PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

616 Chapter 616 Resolution and the opportunity for growth

The world was spinning, everything looked blurry, and the nausea was almost unbearable. Still, Cecilia kept trying with all her might to maintain her composure. Taking away human life is a bloody and inhuman act that Cecilia has never understood; until now.

The world was cruel; Cecilia had learned that the hard way. Being a nun her entire life, eventually becoming the holy priestess of her order, Cecilia had been raised with strong beliefs. Cecilia used to value human life and goodness above all else. The greatest tragedy in Cecilia’s life was that all her pain, suffering, and everything she lost was at the hands of the same people who taught her to give to those who needed it and protect the innocent. That was a great irony; those who claimed to give to those in need had taken all they could from Cecilia, only failing to take her life.

Even then, it was Desmond who saved Cecilia. He stained his hands with blood, plotted deviously, and prepared to retaliate when those who harbored evil intentions eventually and inevitably came for her.

Cecilia still remembered how much she argued with Desmond when they first met. How much she found Desmond’s indifference to the lives of others despicable and how much his cruelty and mischievous smile repelled her.

Everything changed the day Nana died. Cecilia would never forget how pitiful and helpless Nana looked on her deathbed, how her lifelong best friend used her last breaths of life to reassure her that she was still pure.

The metallic taste of her first kiss, accompanied by the death of her best and only friend, changed Cecilia. Since then, she had been learning, about life, about the world, and above all, about death.

With Desmond as her teacher and study material, Cecilia saw a lot of death, read about death, and even saw how the benefits obtained through death were calculated and planned. Still, nothing prepared her for taking her first life.

Bluuurrgh * Unable to take it anymore, Cecilia vomited on the floor, the nausea was too strong, and her legs were losing strength with speed. As she fell to her knees, a pair of her hands held onto her shoulders and gave her the support she needed.

Looking up, Cecilia saw that pair of kind and loving green eyes so familiar to her. Eyes that belonged to the woman who accepted her into her family and didn’t say a word when she found out that the man she loved had given her his last name.

.....

Words couldn’t begin to describe how grateful Cecilia felt towards Claire and how fond she was of him. Having read so much and spent so much time on earth, Cecilia understood the meaning of giving someone else’s last name. Cecilia knew that it must have been difficult for Claire to welcome her into her home. Still, she never said anything and instead received her with open arms in her warm family.

Before Cecilia could thank Claire, someone shoved a small vial in front of her. “Here, it’ll help you with nausea.” It was Sasha’s kind voice.

“She really is like fire, always warm.” Cecilia thought as she took the vial and drank its contents in one gulp. Sasha’s potions always had some interesting flavors, but Cecilia didn’t pay much attention.

Feeling someone’s caress on her hair, Cecilia noticed that it was Revna who was consoling her in a gesture not very characteristic of her. “Don’t take it too seriously, Cecilia. My first time was pretty hard too.”

Cecilia smiled tenderly and decided not to deny Revna. Cecilia had long ago heard about Revna’s main job in Garden. She had talked about it with the rest of the girls there, learning how Revna didn’t waver in the slightest or show any mercy as she murdered one person after another in the test that Desmond gave her.

While Sasha, Claire, and Revna were busy consoling Cecilia and trying to calm her down, Xiauyue and Fei Long were talking on the sidelines.

“What do you think?” Xiauyue asked with interest; she knew very well how ruthless and brutal Fei Long had always been due to the massacre of her clan, so she was curious what his view would be on the girls’ performance in general as well as Cecilia’s situation.

“It really bothers me.” Fei Long replied before snorting.

Raising an eyebrow, Xiauyue retorted. “really? I thought they did pretty well. Even if their opponents were pretty weak, you still have to admit their progress. In Cecilia’s case, she’s handling it quite well already; you have to consider that she didn’t grow up in a world as violent as ours. Even in our case, our first murder was not so pleasant. I believe Cecilia has a lot of potential. We should give her credit for being decisive even if she had trouble processing the situation later.”

For some reason that Xiauyue didn’t understand, Fei Long gave her a strange look. Wanting to clear up the misunderstanding, Fei Long explained. “What bothers me is how fucking lucky Desmond is. Cecilia’s performance was more than good; the rest was, well, to be expected, given her personality. If I were going to have a complaint about any of them, it would be with Sasha. She exaggerated so that she could finish faster and return to her business.”

Realizing where the misunderstanding was, Xiauyue laughed to herself, but she still didn’t forget to make a comment. “You say that about Sasha, but you’re always the same. You always exaggerate when fighting. God knows what would be of my sect if it weren’t for the fact that your martial arts usually keep the destruction you cause under control. Or have you forgotten all our complaints because you don’t even leave corpses to bury after a duel?”

Immediately, Fei Long flushed completely red, a very rare sight. Unable to resist the impulse, Xiauyue kissed the adorable lips of her lover, letting herself be intoxicated by her sweetness. There was not a single thing in the entire world that Xiauyue loved more than seeing Fei Long act adorable or embarrassed.

Even after a week of interactions, it was still very awkward for Claire and the rest when Fei Long and Xiauyue got lost in their own world of love. Not because they were both women but because it was too hateful to see someone blatantly show their love when you were alone and far from the person you loved.

Of course, at least in Claire’s case, it was pretty hypocritical of her to complain since she and Desmond used to do that all the time. In Sasha’s case, the few times such a thing happened, she would shame herself to death for letting herself go in public.

Fortunately, this was not Fei Long and Xiauyue’s residence where they could spend half an hour lost in their caresses. Hence, the incident ended half a minute later. The only consolation for Claire and the rest was that the discomfort at least managed to distract and blush Cecilia, who felt shy and somewhat nostalgic when remembering her first kiss.

Once the romantic exchange between Xiauyue and Fei Long ended, the group realized that it wasn’t the best of ideas to hang around the scattered pile of human remains they left behind.

On that same note, Fei Long recalled that part of the reason she had found it convenient to come to this bandit-infested area was to raise funds. At this point, it had become quite obvious that Claire and the rest weren’t willing to take too many advantages based on their relationship with Desmond alone. So, Fei Long and Xiauyue thought letting the girls plunder the bandits would be a good idea.

Since the girls had already proven to be more than capable of taking care of themselves, Fei Long decided to take the next step. “We still want some spare time to sort out our affairs in the Eternal War Maiden Sect, so here’s the deal. You have three days to roam the area within fifty miles and annihilate as many bandits as possible.”

Complementing what Fei Long said, Xiauyue added. “You will want to push yourself; this is more than just training. It will be the main auction at the Eternal War Maiden Sect Headquarters in four days. Believe me; there will be enough treasures to make an empire drool, so you will want to have the funds to acquire some of those treasures.”

“In other words, let’s slaughter these pieces of filth and loot everything they have; I like the idea.” Revna commented, keeping a calm face that fooled no one; her bloodlust was almost palpable after all.

Although for different reasons, Sasha, Claire, and Cecilia were also excited by the activity. Claire saw another chance to temper herself and grow up to stand by Desmond’s side. Sasha saw it as an opportunity to raise funds to buy a bunch of rare plants and alchemy materials. For Cecilia, it was an acceptable way to strengthen her intent to kill since she knew that she could not always react as she did on this occasion.

As such, under the expectation-filled eyes of Fei Long and Xiauyue, who had already begun to set up camp, Claire, Sasha, Cecilia, and Revna set off on their bandit hunt.