n

n

nIt was already past noon and Emilin was still at the cat café.

n

"Master, are you not going to meet with your friends today?

" Xander asked hopefully.

nHis Master was always so busy, he wanted to bring up the pharmaceuticals to know when he could learn them.

nWith how much thought his Master put in them, Xander was sure that they would definitely be out of this world.

nNot to mention, he had also been given a sneak peek of it when Emilin was making that chart.

nBut he didn't know to bring it up as his Master always seemed busy.

nHe also feared not being able to meet the deadline for his current work at hand leaving him behind schedule and possibly pushing back the date at which he would learn of the pharmaceuticals even further into the future.

nEmilin smiled at the term friends but frowned when she thought of the matter.

nIndeed, she wasn't going to meet up with them as Grace and Noah since they were taking their quarter exams which they could not miss as they would determine the rankings posted.

nNoah had to take it for the agreement with his father, and a while ago, when the two of them were not satisfied with the results of their competition on Mobba, they had taken the matter to school grounds in the form of a bet.

nNoah, who needed the most help in the past few weeks received more attention from Emilin when tutoring time came around while Grace was unsatisfied with the arrangements.

nEmilin knew of the existence of the bet, but she was still unsure of the nature of what exactly was put on the line.

nAt school, on that same day.

nBoth Grace and Noah's actions completely baffled their classmates as they were fired up on testing day, walking into the classroom like they were going to war.

nFire in their eyes and determination to win written on their faces, metaphorically of course.

nMany believed the two to have gone crazy after they hadn't seen them for so long, and the others who heard the accusations felt like they weren't too far off.

nWell, but that is a story for another time.

nBut even though she wasn't going to go meet them, she would still go to the studio later to keep on doing her training.

nIn other words, participating and providing more free labor.

nWhile Xander was waiting for his master's answer so that he could find the right opportunity to pop the question of furthering his studies in other fields, a ringing sound stopped the thought mid formation.

nIt was Emilin's phone.

nEmilin gave Xander a sorry look and accepted the call.

n

"Hello?

" She was the first to speak and she did so in a soft but cold voice.

nShe was working on it.

n

"Emilin, I have some good news,

" Mason said abruptly from the other side.

nEmilin waited for him to continue.

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"If you have the time, we can start the hands-on lessons now with the camera.

"

nEmilin was confused in an instant and Mason could easily imagine Emilin's tilted head and the question marks floating above her head.

nHe chuckled.

nIt was nearing the end of October, and right around the time where a big project was about to start.

n

"Mr. Zekan (Owen) and Miss Lenin (Margo), have been expressing their gratitude for your help in connecting them with such a great auction house, and when they found out how interested you were in photography, they were more than willing to have you take a place in their project. But of course, the type of participation would be dependent on your skill level,

" Mason worded it in such a nice way, but both he and Emilin knew well that the best she could do was watch and do her best not to mess things up considering her still level.

nTo actually participate, it would take her probably another 5 years of hard work to become a photographer in such a large-scale project with a whole lot of luck, talent, and the right connections.

nEven so, Mason would prefer if Emilin had enough skills and a good eye before the project began as that would allow for her to learn a whole lot more in this experience.

nHe was really taking her as his student seriously, and he could tell that such a high-level project wouldn't teach her much considering the skill gap.

nIn fact, Mason was thinking of having Emilin be one of the models in one of these shots, but he didn't want to jump the gun and make the person hop away like a scared bunny.

nThough it was clear that Emilin was cold on the surface, had an outgoing nature when it came to learning, Mason also found out that she was in fact quite timid by nature.

nHe just had to slowly goad the girl.

nThis would also help her learn how to approach the camera from another angle, the angle of the one being shot.

nSuch experience was also very important.

n

"That's why we'll move up the schedule a little. Thankfully there is nothing important until the project begins as I've already had Lisa clear my schedule.

"

nAll the people Mason canceled on in an impromptu fashion begged to differ, but they had no right to speak.

nThey were also mostly people who didn't have important jobs but wanted to see his skills.

nThey could wait in line.

nThis didn't affect his reputation in any way as other than really important matters, Mason had the tendency of not giving out promises of completion my any specific amount of time.

nAfter all, he was a man who needed inspirational trips (AKA: Holidays where his work phone is off and no one can contact him other than the VVIP DO NOT MESS WITH THESE PEOPLE list) all the time and a person who strove for perfection during shoots.

n(AN: perfectionist amateurs = very cranky photographer who may or may not go on an inspirational trip until further notice).

nUnless one was sure of their talents or very patient and with a lot of free time, they would go for another photographer as Nosa's reputation of being quite poor with time management was world renown.

nOf course, in the end, he had his skills backing him, so no matter how much of an annoying pest he was, he was still a skilled annoying pest who one couldn't dismiss.

nHe was very clear about it too, if you didn't have the time or patience to work with him, then you shouldn't at all.

nThat's how things worked and complaints about anything other than the end results were not accepted.

nThat was also why many people contacted Mason months or even up to a year in advance unless they had special connections or a sh*t ton of money.

nIt shouldn't be a surprise that Mason had a lot of lawsuits to pay for before he got a half-decent lawyer.

n

"I have time, when should I be there?

" Emilin asked in her half-cold half-soft voice that was hard to control.

n

"It would be best to get here as soon as possible so that we can get started, I'll be honest with you, we have a lot of work to do,

" Mason released a heavy helpless sigh that Emilin was unsettlingly familiar with.

nMason was not lying.

nOne might misunderstand what he was saying, but Emilin wouldn't.

nIt had been a week since Emilin sent Mason a chip with the data of the photos she had taken, and he hadn't spoken about it since.

nBut the look he gave her the day after told Emilin that he had definitely seen it, or at least skimmed through it.

nStill, since he was saying nothing, she wasn't going to mention that dark history of hers on her own.

nIt was bad enough just knowing it existed.

nSince Mason was saying that they were going to start working on her personal skills, she refused to believe that that huge sigh was not directed at all the work he would have to put in to improve what little skills she had.

nShe actually felt a little bad for him too, but she had already done some of her part providing the free labor, and in exchange, she asked for knowledge, so Mason was just doing his part.

nSigh.

nMoreover, since she was already acknowledging him as her teacher, if he ever needed her help, Emilin definitely wouldn't hold back.

nIn the end, she didn't feel like Mason was on the losing side of the deal.

n

"Then I'll be there as soon as possible,

" Emilin agreed that there was indeed a lot of work to do.

nBut thinking again, that was probably also the most satisfying part.

nActually, learning something interesting.

nAnd so, Emilin soldiered up.

nAs for Xander, who could only cry on the sidelines knowing that his Master had to leave again, well he bade her goodbye and left for his apartment after paying for the food.

nHe didn't forget to lift an eyebrow when the long list of a receipt was handed to him, but that was it.

nHe was already used to the sight at this point.

n***

nIn another location, a helicopter was boarded by Elijah and Liam.

nOne of them, much more relaxed than the other.

nWhile Elijah seemed to be heading off for vacation, the other seemed like he was forced on a roller coaster with a terminal fear of heights.

nAs tense as one could get, even more so than when piled with stacks of paperwork.

nSpeaking of paperwork, an unassuming stack of biodegradable paper was found in an unassuming lake between Phashi and the Hemafuji mountain range on that very same day.

nThankfully, nothing important was lost or found.

n