The room remained silent for a good moment. There was nothing to be heard until a floating red orb appeared in front of Aya with a humming sound. The orb quickly disappeared and in its place was a young woman with short dark hair. Her appearance was nice to look at but what stood out the most was her pristine aura which could be seen with a naked eye.
"How many times did I tell you not to call me an old hag? I am forever 25, you brat." She scolded Aya while floating. Ah what she wouldn't give to have the old Aya back? The Aya that would excitedly call her and blush at any praises given to her.
"But you came, didn't you?" Aya said with a smug face. Yue, the soul floating in front of her, always acted so superior that she couldn't help but knock her down a bit whenever she could. Unfortunately she did indeed have the right to be so arrogant since she was much stronger than Aya. So for now Aya had to stoop low and remind her of her age.
Aya and Yue have known each other for years since the moment Yue entered Aya's body. Aya had become Yue's disciple, apprentice, student whatever fit better. Yue had become Aya's teacher and companion. Their relationship can't be accurately described without leaving something out.
Yue slowly descended down and sat on the floor with Aya while quietly observing her. Whenever she did so Aya felt exposed even more than when Yue is actually in her body. The sheer look of her eyes made her feel like she was completely exposed in front of her and most of the time the feeling was accurate. Yue knew more about Aya than Aya knew about herself.
"You are becoming impatient and are disrupting the flow of Xin in your body by forcefully accelerating the process. You should believe in consistency. Forcefully trying to redirect something never went well." Yue said seriously. There were few times when Yue was serious. She was usually easy going and quite playful. However when talking about Xin, Yue would turn quite serious.
Hearing Yue's feedback Aya had to sigh. Entering high school had made her impatient. It was said that ten years was not late for a gentleman's revenge. However Aya was no gentleman or even lady and her revenge couldn't come soon enough.
Her impatience also steamed from the fact that after entering high school people would look down on her if she wasn't strong. And if there was one thing she couldn't tolerate, it would be being looked down at. She'd already have enough of it.
Unfortunately she couldn't very well reveal her current powers they were too lethal and quite frankly the stage was too small for her. If she was going to reveal her powers she wanted an audience, fireworks and see the rage come up on those people's faces.
Most importantly knowing how much her brother and sister were going to shine during their time in high school, she didn't want to fall behind. She had nothing against being in their shadows but shadows never fall too far behind the actual body.
Seemingly picking up Aya's mood, Yue cleared her throat twice in order to catch her attention and had a smug on her face. "I might be able to help you to achieve your goal faster. However it will cost you."
The first sentence made Aya happy and she smiled. However it was followed by a gut feeling that there was a condition that she wasn't going to like. The premonition came true as Yue started her second sentence and Aya's smile fell. However she needed to get stronger and she wasn't the most patient. This however was untrue. In fact Aya had been quite patient for a long while. She had been patient for the past ten years. It was just that she didn't want to continue to be patient.
Aya looked at Yue with anticipation and determination. She knew she wasn't going to like the condition. However if it was going to make her stronger faster, then it was going to be worthwhile. And so Yue continue "The cost is quite low actually. All you have to do is say 'Yue-oneesama please help me' in your most cutesy voice and I will tell you the way to go."
Aya's face turned dark when she heard the condition. She knew she wasn't going to like the condition that was a given knowing Yue for so many years. However this was giving in to Yue's constant complaint that she should call her onee-sama. Apparently she resembled Yue's actual sister. The request was simply embarrassing.
Yue on the other hand was shining brightly and proudly. When Aya was younger and much cuter, she would call Yue 'Yue-sama'. However as she grew up, she just called her Yue and later on hag. Yue missed the old times when Aya would smile excitedly at her when telling her about her day. When she would bring her little gifts. The old times when she was as cute as Miyuki.
Moments and minutes passed in silence as Yue smiled in anticipation and Aya was fighting with herself on whether or not to follow the request or whether an extra ten years didn't sound bad after all. Finally she gave up, sighed and said quietly and quite reluctantly "Yue-oneesama please help me." As she said the words her voice became more and more quiet. She hoped this was good enough.
However Yue shook her head in fake disappointment and said "Aya you know that's not the way to say it. Say it one more time but correctly."
Aya sighed once again and tried to collect herself before looking at Yue with glittering puppy eyes and a pleading voice "Yue-oneesama please help me." After she said so, she collapsed on the floor in sheer embarrassment while Yue smiled victoriously. Yue replied "Of course I will help you if you ask me like that. And my dear little sister sighing will age you faster."
After once again collecting herself from the previously experienced embarrassment, she looked at Yue commandingly and asked coldly "What happens now?" She hoped that the embarrassment she had experienced would at least serve its purpose in helping her achieve her goal faster.
Yue kept smiling and said "Cute Aya is already gone? How unfortunate. I hope she will appear more often." She then turned serious and said "Cultivate once more, I will be undoing your seal and then you should be able to achieve your goal after circulating your Xin one more time."
"Wait what seal? I don't know of any seal. Is there something you haven't told me Yue?" At first Aya was confused but as more time passed the confusion turned into anger and then finally frustration.
"Well changing a body is after all a process that requires time, dedication and consistency. Without these no matter how powerful a body because it will crumble against the slightest disturbance. I put the seal on you the moment I entered your body and the process of changing your body started. Without the seal, your body would've changed within a year of our union. However because you were too young at the time, it would've led to immense pain and would've killed you within ten years. A prize those people were willing to pay." Yue explained with a neutral almost cool tone. Even after so many years, those people were willing to sacrifice a child just for some power.
As she listened quietly, Aya started to make a bit of sense out it. "So you put a seal on me in order for me to build a strong enough foundation, so that the power wouldn't overwhelm me. That's understandable. It now also makes sense why they treated me so well during the one year after they put you in me. So since when exactly have I become ready to have my seal removed? It doesn't seem like something that just happened because I asked you."
Yue responded in serious tone "You have been ready for the last four years."
Aya felt frustrated and asked angrily "So you are telling me I could've become stronger four years ago. That the seal that is currently limiting me could have been removed four years ago. Why didn't you remove it then?"
Yue explained slowly as if teaching Aya "Just because you are ready doesn't mean it would work well. Being ready just meant it wouldn't overwhelm your body anymore. However it would still quicken your death."
Aya returned the statement in a frustrated manner "Isn't that my choice? Aren't I the one to choose whether or not want to risk my life for my goal?"
Yue was shocked, she hadn't considered Yue's thoughts when she postponed the unlocking the seal "I am sorry. I hadn't considered the possibility that you would've wanted to risk your life."
Seeing Yue sincerely apologetic, something that didn't happen often, Aya let go of her frustration. "I wouldn't have. After all my life is more valuable that they are and will ever be. It would have just been nice to have had the choice and the transparency. So after we unlock the seal, it will take a year before my body is fully changed?"
Yue answered "No. It will take a month for it will take a month since your body is now at its optimal stage. It won't affect your health and life in any way however throughout the month you will sense a difference in your use of magic. Your Xin will flow more easily and will become manageable almost tame. Your body will be able to perceive Psions more easily than any other magician. You will even be able to use magic tirelessly. Your speed of Magic Sequence construction will also increase. To sum it up, speaking about potential nobody would be able to beat you. However it still all depends on how you are willing to use said potential."
Aya couldn't help but feel excited as she heard the news. She could have unrivalled potential. Meaning she could finally properly catch up to her siblings? She smiled and started to tear up. She could finally stand by their side. However potential was potential without working hard it was basically a nice accessory and meant nothing.
However something still didn't match up, so Aya asked Yue one more time "I don't believe my body reached optimal stage today. What are you still hiding?"
Yue answered with a chic smile "Well four years ago, your body was able to change painlessly although it would have still taken a toll on your body. You would have lost ten years of your life. However that wasn't a risk I wanted to take. Three years ago your body reached a level where you were able to change your body without it affect your body at all. I considered telling you then I noticed that your ability to manipulate Xin was still growing meaning that you'd be able to get more out of the transformation if you continued cultivating Xin with the seal. The time it would take you to transform your body also steadily decreased. Last week you reached the limit of how much you were able to manipulate Xin without the transformation. However I noticed you still being able to manipulate Xin more and more past the limit and observed you. It was quite admirable I have to say. However if you continued doing so, your body wouldn't be able to handle the Xin anymore."
As Yue went on, Aya's face was constantly changing. Multiple emotions could be read from her face pride, happiness, annoyance, anger and frustration. And for one last time that night Aya angrily asked "So you are telling me that you've been using me a guinea pig for the last three years? And when were you actually going to undo the seal?"
Yue laughed loudly and oblivious of Aya's anger "I was going to undo your seal tomorrow as a gift for entering high school."
Okay so this chapter has quite a bit of info and a introduced a new character. I do hope you still enjoyed and liked the chapter.