"SOLEIL, I'm sorry but we can't let you teach the children of our village anymore."

Soleil was disappointed to hear what Clarence– the head of Amos Village– said but she already expected that. When she arrived at the entrance of the village, she already noticed that the leaders were already waiting for her. And she knew why. "I understand, Lord Clarence," she said with a smile. "I'd like to give my utmost gratitude for allowing me to share my knowledge with your people. It may have only been a while, but I won't forget the time that I spent with your village." She bowed politely to them. "Thank you. Please take care of the children. If you need my help, please don't hesitate to call me."

When she was met with silence, she raised her head and smiled at the village people.

Behind the leaders, she could see the townspeople– especially the children that she used to teach. It saddened her to see the look of fear on their face. They used to look at her with admiration in their eyes, especially the kids.

Still, she understood where the fear was coming from so she didn't blame them.

Before leaving the village, she smiled and waved at the children. When the parents hid the kids behind them, she took it as a sign that it was time to walk away.

If she stayed longer, she was pretty sure the village people would start to act violently.

I lost my students again, Soleil told herself while walking away with a heavy heart. Why do humans hate us so much?

***

IT HAPPENED a few days ago.

Amos Village was attacked by Crades while Soleil was teaching the poor kids how to read and write. The Crades that attacked them during that time were pretty high-level monsters. To protect her students and the village people, she was forced to use her Mana.

The children definitely told their parents what they saw, and thus, the leaders forced her to leave their village.

She was still worried about them though. Amos Village was in the foot of a mountain and it was surrounded by thick forest where Crades usually dwell. Those flesh-eating monsters wouldn't pass up the chance to attack a village filled with humans.

I should clean out the Crades around the area to make sure that Crades won't attack them again.

"Soleil Rosenberg!"

She stopped walking when the ground started to shake hard. Thanks to her sharp eyesight, she could see Ainsworth running at full speed towards her. She was still a few meters away from the gate of their "paradise" but the little tiger was already here to ruin her day even more.

"Let's fight again, Soleil Rosenberg!"

She let out a deep sigh…

… by that, she meant she literally breathed fire at Ainsworth who was about to punch her.

As soon as the little boy was engulfed with her red flame, he fell on the ground and screamed in agony.

If Ainsworth was a normal human, he would have been burnt to ashes by now. But his divine powers made his skin thicker– luckily making it resilient against her fire. Still, that didn't mean her flame wouldn't hurt him.

"People call you tiger because you can manifest into one," Soleil said while looking at Ainsworth rolling on the ground trying to extinguish her fire. Of course, that wouldn't work. "I wonder what a roasted tiger tastes like."

Ainsworth stopped rolling on the ground to look up at her with a horrified look on his face. Then, he cried aloud.

She stifled her laughter.

Ainsworth is already seventeen years old but he's still a crybaby.

"You shouldn't bully kids, Soleil."

The gush of wind signaled the arrival of Elis. As soon as his feet touched the ground, the flame roasting Ainsworth was extinguished. Elis's command of the wind was that strong (and his blue robe looked as elegant as ever).

But for the record, I intentionally use weak flame to roast Ainsworth.

"I'm not a kid!�� Ainsworth, who now sat on the ground in a lotus position, growled. It was amazing how not even a strand of his hard was burnt. "I'm old enough to have wives!"

She rolled her eyes at that. ""Wives?" You're lucky if you find one woman who'd be willing to marry you, kid."

Ainsworth glared at her. "You're just a year older than me, Soleil!"

She glared back at him.

The little tiger suddenly averted his gaze away from her. "I mean, Big Sister Soleil," he said in a soft voice.

She smiled in satisfaction.

"Soleil, why are you back this early?" Elis asked, his light gray eyes glowing menacingly. "Did those foolish humans try to harm you?"

She bit her lower lip and shook her head.

"Those puny humans can't hurt Big Sister Soleil physically, Big Brother Elis," Ainsworth said in a mocking tone while shaking his head at her. "But I bet they said harsh words to make her go away."

"They didn't say anything hurtful," she said in a defensive tone. "They just told me that they can't let me teach the kids anymore."

"Tsk," the little tiger said. "That's the same thing, Soleil."

She glared at him.

"Big Sister Soleil," Ainsworth corrected himself in a tiny voice.

"Soleil, you should seriously stop helping those ungrateful humans," Elis said in an irritated tone. "You saved their pathetic lives but in return, they turned on you just because they found out that you're different from them. They don't deserve you."

She understood where Elis was coming from.

This wasn't the first time that humans turned on her as soon as her powers were exposed. There was even a time where some people tried to hurt her for being a "monster." Still, she could see why they feared her.

"Crades are monsters that eat human-flesh, Elis," she explained calmly. "Some of those monsters can also use elements like we do. So you can't blame people from getting scared of me once they find out that I can use fire."

"That's not an excuse for them to physically or verbally assault you," Elis insisted. "They're not on your league. Compared to your existence, they're just a speck of dust in the world."

"Big Brother Elis is right," Ainsworth said while nodding his head. "We are gods."

"We are yet to ascend the heavens," she reminded them. "We're also humans. We just happen to be stronger than normal."

The three of them came from different tribes and clans. But they had something in common: they possessed powers that they called "Mana." The saint that gathered them called it "divine power." Whatever it was, it was the thing that made them quite different from other humans.

"You're too soft-hearted," Elis scolded her. "You shouldn't leave the temple again."

Right now, the "favored children" waiting to ascend the heavens were all living together in the Lumira Temple– the home of Saint Alec and his younger brother High Priest Asher.

Ah, let her correct herself.

All except Nystrom, the elusive heir of the "snake clan."

"You can't tell me what to do, Elis," she said with a smile. But even though she was smiling, she was dead serious. "Don't even try to control me."

Elis's light gray eyes glowed menacingly. Then, a violent gush of wind started to circulate around his body.

As a reflex to his hostile energy, her purple eyes also glowed. Then, her jet-black hair turned red as her body started to burn literally.

"D-Don't fight seriously," Ainsworth warned them in a weak and scared voice. "Saint Alec will scold us!"

"Soleil!"

Her brother, Winchell, suddenly fell from the sky and hugged her from behind– causing her flame to get extinguished on its own.

"What's happening?" Winchell asked excitedly. "Have you finally decided to kill Elis, my dearest Soleil?"

"Soleil can't kill me," Elis said in his usual calm tone, the glow in his eyes already fading. Then, he turned to her. "Right?"

"Just don't give me a reason to kill you," Soleil said playfully, then she gave the three boys a passing glance. "Let's go home, boys."

***

SOLEIL escaped from the temple that night.

She planned to patrol around Amos Village to kill the Crades around the area. Now that the village had been discovered by a group of wandering Crades, she was sure that another group of monsters would find it again anytime soon.

But luck wasn't on her side because when she arrived at the thick forest, it started to pour heavily. She didn't have a choice but to find shelter in the cave that she found. After all, getting soak in the rain weakened her power.

I didn't know there's a cave here.

She created a small fire in the tip of her finger to serve as her light.

When she got deeper in the cave, her senses started to tingle. She stopped walking and when she did, she heard hissing sound around her.

I'm surrounded by snakes.

And then, the snakes attacked her.

As defense, she created a wall of fire around her. But much to her shock, her flame was suddenly frozen by ice. Now, she looked like she was trapped inside a giant ice cube. But that wasn't what shocked her.

I used high-level of flame just now…

But someone easily quenched her fire by freezing it! Her flame wasn't an ordinary flame that could be quenched by water or ice. That only meant that the person who did that was on the same league as her.

"Don't," a deep, husky, and indifferent voice of a man warned her. "They're my children."

Soleil created a ball of fire on her palm to serve as light.

As soon as she did, she finally saw the face of the man standing in front of her.

Silver hair, golden snake eyes, pale skin…

… and oh, his lean body was exactly her type.

Soleil gasped after she fully absorbed the beautiful sight in front of her. "God, you're so handsome."

***

NOTE: Hi. I received a comment that made me really sad. I know that recently, I can only produce one chapter a day. I did quit one of my side jobs, but I still have a major/day job that I can't simply neglect because my mother's meds are expensive. Aside from my day job, I'm also writing a stockpile for my other story (please read Royal Secret: I'm a Princess! if you have time). Once that I'm done with it, I will try to post more updates.

All I'm asking for is more patience and understanding. Please don't forget that I have a job and life outside Webnovel. It makes me sad if I read comments saying that they are tired of waiting for my once-a-day update. I also get tired but I love writing MV and RS so I'm still here. I will do my best to make it up to you soon. Thank you for your understanding. :((

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PS: You may send gifts if you can. Thank you~

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