Upon hearing this sentence Zhou Qianlinâs eyes lit up, her lips curling in to a smile. âDonât be reluctant. I wouldnât have asked if I didnât think you could do it.â
From the other end of the communicator came a sound like grinding teeth.
âIâm not reluctant!â
âExcellent,â Zhou Qianlin said, not seeking to provoke him further.
Lan Jue choked down the impulse to smash the communicator in his hand. He took a deep breath, exhaled through his mouth and continued. âWhen do you need me, and what will I be doing?â
âI have excellent bodyguards at home,â she responded. âYou just need to watch over me while at school during the semester. When schoolâs in recess, so are you.â
Hearing this Lan Jue let out a sigh of relief. Luckily it wouldnât all the time, and heâd have some time to himself.
âWhatâs my cover while protecting you? Shall I enter in to school as well, be a classmate?â Lan Jue inquired.
The communicator was silent for a moment. âUncle, have some dignity. At your age could you be my classmate?â
âU-uncleâŚâ Lan Jueâs face contorted, and when he could endure it no longer replied indignantly, âIâm that old?!â He wasnât even twenty seven. The average life expectancy in the Eastern Alliance was a hundred and twenty, he absolutely was still a young man. Whatâs more there were certainly post-graduate students who would graduate at his age!
Zhou Qianlin covered her mouth, muffling her laughter, a task she found difficult. âSo old. Donât be a student, itâd be too easy for your identity to be revealed.â
âIâM TWENTY SEVEN!â
âWay over the hill.â
Crunch, came the sound of a breaking communicator over the wire.
âHahaha!â Zhou Qianlin rolled atop her bed laughing uncontrollably, reveling in the sweet sensation of revenge.
Beep beep beep! The communicator rang anew.
Zhou Qianlin hastened to regain her composure, her stomach hurting, and answered.
âZhou Qianlin! Iâm warning you, if you insult me like that again Iâll ââ
âYouâll what?â she spat.
Lan Jue fell silent. Anyone else, and heâd have a slew of choice things to fire back, but from her he had nothing to sayâŚ
âA good man doesnât fight with a woman. I owe you, and Iâll pay my debt. After these two years, weâll have nothing more to do with each other. Speak, whatâs my cover?â Lan Jue tried valiantly to keep his voice under control, for he knew that if he didnât it would only make Zhou Qianlin more pleased. He would not give her the satisfaction!
âEnter as an instructor, youâre about the right age. How you do that is up to you. You can do that, canât you? Mr. Zeus?â
She hung up without giving him a chance to respond.
âInstructor?â Him, a teacher? How could he be a teacher?
Although the NEU didnât produce the most famous Mecha-Pilots, it was a proper piloting university and nothing scoff at. To enter as an instructor, Lan Jue felt, would pose no problem for him. He was a God-Ranked pilot, the highest rank attainable in the Three Alliances â more than sufficient for a teacher.
Stop! He couldnât let this impetuous girl get everything she wanted. He had promised to comply, but how he did it was never outlined. A teacher, right? But not a mecha instructor!
Lan Jue had a stroke of genius, gradually crafting his idea. He couldnât stop his mouth from curling in to a mischievous grin, his sour mood swept away.
His right hand suddenly grew hot, and Lan Jue lifted it to look upon the golden bracelet on his wrist. It emitted a gentle golden light, and as the light expanded it revealed the image of an old man.
He was an elderly man, big and tall, his face a landscape of craggy features. His true age was difficult to decipher, but he was possessed of two very clear blue eyes, deep and shining as though they reflected the universe itself. He wore a magnificent white robe, embroidered in silver and encrusted with gemstones. A pointed cap rested upon his head, and a large shimmering ruby on the ring finger of his right hand.
âHonorable members of the Skyfire Avenue Council, please make your way to the Skyfire Museum in one hour. If you have a scheduling conflict, please alert us as soon as possible.â
As the voice faded, so too did the image.
The urgency of the Skyfire Council meeting made Lan Jue uncomfortable.
There were a total of one hundred and sixty eight shops on Skyfire Avenue, each with their own management. But the Council itself had only eighteen members.
The Council met bi-monthly for regular meetings to manage the Avenueâs internal affairs. It was only when something serious cropped up that they would hold an emergency meeting.
It was also the first time since Lan Jue arrived in the Avenue that such a meeting was convened.
Skyfire Avenue wasnât simply a nobleâs street. It was also a place of Adepts. When entering the Avenue to be a shopkeeper, you also had to possess at least a Seventh-Level Talent, passing a series of tests. Further the eighteen members of the Council were the strongest among the Adepts present. Though the organization was freeform, the members were some of the most celebrated and illustrious Talents in the Three Alliances.
Were it not for the combined strength of these members Skyfire Avenue never would have survived as long as it had, with itâs freedom intact.
Lan Jue rose quickly, donning a three-piece blue suit and slipping a ring on his little finger1 before stepping out.
In the dim light of the roomâs lamp, the ring seemed to leave behind it a green afterimage that shimmered with a life of itâs own.
The ring itself had a peculiar look, forged of a silvery metal. The top half was curious, one side wide and the other side narrow. It created a trapezoid, set with fragments of diamond and sapphire like leopard print. In itâs center was set a triangular green gemstone. The ethereal light, full of vitality, originated from there.
Before he stepped out Lan Jue turned the ring inward, hiding the gemstone in his palm.
The ring itself had a name: Thorâs Promise.
1. In China, wearing a ring on your little finger represents independence.