Ning described the fruit that he ate and made Clara think hard for a bit.
"I'm not sure," she said. "I've never heard of such a fruit in my life."
She gave it some more thought, but she truly couldn't think of any fruit that matched the description Ning said.
"I tried searching for that fruit in the city too, and I couldn't find it. It must've been a very rare plant, seeing as how it was on top of the turtle that roamed the ocean," he said.
"I'm actually surprised you saw a turtle at all. Most divine beasts are known to be very, very strong and hard to find. Just being around them can kill you because of how strong they are," Clara said.
"Oh! Then I must be lucky to not have died," Ning said.
Clara nodded. Suddenly, she created 3 shadow daggers in her hand that she threw at Ning.
Ning wasn't focused at all, so when that attack was launched, he barely had any time to dodge it. The three daggers flew at him in a horizontal line, and Ning managed to dodge two of them. But he got hit with the third one that was in the direction of where he had jumped.
He fell to the grassy ground with a thud and a sharp pain in his stomach. He quickly got back up and checked his body, but there was nothing. The daggers had disappeared and all that remained was a dull pain where it had hit him.
"What the hell was that?" he shouted back at Clara, who was walking towards him.
"Nothing," she said. "Just testing your reflexes. They aren't bad, but they could definitely use some work. I will send someone to train you in swords. You said you were strong with a sword, didn't you? It's time to test it."
"Sigh, sure," Ning said and sat back on the ground.
Clara turned around and left. He walked into the house, and as soon as she did, she spoke to the person that was waiting for her. "Send someone strong to test his sword skill and report to me on how strong he is."
"As you say, boss," the man said.
"Also," Clara added. "Keep an eye out for what he does. He knows who I am, so he might try to give that information to the other gangs. If you find anything suspicious, report it to me immediately. If it is serious, however, you are authorized to kill him."
"Yes, boss."
Ning was oblivious to the conversation and simply waited around for someone to come to test him at sword fight.
Clara arrived in the room where Kepli was staying. It seemed he had used as much Essence from the crystal as he could and had left the rest to be tested.
"Is the test complete?" she asked.
"No, we only just started," he said. "It should take some time."
Clara nodded. "Where's Carlos?" she asked.
"He went to get me some herbs," Kepli said. "Boss, are you sure we can trust him?"
"He warned us and was suspicious of you when I didn't speak back then. I don't think he has any bad intentions at all. We can be careful just in case, but I believe the right thing to do is to believe him and work under the assumption that many of our members have given me up."
"What do we do?" Kepli asked. "I'm sure there are many that are trying to give you up in exchange for money or even less."
"We'll have to figure out who's with us and who's not," Clara said. "We will have to use me as bait to smoke them out."
Kepli nodded. "I'll work on it as soon as we're done with the crystal," he said. "You should leave the city for now boss. Go to Lambot city and stay hidden for a bit."
"Hmph! I don't have to hide from some little Essence Manifestation realm flies. The most I'll have to worry about is them being too loud," Clara said with clear disgust in her voice.
"That might be true for you, boss, but it's not the same for us. Your presence killed Yana today, and even I nearly died. Please hide for a while so we can get this over with," Kepli said.
Clara frowned for a bit as she remembered the old woman from the tavern that had died because the bosses came looking for her.
"Tsk!" she didn't have a way around what he had said. "Fine, I'll leave the day after tomorrow once I get those crystals."
Kepli nodded. The two of them stayed and talked for a while when they heard a knock on the door.
Clara nodded and Kepli spoke. "Who's there?" he asked.
"It's me, Band," the man spoke.
"Come in," Kepli said and the man named Band quickly walked in.
"There you are, boss. I was looking for you," the man said with a worried look on his face.
Clara was surprised to see the man so flustered. "What's up?" she asked.
"Umm… it was you who asked me to test the young man in the backyard right?" he asked.
"Oh, you were the one that tested him?" Clara asked. "How's he? Is his sword skill any good?"
The man gave an awkward smile toward the boss. "Good?" he couldn't help but nervously laugh when he heard that. "If he was just good, then I won't even dare call myself mediocre."
Clara's eyes narrowed. "So, he's quite good?" she asked.
"I have no doubt that he's the best I've seen in a very long time, boss," the man said. "He doesn't seem to have that much Essence, but his skills definitely make up for it with his sword."
Clara's eyes went wide in surprise. "Are you saying that he's one of the best swordsmen you've seen, ever?" she asked.
"Not one of, boss," the man said. "He is the best."
Clara couldn't believe it at all. Was he really that good? If he was as good as they said, then she must definitely do whatever she could to keep the youth in the gang.
