"You're recovering at a faster rate than I expected. You should be clear to go now at this point." Baizhu stated, unwrapping the bandages.
"Nice. But I really need a shower though, my chest smells weird." Lars made a disgusted expression. Baizhu smiled.
"I'll make my leave once I finish bathing."
As Lars went out of his ward, Qiqi entered the ward and met with Baizhu. "Is Lars leaving already?" She asked.
"Yes, Qiqi. He's already healed. Certainly you don't expect him to stay here forever do you?"
"Oh.... That means I won't be able to see him again." She muttered silently, clutching her notebook tightly. "Don't worry, Qiqi. I'm sure he'll visit from time to time. "
"But, I'll probably forget him... I don't want to forget him...." She whispered. Baizhu stared at her, wondering what happened to make Qiqi react this way.
'Strange... This is so unlike her.' He thought. Shaking his head, he didn't pay it any more mind before he exited the room.
Qiqi didn't want this. Lars' kindness made her feel warm. And spending time with him was fun. Qiqi didn't know how she was able to feel fun, but she somehow did. Patients come and go daily and Qiqi would forget them the next day. But this time, she couldn't just stand by and do nothing.
Qiqi waited for Lars to enter the room once more. When he did, she immediately started a conversation with him. "Lars, are you leaving?"
"Uh... yeah? What's up, Qiqi? " He kneeled down in front of her, feeling concerned.
"I don't want you to go." The girl stated bluntly. Lars smiled sadly and patted her head.
"Then, if this is your problem, what solution do you have?"
"Let....Let me travel with you." Qiqi declared in her dull tone. Lars raised an eyebrow.
"Are you sure? It's dangerous, and will Baizhu even allow it? You are his employee after all." Lars questioned.
'Besides, that guy has ulterior motives keeping Qiqi here. He's definitely not gonna let her go that easily.'
"Well...I have a Vision, and I know how to fight with a sword.... And Baizhu never had me sign a work contract... so I don't think I'm his employee." Qiqi replied after a moment of thinking. She looked straight into his eyes.
"When you said, helping people makes you feel good. I've never felt that before, even though I help people in this pharmacy. But I really wanna feel that emotion too, so that's why I wanna become an adventurer with you."
"Hmm....Then...." Lars grinned. " Let's make a run for it shall we? "
.....
"Oi Baizhu, you're really just going to let her go just like that?!" Baizhu couldn't help but feel extremely amused as he saw Lars carrying the emotionless Qiqi while running away from his pharmacy.
"Relax, Changsheng." Baizhu muttered to the snake on his neck. "We got what we needed. Besides, I don't really see Qiqi as the type to stay in the pharmacy forever. As ridiculous as it sounds, I see that Lars made her feel human once more."
"You say that, but we need to find a new apprentice and herb collector now. All those chumps out there aren't as skilled as her." The white snake hissed. Baizhu chuckled.
"You forget that Qiqi was as unskilled when we first found her. Back then, she couldn't even remember her way back to the pharmacy. I always had to supervise her. And look at her now, she's becoming independent, wanting to explore the world." Baizhu sighed.
"What I'm trying to say is that we can't have everything. And it wasn't like he forced her to join him, this was completely here choice, so there's no point arguing with him. Although... " He smiled a little sadly.
" I am going to miss her... "
" Same Baizhu.... Same... "
.....
"Ad astra abyssosque! Welcome to the Adventurers Guild. How may I help you?" Katheryne greeted the two as they arrived at the Guild Post. Lars smiled and looked down at Qiqi, encouraging her to step forward.
"I'd like to become an adventurer please." Qiqi requested. Katheryne nodded.
"You are Qiqi from the Bubu Pharmacy, yes?"
"Yes...Um...How do you know that?"
Katheryne only smiled, which made Qiqi feel a little unsettled. "Nevermind that, you would need to take an entrance exam."
"Exam? Does that mean I have to answer questions from a piece of paper?" Qiqi wondered. Her memory isn't her strong suit, safe for various topics on medicine, herbs and anatomy.
"Yes." Katheryne nodded. "But don't worry, we won't ask anything out of the ordinary, just questions to evaluate your compatibility to become an adventurer."
"Oh, I see." Qiqi nodded, placing a finger on her chin in a thinking pose. If that was the case, it wouldn't be that difficult for her then.
"Then, you would have to face off against one of the guild's instructors to evaluate your combat ability. This is to determine whether you are suitable for commissions that require combat or not." Well this would be a piece of cake for Qiqi then, combat is one of her strong suits after all.
"Here is your test. You may start answering right now." Qiqi was handed a piece of paper and a pen. The child read through the questions and slowly started answering, while sitting down on the floor. Lars leaned against the wall letting her take her time.
About 20 minutes later, Qiqi checked the piece of paper before nodding to herself. She looked at Katheryne once more. "Miss... I'm done now." She said, returning the paper and pen.
"Wonderful. Follow me for your next test." They followed Katheryne to the back of the building, finding themselves at a arena made of stone. There were some training dummies being used by some adventurers practicing their swordfighting techniques.
"Ah, Katheryne. What brings you here?" One of the instructors approached her.
"Hello. Are you free at the moment? We have a new adventurer for you to evaluate." The instructor, after hearing her words, looked at Lars and grinned.
"Ah, come over here with me." He beckoned towards the center of the arena. Lars raised his arms.
"Woah there, you got the wrong guy. I'm already in the Guild. The one you're going evaluate is her." Following the direction of where Lars was pointing, he laid eyes on pale skinned Qiqi, who already summoned her sword that was almost as big as her.
"You... You want me to fight a child? Katheryne are you malfunctioning or something?" Katheryne smiled at his disbelief before shaking her head.
"I can assure you that I am perfectly operational. She is the one you're going to evaluate today."
"O-okay...." The instructor was dumbfounded, never in hus life would he see a child joining the Guild. There must be an age restriction rule or something right?
"Oh and just a reminder. Don't go easy on her, despite her looks, she isn't as ordinary as you think."
He exhaled, stepping into the center with Qiqi. "You can do this, Qiqi! Smack him til he forgets his own name!" The child nodded, entering a stance, her sword tightly gripped.
The fight officially started, with some adventurers gathering around to watch the interesting matchup. The instructor's eyes were narrowed at Qiqi who remained emotionless. It was then he noticed something.
'Wait.... Is that a Vision—' He widened his eyes as Qiqi suddenly appeared in front of him, swinging her blade. He managed to block it but not without skidding back a little.
'Geez, what's with this kid? She has the strength of a seasoned warrior. And what kind of sword art is that? It's nothing like the Millelith's style at all. Wait a second....' He narrowed his eyes, getting a good look at Qiqi who stepped back a little, preparing for her next attack.
'Fulu Talismans on her head... Purple outfit.... Ah, so she's the immortal zombie kid from Bubu Pharmacy...' At this very moment, the instructor didn't hold back. He rushed Qiqi who reacted instantly, blocking and countering him.
Qiqi was nimble, and her being small made her a hard target for the instructor to hit. The instructor deflected Qiqi's strike before aiming to stab her. Suddenly, a glow came from her Vision.
The instructor jumped back, dodging a spike of ice. He then started destroying the ones that came after him before charging at Qiqi yet again.
She created a round ice ghost that spun towards him. The instructor widened his eyes, noticing that his blade was frozen from the attack, and that the ice was slowly spreading towards him.
"Heh..... I give...." He said, letting go of his blade. Qiqi blinked, not cheering like they thought she would. Lars approached her and patted her head.
"Congrats, Qiqi. That was some good fighting there." He grinned at her. Qiqi stared, before she smiled at him.
"Thank you, Lars." She said in return, still not used to the weird face she was making. That only made Lars smile wider, so her smiling must be a good thing.
"That was a good tactic, kid. Waiting for me to get closer to freeze my weapon, you'd make a fine adventurer for sure." The instructor came over and patted her head. Qiqi silently accepted the fact that everyone like patting her head.
"Katheryne, what are you doing here?" Katheryne looked at a woman walking towards her. She had brown hair cut into a bob and was wearing the standard female Guild uniform.
"Ah, Master Lan. I was only overseeing the evaluation of our new recruit."
"I told you already, don't call me master. I got that title unintentionally. Technically you're the Guild Master since I let you handle all the Guild related matters while I go off finding my brother's sword." Lan groaned a little. Katheryne shook her head.
"I disagree. You deserve that position, Master Lan, due to the fact that no one has completed two S-rank commissions solo in Liyue before. Anyways, we have two new recruits here." Katheryne pointed at Lars and Qiqi.
"A child? Wait isn't that the kid from Bubu Pharmacy?"
"Yes, she is very skilled. She defeated the instructor by using her Cryo Vision."
"I see... A talented girl I must say. But I know that instructor, he has Armament Haki."
"If he used Armament Haki on every recruit then we wouldn't have any would we?" Katheryne smiled at her.
"True.... Well, I'll be taking my leave now, Katheryne. Take care of these new members, they have lots of potential." The brown haired woman waved at her before walking away.
" Will do, Master Lan.... "
To be continued...
(Weird team am I right? Qiqi and the protagonist. Don't worry Lars is getting his first element pretty soon.)