Chapter 42: SS Potential.
While Levi was cultivating under natural sunlight for the first time on his balcony, finally enjoying a relaxed session after a series of grueling ones, Shia was on a train to the capital. Her goals were clear: secure his recommendation letter and gather the materials needed for Blee’der’s upcoming evolution.
The distance between Tamara’s settlement and Heliodor’s capital was no less than fifteen kilometers. So, she would arrive in about ten minutes max.
Jamal and Sergio were accompanying her since their agency’s headquarters were in the capital.
They should have left after their interrogation, since they were ordered by their senior captain to report back concerning the Harrowing Forest Massacre. But they held it off until Levi woke up to check on him.
"Will you request the recommendation letter from Lord Idriss or Madam Naima?" Jamal asked curiously as he gazed at Shia, who was playing holographic chess against Sergio.
"Both options are sh*t, but I would rather eat dirt than request anything from that old geezer." Shia gave him a dirty glare for even bringing up such a suggestion.
"Come on Shia, are you really going to remain hung up on the past?" Jamal sighed, "His protection totem has saved our asses. Isn’t that enough to drop your grudge?"
"Neva!" Shia growled at him with a lollipop in her mouth.
"Shia, you know it’s just hair, right?"
Even Sergio rolled his eyes at her ferocious animosity toward her father. Especially when her grudge didn’t warrant such a reaction in their minds.
"It’s just hair?"
Shia narrowed her eyes coldly at Sergio until he felt a chill creeping down his spine. Still, he stood his ground.
"Yes, it’s just hair." He doubled down solemnly, "Shia, you have been blessed to be born in one of the most prominent families in the region. Your father might be stern and rough, but all of his actions are done for the sake of his family and agency protection. That’s why we respect him so much as our leader and would do anything he asks us to. So what if he cut your hair and forced you to keep it low? Is that too much of a price to carry the Morningstar’s surname?"
Jamal murmured from the side, "If it were me, I wouldn’t have hesitated to go bald if it meant getting the Morningstar surname."
Listening to their words, Shia quietly licked her lollipop, saying nothing. Her eyes stayed on the holographic 3D chessboard, though her mind churned with a mess of thoughts and emotions.
She lifted the Queen piece and played with it in her hand. Then, she let out a long exhale and placed it in the best strategic position on the board, stunning Sergio.
"Checkmate."
Then, she turned her head toward the giant glass window, eyes fixed on the cattle grazing in the fields. She didn’t respond or argue; there was no point.
They were looking at the situation through their own lens, not hers. To outsiders or those less fortunate, she had no right to complain or rebel against her father.
After all, there were other people whose lives were currently in the gutter, struggling to just sleep daily and suffering from nightcrawlers’ invasions each night.
She knew all of this and never took away from the pain of others. But this didn’t mean that her problems meant nothing.
This didn’t mean that just because other people were suffering, she must never utter a single complaint in her life.
As her eyes focused on the glass and she saw her reflection and her short crimson hair, she couldn’t help but smile bitterly.
It was never about the hair, and she knew her friends would never truly understand...Not unless they had lived her life. To them, her family was royalty, something to admire or envy. They couldn’t see the weight behind the image.
How could one ever understand the troubles and woes of another soul that he envied?
"Cough, well, whether it’s Madam Naima or Lord Idriss, it will be an upheaval battle to secure the recommendation letter without telling them about your deal." Jamal swiftly returned to the original subject, not wanting to spoil the mood any longer.
"True, while I give utmost props to Levi’s intelligence and powerful spiritual vision, if your mother were to hear that he is blind, she would reject you instantly." Sergio nodded.
Shia knew that her friends were right.
The recommendation letters were given to all the high-ranked agencies to recommend potential children with no background or ones with outsider identities, such as belonging to other holy regions or survivors from nightcrawlers’ nests.
If this were all, the recommendation letters wouldn’t carry much weight for those agencies. Their true power was the priority recruitment that came with it!
In other words, the agencies recommending any rising talents would have dibs on them during the Contract Ritual Assembly if they were to become Daywalkers.
This led the agencies to value their limited recommendation letters even more, reserving them strictly for the most talented children without influential backgrounds.
That’s why Levi was always rejected by every single agency at the doorstep, not even the security guards bothering to entertain his wishful request.
"Don’t worry, I have a plan to convince her." Shia smirked.
***
Sometime later...
Shia was seen sitting at a well-decorated coffee table on top of a hardened concrete roof, unlike the rest of the buildings near it.
The roof was covered with a massive transparent white tent, protecting it from the intensity of the sun while also bathing it in a warm light.
Although the roof was made of concrete, it was hidden beneath a lush garden with a wooden path leading to the rooftop door.
Shia sat at a table beside a patch of crimson flowers that resembled roses, but with crystallized petals that reflected light like gemstones.
As Shia took a sip of peppermint tea, her eyes were affixed on those gleaming flowers, taking in their refreshing smell. But soon, she averted her gaze after picking up on the rooftop door opening.
A gorgeous middle-aged woman entered, dressed in a milky white sundress and adorned with gold accessories on her neck, ears, fingers, and wrists. Her short, wavy brunette hair fell slightly over her smooth forehead.
Light makeup highlighted her mature beauty, so much so that it seemed to outshine even the vibrant garden around her.
This was Madam Naima Morningstar, the true household head of the Morningstar family and the second in command within the Blood Hunters Agency.
She might not be as powerful as her husband, but her administrative skills and ambitious mindset were the ones keeping the family and agency in order. Idriss Morningstar was more of a figurehead, whose job was to simply kill, destroy, and win.
Such a power couple was feared and respected even outside of Heliodor’s region.
When Madam Naima saw Shia sitting on the soft futon like a hooligan, one arm resting on her knee, her thin eyebrows furrowed in quiet disapproval
"Chaima, haven’t I told you to act right?" Madam Naima chided, her voice stern but delicate, "You are representing the Morningstar lineage outside, and if the youngest daughter acts in this manner, won’t they think of us as savages behind doors?"
"Hi daughter, hi mom, how are you? Were you hurt in the Harrowing Forest? I heard someone placed an assassination hit on you. I was worried sick about you. Don’t be, I can take care of myself." Shia narrowed her eyes irritably, "Isn’t this how conversations between moms and daughters are supposed to be after a near-death experience? Instead, you are nagging me over my posture."
"You aren’t dead...Don’t be melodramatic, it’s unbefitting. Plus, your father is already looking into the assassination attempt."
Madam Naima scowled as she sat next to her daughter, not bothered in the slightest by Shia’s criticism of her reaction.
"I told you to pick any of the Blood Crystal Flowers behind you and commence your evolution, but you rejected it and chose to search for it on your own, almost killing yourself in the process." Madam Naima added indifferently while pouring a cup of tea for herself, "Be responsible for your decisions."
Shia’s heart chilled as she gazed at her mother’s emotionless look, realizing that more than ever, she had no love for her.
She almost died in the forest, and while she understood that it was on her, Shia still expected, wished, for just a hint of care or worry from her mother.
Alas...Her blood was as cold as an icy sea...
Shia buried her emotions at the bottom of her heart and said expressionlessly, "You’re right. I was asking for too much."
"Good, a Morningstar should never seek compassion or empathy. In this cruel world, such emotions are delicacies for nightcrawlers." Madam Naima advised with a nod of approval.
"Thank you, I will keep it in mind." Shia gritted her teeth for a split second and then reclaimed her composure.
"Why have you asked for me?" Madam Naima glanced at a classic golden watch on her wrist and said, "I have four meetings after breakfast, make it quick."
"I need a recommendation letter."
Shia went straight to the point, no longer having any interest in bonding with her mother.
"For?"
"I need it for my friend."
"What’s his background and potential?"
Madam Naima immediately entered into business mode, believing that her rebellious daughter, who refused to accept any favors from them, wouldn’t lower her pride for just anyone.
"Orphan native, SS potential."
"SS potential?" Madam Naima raised an eyebrow in surprise, knowing that such ratings were given only to genuine geniuses born with unique qualities.
Instead of telling her about him, Shia requested Astra Ai to show his 3D holographic image.
As Madam Naima stared at the massive blue-colored holographic figure, she couldn’t help but ask in intrigue, "How old is this fine specimen? And what’s his name?"
"Sixteen years old." Shia smirked, "He is called Arthur Larson."