The only man that had ever shown her love in this world turned out to be that old geezer that’d saved her life on that fateful day, and he’d done so for the entire three years that he’d raised her. What a strange turn of fortune, she thought, that she had gone from being beaten in the slums of a small seaside town, to being raised by the king of Ridgerock, which had been the man’s identity at the time. Old Aven would never admit it, but she knew deep down that the reason he’d stepped down from his position at that time was so that he could properly guide her in the right direction, sparing no efforts or resources to help her realize her full potential. It was because of him that she’d been able to reach the Genesis stage at the age of fifteen, a grace that she would never forget.

“What a fool I was,” she said bitterly, her hair shaken by the wind now that she had removed the almost perpetual layer of inner essence that protected her body. “Why didn’t I just stay?” Drunk with her own power, she’d left without a word in the middle of the night, intent on getting revenge for her family, though all that she had accomplished was getting herself sealed in that blasted tomb for half of her life.

She gave her head a shake. Back when she had first encountered Nolan, she had been on her way to meet with Aven after many years apart, but happened to stumble upon an interesting battle and decided to watch it for amusement. She had been deeply surprised that the strong-eyed boy that she’d been watching had possessed a remnant aura of the black halmite that she and Aven had found while on an excursion in the Dragon’s Tail, so she had immediately assumed that he had stolen it. That had been the old man’s prized possession, after all, so she had seen no problems with killing him and his friends at the time.

Who would’ve known that Nolan was actually a decent fellow? She pulled out a splintered plank of wood, upon which was carved in delicate writing: Here lies Delia. May she find happiness in the next life. Back when Tems had agreed to help her subdue him, she hadn’t intended to take his life. Rather, she simply wanted the halmite that she had been destined to inherit, and had planned on sparing his life and taking him and his companions back to Ridgerock with her, though they had to go ahead and kill so many important elders of Tems’s sect, complicating the situation immensely.

She examined the wood for a while before hurling it off the mountain. Thinking of her father and the way that he had died, she touched a delicate finger to her neck and began to boil with anger. To think that a day had come when she too would be branded with the mark of a slave, and the curse of compulsion that came with it. She understood why the boy had done it, but that didn’t change anything considering the trauma that she carried with her. Just when she’d thought that she had finally mastered her mind, she was stuck with a daily reminder of what had happened to her family in her early years.

“This is a pretty nice spot you found.”

She didn’t turn her head to acknowledge May, for she had no favourable feelings for the girl. To her irritation, May took a seat at her side and considered the beautiful morning sunshine that caused the vast expanse of open water to shimmer like glimmering gold.

May spoke up after sitting in silence for a few moments. “The fact that you killed my family means that you and I will probably never get along. But for our sakes and theirs”—she nodded in the direction of their younger companions—“I think we should agree to be civil with one another. I just came to say that I’ll stop going out of my way to aggravate you from now on.”

“For what it’s worth, I didn’t know anyone was going to get hurt.”

Throughout her life, Delia had never killed anybody that hadn’t been trying to harm her, the only exception being the disciples of the Falling Rain Sect that she had killed earlier. They might wear masks of righteousness, but they were hardly any better than the likes of the Bloodhand Sect near the Easterly Kingdoms. For the sake of powering the Desolate Spirit Tower and also the various formations within and around the sect, they hadn’t hesitated to completely ravish the entire northern section of the continent. It was their fault that the Northern Wilderness was barren and mostly bereft of life, that the hundreds of millions of people that lived north of the Dragon’s Tail suffered short, terrible lives. Not only that, but many of their youth were just like Tems, doing or taking whatever they wanted no matter how badly they hurt someone else in the process. Yes, she’d recently killed thousands of their youth, but such was a decision born from a lifetime of distain for the sect and the disorientation at having just been enslaved like her father had been.

“That won’t bring my mother back, or my brother’s for that matter.”

“I never wanted that to happen. I never wanted any of this…” Thinking of the pain she’d felt when she had lost her mother, she was suddenly filled with a deep sense of remorse. “I’m sorry. I really am.”

May looked genuinely surprised at the apology, though Delia soon realized that the reaction was due to the heavy streams of tears that had unwittingly slipped out of her eyes. Delia had only ever cried on two occasions; that is, on the days that her parents had died. Unwilling to show such a weak face to someone like May, she turned her head to hide her expression and quickly flew away from the mountain. With a detachment of spiritual energy, she was sure to retrieve the plank of wood that she’d thrown before she travelled too far.

The wind did a good job of drying her tears, and it wasn’t long before she found herself hovering high above the flattened area of forest where Nolan had originally found her. Since her parents had passed away, Aven had been the only one to ever gift her anything. She never cared to connect with any of the forgetful faces that she met, not since she had suffered a bitter betrayal that had left her trapped within that Vespasian tomb for over two decades. It was because of this that she had been caught off guard when Nolan had allowed her to sit within that pond of heavenly dew, since that liquid was one of the most valuable resources in the world. Just a single drop of it was worth a dozen spirit stones, and she had absorbed at least two barrels’ worth over the time that she had cultivated with her captors. With it she had been able to make two minor breakthroughs, something that was extremely difficult at her current cultivation level. She had basically shaved off five years of non-stop training, making it the most valuable gift that anybody had ever given her as far as tangible objects went.

And then there’s this. She held the epitaph out and stared at it for a long while, considering the fact that Nolan had also created that little building just for her. It’s a shame that he destroyed it. Maybe I can reassemble it while they’re all preoccupied?

She expanded her spiritual sense so that it encompassed the entirety of the island, noticing that the girl called Nyla was currently located at the spot where Delia had been intending to go. From what she could tell, the girl was resting on her back within a building of similar size to the one that Nolan had made for her, which hadn’t been there before.

What is she doing?

It seemed as if she were doing some sort of odd exercise, though Delia didn’t care what she was up to. She wanted to go there, so she would. Flying over, she smiled to herself at the loophole in Nolan’s orders, as the boy had never told him not to be rough with his friends. Not that she intended to, for they didn’t seem to be a dislikeable lot, but she was sure that her ‘master’ wouldn’t get mad if she sent the girl flying to the other end of the island. As long as she surrounded her in a protective barrier, then what would the harm be in doing so?

Delia arrived in the desired location within a handful of moments, hovering directly above an exact replica of the building that Nolan had constructed earlier on. Had she rebuilt it? But why would she have done that?

Maybe it was the boy? She saw no reason why he would have done so. Let’s go and see.

She had a high enough cultivation that the girl wouldn’t be able to sense her, and if that wasn’t enough Delia had a unique constitution that made it difficult for those in the same stage of cultivation to sense her presence. This didn’t mean that she didn’t miss the necklace that Nolan had taken from her, since it had the effect of masking one’s presence from anyone up to the first level of Soul Strengthening.

I’ll find a way to get the necklace back later. For now, I’ll see what this girl’s up to. Heh, I might as well give her a little scare. She spent several minutes drawing out a discreet arrayment which caused her to vanish in the eyes of all others. Alven had taught her this technique, though had long since surpassed him in terms of aptitude.

Once she was well and concealed, Delia flew downward with a mischievous grin, ready to scare the life out of the cool-faced girl. So far in their interactions, she hadn’t seen the girl lose her calm a single time, not even during the perilous situation back on the boat.

Intent on a playful prank and then a rough expulsion, she flew down to the ground and hovered about a foot’s length above the healthy grass, which was covered in the mulch that the spirit of the lake had created with the trees that he’d cut down with a spectacular display of martial prowess. She was floating only a pace and a half away from the door, which she soon learned had been blocking out all sound from within.

So eager had she been to cause a bit of mischief that she had flown directly into the centre of the room so that she was just a few paces away from the girl, who glanced at the door as a strong breeze coincidently stirred up the detritus that surrounded the building. Delia had risen a couple of paces into the air, and was now floating directly above her where she lay atop the hardwood floor.

This…this is!

She was almost shocked unconscious when she saw that Nolan was on top of the girl, both of them completely naked save for the necklace that he was wearing. Delia’s necklace.

It took everything within her power not to squeal out in surprise, for she had walked in on a completely unexpected and exceedingly intimate scene. She’d had no idea that the two shared such a relationship, so she had just figured that Nolan had gone off to some other area of the island to train.

Why is it like this? She turned her head away very slowly, knowing full well that the girl below her had a very high spiritual sensitivity would likely sense her if she moved around too much. The breeze from earlier had been brief and unexpected, so Delia couldn’t rely on nature to bail her out of this terrible blunder on her part. Now that things had progressed to this point, she had no choice but to wait until the two finished up with what they were doing and left.

She tried not to look, but the sounds the two were making—specifically Nyla—were very loud, and very surreal. Everything was perfectly illuminated by the spirit stones that had been scattered all over the room, which made the sight all the more difficult to ignore. More than that…

I—I’m way too close!

Despite the fact that she was technically only twenty-five, Delia had been through a lot in her life. She had killed princes, dukes, and warlords, had destroyed castles and attacked prestigious sects on the continent, and had even raided an untouched Vespasian tomb. Although that resulted in her being sealed in an unconscious state for decades, it was still an amazing end to an interesting arc in her life. That being said, even if she had done all sorts of interesting things, the one thing that she had absolutely no experience with was being intimate with a man. She had never gotten close enough to anyone to consider it, and after seeing how her mother was treated back when Delia was a child, the need to become learned on the subject had never gained a sense of urgency.

And now she was watching two people—individuals that she’d interacted with more than almost anyone else—having very intense, very loud intercourse.

Why is this happening to me? She had gradually looked back in their direction, though had immediately covered her face with her hands, though she was now peeking through her fingers at the goings on below. The girl was here for a while, so they should be done soon, right?

Delia eventually succumbed to her instincts, observing all that Nolan and Nyla did with her full attention. The sight was oddly stimulating, which confused her even more considering that she was more mortified than she had ever been. Being as quiet as possible, she prayed that the two wouldn’t take much longer and resigned herself to her current situation.