Chapter 697: What A Situation...
Northern was not surprised to see her. He had actually sensed both of them the moment they entered the perimeter of the garden, but the girl had quickly gone to hide immediately when she sighted Aster.
He had been expecting her, in fact.
...But did not act like it.
A dark frown settled upon his forehead.
"What business do you have here?"
The girl twirled that strand of her hair for a couple of seconds. She seemed to be struggling to articulate her thoughts into words.
Northern folded his arms, patiently waiting for her. For some reason, that nosy, arrogant girl he had seen in the infirmary was nowhere to be seen. It was quite surprising.
Their eyes met briefly, prompting her to quickly lower her head. Finally, from her lowered face, her words began to crawl out.
"I heard some rumors... you know, that you can make people stronger?"
Northern grimaced.
"Rumors? Rumors in the end are unreliable pieces of information. How can I make people stronger? I am not Ul."
The girl clenched her head, summoning enough courage to raise her head and look into Northern's eyes, although she was trembling slightly.
"I mean, those guys that attacked the Combative school and won met with you, didn't they?"
Northern cocked his head, his folded arms rippling with strength.
"Oh? So you were eavesdropping?"
"I swear I was not. I just happened to come to the conclusion based on what I heard from Aster in the hospital, and although I never intended to listen to your conversation just now, I could not help but hear it."
Northern's dark gaze stayed on her for a few beats. Then he uttered.
"I see..." He paused for a moment then added, "So, why are you here? How can I help you?" Obviously, he knew what she wanted, but playing dumb was more interesting for him.
"I mentioned before that trying to use my ability breaks my bones. I have tried several endurance and body-building training methods, but they were useless. My parents even think it would have been better if my younger brother had the talent instead of me. It might be the strongest talent out there, but for me, it's a curse-it's the source of my misery. I want it away."
Northern's frown got real this time.
"What? What do you mean you want it away?"
She shook her head, tightly closing her eyes, trying to hold firmly her trembling hands.
"I want you to take it away. I'm sure someone like you would be able to utilize it better. Give it to someone else. I don't even care if I am ordinary; it is better than a life of constant pain and misery."
She bit down her lips.
Northern's eyes and lips were slightly widened. He had only heard of someone wanting to become stronger and had even expected the girl to come ask to perhaps help her become strong enough to handle the talent.
He did not expect someone asking to be weaker.
'What is this?'
Could one blame her though? Who knows how much she has had to suffer mentally and physically for a talent that was regarded as immensely strong but was immensely weak and useless in her hands?
Almost everyone would scorn her for the weak body she possessed. And it wasn't like she asked for any of it.
But the problem still remained that... was it possible to permanently take someone's talent?
All he knew about was copy.
Northern sighed and looked at the girl. Her eyes were sore, her lips pressed together; she dropped her face low as soon as their gazes met.
His hoarse voice then resounded in the serene atmosphere.
"I am not sure yet if what you ask for is possible, but I will think about it. Come back in two days."
The girl's eyes rose with so many bright lights.
"Oh my stars, thank you so much for helping. You will not regret it!" she yelled and quickly made a run for it.
Northern watched as she clumsily dashed out of the garden and passed the gate that led to the vicinity of the main forgery and further to the non-Combative school compound.
Then he turned back, softly muttering.
'Weird...'
He inserted the steel back into the forge, waiting for it to heat up again with his eyes too focused on the forge.
There should be a way... there should be a way for him to take her talent away from her
completely.
He folded his arms and subtly tapped his fingers in a beating rhythm on his arm.
A few seconds later, his eyes widened.
'Seriously... how could I forget that!'
Northern had been searching through all the events of him copying talents from drifters, wondering how exactly it was possible to permanently take away their ability.
Diy was there to tweak things, but Northern did not think it would be possible to take someone's talent forcibly.
His line of thought led him deeper down the lane of the past, and Northern suddenly remembered himself doing something.
Back in Sura's rifts. He had taken a monster's name by force... not by death.
And after he did so, the monster had been rendered useless.
'What was it again...?'
"White Walker..." Northern remembered. He also, funnily, remembered the circumstances of
the moment and what the system had said.
It was the reason why he had not paid his name abilities any special attention until the said feature that was locked would be unlocked.
However, he vividly remembered that because the name of the monster was taken away, its abilities and even attributes were taken away from it.
So maybe... just maybe, it was possible to take the name of drifters too.
'But I have never tried it, and what if it deals more damage to her than intended?'
Northern was left with a very puzzling situation to solve. He could just copy the ability and let her be. However, he did not know when next she would be willing to use it again.
Now that she has come to him on her own, he could just ask her to use it one more time for it
to be possible.
But he would have to provide solutions to her problem, or at the very least, give her what she
wants.
Northern covered his face with his palm and let out a terrible sigh.
"What a situation this is..."