A Thousand-Year Old Prophecy

63: Stories

They had stayed more days in Atticus' house.

Hindi rin naman gusto pa ni Atticus na umalis sila. Not until he finally had all the information he wanted regarding Caius' Technique.

He was indeed interested with it.

Imagine, having this technique. Well, it was like having another cards in his sleeves.

Of course, he intended to personally study the technique himself.

And so, he helped Jin and Nyssa sa experiment nila.

While working with these two, hindi makaila ni Atticus that Nyssa might lack in power but her knowledge exceeded one's expectation. Napakarami nitong nalalaman about cultivation that she wasn't supposed to know yet at her age.

"Did you travel before?" He asked her one day.

The two of them were sorting things habang nagpapahinga si Jin. They had just finished an element combination training at malamang ay depleted na naman ang energy ni Jin.

Nyssa started to concoct potion which could help one's replenishing of energy. And Atticus was watching her doing this differently.

Of course, he was also adept in potion making. However, his version of potion that replenishes one's energy was very different than hers.

"No, why?"

"How come you know these lots?"

Nyssa raised her head and looked at him. He was serious.

It was just the two of them there and Jin was very far from them dahil na rin nagpapahinga ito sa may ilog since mas malamig ang hangin doon.

She thought for a moment kung sasagutin ba ng maayos o pabalang ang tanong nito. Anyway, they quite used in taunting each other.

However, she suddenly thought of an idea.

"Do you really want to know, old man?"

At once, napasimangot si Atticus. This young lady really tried his patience.

"Don't tell then if you don't want to." Inis niyang sabi. He even turned around from her to go towards Jin.

"Hindi ko naman sinabing ayoko ah."

Atticus stopped at once then he looked at Nyssa na ngayon ay nakafocus sa paghahalo nung potion na ginagawa niya.

"Anyhow, if you really want to know then I can tell you. Discretion mo na lang kung maniniwala ka ba o hindi, old man."

He didn't answer but accupied a tree root nearest him.

When Nyssa saw him sitting and waiting, she smirked. A person who loves information will really spare no one. Atticus is that kind of person.

She sighed and started to talk.

"One lifetime, there was this lady who was above the others in terms of skills and power. Her cultivation level since birth shocked the others. And as she grew up, she had exceeded all the expectation against her.

"But no matter how advance her skills and power, one cannot be greedy and expect to be good in all. Thus, her relationship to her family was a failure.

"At the young age, she decided to be a treasure hunter. She roamed around the islands just to seek treasures more than just the one you see in a chest. More or less, this lady had succeeded even with the young age.

"However, if one is too successful, others would feel too threatened with her. Before she reached 30 years of age, she died by the mission bestowed to her by her own father."

Nyssa paused and looked up at Atticus. Then she seriously said, "This lady, old man, is my past life. I have been reincarnated and fortunately retained all my memories of old life. The twist is, I have to live in this body who originally a good for nothing."

There was a long silence between them.

Atticus' expression changed multiple times within the long silence.

Nyssa just waited. She didn't know exactly if Atticus would believe her so basically, her purpose now was to test waters with her Uncle/Master.

She knew him well though. She didn't believe easily with unfounded stories. Besides, he barely knew her so why would he believe her?

Anyhow, Atticus had been living longer than her in this lifetime. He had seen quite a lot of things. He knew a lot of things. So Nyssa was somehow hoping he at least gave her some benefit of the doubt. Besides, that story she told him was not that stranger to him. Especially the beginning.

Nyssa was right though. Atticus really felt confused at the beginning. A lady above of others? A failure of family relationship? Being a treasure hunter at a young age? That sounded very familiar.

However, as the story continued, Atticus couldn't help but to feel several emotions. Until Nyssa finished telling her story and divulged her "reincarnation", it made him felt differently.

After a while, his expression settled on shock. Then he focused on Nyssa.

The latter suddenly felt nervous. He was shocked. Did it mean...

Her thought stopped at once when she saw Atticus standing up. Then he walked towards her.

When he stopped in front of her, Nyssa looked up at him.

Only to get a flick on her forehead.

"Insolent kid! Do you think you can waste this master's time just like that? What reincarnation? Tch! Deities won't even have time for strong people, sayo pa kaya na napakahina? If you really don't want to tell, you don't have to fool this old man."

Nyssa felt her disappointment at once but she hid it well with a laugh.

What expectation?

It surely just led her to disappointment.

On the other hand, Atticus irritatingly turned his back against her then started walking away again. But his expression suddenly changed into confused one.

He knew he couldn't trust this young lady. But why did it feel like as something within him was piqued?

Napailing na lang siya sa sarili bago tuluyang iniwan si Nyssa doon.

***