"I have a few ambitious plans for all of us. Hehe!"
Renita kept on looking at Eren as she listened to him– as if trying to burn his image in her mind. She was indeed a bit upset about the fact that Eren won't be with her anymore. But she thought about her prospects with him and cheered herself.
She flashed a bright smile at him before pulling his cheeks and speaking up:
"Eren, make sure that you stay ahead in your game. Otherwise, I might catch up to you and leave you behind. Hehe!"
Renita said before coming closer to his face and planting a gentle kiss on his cheeks. She continued speaking up without any hesitation:
"I might sound a bit selfish for saying this. But I'm kind of glad that you had a life-changing experience on your mission. It hurt you. It also took the halo of being a stellar ranker from you. But it has made you more… you.
The rewards won't mean anything if you lose yourself in obtaining them. What happened to you on that day might not have been that terrible.
You feel more anchored to reality now. Instead of looking at the future and trying to live in it. Sure, you'd feel distraught for a few days. But it won't stay that way for long. I know Eren Idril will come out of this experience even stronger than he was before."
Renita said and smiled elegantly at Eren. The latter didn't know what he should reply with. He just smiled mirthlessly and nodded his head.
Eren then got up and channelled his fire mana throughout his body to instantly clean himself. Renita had already done the same with her wind-element mana.
Eren took out some fresh clothes from his storage and started wearing them.
Renita observed her state– almost zero stamina and her mana core fresh out of mana. Despite her difficulty, she was about to get up. But she heard Eren laugh before she could do that:
"No need to get up, Reni. Rest. Heh! I've received your warm wishes just fine. Kekeke.
Focus on your ranking advancement from now on. Take up Besanc missions instead of participating in ranking wars now. Earning Merps won't mean anything if you don't have the real-life experience of a ranker's life."
Eren looked at Renita seriously before smirking at her
"We will stay in touch. If I see that you are slowing down, your perky ass is going to have to face a slap fest when we meet up. Hehe!"
Eren got ready with his clothes, came near Renita and kissed her forehead. She also grabbed his neck and smooched him on his lips. Only when she felt ready did she release him before finally bidding him goodbye.
***********************
"Eren, I didn't know our apprenticeship would last so short, you know. But I'm glad I had an apprentice like you. Hehe! The missions were never boring with you around.
Here, take this."
Eren had been asked by Marla to meet her before he left the grounds. The latter returned to his dorm house where all the White Raven Crew members had gathered to bid him adieu.
Eren headed to meet Marla after he wrapped up his meeting with everybody. The latter handed him an exquisite-looking bottle of elven ale as a goodbye present after they had an in-depth talk. Eren bowed a bit before accepting her gift and then stored it in his ID storage before asking:
"Thank you, Adept Marla. Will you keep on teaching here in LA?"
Marla raised her eyebrows after she heard Eren's sudden question out of the blue. But she answered him anyway:
"Working here was part of my responsibility, Eren. To act as a mediator for minor issues. Anfang alliance they call it. Things between the alliance sides can get pretty complicated.
*Sigh. Frankly, I'm tired. I don't see myself as a capable mediator, to be honest. So if and when they find a suitable replacement for me, I'll drop this job and explore the continent a bit."
Eren had long since realized that high rankers would never be able to enjoy peaceful lives for long even when they had the freedom to do so. It seemed counterproductive to have high ranks when one looked at things this way. The drive to pursue their next rank up would keep the rankers on their toes forever. But in contradiction lies life's true meaning.
Eren saw Marla as one of the most distinguished rankers of her generation who was shackled from being something much greater because of her current role. That's why he asked to confirm. He nodded before proposing:
"There will be some intriguing news I will share with you in the future. It should be interesting enough for you to leave the job and join me. Hehe. Please look forward to it."
Eren smiled mildly which made Marl look at him with a questioning gaze. She was about to ask him what he meant. But it seemed Eren wasn't done asking questions:
"Adept Marla, about the unique event that was supposed to happen between Edinburgh's top academies. Was it postponed?"
Marla was shocked when she heard Eren's question. But then she sighed thinking that the event was too big to keep secret for long anyway. Especially from people who were actively looking for it.
"That's right, Eren. The announcement regarding the event was supposed to be done by now. But it seems something troubling has happened.
The Edinburgh kingdom is prioritizing that matter first before they could allow the academies involved to hold the event."
Eren nodded after hearing Marla's news. He had thought as much. He also knew the reason behind the event getting postponed. He took his leave from Marla's place and headed for the exit.
This was the same event he wanted to attend with his White Raven Crew. the same event he had them train so eagerly for.
Eren thought to himself as he made his way out of LA grounds:
'Edinburgh would prioritize the Osan Woods Butcher and try to hunt Isen Osan down. It's only a matter of days before the news of Ivor Osan being the OWB is released to the masses.
Of course, they won't let academies carry through with their plans with a societal turmoil and increased cultist activities that are about to follow the news release.'
The real butcher sighed internally after he understood his interference had caused a butterfly effect. He feared the effect would only increase as he ranks up to and makes too many changes in the current timeline.
'Be that as it may, it'll be a cold day in hell before I allow anyone else to take the rewards I'm eyeing for in this timeline.'
Eren decided internally and narrowed down his eyes as he sat on the colt he had hired. He was going home.
