"Master-disciple spiritual contract?" she asked incredulously. "What is that?"
"It's a special contract that will be engraved on the soul and will cause harm to it if its conditions are not met," I explained calmly. "Don't worry, there's nothing unusual in a master-disciple contract; just what's normally between a master and a disciple. Well, and also a prohibition on disclosing everything I'm about to tell you."
"Well, that's a bit... You know, unexpected," she said, faltering.
"I'm not forcing you, it's just that what I'm about to tell you is very secret. I don't want anyone to know I have it, or there will be trouble," I said, a little sadly. "Of course, if it all works out, you won't be able to show it to just anyone, but in an emergency, it could save your life," I said confidently, needing to carefully lead her to signing the contract. He Yu, not Zhou Min, who desperately seeks a way to become stronger, she needs to be convinced that I can truly give her power without revealing anything before signing the contract.
"I see, it sounds interesting, but can you conclude this contract right now, and do you know how it's done, right?" she asked with less doubt in her voice.
"Yes, for that I need a drop of blood and a little time," I said, handing her the inkwell.
"Okay, I can at least try," she said a little more confidently, dripping a couple of drops of blood into the inkwell. I immediately started scribbling the contract terms on paper. It was very difficult to add anything extra, as she constantly watched me and read everything I wrote, but even so, I managed to write everything I wanted, using the moments when she was distracted and vague wording. How fortunate that I had prepared the entire writing plan in advance, otherwise I definitely wouldn't have managed. The contract was no different in essence from the one Zhou Min had, only the content was slightly different, as it was necessary to hide everything carefully and not arouse suspicion, even upon close reading.
"Here, all that's left is to sign," I said, handing her the paper with the pen.
"Okay, just hurry up," He Yu said, literally snatching the pen from my hands and quickly putting her signature. She didn't read it, thinking she hadn't missed anything I wrote, what a pity to disappoint her, so I won't. "So, what did you want to show me?"
"Here, try to arrange the stars like this," I said, handing her a prepared piece of paper with the configuration of the wind blade stars. She again literally snatched it from my hands and studied it intently, after which she began to arrange the star path. It took much less time than for Zhou Min; after all, she had trained for a long time to use spells one after another, which was clearly visible from her fight. As soon as the star path was completed, a stream of water from her chest directed towards her arm, forming a concentrated bubble of water in her hand. Something similar happened to me when using the wind blade. She quickly guessed what to do and waved her hand. Following her movement, a water blade appeared and flew in the chosen direction.
"Wow!" He Yu exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hand. "I can really attack like this now! How cool!"
"Well done. Just don't tell anyone about the contract or what I showed you, not even Xiao Hou. Try to train away from prying eyes, and also use this only in moments of mortal danger," I said in a stern tone. "Otherwise, we could both be in trouble."
"I understand, I understand," He Yu nodded. "But if everyone found out, wouldn't all mages become much stronger? Why don't you want to tell them?"
"Actually, I'm researching all possible star combinations, and therefore spells, on the assignment of a certain scholar. But it's a big secret, don't tell anyone," I said strictly, showing a desire to keep everything secret. "If you want to help me and make it available to everyone faster, then write down all your sensations and give them to me. To implement this in the training program, comprehensive research is needed, otherwise no one will allow it."
"I understand, I'll do everything I can," she replied with sparkling eyes. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I doubt your supervisor would like it if someone took credit for his project."
"Thank you very much," I thanked her heartily. Of course, this wasn't the real reason, but if she was comfortable thinking so, let her. "Here is everything that has been learned so far, so study it well," I said, handing her the same notebook as Zhou Min. It's good that I make many duplicates just in case, but in truth, there is only one real one, and everything is written in Russian there.
"Thank you for your trust, I will try to do my best," she said, taking the notebook and hiding it in her bag. "And what is this spell called?" she asked, thinking for a moment.
"Water blade," I replied quickly. "And now let's hurry, or they'll be waiting for you too long."
"Ah, right," she realized, running to the locker room. Apparently, from surprise, she completely forgot that she was in a hurry in the first place.
I calmly went to the men's locker room, where the other guys were still there. Telling them I was trying something new, invented during the battle, I quickly changed and finally got down to what I came here for, namely, to meet Lin Yun Er. This time I was firmly confident of meeting her. I wasn't particularly worried that her mother might leak information about me to the guardians. Now, after I destroyed their group of mages at the peak of the middle level, they will be cautious. Those who are chasing me clearly do not have enough free resources to hire someone who can freely kill me. They wanted to do everything quietly, which can only mean one thing.
There is a war going on in Russia, well, or at least a very tense situation, so they can't throw resources around to finish a more than decade-old matter. They tried to capture me using various small pawns, gradually raising the stakes, thinking that I was just lucky. And indeed, what threat can there be from a guy who has no noticeable talents? And given the internal problems, why not do everything quietly and peacefully? But I, thinking that some strong organization was chasing me, killed everyone indiscriminately! Ha, in fact, teaming up with Jiaxing Shan was not a bad idea, but then I didn't know their situation. I thought he would deceive me and kill me at a convenient opportunity. I should have been smarter even at the time of Zhang Rou's stunt, I should have understood it. What normal influential organization would hire an ordinary league worker to take something truly valuable? Why not hire a good mage and just kill me? Perhaps, even very likely, someone is waiting for their mistake. The death of a citizen of another country, why not start a full-scale war, declaring them guilty? But then it turns out that a third party, which has not yet shown itself, might be watching me. Or were all those attempts organized by different groups?
"Then the matter will become even more complicated, won't it?" Asura suddenly broke into my thoughts.
"Yes, it makes everything more difficult, and the truth will not be known," I said thoughtfully. "And indeed, why did they all work slightly differently? No, this can be attributed to raising the stakes, but then why not just send someone strong to capture me?"
"Maybe because they initially planned to do it quietly, so that others wouldn't even know?" Asura asked.
"But how did others find out about my existence?" I asked, straining my brain more and more. "The informant was one, Lin Yun Er's mother, that's for sure. I even know the moment when it happened, but..."
"But then why did they start acting so quietly right away?" Asura continued my thought. This unexpected assumption threw all my plans into disarray. "Yes, you are only human, you are prone to making mistakes and lying to yourself, hoping for the best outcome," Asura chuckled.
"As if you're better than me, you're just an ordinary echo of my emotions," it was my turn to laugh.
"Our bickering won't move this stone from a dead point," Asura spread his hands.
"What if they somehow got the information and then found me themselves?" I asked, continuing my thoughts. "But then how many sides can there be in this conflict? Two? Three?"
"I think three," Asura answered my question calmly, as if it were obvious. "Think carefully and compare everything we know."
"Exactly, three clans, closest to China and possessing two relics! Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, and Ufa! But we don't know which one Peter belongs to," I said, thinking hard. "They all have the same powers and spheres of interest. One relic can change their status. If you declare another guilty of a crime on the territory of another country, stir up an international scandal, you can greatly weaken your opponents."
"I think we should compare all the attacks and their methods of action, then it will be clear who is who in this game," Asura guided me to the right thoughts.
"Yes, you're right. Bao Qing Che's team and Zhang Rou's first attack probably belong to the same clan," I began to frantically recall what had happened all this time. "Then, the attack in the city of Yueyang, most likely belongs to others. Because then Zhang Rou definitely betrayed me, no idiot would keep a servant who had already made a mistake and lost her memory. But if someone else works according to her information, it's easy to frame the first one. Yes, and from the words of that man from Yueyang, it's hard to understand if he belongs to the first attackers. Then..."
"Then who is responsible for what happened to Xu Zhao Ting, right?" Asura asked ahead of me. "Most likely, it wasn't those who were in Yueyang, then they sent a strong mage, so they would clearly try to be cautious and observe."
"And those who were there initially, they sent that team, which I could handle with luck and cover their tracks," I said, my thoughts clearing as if by revelation. "Exactly, it was them, they decided to make the maximum possible bet! And one clan has been abstaining all this time! The Ufa clan, its assets are mainly in the southern Urals, it has no reason to actively get involved in these matters. It is enough for them to wait until the other two tear each other's throats and take all the winnings for themselves, even if it's small, but without losses."
"But the Ufa guardians could have sent that team, as they acted most provocatively," Asura stopped my slightly foolish assumptions.
"Yes, you're right. But if we've concluded all this correctly, then most likely the clans don't think that someone is behind me, but that one of them interfered with the other, thereby protecting me!" I summarized everything said. "It turns out that everyone who knows about whom I destroyed thinks that someone else protected me."
"But at the same time, there's a chance that all three tried to take you, and now they're thinking about who protected you," Asura chuckled. "A stalemate. No one is sure who is to blame. Everyone is looking at each other, deciding for themselves who dared to interfere with their operation. But in reality, everyone got it from you yourself. You've driven them into a corner. All three, throwing on black cloaks, attacked you, you could say, in plain sight. Everyone knows about the three attempts, everyone knows how they ended, but not everyone knows why it happened." Asura clearly enjoyed this arrangement.
"Yes, I think you're right after all. I don't think that, having learned where I am, they don't know that I was attacked," I concluded. "They won't risk acting until they understand who I'm under the protection of. But I'm also not entirely sure that the situation is exactly like this, but there is a sure way to find out everything for sure. All I have to do is go to Lin Yun Er's home."