Not long after Maria crushed the talisman, a shadow was traveling through the sky like a bullet. Then it landed right in front of Mira and Maria with a loud boom. Both of them were shocked at how fast he got here.
"Are you ok Maria? What's going on?" Cole said hurriedly.
"Hehe, I'm fine Dad, I just want to go home for a while."
Cole just stared at his daughter. Is that all he is? Transportation?
"I'm glad that you want to come back home. Your Mother misses you. It also looks like you made some good progress. Congratulations!" Cole was relieved that Maria wanted to come home but also shocked that she is in the Marrow Tempering stage.
"Yeah, I was hoping you would be able to help me breakthrough to Qi Condensation and make sure everything goes smoothly."
"Very well. Shall we go?"
"Yes!" Maria turned to Mira and said, "Hopefully I'll see you in 2 years!"
Maria turned back to Cole. "Let's go."
Before he left with Maria, Cole looked at Mira.
"Thank you for taking care of Maria."
Mira just nodded.
Cole grabbed his daughter and they shot off to Lunar Fox City like a bullet. Mira looked off in the distance then turned around and went back into her cave to meditate with her scythe out.
***
Just outside of Lunar Fox City.
Maria and Cole just made it to the entrance of the city. The guards at the front were surprised to see Cole, but even more surprised to see someone with him. This girl even looked somewhat similar to him, but they didn't question it and just let them pass.
They both made their way back to the Zaria House where Maria is going to say hi to her mother, Erika. Erika came running out as soon as she sensed Cole and immediately embraced Maria.
"I'm glad you're safe Maria. Next time don't make me worry so much."
"I'm sorry Mom." Maria said a little dejectedly. She knew that she made them worry, but she didn't have much of a choice.
"It's okay sweetie. It also looks like you had some lucky encounters for you to progress so fast. Your foundation looks stable too, so you must've broken through some time ago." Erika looked at her curiously.
Maria wryly smiled.
"If getting forced into that hellish training while being beaten to death during sparring is a lucky encounter, then I don't want any more lucky encounters." Mira said while shaking her head
"What do you mean?" Both of her parents asked curiously.
"Well, it's like this…" Maria began to explain how she trained with giant boulders for an entire morning then would have to hunt magical beasts as they increasingly got harder. If she didn't kill the required amount of magical beasts then Mira would go extra hard when sparing and sometimes almost kill her. She also mentioned her punishment at the beginning because Mira didn't aim properly when attacking the Earth Snake in the cave and missed her previous slash. That's what resulted in her punishment. She told them how she was never able to win a spar and it always ended up with her not being able to move anymore. The more Maria talked about her time with Mira the more they were shocked. They didn't think that she literally did nothing but get beaten up and trained.
"Maria, talk to me a little bit more about this Mira. What is she like as a person?" Erika asked as she wasn't sure if it's good to befriend someone like this.
Maria's eyes glistened.
"Well, if I had to describe her is ruthless. She is ruthless to just about everything, whether it be training, fighting, talking, or even killing. Everything she does is ruthless. This not just to others, but to herself as well."
"Are you sure you want to hang out with someone like that? I mean, she's only 9 right?" Erika asked worriedly.
"You could be right. That's it's probably not good for me to try to befriend her, but honestly, I think she could be the best friend that I could have. She does everything with sincerity and she treated me with sincerity as well. She's smart, but never minces words. Whatever is in front of her, she challenges it head-on. If you treat her with sincerity then she will treat you with sincerity, which isn't unheard of, but if you don't she might just kill you where you stand depending on the situation. The only thing I pity is the men that she will come into contact with." Maria explained to them. They were a bit shocked to hear how Maria described her. There is definitely something wrong with her brain. Then they caught something.
"What do you mean you pity the men that will try to come into contact with her?" Erika asked curiously. Normally someone like this has had bad experiences with men, but she's already so young. What happened?
"Well, I don't know much because she almost never talked to me. When I first said that I wanted to follow her, she said that if I was a guy that my head would have already been on the ground before I could finish that sentence. She also said that she would rather stay in the forest so she doesn't get captured and raped or turned into a sex slave for some noble or young master. Sometimes I would bring up the topic of boys, but she'd unleash a suffocating killing intent. Now that I think about it, I'd almost rather have her stay in the forest or mountains or something. It might become a blood-bath if she ever came to Lunar Fox City."
"I feel that you are exaggerating this a bit Maria, I know you and Cole said she is cute, but to think there will be a blood bath over a little girl's looks. I think you are over-exaggerating a bit sweetie." Erika said with a hint of disbelief
""No, you don't understand!""
Both Cole and Maria exclaimed at the same time which shocked Erika. Cole let Maria explain.
"She's not cute. She's not even drop-dead, country-topping gorgeous..." Maria paused
"Okay? Then what is she? Ugly?" Erika said getting a bit impatient.
"She's a Goddess mom. The kind of beauty that she has seems like it's not meant for the eyes of the people of this world to see. Beauty is not a word that can even begin to describe her looks. Even I'm attracted to her in an intimate way. She has to be able to gain power, just so that she can show her face. I may not know much about her, but I know she won't enter a city unless she has the power to protect herself. This is at the very minimum, Qi Condensation Realm. If she comes into this city at the foundation realm though and gets treated like a plaything… There will probably be a massacre before she either tries to run or dies, but most likely she will use her last breathe to kill one more person. We should honestly start making preparations so when she does finally come, that doesn't happen."
Erika sucked in a cold breath. This kind of person… is truly terrifying. The only foreseeable path for her is one of death and bloodshed. This is until she's built up a reputation where nobody messes with her. She seems to know this too. That's why she's in the forest building her power. When she reveals herself, it might shake the power balance of the world. The more she thought about it, the more nervous she got. Is it better to befriend her now or kill her while she's still weak? Neither one is good.
'Should I kill her now to eliminate future troubles or try to befriend her? No no no, neither one will work. She might sense that I want to use her as a future ally. She does seem to like Maria enough to go travelling with her though. I guess the only option is to just let things play out between her and Maria. I won't interfere in this matter unless necessary.' Erika thought to herself.
"I will start making preparations for her arrival. Why don't you get some rest for a few days and spend some time with me and your Father." Erika said
"Okay!"
Around 6 months have passed since Maria came back to Lunar Fox City and there is a strange rumor going around the nearby villages and amongst the common people and merchants.
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