Chapter 38: A load of nonsense
Robb had guessed that the two would come and ask him beforehand, so he thought of what to do. And now, he calmly made one of his arms dangles on the edge of the tub.
This action of his startled Little Yi. She thought Robb was getting out of the bath. She didn’t want to see a man’s naked body, so she quickly closed her eyes and said, “Hey, just talk, don’t suddenly get out of the tub and act like a ruffian.”
Robb smiled and said, "How did I even jump out of the tub? I only moved my hand, so don't make such a fuss because of nothing."
"Oh, that's fine then." Little Yi opened her eyes but was still too embarrassed to look over. She only glanced at Robb's side before seeing something clenched in Robb's palm.
“What are you planning to do?” She couldn’t help asking.
“I just want to explain how I became so powerful earlier. The thing I’m holding in my hand should be able to explain my strength from earlier.”
Little Yi’s interest was suddenly picquet. She didn’t even bother about the distinctions between male and female and took two steps forwards. Her eyes firmly locked on Robb’s clenched fist.
So did the Baron. More like, he was even more curious than Little Yi. The skills Robb used earlier was the pursuit of all berserkers. It was so beautiful and bright that Baron was jealous. It would be great if he could be as powerful. Now that the secret to that strength was in the palm of Robb's hand, he couldn't help but breathe faster and took two steps forward.
Robb slowly opened his palm. It was so slow that the Baron wanted to rush up and break his fingers. After a few seconds, his palm was completely opened, and what appeared was a red gem. At a glance, the gem wasn't anything ordinary. It shone bright red, the favorite color of berserkers, and the color of their fate, just as the believers of the God of Like favor gold.
“This… what is this?” The tone of the Baron became slightly unusual, “I like its color. Oh, I even feel power emitting from it.”
Little Yi also looked at the stone without blinking. Unlike the Baron, who was a berserker with limited magic knowledge and weak sensing capabilities. Most of the time, berserkers like the baron judge things by a sigh and their sixth sense.
However, Little Yi is a priest who deals with magic all year round, so she is much more magically capable than the Baron. She feels powerful power, overwhelming power from the gem.
Little Yi couldn't help but ask, "What on earth is this? I don't understand it, but it feels powerful."
Robb shrugged, "I picked it up in the mountains, and after I picked it up, I didn't know what it was. I felt it was very powerful, just like how you felt just now, so I carried it with me whenever I walked around. I felt angry when the ogre threw the stone and smashed my house. Then, the stone in my pocket suddenly injected a lot of power into my body, and I lost consciousness. When I came to be, I found that the ogre had been cut into pieces. Oh… I can swear by my devotion to the God of Light. I really don't know anything."
Swearing to the God of Light was a very serious matter, so Little Yi immediately believed Robb's words. The Baron didn't even doubt a word, his eyes locked on the ruby in Robb's hands. It took a long time for the Baron to say, "Father, do you mean that as long as you hold this gem, you can be as strong as you were earlier?"
Robb said solemnly, “Probably, maybe… maybe that’s right.”
The Baron swallowed a mouthful of saliva and asked, "This.. this is really.. amazing! What on earth is this?”
Just then, a cry sounded, and then a figure appeared. The red-haired magician Xuelu jumped from the size. She pointed at the gem in Robb’s hand and shouted, “Oh, my God! It’s a cursed ruby. I can’t believe you have this thing. No wonder you were so strong just now.”
Looking like an Oscar-winning actor, Robb said, "What is the cursed ruby?"
Beside him, the Baron and Little Yi also ignorantly asked, “What cursed ruby?”
Xuelu coughed and said in a mysterious voice, “When it comes to cursed rubies, I have to tell a story. It started when I was an apprentice magician. I was locked up in the library by my master and was told to memorize the book “The Chants of Common Fire Magic” to be able to get out. While doing so, I randomly browsed for books in the library to read.
When Xuelu said that part of her story, Little Yi intervened and couldn't help but complain coldly, "Since your master locked you up to read one book, why did you read other books?"
Xuelu said, "Magicians aren't conformists in nature, unlike priests. We are full of curiosity and often never follow the rules. It isn't strange for a magician to read half a shelf of books before finishing one."
Little Yi, “…”
When the Baron heard the two, he pulled them apart instantly. He couldn't help but say, "Ladies, can you please get to the point? We are talking about the gem."
Xuelu resumed storytelling and said, "Well, continuing, I saw a book called the 'Cursed Treasure.' There was a page that happened to show the ruby in Mr. Robb's hand."
“Oh, oh!” The Baron got excited and asked, “What is it? Say it. Say it!”
Xuelu smiled and continued, “The cursed ruby is a secret treasure left by the great, yet unknown berserker, ‘Dora Dream’.”
“Dora Dream?” The Baron said strangely, “Why haven’t I heard of this ancestor?”
Robb complained, “Do you think your knowledge is vast enough to know everything in the world? Can you recite the names of all your ancestors?”
The Baron immediately looked embarrassed and quickly bowed his head, "Sorry, I was arrogant. Please continue."
Xuelu gave a thumbs up to Robb behind her back and continued, “Dora Dream, a berserker ancestor, was seriously injured in a battle with a strong enemy. Close to death, he asked his master to seal his soul in the ruby, waiting for a day to use others’ bodies to continue to fight.”
Then, she pointed at the ruby in Robb's hand, "This is the ruby! It's exactly the same as the one shown in the book."