As Seven entered the room again, she noticed Lu Bao and Muten sitting cross legged next to the window while the others all sat on the rock couch. The sight made her feel terrible, but it wasn't like she could do much with what she had on hand.
"Sorry for the discomfort, everything here is made with the asteroid. You can imagine how difficult it is to find any good materials out here that last longer than 30 years." She apologized with a chuckle, offering the two a metal cup of water laid carefully on the tray she made in a hurry.
"Please, this is more than enough. We would've never imagined to find a home out in the Star Road. If I may, what Star do you come from?" Elder Yin asked with a warm smile as he took the cup.
"Hmm, do you mean the actual gas giant, or the plant?" Seven asked as she wandered to the two sitting on the floor. They seemed to be circulating their energy, so she rested the cups before them as to not disturb their focus.
"Gas giant? Do you mean the Heavenly Orb that our Stars revolve around?" Lao Ying asked after sipping from her cup. Her tail slowly wagged out of curiosity, drawing Seven's attention.
"Ah, so that's what you call it. On my world, we called your Heavenly Orbs stars, while what we lived on was the planet that we called Earth. Unlike you guys, we weren't born with Qi, but an element we called Mana. It seems we both circulate it the same way, given what those two are doing. Are you sure it's safe for them to be doing that with their injuries?" Seven went off on a tangent, both excited and anxious to be having guests after so long. If she had forgotten her discipline, she might have acted like a crazed teenager hosting for the first time.
"Oh, they are alright. With our Qi, all we need to do is Meditate our energy to heal our wounds. Depending on the wounds, it could take a while heal, which brings me to my next question. How is it that you can heal others so fast with this Mana?" Elder Yin asked with his cup held in his lap.
It was rather fun comparing notes. It gave Seven a deep sense of nostalgia from her own world. Though, such a thought felt dangerous to her.
"I use Mana the same was you guys use your Qi. Though, while you seem to apply it as more of an enhancement for your bodies and minds, I focus my energy on bending the area around me entirely. If you want, I can show you while I heal your disciples." Seven offered as she gestured to the two meditating.
"You would be willing to share your secrets?" The two on the couch asked in unison, making Seven chuckle and wave her hand.
"If anything, it would be nice to use my Mana again for something other than busy work. Plus, I doubt there are any survivors who were born with Mana." Seven said nonchalantly as she walked over to Lu Bao and Mu Xiao. "Now, you two stop circulating so I can treat you."
Elder Yin and Lao Ying felt a deep emotion coming from Seven as she turned away. Despair, grief, and anger all at once hidden calmly behind that nonchalant air Seven held around her. Lao Ying, who felt emotions on a deeper level thanks to her bloodline, couldn't help but cover her mouth and turn away. Elder Yin simply sighed and closed his eyes as his Diciple sniffled a few times. Just what kind of past did their Savior have to feel such deep emotions. Even her happiness didn't feel genuine, like she couldn't allow herself that at all.
He was so lost in these thoughts that he missed the demonstration Seven was willing to show them. Instead, he opened his eyes to see his Disciples now fully healed and standing with their cups in their hands.
"Thank you, Savior." Muten bowed his head as he spoke. As he was of the Ku'Tel race, he was naturally stoic. Though his slow waving tail gave away his happiness.
"If it wasn't for you, I fear I would've fallen a minor level. You have my thanks, Savior." Lu Bao smiled in earnest. Elder Yin was proud of his grandson, but didn't like how he would always wear his emotions on his sleeve. Though, he supposed this was more of a good thing, having such an honest man in his family.
"Of course, of course. Gotta help where it's needed. And just call me Seven. Hearing you call me a savior leaves a bad taste." Seven chuckled as she waved her hand nonchalantly.
"Miss Seven, if I may?" Elder Yin spoke up as he sat up straight.
"What's up?" Seven asked as she knelt beside Lu Xiao to check up on her condition.
"That armor you are wearing, is it an artifact?" Elder Yin finally asked the question everyone had, making them hold their breaths in anticipation.
"An artifact, huh? Well, I suppose it would be easier to think of it like that." Seven sighed as she shook her head.
"Is it not? Not only can I not sense you inside of it, but I cannot even feel your life force within it."
"That, hmm." Seven fell into thought as she spread her Mana around Lu Xiao.
It wasn't until a few minutes later that Seven sighed and folded her arms. "Truth be told, this armor is more of a curse than anything. Ever since it was put on me, I haven't felt anything. Hunger, thirst, pain, even the need to use the bathroom. The only reason I'm actually breathing is because I want to feel more human than anything."
As she spoke, a sullen feeling filled the room. They could hear the sadness and despair in the woman's voice, making them all regret even the thought of wanting such armor.
"How long has it been?" Elder Yin finally asked to break the silence.
Reaching around, Seven tugged on her cloak to show the multitude of stars etched into it. The others could feel a strange energy from the stars, like they themselves were artifacts. Strangely enough, the cloak was filled all the way down to the bottom with only one space missing.
"Each star represents 10 years, with a full row being 50 stars each. So with two rows being a thousand years, 19 full rows and one star missing. I would have to say...psh, 9990 years roughly?"
The others felt their hearts drop at the impossible number. Most masters would usually reach two thousand years before passing away. The Grand Masters reaching five thousand if they are lucky. But ten thousand?
"How is this possible?" Muten asked first in a startled voice that surprised everyone else in the room.
"You haven't consumed anything for close to ten thousand years?" Lao Ying stood up, dropping the cup of water from her lap. This made Seven immediately think of some good recipes to feed this little wolf.
"Are you even alive under there?" Lu Bao asked as he leaned in, surprisingly calm about his sudden news.
"Did the people of your Star inflict this curse on you?" Elder Yin asked in a deep anger at this news. Though it made Seven happy to see someone so angry for her, she simply sighed and shook her head.
"Believe me, if we compared you guys to my world, they were roughly the same strength. No one there could've put this armor on me." Seven chuckled as she brought up a hand. Using her Mana, she picked Ying's cup back up and filled it with more water, thankfully calming the wolf down.
"Then who could've? This is such a powerful artifact, even Masters of the Divine Heaven Realm would struggle to use it." Elder Yin calmed down a little, gently patting Ying's lap to help soothe his Disciple.
"Well, the God's did. Whether on a whim or because of their plans, I couldn't tell you."
"God's, there are such beings?" Mu Xiao asked with a cocked brow, clearly interested in this subject.
"Think of the God's as beings of Primordial Descent. For fire, you have the beings of pure fire. There's those for each main element, death, life, farming, greed, lust. These beings are the pure embodiment of peoples beliefs or of nature itself." Seven spoke as she pulled up examples of each element with her Mana, then used images to clearly show what the other things she mentioned were.
"What could cause such God's to curse you like this?" Lu Bao asked as he sat on the floor, trying to comprehend this topic.
"Well, it's simple. They went to war against my world. When they forced me into this armor after a battle, I escaped and fought harder against them." Seven sighed as she bashed her fist against her chest. "They couldn't kill me because of it, so it was good at the time."
"Who won?" Elder Yin asked in a low voice, almost scared of hearing the answer.
"No one. I destroyed the planet and everything on it. Then this asteroid hit me while I was floating through space and, well, here we are." Seven shrugged nonchalantly, leaning back on her hands to look around at the group.
She watched as all of their faces were filled with grief and anger. It was understandable why they would react this way. She destroyed her own world to stop a war, not something your average person would be willing to do. Now, whether they decided to kill her or not for such a sin, that decision would rest in their hands.
"And, your reason for telling perfect strangers?" Elder Yin asked as he closed his eyes. She could see the man's jaw clench, already guessing why he asked.
"Old man, you should know how lonely age can be at times." Seven said with a breathy chuckle.