Legendary Soul Art

If Number One were, to be honest, he actually expected to be meeting with a grandma but Leon's wife was far from old. Her skin was clear and her crimson hair didn't have a single grey strand. Even though one could see the maturity in her voice, one could tell she was a beauty in her prime years.

"My love, they are here with me," Leon introduced happily only to have his ear pulled. He immediately whimpered in pain and pleaded for forgiveness with his puppy eyes.

That alone was enough to see who was the dominant figure in their relationship.

"How many times did I tell you to avoid talking with strangers? You promised to be a good boy and look how you behave," Leon's wife scolded while dragging him behind the counter. "You know my relationship with the Winged Soul Academy and you decided to bring their students right into our store. Sit down and stay quiet. I will punish you later."

The lady switched her gaze onto Number One and stared him down, "I don't know what did you say to my husband to convince him into bringing you here but I am not doing business with the Winged Soul Academy. You can leave before I kick you out myself."

Number One could finally understand why Headmaster Blake was worried. The Blood Maiden was definitely a fierce woman but unfortunately for her, he was too determined to leave empty-handed.

"We didn't come here to buy anything from the store. I'm doing business with Leon and he invited us to discuss it," Number One explained calmly. "We discovered the Green Essence Stone mine that Leon was working at and I want him to become the main miner who will supervise the work for me."

Blood Maiden frowned at this news and turned to her husband. "Is that true?"

"That's right. I can either work as a supervisor or I can just continue mining on my own without disturbance," Leon confirmed with an excited nod. "Don't worry, you can trust this youngster. He could easily take my Storage Ring and kick me out of the mine but he was kind enough to give me a favorable deal. Even the Headmaster of the Soul Academy is treating him like his friend."

"Huh…? You met Headmaster Blake too?" Blood Maiden squinted her eyes while the air in the store cooled down. The sudden pressure grew heavier but Leon didn't seem to be affected.

"Yup, I accompanied their group all the way to the Winged Soul City and it was quite a pleasant journey," Leon replied with a sigh. "I know you asked me not to talk to strangers but those youngsters were so kind to me. It was also too late to hide my Soul Arts as I already exposed them by accident."

Blood Maiden grasped Leon's shoulders and squeezed them with her red nails digging into his skin. It was clear she was pissed off but she calmed down after Leon's question, "What's wrong? This deal should be good for us. I won't need to search for a new mine and can resume work much sooner."

"Everything is alright, don't worry about it," Blood Maiden replied after a deep breath and rubbed Leon's shoulders. "Did you tell Headmaster Blake anything? Did he question you?"

"He did…" Leon muttered while sending a side glance at Number One. "Headmaster Blake wanted to know how was I able to use Soul Arts while only being a White Talent. I only told him that you were the one who taught me."

Leon paused and added, "He also asked if your name is Blood Maiden when I said you are the best Artifact Crafter. I told him your name is Elina and he might have mistaken you for someone else. Do you know her?"

"Oh, I know her very well," Blood Maiden nodded while reaching to caress Leon's face. "Don't worry, I am not mad at you but let me handle it. How about you go upstairs and mix the soup for me? I think it should be getting ready soon. I will join you after I am done here."

"Sure!" Leon nodded happily but then paused after looking at Number One and the girls. "Whatever you decide, don't hurt them. They are good people so let them go if you think we can't cooperate."

"Alright, you have my word," Blood Maiden agreed with a smile and waved Leon goodbye as he walked upstairs towards the living area of the store. Her smile vanished as soon as Leon left their sight though and she stared daggers at the visitors.

"We come in peace so I would appreciate it if we could talk instead of being aggressive," Number One requested while looking around. "Is there a place we could talk in private?"

"What is there to talk about? I know what you want and you will not use my husband to get it. No matter what proposals you have, we will not cooperate with the Soul Academies. Your offer has been rejected," Blood Maiden announced while pointing at the door. "I promised not to hurt you so you should leave on your own. I don't want to get my hands dirty."

The pressure in the air only increased with each second and the girls found it hard to breathe. They were about to act but Number One held them back with his arms and stood up for them.

"You should stop threatening people you don't know or it might backfire," Number One commented confidently. "There is a reason why I could take the whole Essence Stones mine for myself. I am not a normal student if that wasn't obvious enough."

Blood Maiden raised her eyebrows and canceled the pressure after a short hesitation. "You are lying. No matter who you are, the Academy wouldn't give up on such a big mine. I am sure you all were sent here by Headmaster Blake because he knows I wouldn't exchange a single word with him. I don't know what my husband told you but you won't get anything from me."

"That's actually partially true. Headmaster Blake told me I wouldn't even need to ask the Academy Board for the mine if only I were able to establish a cooperation between Blood Maiden and the Academy. He would grant me the mine on the spot but I'm not interested in that," Number One explained honestly. "I didn't come here to represent the Academy but myself. The mine business is secondary compared to why we came here. I would even leave the Academy if that allowed me to achieve my goals."

"And what is that goal?" Blood Maiden questioned sarcastically. "Is it improving your Soul Talent? You saw that Leon's Soul Energy has high quality and you figured I must have done something to him, right? If that is what you want then we have nothing to talk about."

Number One already knew it would be hard to convince her so he wasn't disheartened. "When I saw Leon's Soul Pickaxe, I was instantly shocked but at the same time overjoyed. You might not understand how I felt but Leon definitely would."

Number One extended his palm and displayed his white Soul Energy. "I'm also a White Talent just like him and it's almost impossible for me to master any Soul Arts. As I said, I'm not here on behalf of the Academy but on my own. If you know a method to improve my Soul Energy, I will do anything to learn it."

"So that's why you wanted to work together with my husband. All you wanted was to find out how did he manage to master his Soul Arts," Blood Maiden pointed out as she stepped out from behind a counter and walked towards the door. "Too bad, I can't help you with that. There is no method you are talking about. My husband has been special since young and I simply taught him a few Soul Arts, that's it. I can only be sorry for you and wish you good luck."

Blood Maiden slowly opened the door and pointed at the street with her open palm. "You know your way out."

Luna was being patient this whole time but she finally snapped. Blood Maiden thought she was walking out but Luna only placed her leg on the door and closed them with a kick.

The door made a loud thud as Luna called out angrily, "Listen, lady! Stop lying when we have been nothing but honest! You know very well that—"

Number One cut Luna off while covering her mouth with his hand and pulled her back to stand next to Nami. "I apologize for her but we already know that's not true."

"That's fine. You can believe what you want and I will stick to my words. I don't know any methods so I really can't help you. There are no known ways to improve your Soul Talent and you should know that well," Blood Maiden replied with a shrug. "Speaking of Soul Talents, it's interesting that you managed to get this far while only having a White Talent. I would talk more about it with you but your woman is quite violent. You should leave now."

"How about we trade? There must be something you want in exchange for the method," Number One suggested. "No matter what it is, I will get it."