Chapter 445: Chapter 445
It took seven days for Rouxi and Feifei to finally reach the summit in under 12 hours, and that was the night the three of them celebrated their accomplishment.
Keith brought them a fresh change of clothes, something that they terribly wanted. He also arranged warm baths for them, creating wooden bathtubs, water, and fire, and then coated those tubs with metal to protect the wood from catching fire.
At that point, both the girls could clearly tell that he was just flaunting his Elemental Magic at them, but the trick worked nonetheless.
They both found themselves yearning for such power too, and it fuelled their desire to grow stronger. And after the best sleep that they had in days, the two woke up with excitement brimming in their hearts.
Keith was waiting for them in the backyard of the cabin when they arrived, and then to pour cold water on Feifei's excitement, he asked the two to take off their shoes.
It did not really matter to Rouxi as she found the cold touch of the snow against her skin very comforting, but Feifei shrieked out as soon as her bare feet landed on the snow and started becoming numb.
It was just too cold.
"This is not fair!" She said as she regulated her Aura to her feet to protect them, and glared when Keith just grinned at her suffering.
"Come." He asked. "Let's start with your combat training."
It was something that they had both been looking forward to, and they both rushed at him.
Since they had prior experience with basic training, they were not as clumsy as someone without any training would be, but they soon realised that it was hard to fight in the snow.
To make things worse, Keith kept laughing at their struggle, which irritated them a lot.
And somewhere along the line, they truly wanted to land a solid hit on him to make him stop laughing and take them seriously, which was reflected in their expressions. However, he only laughed more at their childish thoughts.
"We are not getting anywhere!" Feifei complained as they failed to land a single hit on Keith, and he smiled at her words.
"You can give up, and I will not train you again."
His words were light, but they made Feifei feel at a loss.
And after his words, for the next three hours, until they both were sprawling on the snow, panting in exhaustion, neither of them uttered a word.
Keith was impressed that Feifei was pushing herself to her limits, not willing to lose to Rouxi even though the latter had clear advantages over her.
Rouxi's mere presence pushed her to be better, and he smiled in his heart when he sensed the necklace on her neck responding to her determination.
Unbeknownst to the girl, the Yellow Emperor's necklace was nourishing her body, and it had been doing it for the last couple of days now.
"You did well." He told them. "Recuperate, and come again."
They both gritted their teeth at his words and then sat cross-legged on the snow, initiating the One-Fold Heart Pulse.
Even though Feifei was a little dissatisfied in her heart, most of which was a result of him teasing them, she was not blind to the truth and her progress. She was actually very happy.
She had considerably grown stronger in the last few days, and as cold as it was out here, she was slowly getting used to it.
Something that both she and Rouxi had immensely improved upon was their stamina, and despite their aching bodies, their minds always remained clear.
The sleep they were getting was the best of their life, and every morning, they woke up better and sharper than the last day.
Feifei remembered one of the very first lessons Keith gave them.
"Before anything else, an Auror must work on their endurance. Building up endurance will make the process of learning much smoother for you."
And she knew that Keith was helping them build their endurance.
Clearing her mind of all her thoughts, she stood up, ready to engage with him again.
"What's your favourite fruit?" She suddenly asked, and both Rouxi and Keith raised their brows at her.
"Pomegranate." He replied.
"I like lychee." She told him before she rushed at him.
Feifei kept asking random questions, anything that popped up in her mind, and Keith simply kept answering her, playing along.
"What's your favourite colour?" She asked, and he smiled as he returned his eyes to their true shade, which distracted her when she glanced at him, resulting in a lapse in concentration, which earned her a punishment.
A loud smack sounded out as he slapped her ass, and Feifei just froze.
"Not fair!" She shouted at him when she regained her composure, tearfully rubbing her ass to relieve the sting.
"What? I answered your question." He feigned some confusion. "And you lost concentration."
"You were supposed to say the answer!"
"Oh." He feigned surprise. "Amethyst, red, and black would be my favourites, but I like all the colours."
"Hmph!"
Rouxi, who was watching them spar, giggled at their exchange and then a question suddenly popped up in her mind.
"Do your eyes let you see more than ours do?" She asked, and Feifei too looked at him for the answer.
"Yes." He nodded. "I can see a lot more colours than your eyes can, and I can see the world better. My eyes also show me the Aura of a person, and I can tell at a glance how strong someone is. However, it doesn't work if there is something very powerful protecting them from prying eyes."
"Oh..."
"See the world better?" Rouxi frowned.
"Yes."
"In what way?"
Keith smiled at her, looking at the beautiful pattern of her eyes.
"I can see the filth that pollutes the world, eating away the nature, feeding on a World's Aura." He told her.
Rouxi seemed very intrigued by his words and soon got lost in his eyes as they looked at each other.
"Is there more?" Feifei, who was sensing his emotions, caught onto the fact that he had not revealed everything to them.
Experience new tales on m v|l e'm,p| y r
"Yes. But you will have to find out the rest by yourself." He said to them before he looked at Rouxi again. "Come."
The Child of Destiny immediately rushed at him, and Feifei teamed up with her friend as they tried to land a hit on him again.
Something that they both admitted was that Keith was an exceptional teacher, and he could point out every single mistake that they made and would tell them straightforwardly or hint at how it could be fixed.
At first, Rouxi was finding it quite funny that he would slap Feifei's ass, but when he suddenly punished her the same way, a wave of humiliation washed over her and she became more aggressive.
And then it was Feifei's turn to enjoy the show as Keith mercilessly smacked her friend's ass whenever she made a critical error, and she provided him with a lot of such opportunities to take advantage of because of her anger.
"You..."
"What?" He grinned at her when he saw her eyes brimming with tears, but Rouxi held back the curses that she had learned from Feifei.
For the remainder of the day, Keith kept torturing the two girls until the sky started darkening, and then he picked them both up on his shoulders as he took them inside the cabin.
They were completely out of strength now, and when he dropped them on their beds, they just sprawled on them like lazy cats.
Rouxi's cheeks burned in blush when he planted a kiss on her forehead before kissing Feifei on the lips, and then he left the cabin to bring them their meal.
"Hey, Rou."
"Yes?"
"You are not allowed to sleep with him before I do."
As soon as she heard her best friend's words, some very vivid images flashed through her mind, and her fair cheeks turned red.
Feifei laughed when she saw her friend not rebutting her words or even showing any anger. All there was on her face was some embarrassment, but it eventually flared up into some anger when she heard her laughing.
"Behave!"
"What? Do you deny that you desire him?" She asked as she stood up and walked over to sit cross-legged on her bed, wearing a bright grin. "I told you, I would never mind sharing him with you." She winked.
Rouxi remained silent at her words and tried to control her restless heart.
However, she could not help but reminisce about the moments that she had spent with him so far.
And ever since the day he had come into her life, he had always been on her mind.
She had been anxious about Feifei's sudden attachment to him, worried for her friend, but now, she found herself in the same predicament.
And yet, everything felt so right...
Feifei had told her that Keith deeply cared for her, and in these days that she had spent with him, she had seen the gentleness in his gaze every time their eyes met.
She never really doubted her friend's words, but now she truly believed in them.
As soon as Rouxi accepted her feelings for him, she felt like a weight had been lifted from her heart and soul, and then she looked into her best friend's eyes.
Yes, she could never mind sharing her husband with her best friend. And didn't that mean that she would never have to separate from her?
"So?" Feifei teasingly asked, and she smiled.
"You think too much."
"I will see how long you can keep denying it!" She pouted and then looked at the door that suddenly opened, and she watched Keith walk in, carrying their dinner.
"Keith." Rouxi suddenly called out to him as he placed the food on the table.
"Yes?" He curiously looked at her as she stood up and walked over to him, looking right into his eyes.
She stopped a little away from him, still looking into his eyes, and he could hear the rising restlessness of her heart.
"Would you marry me if I asked you to marry me?" She asked, and Feifei gaped at her words.
Keith was stunned too, but then a smile crept on his lips.
"Yes." He answered and watched her eyes suddenly become a little misty.
"Marry me."