CHAPTER 66: DISCIPLE CULTIVATION SYSTEM CH66 KIARA AND KAI.

"Aren’t they impressive!" A few minutes earlier,two figures watched in awe as Trish and Enko took their fight to the skies. One was a gentleman in his late teens.He had light chestnut hair and green eyes lacking in warmth. His lean and fitted body was adorned in the academy uniform,with a few modifications around his shoulder where a silver shoulder plate was installed. Standing firm with an air of authority,he grasped the longsword stabbed into the ground before him, his eyes never leaving the fight.

"Are you giving me the silent treatment?" The click of heels echoed forth as a young woman of a similar age stepped forward. She had long,messy silver hair that swayed with each step. Her skin was fair, bordering on pale. Flicking the black wide-brimmed witch hat on her head,she revealed a pair of golden eyes, each shimmering with a strange glow. Like the male youth,she too focused her gaze on the fight, and yet she didn’t show much interest.

"Do you wish to join them?" Leaning forward with her hands behind her back,she inquired. The youth shook his head,his gaze tracing downward until the two combatants crashed back onto the land. The lost light in his eyes flickered back on,his sight sharpening to observe the conflict from up close.

"Not now..." Muttering to himself,he pulled his sword out of the ground and disappeared.

The silver-haired witch stared blankly at the spot he once stood,then, with a few words, her body shattered into fragments of ice.

---

"Enough!" Trish was shoved back by an imposing youth now standing before the fallen Enko.

"This is a game...not a death match." Observing the brutal sight of Enko’s ripped neck and scarred face,the youth gritted his teeth, watching Trish with resentment.

"Don’t interfere, Kai," Trish warned, starting a standoff with the youth named Kai.

"She made me...unpleasant... I have to return the favor." Scratching her arms with an obsessive look,Trish muttered.

"You’re going too far. Our forms might be fake and our injuries unreal, but the mental scars don’t just go away. Enko might be a Dragon, but—"

"I don’t care!"she interrupted with a scream, her aura surging like a rising tide.

"I want to hurt her.... I don’t care about the consequences... never did. You should know that better than anyone."

"Yes..." Kai,his expression once stern, twisted into a cold grin. "...you’ve always been this way."

In a swift motion,he drew his sword, and a tear spread across Trish’s left arm. Blood splattered,and everything below her left shoulder was tilted awkwardly, latching to her only by a string of flesh. Trish’s complexion paled;her body, having accumulated dozens of wounds, groaned in exhaustion, and yet she didn’t display a hint of pain. Her right arm merely moved to support her half-torn left.

Drip—!

Kai, his sword now leaking with her blood, looked at her.

"You became just like her.Guess the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree."

In his mind,Trish’s figure overlapped with the haunting silhouette of his worst nightmare.

The silhouette of a woman he had sworn to kill no matter the cost,and yet one of the very reason he had made that promise had now disappointed him. No longer finding Trish worth his time,he crouched and grabbed hold of Enko. He then turned to leave.

"I heard you found a new obsession.Make sure you don’t ruin it like the last one."

His words cut deep, causing Trish to lower her head as a look of clarity returned to her eyes.

For the first time in a while...she felt something. A strange sense of disappointment—one she could never get rid of.

"Hi~ Trish." With Kai gone,another individual appeared before her, waving in delight.

"Kiara,"she whispered, a warm smile donning her lips.

"Hi,"she waved back, distant memories flashing in her mind.

"Bye,"Kiara smiled again before disappearing just like Kai.

Now alone, Trish found herself dropping to her knees. She clutched her heart as soft sobs escaped her lips.

For the first time,she thought of people other than Art.

---

"I’ve seen enough." A sharp crack silenced the resident quiet as the Sword Saint crushed her armrest and stood up. Her scarlet eyes,once drawn to the large screen before her, grew cold, strains of disappointment crossing her beautiful face.

"Milady, why don’t you be patient? She is but a child..."

"Enough with your false sympathy,Xavier." Interrupting the old butler from continuing,she made her way to the exit of the large hall, her platinum blonde hair twinkling with the essence of pure aura. The butler named Xavier sighed and followed a step or two behind.

His calculating eyes surveyed the area until he took notice of the academy principal.

"Milady, don’t you wish to socialize with your past instructor?" he asked in an attempt to halt her exit.

The Sword Saint was unwilling,but the Lightning Empress, as she was once called, deserved her respect; hence, she caressed the surface of her metallic prosthetic left hand and changed her course toward the woman who seemed to have been expecting her.

"Long time no see, Kid," Cassandra remarked sarcastically,addressing the Saint who had far surpassed the prime of her own youth.

Normally the Sword Saint didn’t take kindly to those who looked down on her,but in Cassandra’s eyes, she was without a doubt a kid—something she didn’t like to admit.

"What a strange reunion this year has been for me. First, my pupil who went on to be called the strongest human comes to see me, and now you... so duty-bound you hardly left the Rift."

"Magus came?"the Sword Saint inquired, her gaze growing heated.

"Oh,that boy. Yes, he did. He came to see his granddaughter... Kiara, if you remember."

"I do.She used to play with mine. They were quite good friends, especially with the siblings of the Lily Sect."

"So you still remember."

"..."

Cassandra’s once cheerful tone grew cold. The Sword Saint did not react to this change and remained silent. Cassandra wanted to say more,but it wasn’t her place to continue, so she changed the topic.

"By the way, apart from your son and his wife, whom else did you teach the Snowdance to?" At the sudden mention of her technique,the Sword Saint knitted her brows and crossed her arms in thought.

"I taught Xavier the basics and the complete version to Trish.Why do you ask?"

Cassandra sighed.

"Follow me...there is something you might be interested in seeing."

Beckoning for her to move along,Cassandra began to speak of the new anomaly in her academy.