Shadow Slave

Chapter 2161  A Flawed World

So many things had happened, and worse than that, things constantly kept happening. So, Jest was busy all the time and had not paid too much attention to young Anvil after their lessons were over. The boy was a constant presence in his life, but more of a background character than a main one. Still, they were close — or had been, at least. Ever since last year… Jest had distanced himself from everyone who was around the age of being infected by the Nightmare Spell. Even if it was unreasonable and cowardly, he had to in order to prevent himself from falling apart completely. Anvil had contracted the Spell, faced the First Nightmare, and returned alive. They had seen each other once or twice since then, and even though everything seemed fine, Jest sensed that something was not quite the same. Well, of course… it wouldn't be. The First Nightmare was a formative experience for many, and no one was the same after suffering its horrors. So, even if Anvil had changed, there was probably no hidden meaning behind it. Perhaps Jest just felt sad about growing distant from the boy, considering that they had been close once. He wanted to visit the kid at the newly established Academy, but this and that kept getting in the way. In the end, it wasn't long before the winter solstice that Jest finally found himself paying a visit. He made a point of making himself preventable, and had even gone so far as to not drink anything the night before. After all, he had an image to maintain in front of the youths. The Academy was just as impressive as he had expected. He found Anvil in the library, studying academic papers on various dead languages of the Dream Realm and the reproductions of obscure runic engravings found in different parts of the world. Jest could not really imagine what for, but vaguely remembered seeing Warden doing the same. "Hey, kid."

When he called with a smile, Anvil looked up, studied him for a few moments, and then nodded. "Uncle Jest."

The greeting was not really unfriendly… but it wasn't too warm, either, a far cry from how happily the boy had greeted him before, in the past. Jest hesitated for a moment, childishly hurt by that lackluster reaction. Was it simply because they were not as close as they had been once, or was there a different reason?

Still maintaining a smile, Jest sat down and glanced at Anvil. "Funny seeing you here. I went by the dojo first, and what would you know? Lo and behold, there was Immortal Flame's girl… ah, I'm supposed to call her Smile of Heaven now, aren't I? Bah, what a mouthful."

He grinned. "Well, anyway. She was having a blast sparring with some guy… he's a menace with a sword, too. Weren't you two joined at the hip? How come you left her there alone?"