begun!" Kyle exclaimed at that sight. "Let’s hurry!"

Kyle began to run, and Erik and Liam followed suit, eventually reaching the plateau and becoming able to hear what that gathering was about.

"You must relax your shoulders and split your weight evenly," The brown-haired man announced. "Too much on one leg, and your strike will be slow. Too much on the other, and your next move will become obvious."

"Senior Brother Randall is so wise," A gracious voice resounded from the crowd, and the red ribbon that split from it to approach the brown-haired man revealed her identity.

"You must be Junior Sister Alicia," Randall exclaimed, straightening himself to smile at the ribbon-wearing girl.

"Do you know me?" Alicia faked a gasp, performing a polite bow. "I’m honored, Senior Brother."

"I know all the beautiful flowers in the Pale Moon Sect," Randall chuckled, a bright smile broadening on his handsome face.

"Senior Brother, you’ll make me blush," Alicia said, acting coy despite also smiling in response.

’He isn’t a rooting expert,’ Liam sensed, completely ignoring the exchange of words that he had long since classified as useless pleasantries. ’So, inner disciples can still be foundation experts. Does that apply to core disciples, too?’

The crowd didn’t ignore Liam during his pondering. Actually, many shared Kyle’s desire and moved away when they noticed him, clearing a path to highlight him.

"Ah!" Randall exclaimed, not missing that behavior, looking directly at Liam. "You must be the famous genius with nine spiritual roots!"

Liam obviously didn’t understand that the crowd’s behavior had been because of him, but being addressed directly forced him to comply with the cultivation world’s customs.

"I’m Liam," Liam greeted, bowing. "It’s a pleasure to meet you, Senior Brother Randall."

’Wait!’ Liam suddenly realized. ’Am I famous among the inner disciples, too?’

"I admit I’ve been eager to meet you, Junior Brother," Randall revealed, not giving Liam much time to think. "My seven spiritual roots must look trivial compared to your talent."

"Senior Brother’s talent was acknowledged by the whole Sect!" Alicia stepped in. "He is noble in spirit and manners, especially toward women."

Everyone but Liam understood what Alicia was trying to do, and Randall didn’t hesitate to exploit that opportunity.

"It seems that Junior Brother has angered one of the Sect’s beautiful flowers," Randall chuckled.

Liam blinked before leaning sideways. He only saw the wooden dummies, so he straightened himself and pointed at the distant gardens down to his right.

"The Sect’s gardens are that way," Liam stated, "But I don’t think I’ve angered any flower."

The small plateau instantly fell silent. Many among the crowd shook their heads or hid their faces behind their hands. The others looked at Randall, waiting for his reply.

"You are funny, Junior Brother," Randall faked a laugh, "But that’s no way to treat a maiden’s fragile heart."

"Oh!" Liam gasped. "Senior Sister Lucy told me not to toy with that, but I don’t understand what I did, and to whom."

Randall had begun to understand that Liam’s cluelessness wasn’t a facade, and a confident smile broadened on his face when he realized he could spin it to his favor.

"Junior Brother, I’m willing to explain it to you," Randall declared. "It’s my duty as your Senior Brother after all."

"Really?" Liam asked, finally finding that conversation interesting.

"Yes," Randall confirmed, "But in exchange, you must spar with me."