The Obligations of the Elderly - chapter 46

Chapter 45

“So this is what your Vessel form looks like…” Lin murmured, gazing at the jet-black pair of scissors placed on the small red mat in front of him.

“It doesn’t look like iron or plastic. In fact, it doesn’t even seem solid-it feels more like some kind of ethereal substance~” Ni Lu also stared intently at the small scissors, and finally reached out his hand-he’d wanted to touch Gong Si’s Scissors Form ever since he saw it at the teacher’s place!

“Don’t touch it!” Lin stopped him.

“Huh?” Ni Lu was confused.

“A newly manifested Vessel state is still unstable. Don’t touch it. First, you don’t want to interrupt the energy communication between the Vessel and the User. Second, if you don’t know the attributes of the User and the Vessel, it’s best not to touch it to avoid accidental harm.” Lin explained to him.

Ni Lu quickly withdrew his hand, and at the same time, Xi Liu also cheerfully pulled back the hand he had just half-extended.

“You know so much! I didn’t even know about this taboo.” Ni Lu laughed carelessly, then stuck out his tongue at Gong Si on the mat: “Ah Si, sorry!”

“It’s fine!” Before Xi Liu could stop him, Gong Si transformed back into human form, swaggering behind Xi Liu to use his body as a shield. Gong Si then pulled… a pair of underwear out from the mat where the small scissors had been, and changed behind Xi Liu.

He dressed quickly, and three minutes later, Gong Si, now in his School Uniform, sat in the center of the group.

He put the now-empty mat into Xi Liu’s School Uniform pocket-this mat was also hand-sewn and gifted to him by Xie Kai. Its function wasn’t just to hold the scissors; one side of the mat had a zipper, and when unzipped, it could fit a pair of underwear, making it convenient for use after transforming.

“Once our custom clothes arrive, we won’t have to go through all this trouble,” Xi Liu said to him.

“We’ll see. Clothes made from energy… I don’t know if they’ll be drafty.” Gong Si frowned.

They were talking about clothes specifically designed for Vessels who frequently transform: when a Vessel changes from human form to Vessel form, their original clothes fall off. So, when they transform back, they’re left without clothes, and having to find a place to change every time is just too inconvenient. That’s why someone developed clothing specifically for Vessel transformations.

Essentially, it’s an Energy Patch, made by an Ability User with special powers. They use their ability to create a garment out of energy in advance. As long as it’s stuck to the body beforehand, it will automatically be worn when transforming back into human form.

Pure energy clothing is, in some ways, even more convenient and quick to wear than real clothes. But to be honest, these clothes are meant more for covering than for wearing. Although there are a few fixed sizes to choose from, mass-produced clothes often don’t fit precisely, so most people, if they can, prefer to have a custom-made set. That way, the coverage is precise, and after transformation, the clothes fit almost exactly like real ones.

The clothes Xi Liu ordered for Gong Si were of this type, and since they found a famous sewing master, the wait was a bit longer.

“Ability Users with these kinds of life skills must make a lot of money~ Basically, all Vessels need these things. Once they make a single item, they can live comfortably.” Ni Lu said enviously. “Nowadays, the highest-level fashion weeks are actually Ability User fashion weeks. Ordinary designers come every year to watch the shows and learn~”

“Aren’t you really into drawing, and pretty good at it too? Have you thought about going in this direction-finding a User with a talent for design or craftsmanship, and then becoming a Vessel for making things yourself?” Lin suggested.

Ni Lu shook his head. “I do like drawing, and I’m good at it, but the teacher says my drawings are more like photographs-they lack creativity and spirit. If I really wanted to go down this path, it would be tough. After all, a camera could replace my work.”

Picking up Ni Lu’s sketchbook and opening it, Lin carefully examined Ni Lu’s drawings: the first page was the small scissors, Gong Si’s Scissors Form that had just appeared before them. In such a short time, Ni Lu had already drawn it, and it was lifelike and extremely realistic.

Flipping further, there were also pictures of Gong Si eating, writing, and occasionally trees or Flowers-common plants on campus-but most of all, there were hands.

Many close-up sketches of hands.

“Actually, I have a thing for hands~” Ni Lu said, blushing.

Lin: …

The most frequently depicted were a pair of slender, powerful men’s hands-clearly the same person’s hands. Even Lin, who wasn’t particularly into hands, thought they looked really nice. Most of the drawings showed the hand holding a pen, as if drawing.

“These are Xing Yun’s hands. His hands are really beautiful.” Ni Lu’s cheeks were red, and his voice grew even softer. “We’re both in the Art Club. I… I think his hands are nice, so I often secretly draw them…”

Lin, Gong Si, and Xi Liu: …

So this is the real Ni Lu-no one said it out loud, but the look in everyone’s eyes said it all.

“I admit, when I saw those hands, I did fantasize about what it would be like to have them holding mine~ I even imagined myself as a pair of scissors! After all, scissors are the Vessel that can be held the tightest, right? But Xing Yun is so high-level, he definitely wouldn’t be interested in a Low-Level Vessel like me. Besides, he doesn’t look like someone who would use scissors…” Ni Lu muttered.

Gong Si & Xi Liu: So we look like the type who would use scissors…

“No, no, no~ I didn’t mean scissors are bad! I actually want to become scissors! It’s just that I can’t.” Afraid his friends would misunderstand, Ni Lu hurriedly explained, but his poor speaking skills only made things worse. In the end, Lin cleared his throat and spoke up for him:

“Actually, scissors are a really impressive form-at least in my opinion.”

“Whether it’s Cold Weapons like swords and knives, or Firearms like pistols and cannons, it’s obvious they’re made for attack. So their abilities are pretty straightforward-just focus on honing attack power. Even if they have additional abilities, those are almost always still attack-related.”
“But scissors are different.” As Lin spoke, he slowly flipped through the sketchbook in his hand, finally turning to the first page-the one where Ni Lu had drawn a small black pair of scissors.

“If you call it an offensive weapon, when it’s closed, its lethality isn’t much. But if you say it has no offensive power, when it’s sharp, it can definitely hurt people.”

“The character for ‘cut’ basically exists because of the invention of scissors. Since ancient times, people have been accustomed to using this character for many abstract things, like ‘cutting off worries,’ or ‘the spring breeze is like scissors’… We can find its presence in many poems.”

“I’ve always thought scissors are a rather frightening existence. They’re almost born for the purpose of ‘severing.'”

At this point, Lin paused. His eyelashes, not thick but very long, drooped down, covering the boy’s long eyelids. “I’ve heard of many scissors with strange functions.”

“For example, scissors that can cut the red thread-one snip and the bond between two people is severed, and they are destined to break up.”

“Or scissors that can cut the lifeline-one snip can shorten someone’s lifespan, or even cut it off entirely.”

“And there’s an even scarier kind of scissors, ones that can sever another person’s abilities…”

Lin raised his head again, looking at Gong Si and Xi Liu. “So your teacher was right. It doesn’t matter if you can’t cut paper or flower stems. Many scissor-shaped Vessels weren’t created to be ordinary scissors at all. They exist to sever things far more terrifying.”

“Maybe Ah Si is that terrifying pair of scissors~”

After saying this, he looked seriously at Gong Si, watching as Gong Si first stared blankly, then looked full of longing. Lin hurriedly added, “But don’t get your hopes up too much. After all, there’s also a chance you’re just an ordinary pair of scissors… The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment, so don’t get carried away!”

So, after a series of emotional ups and downs, Gong Si’s expression finally returned to calm.

“You’re right. I shouldn’t give up on myself just because I’m a pair of scissors. It’s one thing if others look down on me, but I absolutely can’t look down on myself.” Gong Si reflected for a moment, then looked up at Lin. “But I just realized, Lin, you know a lot about Ability Users! Even more than I do!”

Lin calmly pushed up his glasses. “Isn’t it only natural that I know more than you?”

“True, I’m a rookie Vessel, but you’ve always been at Ji Ling Academy, a school where ordinary people and Ability Users coexist.” Gong Si quickly came to terms with it.

As he spoke, a bell suddenly rang in the corridor-the warning bell for the next class.

“Let’s go, let’s go, time for class. Lunch break is over.” Waving his hand, Gong Si said goodbye to Ni Lu and Lin.

Four people, three directions, each heading to a different classroom.

“He wasn’t telling the truth.” Just as they turned the corner in the corridor, Xi Liu suddenly spoke.

“?” With his hands in his pockets, Gong Si frowned and looked at him.

“It’s normal for Lin, as an ordinary person, to know more about Ability Users than you do. But knowing more than Ni Lu? That’s clearly not normal,” Xi Liu said.

“Maybe it’s just like how Ni Lu is a hand enthusiast. Who doesn’t have a few little-known hobbies? Maybe Lin’s hobby is Ability Users?” Not taking it to heart, Gong Si glanced at his watch and quickened his pace. “Come on, come on, our classroom is the farthest. We’re going to be late.”

The two of them ended their conversation and jogged toward their classroom.

No wonder their friends were worried that Gong Si would give up on himself-he was now in F-Class, the Vessel and Ability User group.

Ji Ling Academy’s course classifications were extremely detailed. Besides the cultural classes attended by both ordinary people and Ability Users, there were also interest classes for ordinary people, specialized classes for Vessels, specialized classes for Users, and, once a Vessel and User were paired, there were even special classes for both together!

Previously, since he hadn’t taken shape, Gong Si naturally couldn’t attend. Now that he had, their duo class was immediately assigned-the lowest level, F-Class.

E-Class was made up entirely of ordinary Ability User pairs, basically Vessels with only basic functions, like a kitchen knife that can cut vegetables or a pen that can write… They studied in E-Class to hone themselves and see if they could discover any better additional abilities. But Gong Si and Xi Liu, who couldn’t even perform the basic function of scissors and couldn’t cut anything, were assigned to the bottom-of-the-barrel F-Class.

In Ji Ling Academy, where most people were highly capable, their class was very small. Besides him and Xi Liu, there was only one other User and Vessel pair.

“Hey! You guys are here!” One of their only two classmates, Malong, waved at them.

“Hello.” Gong Si replied softly, then looked toward the podium. The teacher was already seated there, long white eyebrows hanging down the sides of his face. This old man, whose age no one knew, noticed Gong Si’s gaze and waved at him.

There was no hint of blame for being late.

This was the F-Class homeroom teacher-Delin. No one knew how old he was, but he looked extremely old, the kind who needed a cane to walk. The first time he came to class, the bell had rung for half an hour before he arrived because he walked so slowly… Then, the second time, the old man switched to a wheelchair-an automatic one.

“I haven’t come to class in a long time. I overestimated my speed. I won’t be late again,” the old man explained.

Looks like a retired teacher brought back to work-Gong Si thought.

“Teacher said today’s class will continue with Attribute Training based on Vessel attributes. The whole day is this subject.” The enthusiastic Malong whispered to Gong Si again.

Though his “whisper” was… very loud, loud enough for the whole class to hear.

Though, there weren’t many people in the class anyway.

Looking at the brown-haired Malong in front of him, Gong Si thanked him.

Malong, with brown hair, honey-colored skin, and emerald green eyes, was a foreigner. He looked handsome and tall, appearing much older than Gong Si, but in fact, he was a year younger and hadn’t even turned eighteen this year.
He is a Vessel.

The Blondie sleeping on the desk next to him is his User-Ai Min. He’s even taller than Malong, with golden hair, fair skin, and blue eyes. His handsome looks rival those of popular celebrities, but his cold and hard demeanor makes him seem unapproachable.

The two are the same age and, reportedly, from the same hometown. Besides that, they’re also partners-they’re race car drivers, and apparently have excellent results. They came here (Ji Zhou) to participate in a racing competition, but on the eve of the race, both of them came down with a fever. Dizzy and groggy, they still planned to compete, but ended up stuck behind a car that was breaking the rules. Both of them have fiery tempers, and when honking did nothing-

“…At that moment, I thought, if only we had a Loudspeaker! If we could just shout, our voices would explode right next to the other driver’s ear!” Malong gestured animatedly, “Boom! Wouldn’t he hear us cursing him?!”

Gong Si: …

“Ai Min was thinking the same thing. We’re both hot-headed, and then…” Malong scratched his face, looking embarrassed. “Then I suddenly transformed into a Loudspeaker. He grabbed me and shouted, and sure enough, the car in front heard us cursing…”

“Then we were sent to the hospital. We experienced an Awakening on the road… Anyway, it’s a bit embarrassing.” Malong sighed.

The competition was put on hold. The two of them had to first learn the essential knowledge that every User and Vessel should master, which is why they came to Ji Ling Academy.

Both of them have decent ranks-Ai Min is an A-Class Dominator, and Malong is also an A-Class Vessel, maybe even leaning toward A+. However, since the Vessel they transform into is so simple in function, they were downgraded all the way and ended up assigned to F-Class.

“It’s fine. We weren’t great in the regular classes for ordinary people before, always at the bottom. We’re used to it,” Malong said to Gong Si. “Actually, when we were first placed in A-Class, we couldn’t get used to it at all.”

Gong Si: …

“By the way, our culture class is in Class 5. Um… I heard you two are really good at studying. Could we borrow your notes? We’re having trouble keeping up in culture class!”

Gong Si: …

“Also, Ai Min and Xi Liu have already met in the User class. He said Xi Liu is amazing-he passed a project that no one else could.”

“But Ai Min slept through that class and skipped it, so he only heard about it from the teacher afterward.”

Gong Si: …

All in all, the new classmates from other continents are a bit chatty, but easy to get along with.

“Sorry, we’re going to be a bit noisy from now on.” The new classmates hadn’t finished being chatty yet.

Nodding, Gong Si put Noise-Cancelling Headphones on Xi Liu’s head, then transformed himself back into a pair of scissors. Not long after his transformation, the two classmates next door started shouting through the Loudspeaker-Malong’s Vessel form, whose basic function is amplifying sound. As per the teacher’s instructions, the two of them now spend every class talking through the Loudspeaker.

On the first day, Ai Min didn’t know what to say and was very inefficient. On the second day, after some discussion, they brought their culture textbooks and started reciting texts! They managed to review culture class material during the Ability User class-these two are something else.

The volume of the Malong-brand Loudspeaker is no joke. After having their ears hurt from the shouting on the first day, Xi Liu brought his own Noise-Cancelling Headphones to class on the second day, and Gong Si figured out a way to selectively receive external sounds after Vessel Transformation-by deepening the transformation. The deeper the Vessel Transformation, the more focused you become, and the more you can block out external sounds. When the Vessel’s world consists only of himself and the User’s voice, their resonance is at its highest.

Gong Si hadn’t understood this step before, but thanks to the loud classmates next door, he’s now starting to get the hang of it.

As for the teacher… he’s hard of hearing, so the loud classmates’ shouting is just a whisper to him~

Focusing on Xi Liu’s fingers, Gong Si concentrated fully on the sensation of energy surging into him through Xi Liu. The suction was strong, and Xi Liu paused for a moment. Once his body finally adapted to the pull, he slowly lifted the hand holding Gong Si, picked up a piece of paper with the other hand, and began to cut carefully.

According to the teacher, if you don’t know what you can do, just focus on using the Vessel’s basic function. The Loudspeaker’s basic function is to shout, and the scissors’ basic function is to cut.

Right now, the only thing Xi Liu and Gong Si are doing in this class is cutting paper.

Even though Gong Si’s form is much more refined than before, he’s still a very blunt pair of scissors.

“Yes, just like that. Don’t be impatient, cut slowly.” While Xi Liu was cutting paper, the old teacher had somehow wheeled his chair over to them. “Feel your Vessel’s body, and let him feel your hand. This stage, right after Vessel Transformation, is still the adjustment period. The more monotonous the practice, the better you’ll synchronize. It doesn’t matter if you can’t cut through-just keep repeating the motion.”

“‘Cutting’ is essential, but what you cut doesn’t matter. Try cutting anything you come across. Different objects have different textures, and the feeling and force required to cut them varies. You should experience all of it,” the old teacher advised earnestly.

“When you’ve tried enough things, one day you might suddenly feel a strong urge to cut something specific. That might be when you discover your Special Ability.”

After finishing, the old teacher smiled at them, then wheeled over to the two classmates next door who were loudly reciting their textbooks.

Xi Liu looked thoughtfully at Gong Si in his hand, then at the teacher’s direction-from his perspective, the energy around the old teacher was yellow, a pale lemon yellow, like a glowing halo surrounding him.

The area wasn’t large, but the concentration was very high, much more striking than the red halo around the two classmates from other continents.

Xi Liu extended the scissors and snipped at that halo of light.

Squinting, Xi Liu lowered his head and continued to focus on cutting paper.