As Azalon was wallowing in his frustration and negative thoughts, he felt a light tug at the corner of his clothes. It waked him up from his thoughts and he looked down to meet a pair of black puppy eyes that were wide open and brimming with excitement. As he looked at the cute expression on Nina’s cute face, he laughed out despite himself.

“What is it, Nina?” he asked as he patted her head lovingly. He felt that this little girl always calmed his heart, and he treated this girl as his little sister and always doted on her.

As soon as he asked, Nina suddenly twirled around once with a happy face, and only then did he notice that she changed her dress, from that little skirt to a frock with frills at the ends. The light blue color of the dress contrasted with her white skin and black eyes. The frills landed just below her knees and the bright red borders on the dress completed the overall look of the cute little girl in front of him.

“Big Brother, Big Brother, how is my dress? Uncle Chad brought me this yesterday when he went out, and I wanted to show it to you, but you did not come yesterday.” She asked with alternating expressions of happiness and angry pouts. He could only laugh at the acting skills of this girl. He lightly shook his head at the thought of teasing her for a moment.

“It’s very beautiful, Nina. As you are this beautiful, will you marry me?” he asked with a pleading expression on my face.

She stood still as she heard his words, before she blushed a deep red. Her face looked so cute, that he got up and scooped her into a hug before kissing on her forehead. He could see smoke rising up her head as he kissed, and he could only laugh as he never expected such exaggerated reaction to his words.

“Wuuuu… Brother is teasing me again. I am not talking to you again. Wuuuu…” She said angrily as she heard me laughing. He laughed even more as she puffed her cheeks in a pout.

“Alright, Alright, Brother is sorry for teasing you. Now be a good girl and stay with Uncle Chad as I have to study this book. Ok?” he said to her with a smile before lowering her to the floor.

She nodded repeatedly before rushing off with a laugh. The frustrations in his heart dispersed like smoke and he once again immersed into the book searching for any point he would have missed here and there.

The day passed from morning into afternoon before he finished the book, and stoop up with a sigh. He shook his head and replaced the book on the bookshelf, before heading downstairs to meet with Uncle Chad. He wanted to enquire if any new books have come or when will they come.

His stomach growled with hunger and only then did he remember that he had not eaten anything till then. So, he could only bid Uncle Chad and Nina goodbye, all the while promising Nina that he will be back in the evening to tell her two stories.

He walked into the street and the sharp sunlight made him squint his eyes involuntarily. After a moment he opened his eyes, and took a deep breath, before heading towards his home. Truth to be told, he did not want to return, but he knew that come what may, that’s his family. And he had two figures in that house that loves and cares for him, his grandfather and his brother.

As he walked back, he remembered to talk to the vendors of the stalls on the street, and tried to reject the things they have kept aside for him, before hurrying home.

Two soldiers stood guard at the gates of the Wheld Family Manor. A grey wolf and a black hound were sleeping at their feet, but they lifted their heads as soon he came into their detection range, before lying down once again. The soldiers’ armor reflected the sunlight making them look dazzling, but he could imagine the discomfort they would be feeling in the hot sun wearing those metal armors. They lightly bowed as soon they saw him approaching them. He nodded his head in response, before telling them to keep a barrel of water nearby to quench their thirst.

“He behaves so politely even though he is the grandson of the Family Head. But it’s a pity that he has a Petrified Spirit.”

“Yes, he will be made a manager of one of the businesses of the Family, as soon as the Coming – of – Age ceremony passes. We can do nothing about it.”

Even though they talked softly, my ears still picked up their conversation. He sighed once again feeling frustrated at his weakness. As he reached the practice grounds, he could hear the light grunts and shouts as the children of his generation practiced their martial arts. As he walked past the practice grounds, he heard a slightly childish voice behind him.

“Oh, isn’t it the trash of the family? I heard that you became a bookworm who is always holed up in the town library. But what can you do? You are nothing but a cripple now, different from the genius one year ago. Hahaha…”

He knew to whom that voice belonged to, before even turning around. A boy of around 13 years of age stood before him, with his ever following gang behind him, all boys of around 10 -12 years. A silver feathered hawk was perched on his shoulder, and he could see that the talons of his hawk are black in color, contrasting heavily with the bright silver of its body. This was his cousin, Delius Wheld, the son of the First Elder, Asran Wheld, his uncle, and his Spirit, the Black Talon Hawk, ranked 310th on the Spirit Beast Rankings.

Delius was the favorite genius of the family until he came along. As he revealed his cultivation speed, the Elders concentrated more on him and ignored Delius, which made him burn with jealousy. Now that he has a chance to humiliate him, he never passes on any chance he can get to remind me of his present condition.

As far as he knew, Delius once again became the spear head of the younger generation after is fall, and he should be currently at the 3rd level of the Spirit Sense Realm. As soon as he thinks of that, Delius opens his mouth to boast again of his progress.

“You know, I broke through the 3rd level two days ago. Even the Family Head praised me of my talent. You know what he told me? If I can maintain my cultivation speed, I can even join those prestigious Academies 3 years later, when they start their campaign for new students. And you will always be a toad in the pond as I will spread my wings and soar through the skies. Hahaha…” he laughs loudly and his lackeys take after his laugh in support of their leader.

‘Why do I have to deal with this obnoxious and egoistical kid just before I had to eat my lunch? Gah, I feel my stomach turning listening to those almost narcissist statements.’ Even though these thoughts run through his head, he has to keep his mouth shut, because, believe it, you don’t want to rile up a wrongly wired kid who has strength of 4000 pounds behind his fist. That is the difference between Realms that can never be bridged under normal circumstances.

He tried to reign in his temper, as that would only make the situation even worse. Even though they can insult him, but they never dare hit him, because of his grandfather, even if Delius is the son of the First Elder. So, he silently walked towards his grandfather’s cottage, not minding the insulting words that seemed almost endless coming from behind him.

His grandfather live in a separate cottage in the gardens of the mansion, as he preferred being alone. As Azalon reached the cottage, the alluring smells of his grandfather’s cooking reached him, and his stomach growled in response. With a smile in his face, he ran towards the cottage. A man of around 60 years of age can be seen, with a ladle in his hand stirring the contents of a pot above a small fire pit.

As he reached the cottage, the man lifted his head, and a deep smile immediately came up on his face, before beckoning with his free hand.

“So, you have decided to visit this old man, huh?”

Azalon smiled happily before lightly nodding and sitting across his grandfather watching him cook. His grandfather was the current Head of the Family, with his cultivation at the Peak of the Spirit Condensation Realm, only a step away from the Spirit Core Realm. Only the Family Head of the Reran Family and the Patriarch of the Phantom Wolf Guild can match him in strength. Only with his presence can the Wheld Family can maintain its current position in the Blue Wind City.

Even though he is of around 80 years of age, he still looks energetic with his long black with hair with tufts of grey at his temples, well-toned muscular body, and his ever present smile on his slightly wrinkled face. He was my only direct relative as he never knew his parents. No one in the family talks about them, and whenever he tried to talk about them with his grandfather, he tries to bypass it by talking about something else.

His memories of his birth are a little fuzzy as his new born body’s senses were not that developed enough to understand his surroundings. He could only remember some bits and pieces of them but they never made any sense to him as to what happened back then. Incoherent cries, clangs of swords, rustling of leaves, a woman’s panicking gasps which he thinks are his mother’s, a loud howl, and a sweet and warm liquid in his mouth before blackness.

He never talked about these memories with anyone, not even his grandfather, as even he himself would feel freaked out that a newborn baby could remember what happens around them. So he could only try to understand the whole story by stitching his memories with the story of what happened, but no matter what, his grandfather never told him about what happened to his parents.

He was jolted out of his thoughts, with a light call from his grandfather, who was holding a bowl of hot porridge he made. His stomach grumbled again in response to the smell of that porridge. With a laugh, the grandfather and grandson enjoyed their simple meal in the peaceful gardens. He talked about the books e had been reading in the public library and the cute antics of Nina. His grandfather talked about his adventures when he roamed about in certain regions of the Empire in his younger days.

Looking at the smile on the face of his grandfather, he once again became determined to find a solution to his problem. Whatever happens, he cannot let this man down…