Chương 20: Blessing in disguise

The young girl was malnourished and looked extremely weak.

Despite that, she had a beautiful face, hazel brown eyes, and long eyelashes. Her inky black hair cascaded down her back and her long, slender legs highlighted her height of 1.7 meters along with her signature black bunny ears that were the telltale signs of her being a Lohar.

Nevertheless, Kyle could only shake his head, at the thought of taking the young, crying Lohar with him by force.

She was shivering, and could barely stand on the loose soil as Tzc pointed at a hut where Kyle could stay.

There was one small hut that was used by guests, and the Nasga began walking towards it while Kyle simply followed her, ignoring his initial worries.

The young girl could only follow them reluctantly while throwing a single backward glance at the other Lohars, expecting to see some empathy.

Yet, what she saw in their eyes was only ridicule.

At that moment, the young Lohar couldn't help but think that she was even more unfortunate than the two female slaves that were violated every now and then.

At least, they were treated slightly better than her, and not as often injured and maltreated as it was the case with her.

When Kyle entered the small hut, she followed suit, while Tzc left them before whispering with a smirk, "Have fun."

This caused Kyle to roll his eyes and instead of focusing on the young, trembling, and quietly crying girl, his gaze was trained on the other Lohars who were snickering behind her.

"It seems you're not really adored by your brethren," His voice was soft, but the young girl flinched at the obvious statement.

Her black ears went limp while her scut puffed up in fright.

Seeing her get even more terrified, he didn't comment further, instead, he surveyed the interior of the hut. After seeing everything he wanted, Kyle closed the hut doors that were made of small wooden branches bound together with vines.

Nobody seemed to bother about them anymore.

Instead, the Nasga merchant stored the meat carefully before he and his slaves went somewhere.

Kyle was not sure where they had gone because he couldn't see them anymore, but that was not important.

Instead, his eyes were glued to the small piece of wood with the information he wanted about other villages!

However, before reading through it, he took out one set of clothes he had obtained from Zwark and threw them at the young girl.

"Put that on. My name is Kyle Lrae, what is your name?"

The girl was still shivering and her hands were clasped together, but at least she had stopped crying for now. Fumbling a little at the unexpected question, she tried to answer,

"I...I don't have a...name..S-Sir."

Her voice was quite pleasing to hear, and Kyle thought that it might be good to have someone to talk to during the next few days.

While she was stuttering, Kyle's Spirit Soul emerged in his palm and the Emerald fox started to absorb the surrounding energy.

This caused the young girl to exclaim in shock, thinking that it would somehow harm her but she realized that nothing happened.

"You don't have a name? Not even a birth name was given by your family?"

Kyle simply asked a few questions while reading through the information written on the wooden block.

"I do-don't have a family! T-they abandoned me...you see….my fur is black and I'm sick....I was destined to be cursed since birth…"

When Kyle heard this, he stopped reading and lifted his head to look at the young girl who was cowering in the farthest corner of the hut.

Seeing this, a faint smile appeared on his lips.

Despite her fear, the young girl's eyes were filled with sadness, replacing her initial fear of Kyle. She mustered the courage to talk to him when she saw that he was focused on the wooden block and didn't even approach her after Tzc left.

It was not difficult to figure out what must have happened to the young girl in front of him.

She had been abandoned because of her fur's color and the disease that progressively worsened since her childhood.

Kyle was unable to tell what happened afterward, but he doubted that anyone from the Lohar race would have taken her in.

At least, nobody in the severely impoverished and the underdeveloped area he had chosen to reincarnate in, would do that.

Somehow, she had ended up as a slave, where she was treated as a laborer and a punching bag.

"I know that your fur is black...I have eyes, you know? But you are definitely not cursed! Your race might have some issues cultivating properly, but that's a minor problem. Furthermore, having black fur and your disease are not correlated! Well...not directly, at least. It was more like a blessing in disguise."

Instead of continuing to read, Kyle decided to focus on the young girl in front of him.

He was not sure if the idea he had in mind would work, but based on the experiences of his past life, he knew about the Lohar race, and tidbits of their history, even if it was not much.

But by testing out something, Kyle figured out interesting things.

Meanwhile, the young girl looked at Kyle in confusion.

Even if she was terrified of being violated or beaten to a pulp, the young man's confident words caused her body to magically stop trembling.

"I'm...not cursed?...that can't be..!! A...and what about the disease and my black fur? How could they not be related?"

She was not sure whether Kyle was serious or simply toying with her.

In her short life, she had seen plenty of evil people who loved to see others struggle and despair.

So, it wouldn't surprise her if Kyle was one of the people who wanted to give her hope, only to trample on it, leeching on her pain!

However, the young man didn't seem to mind her words and simply stared at her.

His eyes held a faint gleam as his lip curled upwards into a grin,

"As expected!"

Kyle continued to look into the young girl's hazel brown eyes before he asked her in a serious voice,

"I will only ask you once. What would you do if someone were to say that your disease can be healed, that it's not a curse, and that you are blessed with two cultivation veins instead of one?"

His question might seem nonchalant or even make Kyle look like he had lost sanity, but the Nurture ability he had utilized allowed him to see something that piqued his interest in the young girl.

'Not only can I nurture her body frame to strengthen her legs, but there are multiple hues around her entire body. How can I not find even a single hue I'm familiar with?'

However, that was not even the important point!

With the Nurture ability, he was able to comprehend a total of three things.

First, there were two awakened cultivation veins in the young girl's body!

Second, both veins were obstructing each other, and last but not least, she had an affinity seed in her body!

Combining those three pieces of information, Kyle was able to conclude that the two cultivation veins the little Lohar had awakened, allowed her to absorb mana and primordial energy!

Yet, instead of working in sync, they repelled each other, causing what everyone called a 'disease'.

The more energy she tried to accumulate, the worse her state became, and it was only a matter of time before she would die.

If his knowledge was not wrong, the Lohar race was known for having two cultivation veins!

Despite the Pryr cultivation veins being the only ones that were naturally activated, their cultivation progress was obstructed and slowed down by the Maest cultivation veins.

What made the young girl in front of him different from the other Lohars was that she had both cultivation veins activated. Had she been born in the past, she would probably be considered a prodigy. Kyle could distinctly recall how those who had more than one cultivation vein were revered by others.

However, on Shima, within the Sadorla forest, the young girl was nothing but a slave; his slave.

Other than her two cultivation veins, the young girl was a black-furred Lohar!

Kyle was not sure if this was a myth or the truth, but black-furred Lohars were known for having a higher chance to awaken a low elemental affinity, which would awaken their Maest cultivation veins.

Without mana, one couldn't utilize an element and the black-furred Lohars' elemental affinity was that of darkness!

Despite the several hues distracting Kyle, he saw one particular hue that had led him to ask the girl the question she was currently pondering about.

Even if Kyle had been lying or playing a prank, should she lie? Or would he notice this?

'I would happily follow my master and fulfill every desire he has!' Stating this as an answer was nonsensical and the young man in front of the Lohar would immediately know that she was not telling the truth.

She would have run away from him only if she had someone to go to. The only reason she was still inside the hut was that she was alone in the world.

Looking at him doubtfully, the young girl spoke in a hesitant voice,

"I would...try to become stronger...and return everyone's favor several times over! Those who have been unfair to me would get a taste of their own medicine!"

Kyle thought about her answer for a minute before he said,

"Come here!"

He simply held out his hand, and the young girl who had calmed down only a few seconds before began to tremble again.

"A...Are you...going to…."

However, before she could even finish her words, Kyle said,

"Give me your hand! I'm not desperate to violate someone...that's uncivilized, cruel, and not something I will ever need to do!"

He was confident in his looks, at least, in how he used to look in his past life.

Never had he faced problems pursuing women, whether they were Yadras who couldn't cultivate or those who had the talent to cultivate in one of the three cultivation paths.

His looks had always been a confidence booster in his past life and while drinking water from the small stream, he had only given his face's reflection a fleeting glance.

But that was more than enough to make him wonder if he might have become even more handsome than before!

Meanwhile, the young girl was still reluctant and trembling in front of him.

Kyle could only sigh before he added,

"I won't do anything against your will. I might be able to turn your curse into a blessing! I won't promise anything and never will, but you would never know if you don't take a chance, right?

Hold my hand and grab the opportunity or continue to live like you are currently doing...if you can even call it a 'life' in the first place!"