"Aww..."
And there she was again, gushing over the cutest girl Celine had ever seen in her life.
Minami was so focused on serving Keith lunch that it just melted the hearts of the Mother and Daughter who were sitting at the table.
Qingyue did not show it or say anything, but she was also fondly smiling at the little girl. However, her mother was on the verge of breaking out in tears at how cute she found Minami.
Keith was sure that somewhere in the back of her mind, Celine was thinking about adopting the girl, but there was no way he was letting her leave his side.
<Thank you!> He politely thanked her after she plated up the main course for him under the guidance of a maid who was teaching her how to do it.
Minami brightly smiled at him, and then cutely bowed to him, which made Celine clasp her hands against her chest and sigh at the adorable little girl.
Too bad that she could not use the Sign Language, or else she would have sat the little girl down by her side and kept chatting with her.
Minami caught the older woman looking at her with misty eyes, and being clueless at what it was about, she just apologetically bowed in her direction.
"Keith!" Celine called out as soon she saw the little girl bow to her.
"Yes?"
"I want to adopt her!" She straightforwardly said.
"No." And he straightforwardly refused.
"What?" For a moment she was taken aback by Keith's instant refusal, but it was not something she had not expected. "Pretty, please?" She insisted.
"No, Aunt Celine." He shook his head. "I am not letting her away from my side. It's a promise I made to her brother and myself. Also, I am her doctor too."
The last line was an excuse he put up so that Celine would drop the matter.
"Didn't you say that it was genetic?" Qingyue perked up her ears at his last line and curiously asked.
"Yes." He smiled at her. "But I am confident that I can fix it in the future. It will take a few years and I need to improve my skills, but she will be able to hear the sounds one day."
"You can even fix genetic disorders?" She asked in disbelief, and even Celine seemed shocked at the revelation.
"There are many mysteries in the world that you can not fathom, and a genetic hearing disorder might seem like an impossible thing to fix, but it is a simple matter when you possess enough knowledge." He turned his attention to the steak, and silently started cutting it.
"Mysteries?" She narrowed her eyes at him, but found him not intending to answer her question.
Keith put the knife aside when he was done cutting up his steak, and then turned to look at the little girl who was still standing by his side.
<Sit!> He ordered her, and Minami hesitated a little before sitting next to Celine.
The Maid did not have to be told what to do, and she silently walked over and started plating food for the little girl.
Celine helped a little too, and then the four of them immersed themselves in their meal.
"I am still expecting you to tell me what you mean by the 'Mysteries'." Qingyue finally couldn't contain her inner curiosity and asked again.
"You really want to know?" He chuckled at her question and then looked her in the eyes.
He kept staring in her beautiful grey eyes, and Qingyue felt her cheeks heat up under his intense gaze.
"Yes." She answered.
"Do you know what Aurors are?" He gently asked, and saw the girl frown at his words.
"No."
He expected her to not know about it, and nodded to her before looking at her mother.
Surprisingly, Celine nodded back at him.
"I have been friends with your mother, Keith. And even before Venessa told me about these things, I knew a little about it. Also, Father Lin knew some Aurors and he asked a few doctors to check up on my illness. And I know that the method you used to treat me involved Aura."
Keith nodded to her words and then picked up the glass of wine before taking a sip.
"Aurors are people who are capable of using Aura, not only to strengthen themselves, prolong their lives, but to also perform tasks which are otherwise scientifically impossible." He explained to the curious girl and then pointed at the spoon in his hand, and when her eyes looked at it, he used his strength to bend it effortlessly, which made her eyes widen in surprise. But then he did something that really shocked everyone who was looking at his hand.
The spoon, which was now bent in a 'U' shape, started floating an inch above his hand.
Since he had now entered the Nascent Profound Realm, he could let out his Aura Soul to cover up his limbs, and since none of ladies were Aurors, they could not see the Aura and only saw the spoon floating in the air. Well, except for someone who possessed a special Physique.
"How did you do that?" Qingyue fell out of the trance after Keith returned the spoon to its normal state before putting it back on the table.
"I just told you." He chuckled at her and then sipped on some more wine.
"What was that purple light?"
Sure enough, she had seen his Aura even if she was not an Auror yet.
"Purple light?" Celine frowned at her daughter's words.
"There was a purple light coating his hand. You did not see it?"
"No." Her mother shook her head and then instead of Qingyue, she looked at Keith for an answer.
"That was my Aura. Each person has a different colored Aura, and mine is the shade of Purple, Amethyst, to be exact." He told her. "And only those that are Aurors can see the Aura."
"But I am not an Auror?" She confusedly looked at him.
"No. You are not an Auror." He nodded to her. "But you are a very special existence, possessing a Special Physique that will help you on the path of becoming an Auror."
"Special Physique?"
"There are a few people who are blessed with a Special Physique that gives them an advantage over the rest when it comes to cultivating. If you choose to become an Auror in future, your cultivation speed will be faster than that of the rest if you manage to find out what exactly is special about your Physique, and then utilize that specialty."
Qingyue seemed elated to know that she possessed something so special, but then she frowned and looked at Keith.
"You know what type of Special Physique I possess?" She asked, hopefully.
"I do. But I won't tell you for now." He smiled at her and seriously said.
"Why not?" She narrowed her eyes at him.
"You can not utilize it even if you know what it is. It would only distract you." He kept looking in her eyes and said. "Once you have become powerful enough, I will tell you."
"She can become an Auror?!" Celine who had been shocked at the revelation finally exclaimed.
"Yes, Aunt Celine." He nodded to her.
Seeing him nod to her, a happy expression appeared on her face.
"Wow, Qingyue! You are so lucky!" She leaned onto her daughter and planted a kiss on her head.
"Thanks, Mama..." Qingyue blushed a little but the smile on her face showed that she was really happy. "Keith, how do I become an Auror? And can Mama become an Auror too?"
Keith sighed when he heard her words and then put the silverware down before leaning back into his chair.
"Not everyone is capable to successfully stepping into he path of Aurors, but everyone can try." He said and then looked at Celine. "You have passed your prime, and it will be tough for you to successfully complete your Aura Formation. The chances are low, but are still there. However, your body is not ready to go through that ordeal right now. It's something we will talk about a few years later."
Celine already knew about the things he said. And even if he did not bluntly say it, she knew that her chances were so low that they were close to none. Not everyone could become an Auror. It was a fact. Otherwise, the world would have been infested with them.
"Aura Soul Formation?" Qingyue picked up the name from his words and wanted to know more about it.
She was a little disheartened at hearing Keith's words, as she had picked up on his meaning, but she did not want to speak about it to spoil the mood of her mother.
"For a person to become an Auror, they must first Compelete and Aura Circulation, opening all their Aura Nodes and channels in thir body. Once it's done, they refine their body with their Aura, and once it has reached an optimum level, you would simply have to wait for your Aura Soul to form. That's where the key lies, only a few can successfully form their Aura Soul, and the rest simply have to wait for their entire lives and stay as ordinary mortals." Keith revealed to her. "The Formation of Aura Soul marks the completion of the first Realm on the path of Cultivation, Mortal Profound Realm. And only when you have successfully formed your Aura Soul, can you be considered an Auror."
Both Qingyue and Celine nodded to him, asking him to continue.
"The second Realm is called Nascent Profound Realm. In this Realm, your Physical Strength, Agility, Health, and Stamina take a qualitative leap. And then you can also utilize your Aura, unleashing it from your limbs to coat them. But since your Aura Reserves are not enough yet, you can only coat your limbs with it." He told them. "There are four stages in Nascent Profound Realm, Early, Middle, Late, and Peak. And each stage improves your Physique and Aura Reserves. I am at the Early stage of Nascent Profound Realm." He answered before Qingyue could ask about it.
The grey eyed girl nodded to him.
"What comes after Nascent Profound Realm?" She asked.
"Great Profound Realm." He answered her. "Someone at peak of Great Profound Realm can coat their entire body with their Aura. And the next Realm is called the True Profound Realm, where your Aura starts becoming denser and your Physical abilities rise sharply. After it comes the Spirit Profound Realm, which is a special Realm."
"What does it do?"
"Your Aura becomes more flexible and then starts taking the form of your inner beast." Keith told them. "Inner Beasts are the Aura Souls. Each person's inner beast depends on their personality. And someone in the Spirit Profound Realm can form an Aura Armor around himself in the shape of his Inner Beast. Depending on the beast, the armor can even be used offensively. For example, if someone's inner beast is a Hawk, he can form a claw shaped armor around his hand and then rip through his enemies. Additionally, you can even coat your weapons in Aura and make them more deadly."
"How strong is an Aura Armor?" Qingyue asked.
"Depends on person to person and the Aura Soul. But generally, no bullets can penetrate the Aura Armor of someone in the Great Pround Realm. People in the True Profound Realm can simply be considered invincible to humans. Even I can shield some with my hands. Of course, I can only do it against the less powerful ones."
"Then how did you injure yourself?" Celine frowned and asked.
"Your Aura Armor can not last forever. It depends on your Aura Reserves. And I suffered the injury when I was still at the Peak of Foundation Profound Realm."
"Oh..." The older woman nodded to him and then sighed. "You guys are so lucky..."
Just like any other person, she too yearned to become an Auror. Who wouldn't want to age slower and live longer? And all women wanted to stay young forever.
"Never lose hope." He chuckled at her words. And seeing his beautiful smile, Celine's heart felt at ease.
"What comes after the Spirit Pround Realm?" Qingyue absorbed all the information and asked.
"You will have to find out about it yourself." He smirked at her and refused to tell her more about the Cultivation Realms.
"So, Foundation Profound Relam, Nascent Profound Realm, Great Profound Realm, True Profound Relam, and Spirit Profound Relam."
"The Five Mortal Profound Realms." Keith nodded to her.
"So when do we start?" She smiled at him and asked.
"Start what?" He frowned and asked.
"You are teaching me how to become an an Auror!"
It was not a request, and Keith could sense it that he had been hasty about all of this. Now this girl was going to endlessly pester him if he did not comply with her demands.
"Let's wait a few months. We both have lots of other things on our hands that we need to deal with first."
The grey-eyed girl nodded to his words, content with his answer. She was really happy in her heart that he had agreed to her demand, and it meant that she could spend some more time with him, exploring him.
He was an enigma that she felt attracted to, and she wanted to know everything about him.