The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

"Wake up." Draven flicked Oscar's head with tremendous force, causing him to yelp out in pain.

"M-Master?" Oscar slurred, still half-asleep. He couldn't make heads or tails of where he was, wondering why Master was in his room. The straining effects of refining the materials had perplexed his mind.

"The armament is done."

"It is?" Oscar snapped to his feet. That was right; he was sleeping to wait for his new armament—one fit for an Elite Exalt.

Draven flicked his forehead again, making Oscar tumble to the floor. "Follow me to the workshop."

Oscar rubbed his red forehead with a hiss, the pain from touching it was bad. He wished his master would be a bit softer but sighed in resignation as he got up and put on his helmet. Inside the workshop, Rosett was waiting for him and presented a buckler.

The buckler was unlike his previous one. It was bright red like the furnace's flames, with silver rings expanding from the center. It was slightly larger than the previous one but thinner.

"This bulwark was created by your refinement and my skills. With the Reis forging incorporated, your Reis will have no resistance when flowing through it. I named it Invicus Bulwark. It has the piece of Thousand Serpent sinew you provided for the ranged attack." Rosett seemed proud of her handiwork.

"Invicus Bulwark." Oscar held the bulwark, testing it out. It moved smoothly, and his Ein burned on its surface without issue. But what about Reis?

He punched out with the bulwark and funneled his Reis through it. He had never felt such a clean sensation of his Reis traveling through the armament, not counting his hammer. The air snapped and burst from the Reis, forcing the furnace to spew out sparks.

"Thank you, master and Aunt Rosett." Oscar bowed.

"If that is all, then let's eat." Draven dragged Oscar out, but Rosett soon followed. "I don't welcome you."

At Draven's words, Oscar witnessed the proud forgemaster stop in her tracks and lower her hands, looking sad. With a sigh, Oscar looked at his master but saw he didn't register Rosett in his eyes. However, Oscar wasn't going to allow that. "Aunt Rosett, won't you join us?"

Rosett perked up from Oscar's words.

Draven stopped and stared at his disciple.

Fearing the worst, Oscar said to his master, "She did help create the armament, so I think Aunt Rosett deserves a reward."

"Do what you want." Draven scoffed and entered the feast hall.

"Ah!" Rosett exclaimed. "Wait just a few minutes; I need to do something."

Confused, Oscar stared at Rosett, who entered the room he slept in. He couldn't understand her actions and entered the feast hall, removing his helmet when he sat down. On the table was a large feast like before.

"Not going to tell me to wash up, master?" Oscar asked.

"No time. I'll allow this only once." Draven tapped his fingers on the table. "Where is that woman?"

"She–" Oscar was interrupted by the doors opening with a loud fanfare and looked over, but his eyes stared blankly right after. At the door was Aunt Rosett, but she wore a beautiful white dress with golden lining that emboldened her curvy figure. Two golden bracelets hung loosely from her left wrist; her lips had a pink lipstick that matched her pink hair, which was no longer braided and flowed down her head.

"Food looks good. Let's eat." Rosett sat between Oscar and Draven, taking quick glances at Draven with slightly flushed cheeks. But his lack of reaction soured her mood.

They ate silently, and Oscar never thought he would be at such an awkward dinner. Soon, the table cleared as Oscar ate most of the food. Rosett ate a few, and Draven ate nothing.

"Disciple. What have you been up to?" Draven asked.

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Oscar drank some water and cleared his throat. He explained the Inner Hall exam, his match against Charles, the Clash of Metal, and his advancement to the Elite Exalt realm. He was hesitant to speak further, but he trusted his master. "Master, do you advise on love and relationships?"

Rosett coughed, caught off-guard by Oscar's questioning.

"What kind of idiocy is this?" Draven sipped his tea.

"It all started like this–" Oscar explained his situation with Celestina and Serena, leaving out their names and statuses. Rosett listened with a serious face while Draven almost looked bored even through his helmet.

After Oscar finished talking, he asked, "What do I do? I feel horrible."

"Again. What kind of idiocy is this?" Draven cracked his neck. "Next time you come to me with this foolishness, I'll break your legs."

Oscar sighed and looked down. It was too much to hope for his master to answer.

Seeing Oscar's dour mood, Draven clicked his tongue. "Who do you like?"

"The one I read books with."

"Then ignore the other one. She'll go away soon enough. But if the one you like rejects you, then move on." Draven gave very short and dry answers to his situation, but that was how he was. "However, love is foolish, and you shouldn't care about it at all."

The table shook. Oscar looked at the source, Rosett's fist, which slammed into it. The forgemaster stared at Draven with her yellow eyes, scolding him with her gaze.

"Oscar!"

"Y-yes?" Oscar trembled, scared that these two might start fighting at any moment.

"I'll take you back home. Let's go." Rosett forced Oscar out of the room.

"Farewell, master." Oscar saw his master remaining on the chair, not caring about Rosett's outburst and sipping his tea.

In a matter of moments, Oscar was dragged over to his home in the Inner Hall. It was nighttime, and about time for him to go to the Neptune Archives. But Aunt Rosett sat on the couch in his living room.

"Aunt Rosett?" Oscar asked, wondering why she was still here.

"Sit down." Rosett looked somber, but that didn't lessen her beauty in the slightest; rather, her pure white dress made her sad state more beautiful, like a weeping angel.

When Oscar sat down, Rosett sighed. "I'm pretty sure you noticed."

"You're in love with my master," Oscar nodded.

"Love?" Rosett laughed up at the ceiling, leaning back against the couch; her uncontrollable laughter overcame her regal and confident demeanor, making her look like she was lost and a fool. "Yes, I love that fool. But sometimes I wish he could just vanish, or I could just leave to a faraway place."

"Why?" Oscar couldn't believe it.

"Do you know what it's like to love someone, but that person can never love you back? Perhaps, Draven and I could have been together when we were young, but it's impossible now with the madness in him. He doesn't love anymore and never will." Rosett glanced at Oscar. "You know, he was an awful lot like you. Self-destructive, stubborn, and a battle-junky, but had a kind heart. My fondest memories were when we forged armaments together in the Foundry. We would laugh and talk endlessly about armaments and ourselves."

Oscar remained silent. He didn't know what to say to console her.

"I asked you to call me aunt because it gave me a sense of closeness with him." Rosett sighed. "In the workshop, you refined materials while Draven and I watched and argued. I wondered if that's what it would have been like if we had had children together."

"Master can be quite forceful, but he still has kindness in him. I'm still alive, after all." Oscar smiled.

Rosett softly gazed at Oscar and patted his head. "You're a good person. Draven is only like that around you. If only he could be the same for me."

Oscar felt the warmth from her hand but felt pained, seeing the few tears dripping down her cheek. "If it pains you to be around him, why don't you leave or move."

"That's how much of a fool I am. If Draven died or vanished, maybe I could move on and let go of my obsession. But he remains, and no matter how often I tell myself to pack up and leave, my heart aches at the thought of being away from him." Rosett chuckled deprecatingly. "I'm a hopeless fool, clinging onto the thought of what if and not trying to find a better future for myself. But that's what love is. I learned Reis forging for his sake and never taught it to him because it was the one thing that kept him coming to me even in his madness."

She pointed her finger at Oscar, who leaned back. "I feel sad for that girl who pursues you. You did the right thing to reject her and try to help her move on, but that won't be enough."

"Are you suggesting that I accept her?" Oscar asked.

"No. Don't force yourself to do something you don't want to do. There's still a chance she could move on. Maggie is an example."

"Maggie?"

"The Grand Commander."

"Her?!"

Rosett laughed. "That's right. Your master was so amazing that both Maggie and I fell in love with him. But unlike me, Maggie moved on, though she hasn't married anyone else."

"That's…." Oscar stopped his words.

"Unbelievable, right?" Rosett said. "I'll say this right now. Be decisive. If you love this other girl, then confess. Maggie and I never confessed to him but kept our feelings hidden. Perhaps if we did, Draven would have avoided his descent into madness." She stood up and took off her gold bracelets. "Don't hide your feelings; be brave, or you may regret it. As for the girl you rejected, don't let her be hopeless like me. Find a way."

"Here's this token bearing my name. Show it at the Foundry when you are ready to learn Reis forging, and come to me." She vanished from his house, flying high in the air back to the Foundry.

Oscar stared into the air, brooding over what Rosett had told him. If he confesses and gets rejected, the relationship between Celestina and him may become strained, but if he never confesses, he may regret it. There was also Serena, who clung to him with faint hope, much like Aunt Rosett, who lived in pain.

"What should I do?" Oscar lay on his couch. The excitement of the armament had fizzled out.

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