Seeing Ryu's reaction, Balaur frowned. To him, Ryu was his torch bearer, the only thing that made him short of being his son was coming from his own loins. But even then, he might as well have. To the current Balaur, Ryu's safety was more important than anything else and might only fall slightly short of his duty to the Zu Clan.
In an instant, he understood that Ryu was in some sort of danger.
"What happened? Tell me every detail."
So that was what Ryu did. Though his heart had seized for a moment, he was ultimately Ryu Tatsuya. He understood from the very beginning that he had stepped into a matter far beyond his scope of understanding. The fact that something like this happened was more inevitable than anything else. In fact, if it hadn't happened, Ryu would be even more worried about something even worse coming later.
After a while, Ryu finished speaking. His method of summarizing things was almost too precise, in fact, he managed to pick out every relevant detail far better than anyone else could. But, this was only to be expected from the owner of the Origin Flame.
"Then this means there are three points of contention." Balaur spoke.
"The worm hole, the soul integration… but what is the third?" Ryu asked.
"Don't tell me my disciple has been blinded by beauty?"
Ryu's brows furrowed. "Her Truth Pupils shouldn't work on me. My Pupils should have surpassed hers."
"Don't underestimate the value of experience, my disciple. Raw strength isn't what decides everything. And, I can very clearly tell that there are some parts of the story you've either consciously or subconsciously left out. Your eyes are very clear when you're telling a series of events in order, but there's a shift in them as you think of how to seamlessly skip something. And, it's too obvious that all of these instances revolve around the existence of that girl.
"Ultimately, you have only lived 20 years, Little Ryu. She, however, must have lived at least 5000 by now. Her skill with her Heavenly Pupils will most definitely be beyond yours. You have relied too much on the raw strength of your Heavenly Pupils and not enough of its efficient application. The only reason I didn't not say anything before was both because you are young and because you have many other things to worry about. However, it seems it might be more important for you to have this lesson earlier."
Ryu opened his mouth to speak, but ultimately didn't say anything. In fact, he was more surprised that he was just about to defend Sarriel. What the hell was wrong with him?
He had known both Sarriel and Balaur for a short time, but if he had to choose who he truly trusted versus who he didn't, the answer was obvious. As for why he trust Balaur so much… There was just too little a soul without a body could hide, even if he was a Sky God. His every action and motive was too pure.
Suddenly, Ryu understood. Sarriel had been the reason for such a large character shift in him. Even though to him it felt like that only occurred a day or two ago at most, it had already taken an irreplaceable place in his history. He simply couldn't tell the story of his life without mentioning his interaction with Sarriel that day at least once.
How many events like that could possibly occur in life? Ryu wasn't even certain if Ailsa had one such memory with him. Though he had shared many great moments with her, and his feelings for her were far deeper than anything he could have for Sarriel, this thought still hit him like a sledgehammer.
Of course, there were still great differences. If Balaur was asking him to doubt Ailsa or Elena, he most definitely couldn't do it. He didn't believe either of them would consciously hurt him. However, for Sarriel… he still could.
And the scariest part was that had he not chosen to come to speak with Balaur, he might still be unaware of the subtle influence on his psyche she had already had.
"Don't get me wrong," Balaur began to explain, "I am not saying it is definitely her. There doesn't seem to be a motive or purpose behind this since you are still standing here perfectly fine. The only explanation I can think of is that she wanted to use this time to ensure that you had fallen deeply into her suggestion. But, whether this is true or not, I have no way of knowing.
"Objectively, it makes more sense for it to be the wormhole or the soul imprint you just received. Come here, I'll take a look at the imprint."
Ryu nodded. He wasn't angry. In fact, he was thankful.
The world was truly a scary place. It was good that he had finally begun to truly open himself up again, but the world of cultivation wasn't always a place where a smile and kindness was the best approach to have. In many situations, Ryu's coldness was the best mask, especially if he wanted to live to the day he could save his family.
Balaur inwardly nodded. At least it didn't seem that Ryu had fallen too deeply for this girl. It, at most, seemed to be a small crush or a like of beauty, but it wasn't true feelings. This was good, that way he didn't need to worry.
But, now he was even more determined to get Ryu together with Eska or Flora. All of this could have probably been avoided if he wasn't so pent up.
Balaur chuckled to himself. If he had wanted to, he could have absorbed Ancient Beast blood just like the Tatsuya Clan or any one of Ryu's four Lineage Clans. However, that path always came with side effects. His disciple was a very clear case study on this. If even his cold Little Ryu could fall so far, what about others? This was why he felt his path was so much better.
"Relax your mind."
"Yes." Ryu nodded, entering the circle of four Ancestors.
The moment Balaur began to probe the imprint, he frowned.
"As expected. You were right, there is indeed a lingering tick here. But, as far as I can tell, it's only here to monitor. As for any deeper, hidden mechanisms, I will have to pass on the design to Morvar so that he can properly inspect it just in case."
"Master, can you erase it completely?" Ryu asked. This was the main reason Ryu asked for help. Inspecting the Formation wasn't a problem for him, but he wasn't confident in this.
"… I can, but are you sure?" He knew how much work it had taken for Ryu to earn this mark.
Ryu nodded seriously. "I have already memorized it entirely and can reconstruct my own without the suspicious parts."
Balaur raised an eyebrow. Morvar, who was still looking at a projection Balaur had casually made started looking toward Ryu with fiery eyes.
"He's my disciple. Paws off." Balaur snorted.
Though Ryu had spoken of these things casually, even the lowest level Summoning Formation of the Summoner Necromancers was of the Heaven Grade. For such a youth to be able to memorize and reconstruct it…
Marvor really wanted to fight it out with Balaur.