Chapter 176: Oath Of Treaty
The moment Eliana finished speaking, Solaris’s eyes widened again as she looked at her friend with a level of surprise that she hadn’t shown to anyone, "Disciple? You have taken in a Disciple?" Her voice carried clear disbelief because she had known Eliana for a very long time, yet this was the first time she had ever heard about her taking someone under her guidance, which naturally made her wonder why Eliana had never mentioned such a thing before.
"Yes, I did," Eliana replied without trying to hide it anymore, though her expression became slightly complicated as she spoke about the person. "And he is extremely talented, I mean really extremely talented, even though he is only an S-rank, he can already defeat several SS-ranks with just a snap of his fingers." She said it so naturally that it took Solaris a moment to process the actual meaning behind those words, because the difference between S-rank and SS-rank was not something that could normally be ignored, especially when talking about defeating several of them at the same time.
Solaris narrowed her eyes slightly while looking at Eliana, trying to determine whether her friend was exaggerating because of her own attachment to the Disciple or whether she was genuinely speaking about someone with such an absurd level of strength. "Several SS-ranks?...You’re saying an S-rank can defeat several of them?" she asked again, making sure she had heard correctly, because even for someone like Solaris, who stood at a level far above most Individuals in the world, that kind of statement was still something that needed to be questioned.
Eliana nodded without hesitation, "Yes, several of them, and I am not exaggerating either, I know how ridiculous that sounds to you, but I have personally seen what he is capable of, his comprehension, his control over Spirit and the way he develops his own Techniques are all far beyond what I would expect from someone at his current rank."
She paused briefly before continuing, "His cultivation is only S-rank right now, but if it was only about cultivation then I wouldn’t have taken him as my Disciple, the reason I accepted him is because there are certain things about him that make his actual combat strength completely different from what his rank suggests."
Solaris remained silent while listening, her thoughts already moving through the implications of what she had just heard. ’An S-rank defeating several SS-ranks...if that is really true then he is already an abnormal Individual even by the standards of those few people who can fight above their cultivation rank, but why has Eliana kept someone like that hidden from everyone?’ The question naturally appeared in her mind because someone with that kind of strength would normally attract attention from the major Continents sooner or later, especially if that person was being directly trained by the Queen of the Elven Continent.
"You really kept this person hidden from me for all this time?" Solaris asked after a brief pause, her eyes narrowing slightly as she continued looking at Eliana. "I thought we had already reached the point where there were very few things you would keep secret from me, yet you suddenly tell me that you have a Disciple who can fight several SS-ranks while remaining only an S-rank, how long have you been training him?"
Eliana smiled slightly at the question before taking another small sip from her tea, "For some time now, but I didn’t tell you because there was no reason to do it, and I also didn’t want too many people to know about him before I understood exactly how far he could go, if his existence became known to every major power too early, then everyone would start trying to investigate him, recruit him or even take advantage of his current age and experience, and I don’t need that kind of trouble."
Solaris slowly nodded after hearing that because the reasoning wasn’t difficult to understand. "So, you kept him hidden until you found a use for him," she said, though the tone wasn’t accusing, it was more like she was confirming what Eliana had already implied.
Eliana simply shrugged before replying, "You can put it that way, but don’t misunderstand me, I didn’t take him as my Disciple only because he could become useful one day, I genuinely think his talent is worth nurturing, and now that Azarion has started moving earlier than we expected, his existence has become much more useful than I thought it would."
Solaris’s expression became slightly more serious after that, "And you believe he can find out what Azarion is experimenting with?" Eliana nodded, "That is exactly why I mentioned him, I already have an idea of how we can use his abilities to investigate the matter without directly revealing to Azarion that we have discovered what he has been doing, if everything goes according to what I have planned, we might even be able to learn what those Monsters are being created for before Azarion finishes whatever he is preparing."
Solaris looked toward the cup of tea in front of her before slowly raising her eyes again, "Then I suppose this meeting didn’t go to waste only knowing about that Vile bastard, I think you needed me to become involved in that operation." Eliana smiled slightly at that, "Of course, I knew you wouldn’t remain uninvolved after hearing about all this, and I also knew that you would ask questions about what I planned to do, so there was no point hiding it anymore."
Solaris remained silent for several moments before leaning back slightly against the wooden chair, her thoughts continuing to process everything she had learned since arriving. An Ex-rank Monster, a strange substance capable of forcefully raising someone’s cultivation, Monsters appearing across multiple Continents, Azarion watching through them, the Holy Church of Eluminad being attacked and now an unknown S-rank Disciple capable of defeating several SS-ranks, too many unusual things had already happened for her to treat them as unrelated incidents.
’That Vile Bastard is behind all this, Tch, If not for the oath of treaty between all the continents I would have crushed him this instant.’ Solaris thought while her fingers rested against the side of her cup, ’and if Eliana is serious about this Disciple, then I need to meet him before we begin anything, I need to know exactly what kind of person I am working with.’
She finally looked back toward Eliana and spoke, "Alright, then tell me about this Disciple of yours, who is he, and where is he right now?"
A small smile appeared on Eliana’s face as she heard the question, but she didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she took another sip of tea while her eyes shifted toward the far side of the chamber, as though remembering something about the person she had just mentioned.
"He’s currently somewhere you wouldn’t expect," she finally said.
Solaris’s eyebrows raised slightly.
Eliana smiled, "And by the time you meet him...I think you will understand why I called him extremely talented."