Thunder cracked with Nyssa’s words, prompting everyone to glance above their heads. Yet, all they saw was a clear, night sky, shining with Orn’s light, and the scattered stars, dotting the sky like its gems. It was only then, that everyone understood where the thunder had come from. But by the time they returned their attention back to the ground, the Lady of Raining Thunder was gone, leaving Daes sitting in a daze.

  “…Maa?”

  “Stop looking,” Nyssa said. “Your mother is gone.”

  “Already?” Alnea mumbled, glancing at Daes. She did seem to be in a little daze, but she did not seem too sad. Still, he decided to cheer her up anyway. In his own way, of course.

  “I thought she would stay for a bit longer.”

  “She did leave in a hurry…”

  “…I did not even get to thank her properly.”

  “It is alright. You can thank her the next time we meet.”

  “Still, I wonder why she left without even saying anything,” Alnea said, and paused for a moment, glancing at Daes once again. “Probably because she could not bear a certain someone’s tantrums…”

  “…What did you say?” Daes said, coming back to her senses, before glaring at Alnea and the three girls, only to be backstabbed by Tia in the very next moment.

  “They do have a point,” Tia said, shrugging her shoulders. “You have been pushing her away from yourself from the moment we met in the Blood Hall, even going so far as to ask her to stop caring about you. It looks like she finally accepted that advice.”

  “…No, my maa would never leave like that…”

  “Then she probably stopped considering you as her daughter…”

  “…No…”

  “…Then again, what kind of daughter keeps pestering her mother to leave…”

  “…I did not ask her to leave…”

  “…Forget it. Who asked me to promise her to take care of you?” Alnea said with a feigned sigh, before glancing at Yuri. “Why are you looking at me like that? Go on. Comfort her or something. Can you not see that she is sad?”

  “…I do not need some children, half my age, to take care of me,” Daes said with a snort, completely forgetting the daze she had been in just a moment ago. “And what does my sadness have to do with her anyway?”

  “…She called your mother big sis. Technically, that makes you, her niece. It is—

  “Shut up!” Daes said, glaring at Alnea and the girls, even Tia. “No one will speak of this matter again. Ever.”

  “Why? Is niece Daes getting upset? Come on, tell uncle Alnea—

  “I said, shut up!” Daes said, almost in a scream, as her blood rushed to her cheeks. She even seemed ready to unfurl her Spirit. “Never call me… like that. Do you understand?”

  “Like w—

  “Alright, Alnea, she is back to normal, and you have had your fun, so stop tasing her,” Nyssa said, condensing a hand from her Spirit Power, and flicking her disciple’s forehead. But that only made him grin.

  “…I almost missed this.”

  “Then do you want me to spank you to help you remember the feeling?”

  “No, no! It was a joke, master. A joke. I will not tease her again.”

  “That is better,” Nyssa said, as the corner of her lips curved upwards ever so slightly, before glancing at the other people. The new faces that had gathered around her disciple. “I believe that you should already know a few things about me.”

  “…Forgive us for listening in on your—

  “It is alright,” Nyssa said, using her Spirit Power to stop Tia and Vestia from bowing. “I am not asking for your guilt. And it is not your fault anyway. Those people were not really quiet when it came to revealing my some of my secrets. And I am assuming Daena did not make any attempts to conceal the matter from you.

  “Then again, like I said to Daena, I never intended to hide my secret anyway. Especially since my disciple has decided to bring you along with himself. You were bound to know my identity sooner or later. It was only because of the lack of time, and an appropriately quiet place, that I did not have a talk with you earlier. But now that we do not have anyone chasing after us, how about we formally introduce ourselves?”

  “…It will be our honour—

  “There is no need to maintain such trivialities with me,” Nyssa said, shaking her head. “Like Cecilia, you can also call me just Lady Nyssa. In return, I will also call you by just your names. How does that deal sound?”

  “…We are honoured—

  “Just call her Lady Nyssa already,” Daena said, rolling her eyes at Tia and Vestia. “Since she has said that she does not mind trivialities, it means that she does not wish to waste time with your useless flattering.”

  “…I would not go so far as to call their words flattering, but yes, observing trivialities can indeed be time consuming,” Nyssa said, before glancing at Daes. “Though that does not mean that we should give up on all civilities and behave as children.”

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “…Uh… I was just trying to save time…”

  “There is an art to saving time, Wanderer Daes. And if you do not know that art, then sometimes, in saving time, you will often end up wasting more of it.”

  “I—

  “But we will talk more about that later,” Nyssa said, losing the solemnity from her tone. “Today is the first day we met, and you have just parted with your mother. In addition, this is the first time you have left the Lost City in over a decade. Your Heart is bound to have some waves… Though that still does not excuse your behaviour, we will have time to work on it later. Today, let us begin with just an introduction.”

  “…I understand, Lady Nyssa,” Daes said, nodding meekly. “As an apology, let me introduce myself first. I am Daes Thunderbird, daughter of Daena and Ranaes Thunderbird, from the Thunderbird clan of the Blue Thunder Canyons… And from this day forth, Alnea’s Dependent.”

  “…That was a rather brief introduction,” Nyssa said. “If I am to guide you, I will need a little more description about your paths and your progress, but this will do for now. Next…”

  “…I am Tia Bluestorm, daughter of Ria and Ted Bluestorm, from the Bluestorm clan of the Bluestorm Valleys… Though they probably would not recognise me anymore. Just letting me use the name Bluestorm is already their greatest concession. But after the commotion that happened earlier… It is probably time for me to think of new name.”

  “…It is alright, Tia,” Alnea said, noticing the haze in Tia’s eyes. “You can call yourself whatever you like. For us, you will always be just Tia.”

  “…Just Tia. That is not a bad idea,” Tia said, as a smile broke through the haze on her face, before turning back towards Nyssa. “For now, you can call me just Tia. Your disciple’s Dependent, Tia.”

  “…It seems that my silly disciple also has some talent in guiding people out of their haze,” Nyssa said, glancing at her disciple with amusement. “But he still a little immature. And so are you. Both of you. Though you may have advanced to the Fourth Stage of the True Rank, being confined in the same city for over a decade has limited your development. And your perspective.

  “There is no harm in introducing yourselves as my disciple’s Dependent for now, but you will become free of that restriction one day. Do not doubt yourselves. I know you can do it. You have that potential. All you were lacking was just an opportunity. And following my disciple will give you plenty of opportunity to grow. Enough to redeem yourselves one day. What will you do then? Still continue being his Dependent, or search for a new, uncertain future?”

  “I—

  “There is no need to hurry. I am not looking for any answers. That was just a question for you to consider on your own. A question for you to ask yourself, ask your Heart, and determine your future. But you do not have to feel pressured. There will be plenty of time for you to find the answer to that question. To learn more about yourselves, and your conviction. For now, just enjoy the journey lying ahead of you. Though I still hope that you will take care of my silly disciple from time to time.”

  “He is indeed a little silly.”

  “Hey!”

  “But you do not have to worry, Lady Nyssa,” Daes said, glancing at Alnea with a grin. “I—We will take good care of him.”

  “…Why do I feel like it will be the other way around?”

  “Because it most probably will,” Yuri said, joining his master in smiling at him in amusement. “But you cannot blame that on anyone. Who asked you to take them as your Dependents?”

  “…Forget it. I will just have to face whatever comes at me, as it comes.”

  “Oh?” Nyssa said, twisting her disciple’s ear. “Then are you ready to face your spanking?”

  “…Ow! Ow! It hurts! It hurts, master!”

  “Of course, it hurts,” his master said. “It would not be a punishment otherwise, would it?”

  “But what did I do?”

  “…Do you want me to list out your mistakes, or are you going to confess them on your own?”

  “…Which mistake are you talking about?”

  “…Just how many mistakes did you make?”

  “…Can we discuss this after you let go of my ear? It will really come off!”

  “Then let it come off. And while we are at it, I will help you get rid of your other ear too. You barely use them anyway. Might as well get rid of them completely.”

  “I am sorry! I will definitely listen next time!”

  “Next time?”

  “No, there will be no next time!”

  “…I will deal with you later,” Nyssa said, letting go of her son’s ears, before turning to face the girls. “Now, you three…”

  “We…”

  “First, let us complete what we began earlier.”

  Yuri and Cecilia glanced at each other, before turning towards Vestia.

  “…I… I am Vestia Weina, daughter of Foriana Weina, from the Weina clan of the Erwein Forest. And I… I…”

  “It is alright, little girl. You do not have to be so shy. Or afraid. If even a Weina like you can decide to share, then what reasons do I have to be against you being with my disciple? But have you thought about how you will explain this situation to your clan?”

  “…I still have some time…”

  “Well, you can indeed buy some time with your performance in the Lost City. And if you perform well in the Union, then they might even let you go until you reach the Mystic Rank. But you will have to address this problem sooner or later, so you better think about it. Of course, if you decide to break off from your clan completely and join the Union, then I will help you handle all the problems.”

  “I… I cannot. My mother…”

  “So, you will be on your own.”

  “She will not be alone, master,” Alnea said. “I will be with her.”

  “…Did I let you talk?” his master said, flicking his forehead. “Have you thought of all the mistakes you made?”

  “…I am still counting them.”

  “Then shut up and count,” Nyssa said, before glancing at Yuri and Cecilia. “And you two… Forget it. I will let your mothers deal with you.”

  “…Are you going to tell my mother, Lady Nyssa?”

  “…Even if I do not tell her, do you think she will not know after what you did in the city?”

  “I…”

  Cecilia stared at Nyssa with wide eyes, fumbling with her words, before glaring at Alnea.

  “It is all your fault, pervert. Look at what you have done.”

  “…I did not mean to…”

  “What did you say?”

  “I… It just happened… And you did not push me away either.”

  “I don’t care. It is your fault. And now my mother is going to kill us both.”

  “…She will not really kill us, right?”

  “The bones of the man who proposed to my sister are still lying in the gardens of my home.”

  “…Someone dared to propose to big sis Serena?”

  “That does not matter,” Cecilia said. “I am not joking right now. If my mother learns that you… you kissed me on the streets… she might really kill us!”

  “…But… you… did not…”

  Alnea completely blanked out, fumbling just as much with his words as Cecilia and Vestia were fumbling with theirs a few moments ago. Especially when he recalled that Cecilia’s mother was the Serpent Matriarch, and that there were at least ten Grand Wanderers in her lineage alone. More importantly, his master seemed to have said that their next destination was exactly the place where those Grand Wanderers lived.

  “…You have to save me master!”