Chapter 573 Attie's Growth
After reading through the report, Shiro turned the computer off since that was all that she needed to know. The only remaining things to do now was to recover and look for everything she needed.
Of course, she was going to do that after she met her parents again.
"Thank you for your help Arwen. I'll probably drop by once in a while since the information stored here is quite beneficial." Shiro called out with a smile.
"No problem. Take care young lady." Arwen waved his hand as Shiro left the library.
Looking at her silhouette, Arwen chuckled lightly before resuming his cleaning duties.
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After leaving the library, Shiro glanced out to the sky and saw that it was now late afternoon. The sun hadn't set yet but it would be dark in another hour or so.
"I should probably go look for Attie now. The old man should have had enough time with my son." Shiro muttered before jogging towards the sparring grounds.
Upon arrival, she could see that most of the disciples were still training but Li Jian was nowhere to be seen.
"Excuse me, but do you know where the sect master is?" Shiro asked as she called out to one of the disciples.
"Ah, I'm not too sure. He was last seen making his way to the southern courtyard." The disciple replied with a respectful bow. From what they understand, she was someone who was brought back by the branch master along so they must be courteous with her.
"I see… thank you." Shiro smiled before dashing towards the south. Since she wasn't too familiar with the sect, the best she could do was to just run in its general direction.
After all, no one in their right mind would place the southern courtyard anywhere but the south right? If she finds the northern courtyard towards the south, she would be wanting to speak with the person who builtd all of this.
Arriving at what seems to be the southern courtyard, Shiro could see that it was a blacksmith of sorts. The doors were swung wide open as she could peek inside.
Just as she did this, she saw Li Jian holding Attie over a pit of fire.
". . ."
Closing her eyes, she massaged them with her fingers before glancing back just to make sure that she was seeing things properly.
When she opened her eyes, Attie was now closer to the fire.
". . . "
Taking a deep breath, she reinforced her body as best she could.
"What the f*ck are you doing to my son you sh*tty old man!!!!" Shiro shouted out as she stomped down as hard as she could.
*CRACK!!!
Fracturing the tiles under her, she launched her body towards Li Jian.
Hearing the shout of an infuriated Shiro, Li Jian couldn't help but flinch for a moment before turning towards her.
Just as he turned towards her, she was already in front of him with anger in her eyes. Due to the condition of the room, the fire reflected off her eyes as it made her seem like a devil.
"You have the wrong idea!" Li Jian persuaded while taking a step back to dodge her grab.
"Tell me that after I get my son back!" Shiro narrowed her eyes before pivoting on her foot.
Hooking her spare leg behind his, she pushed her palm against his chest before sending out a pulse of wind to knock him back.
"Hou hou… That's an interesting style you have there." Li Jian smiled while adjusting himself.
"I don't care just give me back my son you sh*tty old man." Shiro furrowed her brows.
"Alright alright but you have to promise me that you'll listen to my explanation."
"Just give me back my son." Shiro repeated once more.
Nodding his head, Li Jian passed Attie over to Shiro.
*Sigh…
"Estrella!" Shiro called out.
"Yes empress?"
"Why is the old man holding my son over a pit of fire and why didn't you stop him?" Shiro asked with a frown.
"Young lady, why would I want to harm someone who I want to be my grandkid? It's to help him. In the sect, the weapons are forged with a special fire. Since you said that Lil' Attie is a combination of fire, I thought it would help him and when I showed him the fire, he even reached out for it." Li Jian sighed as he pulled out a chair for him to sit on.
"Huh? Is that true Attie?" Shiro asked, glancing towards Attie who was in her arms.
Nodding his head, Attie pointed towards the fire pit that Li Jian was holding him over a moment ago.
Furrowing her brows, Shiro looked towards Estrella in hopes of verifying this.
"I'm not too sure if it's true or not since there hasn't been a case in the spirit race like Attie for a long time. Though as we are spirits, the same element cannot harm us in the wild unless it's a spell cast by someone." Estrella replied as Shiro furrowed her brows.
"You want to touch that fire?" She asked again just to make sure.
Nodding his head with certainty, Attie pointed towards the fire once more.
*Sigh
"Fine, but if I see you get hurt, I'm pulling you out immediately ok?" Shiro said with a frown.
Approaching the firepit, she made it so that Attie was just able to reach it with his little hands.
As he reached out for the fire, the flames seemed to come alive, wrapping around his fingers before enveloping his hands.
From Attie's relaxed expression, Shiro could guess that the fire was ok for him.
Seconds slowly passed as the flames slowly wrapped around Attie's arms before trying to extend to the rest of his body. However, just as this happened, Attie furrowed his brows with discomfort. Seeing this, Shiro quickly pulled him away.
With the fire separating from Attie, this discomfort slowly disappeared.
"Are you ok?" Shiro asked with worry.
Opening his eyes, Attie nodded his head before leaning against her chest and fell asleep.
"Do you know what's going on?" Shiro asked Estrella who had surprise written all over her face.
"Yes. He was trying to make his stand against the ambient fire spirits within that fire, making his presence and position known. For us spirits, we have to go through a few steps before 'growing up'. For example, Nimue was able to 'grow up' back into a sentient spirit due to your presence while Attie, who was born as a sentient spirit, will have different tasks to complete." Estrella replied.
"Why are you so surprised then?" Shiro raised her eyebrow.
"Because spirits tend not to do these tasks until quite a few years have passed. For young Attie to be showing his stand as a spirit already is quite ambitious." Estrella replied.
"Is that good or bad?"
"It's good! Or rather, it's great! The faster the spirits are able to muster up the courage to do these tasks, the more promising their future becomes. You see, the spirits are most pure at birth and this 'purity' will slowly wane over the years. The sooner they are able to 'grow up' the more of this purity is converted into raw potential. For Attie to be doing it this close to birth, he's going to become a powerful spirit when he grows up properly." Estrella replied excitedly. If Attie was able to grow up to become a powerful spirit, it means that the spirit race will have one more form of protection.
"Hmm… I see… well I'm not going to force him to grow up quickly. If he grows up fast then he grows up fast. If he doesn't then he doesn't. Just to make myself clear Estrella, we're not going force him on this path ok?" Shiro said as she glared towards Estrella with serious eyes.
She could tell that Estrella was excited for Attie's growth so that he could protect the spirit race but Shiro didn't want that. It was enough that she was protecting the race, she didn't need her son to shoulder her burden.
Feeling Shiro's glare, Estrella felt a shiver down her spine as she kneeled.
"I apologise my Empress. I overstepped my bounds." Estrella apologised as she was forcing her ideals onto Attie.
"Mn. Anyways, I've found out what I want from the library but is it ok if I continue to visit it?" Shiro asked, turning to Li Jian.
"Of course. Just keep the keycard since it's easier that way." Li Jian waved his hand as Shiro nodded her head.
"Thank you, now if you don't mind, I'm going to take Attie back to the room since he needs some sleep."
Walking out of the blacksmiths, Shiro started to make her way back to the room while Li Jian glanced towards the firepit.
"Hmm… Young Attie is actually able to subdue this flame?" He muttered with mild surprise before shaking his head.
Regardless of what Attie can do, Li Jian only wanted one thing from him and that was to call him grandpa.