PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

It is worth mentioning that this was precisely the reason why Desmond felt like making fun every time he heard a classmate or friend fantasizing about having a harem of beautiful women waiting for them at home. While it was true that Desmond wouldn’t trade his current life for anything in the world, it was also true that certain headaches were inevitable.

Fortunately, if there was one trait that defined Sasha’s personality that would be the consideration. Sasha could sense that Claire, Cecilia, and Revna were slightly jealous, so she took the initiative to get out of Desmond’s arms and sit to one side, leaving a space right between Claire and Cecilia.

Sighing on the outside and thanking Sasha on the inside, Desmond took his place and immediately, two people clung to his arms. Claire wasn’t a surprise, Cecilia, on the other hand, Desmond wasn’t expecting it, but it was true that she had been slowly opening up to him.

As much as Cecilia tried to dress non-revealingly, Desmond’s left arm still fell into a vast valley of boundless softness that quickly became too comfortable to ever want to get out of. Claire, unfortunately, did not have the same devilish curves as Cecilia, but Desmond didn’t care too much, he still desired her as he had since the first day they began their relationship.

Although subtle and provocative, the atmosphere in the box did not last long, as a small tremor like the surface of the water being disturbed emerged within Revna’s shadow, who leaned closer to whisper something in Desmond’s ear. “Looks like they were able to come up with the deal they wanted, do you still need me to keep an eye on them?”

Desmond shook his head and responded. “No, you already risked a lot by going there alone; Besides, there’s no need.”

Cecilia and Claire could only watch the interaction with question marks almost visible in their pupils. It was clear that Desmond had given Revna a mission of some kind, but that shouldn’t be possible since she had been with them the whole time. Unknown to both girls, Revna’s mastery of shadows had come a long way recently, and she had invented a useful little trick for espionage.

Although it was time-consuming and tedious due to its requirements, Revna could split fragments of her shadow and plant them inside another person’s shadow for a short period of time. Even separated by vast distances, these shadow shards were part of Revna, her eyes, and ears out there.

.....

Needless to mention, Revna had planted a fragment of her shadow within Xiauyue’s shadow. Although nearly impossible to detect, Revna did not want to test the level of discretion of her new technique on Fei Long who had dangerously sensitive instincts.

Whatever the case, Revna had done it because Desmond had asked her to, that way he could monitor Xiauyue and Fei Long’s meeting from a distance and provide any kind of support if necessary. Now it seemed that Desmond’s preparations were in vain, or perhaps not.

Knowing that he had little time to make his own move, Desmond had to say goodbye to the girls much to his chagrin. The only person who came with Desmond was Revna, who still had to guide him to where he would hold his meeting.

Watching him leave, Claire and Cecilia turned their attention to Sasha who was still trying to act clueless. Seeing how adorable the vermilion-haired girl looked as she tried to pretend that she didn’t know even her own name, Claire and Cecilia let her go. In all honesty, Claire and Cecilia didn’t have many other options at the table anyway, it’s not like they wanted to take it out on anyone for the small amount of jealousy they felt.

Oddly enough, it was the acceptance that moments like this would exist that allowed things to take their course. Accepting that there would be moments when they would be jealous was much better than pretending that everything was perfect only to end up being unable to contain the negative emotions that kept piling up. As cliché as it may sound, communication and honesty were always the foundation of a healthy relationship.

As Claire and the rest of the girls prepared to head back to the Fei Long residence while quizzing Sasha a bit about her latest public display of affection; Desmond was just outside a pair of finely carved wooden doors.

As expected of a man who had claimed to prefer discretion, Desmond politely knocked on the wooden door, an action that was not stopped by the guards, mainly because they were lying unconscious on the floor behind Desmond. “Excuse me, my name is Desmond Astryd, and I would like to request a meeting with the supreme elder.”

With nothing but silence in response, Desmond shrugged and opened the doors to the room. There, standing in front of a flaming fireplace, was that same old woman with black hair and gray streaks, the supreme elder of the Eternal War Maiden Sect, also the most powerful blacksmith on this continent if not the entire world.

“Kid, you have a minute to explain yourself about knocking my guards unconscious before I grind you to dust.” Without turning around and looking away from the flames, the woman spoke.

Desmond shrugged as he always did, but he didn’t dare be careless, he was well aware of how insanely strong the old woman was. “There’s no need to worry about them, I made sure I didn’t hurt them in the slightest.”

Desmond still hadn’t finished speaking when a wave of Aura passed through him and probed directly at the two unconscious girls. Once she corroborated what Desmond said, the old woman seemed to let her guard down a bit, though it hardly made a difference given her natural disposition.

Not being the patient type or the one to beat around the bush, the old woman questioned Desmond’s intentions at the time. Desmond’s response was not what she was expecting. “In short, I come to offer my services.”

Finding it almost funny, the old woman replied. “That’s an interesting way to introduce yourself if that’s your goal. Normally, job seekers don’t knock their future employer’s guards unconscious.”

Only Desmond knew whether he was embarrassed by the comment, but his response was quite simple. “Well, I’m certainly not looking for a job as a tailor or cook, so knocking out your guards is kind of a sampler of the product.”

The old woman frowned hard and answered. “I’m sorry, but strong people have never been something we lack, if you found my guards weak it’s because I don’t need protection myself. Also, we don’t work with men for the most part.”

Desmond nodded with a smile as if he didn’t feel bad about being rejected, perhaps because he knew the negotiation had only just begun. “Normally, that would be the case, but your sect’s current situation is quite special; after all, you are on the brink of a losing war.”

The pressure from the Aura emitted by the old woman crackled Desmond’s bones, pushing them incredibly close to his breaking point, but Desmond only frowned, as if it wasn’t his body that was about to break. “How do you know that?”

Even under the pressure, Desmond flashed a smile and clenched an answer between his teeth. “Let’s say I have someone, hidden in the shadows, always faithful, whispering secrets in my ear that they don’t share with anyone else.”

After being silent for a couple of seconds, the old woman withdrew her aura and stopped pressing Desmond before answering. “How much do you know?”

Finally, Desmond felt free of the crushing weight, which he took advantage of to approach an armchair and sit down for what would be a rather long conversation. “I know that your enemies have plans for the excursion to the island and that these are worse than anything you believed before. This is not about killing one or two of his talented female disciples or scaring your forces back with little reward from that island. What they seek is the complete destruction of all the elite of the younger generation of your sect. That is why, on the same day that the excursion begins, your opponents will make the generous suggestion of increasing the number of tickets to the island. This with the aim of mobilizing more forces within the island but also to force the Eternal War Maiden Sect to send more of their elites, which is no different from sending them to slaughter.”