The old woman named Gaani looked with a confused and suspicious face at Ning. She was about to refuse, just on principle alone when Alekor spoke before her.
"Brother Terran, what are you doing? We should return back to the tower soon," Alekor said.
"I really want to learn this, brother Alekor. I'm fascinated by the prospects of creating something on my own. Besides, I have a 3-hour break right now. I will be back by the time my free time is over," Ning said.
Alekor was still about to say something when he remembered something. 'That's right, he does love creating a lot. Without such a love for something, he could've never created Aether,' Alekor thought.
He couldn't stop Ning now after realizing that.
"Mrs. Gaani, would you please mind teaching my associate a little about potion making? He is one of the best minds in the entire tower and will surely help you overcome any obstacles you might yourself have on the matters of potion-making," Alekor said.
Now, the woman couldn't refuse. She didn't know about Ning, but she knew about Alekor. He was the direct subordinate of a supreme and he was likely a great man.
Following the same logic, she assumed Ning was a great man too. While she frowned at the thought of having to show her work to a random person who came to her, she wasn't in a place she could refuse.
If the young man complained to the tower, and the tower decided to listen to him for some reason, she and her granddaughter would lose the grace of the tower, and would no longer be able to afford anything.
"Very well, please come in," the old woman said and brought him in.
"I'll see you later, Alekor," Ning said and walked in. After Alekor left, the little girl in suspenders pushed the door shut and walked in.
She looked at Ning curiously and Ning simply returned a gentle smile. Looking at her tomboyish self reminded him of Anya.
She too had been dressed up as a boy to gather money and heal her father back in Deepskull island in the Scattered Isles.
"What's your name?" Ning asked.
"Helena, Helena Gaani," the little girl said with a hand put forward for a handshake. Ning grabbed her little hand and shook it.
"I'm Terran Forn, nice to meet you, Helena," he said.
The little girl nodded. She then curiously asked, "Are you an Aether expert, uncle Terran?"
'Uncle?' Ning felt a little bad when he heard the word Uncle as his current body was only supposed to be around 20 years old, but when he remembered that he was old enough to be called an Ancestor, he put the thought away.
"Yes, I am," he said.
"What rank?" the little girl asked curiously.
"Hel! Don't bother the honored guest with your questions," the old woman squeaked from in front of the two.
She then turned to Ning, gave him a smile —or at least tried, failed, and ended up looking like a stretched raisin— and said, "Don't mind the little girl, young man. She has been interested in Aether arts ever since her teachers told her she could be like you guys someday, please don't mind her."
"Oh," Ning said. The old woman walked up the stairs slowly with her cane supporting her, and Ning followed behind her as well, equally as slowly.
"Your teachers checked your Aether rank?" Ning asked.
"Mhm," The girl nodded. "They tested us when I was 20 years old and said I'm an Aether Master."
"Oh," Ning thought. That was quite talented. Aether Master by 8 years old was not a very easy task.
Ning used his Aether analysis on the little girl and saw her rank, Aether Master. 'Hm… has she not advanced at all?' Ning thought.
Then he used the 2nd level of the analysis, looking at her name. That said 'Helena Gaani', but that was not what he really cared for.
He went one level deeper and used the 3rd level to see what sort of technique she had been using. Normally, if someone used an absorption technique, it could be seen here.
However, Ning didn't see that at all. There was no absorption technique within her. However, there was something else there that surprised him beyond belief.
Dual Awakener.
That was surprising, to say the least. He hadn't expected a random little girl in a random house would end up being a Dual Awakener.
He wondered how many more of such variety had popped up all around the world. He ignored that thought for now and looked back at the little girl.
"Are you using the absorption technique that has been popping up all around the world?" Ning asked.
"Uhh…no," the girl said. "Grandma says I'm not allowed to use any such thing until she can find me a good teacher."
"The little girl has no talent, young man," the old woman said from up ahead. "The only reason she even managed to reach Aether Masters was that I fed her the fruits grown deep within the Aether forest itself."
"If not for that, I doubt she would have even awakened herself."
The little girl pouted. "I am talented. I even help you so much with my Aether," she said.
"Yes, you do," the old woman said. "But that little help won't be able to get you into the Tower child."
"The tower is where the best of the best gather. If you go there, you'll be eaten up like a little chicken in front of an Aether beast."
The little girl was starting to tear up when Ning said, "That's not entirely correct, Mrs. Gaani. The world has changed and absorption techniques are now spread throughout the world."
"You can buy one for cheap in the stores and learn it yourself. As long as you're awakened and have the slightest bit of talent, you can go far," he said.
The little girl's eyes shined bright as her tears vanished into her sleeves.
