It's been three days since the little girl was cured, and seeing so many new things for the first time, she couldn't hold her excitement, she became more cheerful and energetic as she listened to Lucy while she was teaching her what this and that were.

Arthur couldn't help but feel joyful as he watched her jump and stare at certain objects, she would praise him and especially Lucy on her appearance, saying that she was very pretty, her big round eyes were cute and funny as she behaved more like a child than ever before.

At first, he was planning on consuming that Medium Dungeon Core, however, he changed his mind, Saly was still LVL1 and with extremely low stats, even though she could move, she could get injured very quickly so he decided to give it to her.

To consume the orb, you just need to inject some mana in it, but as Saly didn't know how to do that, Lucy helped her and with that, the little girl managed to gain stats.

As she saw her status window for the first time, she stared at disbelief and tried touching it with cute motions, but of course, she wasn't able to.

Saly told all her stats to Lucy and Arthur, and fortunately, the orb increased her overall stats by 250, it was not that good but not that bad either, considering a soldier or a guard would have between 200 and 300 stats.

If she fought against a soldier, she would obviously miserably lose, as she was inexperienced and still a child, she had never fought in her life, however, Arthur was certain that she would become very strong if he and Lucy helped her, he didn't lack skill books and good items, and he will not hold back and give her only the best.

In these three days, surprisingly, Saly didn't want to go outside, she wanted to stay with Lucy and Arthur and continue to have fun with them.

..

Arthur and Lucy were laying on the bed and the little Saly was between them, she was softly giggling as she felt extremely happy for all what happened to her since she met them both.

Lucy, seeing the girl giggle to herself, smiled at her and gently hugged her small body while saying

"What's wrong? Why are you giggling secretly."

Lucy really doted on this girl, she couldn't bring herself to dislike her, she was just too adorable, although she seemed very excited when she recovered her sight and healed from her injuries, she wasn't noisy and never pestered them, she would obediently behave like she previously did except she smiled a lot and would sometimes ask about something related to the room.

Saly knew most of the basic objects by names, but she never saw them so how would she know what would they look like, furthermore, the colors and many tiny objects grabbed her attention as she would gaze at them for several minutes wondering what they were.

"He~he~he, I'm just happy to be with Lucy and Arthur."

As she said that, the little girl stretched her two small arms and hugged back the smiling Lucy, she really loved them both and couldn't think of life without them.

Seeing this, Arthur chuckled as he stared at the cute little girl, then he pondered for a couple of seconds before he said in a somewhat serious yet gentle tone

"Hey Saly, now that you're healed, what are your plans for the future? Do you want to come with us or go alone?.."

Saly, who was brimming with happiness a second ago, trembled and looked at Arthur with teary eyes, although she knew he and Lucy doted on her, she also thought that she may be a bother to them and hinder them so these strange thoughts soon cover her mind.

"A-Am I a bother..?"

The little girl almost cried as she didn't want to part ways from them.

Lucy, who heard that, softly laughed and said to the confused Saly.

"Little Saly, don't worry, we won't leave you, in fact, we want to bring you with us but we don't want to force you so that's why he asked you that."

Then she resumed patting the kid on her little head, it would be a lie to say she didn't enjoy that as even Arthur did, her fluffy ears were soft and adorable, coupled with her brown and smooth hair, it was truly a good feeling.

Saly kept silent for an unknown amount of time until tears flowed from her big round eyes, she was crying but smiling so one would guess they were tears of happiness.

"Un!... I want to stay with Lucy and Arthur..."

She then stopped for a second before continuing

".... Forever..."

She then buried her head in Lucy's chest, silently sobbing, it was clear she was happy and just by looking at Arthur and Lucy's expressions, she knew they agreed, there was no need for unnecessary words.

....

In the blink of an eye, 2 weeks passed, Lucy and Arthur took Saly outside and roamed the city and the nearby forest to let the little girl discover new things.

She seemed very attached to Astrith as she loved riding on his back, sometimes, she would go out alone with him as they would fly around the forest to explore new things.

Honestly, Arthur wasn't that worried about her, with Astrith's strength, even an adult dragon would not match him, much less those pathetic people from Medusa or the elven city so he let her do as she pleased.

It was unfortunate that there were no nearby dangerous places or dungeons to gain experience, he really wanted to possess some corpses and help Saly get stronger.

In these 2 weeks, he gave her a bunch of skill books that suited her, she obviously learned them and used a few times even though it was clumsy, with some practice she would be able to handle them perfectly.

Lucy also taught her a few things, for example how to control mana, it was just basic knowledge but for a little girl, it was a bit hard so it took some patience to do it, it went relatively well as Saly was a diligent and hardworking kid, she followed every instructions and didn't complain.

Arthur and Lucy liked that side of her, she was not like other kids who would only play, she was a quiet and obedient girl, maybe it was partially because of her past but she was a good girl, although they taught her a few things, they didn't spend too much effort, only 2 hours a day as they didn't want to tire her out, they would also take her out to play or buy anything she wants, be it clothes, food or anything similar.

The girl opposed in the beginning and only watched from afar, but after some encouraging from Arthur, she no longer held back, however, that does not mean she bought everything that caught her attention, quite the opposite, in fact, she merely bought 2 stuffed toys, nothing more, nothing less.

After Saly managed to somehow control mana to a certain extent, Lucy taught her how to open a storage ring and take out an item, it was relatively easy, way easier than controlling mana, so Saly learned it in no time.

Controlling mana is divided into several levels, her control is the most basic, she can't create a simple mana barrier or strengthen herself with it, she only felt the flow of it in the air and barely managed to control it in certain directions which were enough for someone at her age.

Lucy then gave the little girl a storage ring with a bit of money to buy whatever she likes, there were times she would go outside with Astrith and there is a chance she might like something, so why not buy it?

Though I said a little bit of money, that little girl had a few million gold coins in her storage ring, Saly knew that the money in the storage is a lot, but she couldn't understand how much exactly, she knew basic numbers but big numbers are unknown to her.

Something unexpected also happened, Astrith who firstly was against accompanying Saly, changed dramatically as he began to like Saly and change his point of view towards her, at first, he only respected Lucy and Arthur, and when Arthur told him to go with Saly, he obeyed but only with reluctance, but he soon came to know how kind and gently this little girl, although Arthur told her she could order the beast around, she never did that and instead she would ask him to take her here and there with pleading eyes.

She even bought him a lot of different kinds of meats which he enjoyed devouring, although he didn't need to eat, enjoying those delicacies is the only thing he could do apart from sleeping, so when she bought him a lot of food, he began to like her even more, one would obviously think she bought him with food but he changed his behaviour towards her way before she bought him any food.

He would even occasionally play with her or show her some tricks with his lightning and each time she would clap non-stop and stare at him with excitement with her big round eyes.

.....

After these two weeks passed, Belic and the rest finally arrived, some of the nobles presents went to the city, as for the city, they accompanied Robin and Belic to the HQ of the company. It was located several kilometers away from the elven city.

Arthur went to find Belic and informed him that he will go back again and at that time he will use that favour from the elven chief as he was no longer interested in it now, right now it's time to go to the Ma Clan, his blood was boiling as he could not wait any longer.

Surprisingly, Mary had a house in the elven city, she said that she bought it in the past and would stay there when she visited Sonia, she invited Arthur, Lucy, and Saly to the house and they stayed two days before they were finally ready to head off.

As for the 7 kids, Mary told them to stay there and wait until she comes back, she left some gold for them and there was enough space in the house for them to live together.

..

It was finally the day, Lucy and Mary were chatting together as Marry narrated what happened in that long trip, as for Saly, she was on Astrith's back, sitting on Arthur's lap, she enjoyed staying close to him, especially in his embrace as she felt warm and comfortable laying there.

Mary and Lucy also sat on Astrith's back and enjoying the beautiful view, although Mary was a bit distressed as she still couldn't believe the black wolf not only can fly at immense speed, he could also talk and is a lightning beast.

There was just too much to grasp and she needed a couple of minutes to comprehend what's happening.

They were all on Astrith's back as he was speeding in the sky and looked like a streak of blue lightning, one would see a mountain far away and the next second they would already bypass that mountain, it was really a god-like speed.

Mary said that the Ma Clan is situated in the eastern part of the continent, so if they travelled by foot, it would take them a long time, especially since Mary is slow compared to Lucy and Arthur, however, fortunately, there was Astrith, as even if Arthur used the bone dragon, it would still take more time.

Mary also added that the Ma Clan used a very powerful illusion seal to confuse the enemy, there was also a strong barrier, so she said that it's pretty much impossible to break through it, they had to wait for someone to come out of the Clan to talk to them and either force him to let them in or ask him.

Arthur was not so sure about what she said, illusion or barrier, he judged them to be useless against his demonic lightning but he still had some doubts, the notification indicated seals and not illusions so maybe it wouldn't work, in any case, a meager illusion is not going to stop him.

..

The trip passed peacefully, Saly fell asleep in Arthur's lap and Lucy kept Mary company as for Arthur, he leisurely read a book as there was nothing he could do in this current situation.

After 15 hours of continuous flying, Mary finally told them to stop as they appeared to have reached their destination, as for Astrith, he didn't seem to be the least bit tired, something like this is nothing to him.

The place they stopped at was normal, nothing special about it, Arthur didn't even know how Mary could precisely know the place but he didn't say anything and got down from Astrith along with the others.

Arthur put the sleeping Saly on Astrith and instructed him to take care of her as he didn't know what kind of power did the clan possessed, however, he was not that worried, but being a bit cautious would not hurt him.

..

Apparently, Mary can pinpoint the exact location is because there is large bolder, very noticeable from afar, it was the edge of the illusion and the barrier, so she remembered it from before.

"This is it... I'm sure of it, now we have to wait for the-"

Just as she was finishing her sentence, a black streak of lightning came out of nowhere and struck the boulder and the air around it.

When the lightning touched the huge boulder, a shattering sounded from it, actually, Arthur wasn't sure if it would work, but seeing the notification telling him he shattered a part of the illusion and barrier, he smirked and felt happy.

He purposely didn't use that much lightning, he didn't want to completely destroy them as he wanted to sneak in. A part of the big boulder seemed shattered as if it was a mirror and a piece was taken from it, it looked very strange.

Soon enough, all of them entered through that small entrance which could fit only one person, and Mary followed behind with a look of disbelief in her eyes.

The illusion put around the Clan or the barrier was not some basic spells but they were very high-leveled skills and spells, too much effort was put to create them and with just a shot from his strange lightning, he opened a crack in both of them, so how could she not be dumbfounded?

Just as Arthur passed by the crack, the surroundings changed, the trees looked completely different and some of them bore strange symbols, there were also those pink cherry trees which looked absolutely stunning, it was like stepping into another world, this forest looked extremely breath-taking and the atmosphere seemed calm.

From afar, Arthur could see a very tall pagoda, it was like a big mountain, there were also few others shorter than it but it was the most eye-catching, it was red with some black bricks on its roof.

Mary noticed his surprised look so she hurriedly said

"Actually, the Ma Clan has a very big territory, approximately a radius of 500 kilometers, there are scattered villages and secluded mountains to train in, there is even an exclusive dungeon, they have great resources and powerful experts, that tall pagoda is the main HQ of the clan"

Hearing her explain everything with details, Arthur was very pleased, his face showed an evil smirk, he held Lucy's waist and jumped on Astrith.

Mary silently followed and yet again they were on the beast's back.

"Astrith, go to that tall pagoda, fast"

"This one obeys"

Astrith then sped toward that pagoda, all that could be seen is a blue streak of lightning. Arthur saw several robed individuals rushing toward where they came from and when they saw the lightning they turned around and chased it, Arthur didn't want to bother with them and told Astrith to just ignore them.

In no time, they were already near the pagoda, they entered an extremely big yard, it was very beautiful, a small bridge with a clear river running under it, some medicine aroma lingered in the air and it looked very peaceful, but the appearance of Arthur and the others disturbed this peace.

Just as they arrived, dozens of people soon arrived too, they were staring at the big beast and the individuals on it, they circled around them and blocked all their way, they basically left them no way to flee from here unless they fly.

Arthur looked at them with a grin on his face, he already appraised most of them and saw how high-leveled they are.

Of course, it was compared to normal people, as for him, they were crawling ants.

An old man also came out from the Pagoda entrance, he wore a yellow robe with a golden dragon symbol on it, he emanated a strong pressure and gazed at Arthur with a bit of alert and anger.

Seeing this current situation, Arthur couldn't help but say

"It's Showtime..."