Chapter 648 - Rose

After visiting Charya, he made his way toward the Northern Continent. He didn't care about anything other than his base and entered it with his token.

Obviously, the person inside would realize there was someone coming inside the barrier. However, this person had absolute trust in her teacher and quickly appeared in front of him a few seconds after he came in. She clasped her hands and knelt on one knee. "It's been a while, Master."

There was this indescribable joy in her heart as she couldn't help but smile from ear to ear. 

Alex came to her and patted her head a few times. "It's been a while, Rose. Let's come inside first."

"Yes." Rose stood up and led him inside as if she was the host here. 

"To think you have reached this step so quickly." Alex smiled as he walked inside his study room and took his seat.

Rose didn't answer him yet. Instead, he poured tea for him first. 

"Thank you." 

"I can't reach this step without Master's help… so I'm really grateful to Master." Rose smiled as she stood in front of her. "By the way, I feel like Master has an important job right now." 

"Haha, you have grown sharper day by day." Alex laughed. "I indeed have a job here and can't stay for a long time." 

"I understand. Although I want to share many things with Master, I shouldn't keep Master here." Rose nodded.

"Don't worry." Alex waved his hand, telling her she was wrong. He spent less than a day until he came here, so there was still more than a week to prepare the fight against the Fire God Clan. In other words, he could stay here to teach Rose for a few days. He might be too busy after this since there would be constant trouble the moment he came to the Heavenly Continent. "I will be busy for the next one or two years and can't visit you at all. That's why I will spare a few days to chat with you and see your progress."

"Is that true?" Joy appeared on her face, showing how thrilled she was. 

"Yeah. And I want to apologize for the trouble I bring you." Alex looked at her with a sad smile. Looking at her was a kind of looking at a bird in a cage. 

"Master, you have warned me previously, and I have answered you that I'm prepared for all of this. That's why I have been chasing after you this whole time, hoping I can help you with your burden. Please don't apologize to Rose because this is what I choose." Rose smiled. She uttered her genuine feelings. "Master… Do you know that you look like someone who never cares about others from a stranger's point of view?"

"Me?" Alex lifted his eyebrows and thought. 

"Yes. Back when our first meeting, I saw Master as someone who thought of me as a tool or something. However, I was wrong. I learned about your personality this whole time and realized that you only thought of that toward a stranger. You unintentionally push away a stranger, but pull in someone close to you. For you, there is only one and zero. One is for your friends and families. There is almost close to no difference in how you treat your friends and families. On the other hand, the zero will keep being zero if you don't want to get involved or give them the 'one.'

"I am glad to be your disciple, and I realize that your power is not how you do not differentiate your friends and families. Instead, there is an indescribable charm in your action that makes people want to give everything for you… Because they know you have given your all as well," said Rose with a serious expression. 

Alex was stunned, never expecting Rose to say this. "I just do what I think is right. I have known what it feels like to lose someone, so I don't want to lose my friends and families. That's all I do."

Rose smiled. "That's what makes Master so charming to us."

If Rose knew about Letizia's story, she would even point out this example to him. Unfortunately, she didn't have the system like his spirits, so Rose had no knowledge other than what she experienced. 

"Master, where are you right now? I mean, you are here right now, but where is your…" Rose furrowed her eyebrows, searching for the right word. 

"I'm still on the Sacred Continent. After a few months, I am going to go to the Heavenly Continent and will be so busy to the point I won't have spare time for you." 

"Ah! I hope to enter the Martial Emperor and Martial Monarch soon." Rose sighed. "I am still in the Martial King Stage and need a few months to reach the Martial Emperor Stage. After that, I think I need three years to reach Martial Monarch. The path is too long, and Master won't need my help anymore."

Alex laughed out loud. "Don't worry about me. You, being my disciple alone, have brought me happiness. I'm really glad that I have a disciple as thoughtful as you, and that is enough for me. Let your Master do the rest for you."

Rose nodded.

"For the time being, I need to give you a brief explanation about your situation right now… Well, it's my situation since this is my problem." Alex let out a hollow laugh before explaining everything about the Fire God Clan, Snow White Mountain, and Ancient Blue Family. 

Rose took a note on every single influence to make sure she didn't spare anyone coming from those three in the future as long as Alex didn't forbid her.

"Master. Do you think I should become a disciple under any influences on the Heavenly Continent? I might be able to reach you faster." Rose asked.

"No. I don't think so." Alex shook his head. "Heavenly Sword Sect is the limit. I don't wish for you to be chained down by these influences, so I wish for you to be a rogue cultivator. Now that we are talking about this, I almost forgot about this."

Rose tilted her head in confusion as she waited for one minute before Alex continued. Suddenly, a blue screen appeared in front of her eyes.

She jumped back a little bit, startled to see something come out of nowhere. "Ma-Master… There is something appearing in front of me. I don't know what this is."

Alex only smiled as if he could see it too. "You can read it."

Rose took a deep breath, regained her composure, and read it out loud. "Alexander Sirius invites you to join Spirit Nest… What is this, Master?"

"I am inviting you to join my influence. Although I say influence, it's only me and a few friends. However… I want you to keep this a secret to all people even if you have a loved one in the future."

Rose gulped down. "With Alexander Sirius as my Master, can I really have a loved one? My standard has become so high to the point it reaches the sky. And I don't have anyone that I can call as family other than Master, of course, I can keep this a secret. What should I do to accept Master's invitation?"

"There is 'Y' and 'N,' right? It's yes and no. You can simply touch the blue screen."

Rose touched the 'Y' without hesitation, and the screen suddenly changed.

[Processing…]

[Initializing Gacha System…]

[Adding the user to Spirit Nest…] 

[Process Complete.]

[Welcome to the Spirit Nest, Rose Skewes.]

"Eh, welcome? Thank you." Rose was confused by this blue screen. She thought it was alive and unconsciously clasped her hands and bowed.

Alex couldn't help but chuckle. "Anyway, this is my biggest secret that no one except a few people knows."

"Don't worry, Master. I will keep it as a secret even if they torture me." She nodded with a serious expression. Hearing that it was his biggest secret, Rose felt honored because Alex was willing to share something like this.

"Since you have joined the Spirit Nest, you will get a notification like earlier if you kill a monster, and I can give you a mission or communicate with you through this. I might be busy, but I can spare a few minutes for this, so I will contact you whenever I can to watch over your progress." 

"Rose will work hard."

"Yes. There is another thing that will surprise you, but I will leave it to later." Alex smirked, not talking about the Gacha he wished to give to Rose. "If you have any questions, just ask the system by saying it out loud or in your mind." 

Rose nodded with a grim expression.

"And now you have officially become a member of my Spirit Nest. Even Elder Charya and Evelyn don't know about this." Alex smiled. 

"Really?" Somehow the weight of Spirit Nest grew into an unbelievable height in her heart. Alex indirectly told her that she trusted her more than Evelyn or Charya, and this surely made her happy.

"Shall we begin your training now?" Alex recalled everything and knew he didn't forget anything, so he asked.

"Yes." Rose smiled brightly.

Rose began her training with Alex, and as expected, he was still merciless. He kept whipping the basics to Rose to prepare for the Bow Emperor Stage and Bow Saint Stage, where she needed to make an original Bow Technique and Bow Path. 

She never gave up until her body was tattered as she lost consciousness. Alex always healed her after that, of course. At the end of the training, Rose requested for a serious duel with him.

Alex thought it was a good idea and sealed his power to the same as her. Unfortunately for her, Alex had his Spirit Eyes, letting him dodge every arrow as he saw the energy flow instead of the real arrow. No matter how absurd her arrow's movement was, Alex was still able to predict it. 

After that, his sword and spear alone made him look like two people instead of one. Rose fought bravely, but couldn't reach Alex. However, after prolonging the fight into one day, Rose was able to strike at Alex with her arrow for the first time, albeit it was still blocked by his sword. 

Nonetheless, Rose was very happy to see that she still had the qualification to chase after him. She promised Alex to get stronger and finally collapsed to the ground, exhausted. 

As always, Alex didn't say goodbye to Rose. He simply left a message to her and took out the rune stone.

…

The next day, Rose woke up on her bed, only to find Alex's message on the table. She rose from the bed, reaching out his message before laying on the bed again. She opened the message and read it.

'Dear Rose,

'I need to go again, and it's better to go like this. You will be strong, and I assure it. Like you have seen my strength, personality, and other things, I can also see yours. Believe in yourself because you have the strength in your body. If, in the future, you still want to help me, I will be really grateful. 

'The question will be, how? The answer lies in the system. I will keep updating you about my status in the system as well as a mission for you from the system. That's why I want you to keep getting stronger, and one day, you will surely be able to help me. I'm looking forward to it.

'There is one more thing I need to inform you. There is a stone in my study room. I want you to not use this stone unless I give my permission. This doesn't mean I don't trust you, but it is not the time for you to reach my place. I hope you can understand it.

'I will always watch over you, and I'm telling you the truth. Alright, I have nothing to say anymore, so I will bid my goodbye right now.

'Alexander Sirius.'

Rose smiled, put the paper on her chest, and looked at the ceiling. "Master… Just wait for me, I won't disappoint you."

******

AN: Hey, do you know that today is the mark of our first anniversary? To think I have written this novel for a year already. I can keep going this whole time because all of your supports. Thank you very much