In the midst of the night, the moon was shining brightly. Two tents stood up in the woods, one of them was white and the other was purple.

Inside of the white tent, Aria, Eline, Laura, Peutoa and Azane slept peacefully on their own beds, while Anaj could only sleep on the ground with a pillow and a blanket.

Moving away from that, there was only one bed inside of the purple tent. The bed itself was humongous enough for half a dozen people to sleep in it, but only Kali and Shin were laying on it.

Shin was sleeping peacefully with a small smile on his face. On the other hand, Kali did have her eyes closed, but she was far away from being asleep.

This is barely making any sense…

Kali shook her head slowly while sighing.

Let’s try to see this again from the beginning. First comes the Guardians with Muir as the enemy, but that’s only when they got ordered by the Gods with a reward they needed.

Then, how did the Gods know?

From what we heard that man; Raizel say, the Gods are rather weak in the sense of strength in the universe. If I’m going to scale it, Mortals – Gods – Nobles – and in the end, the same species as that guy.

Where does Shin belong in that scale?

A frown appeared on Kali’s face as she was thinking rather hard about what had happened.

Kali opened her eyes, even if it was dark, she could clearly see everything. At that moment, she could feel her left hand being squeezed. She turned her head towards Shin and saw sweat running down his face while he was frowning. She glanced down and saw Shin’s small hand squeezing her own hand until it made his own hand paler because of the force he was using, and of course, Kali barely felt anything than a little squeeze.

Kali’s frown vanished as she was staring at Shin, she had always felt something in her heart being supressed until she met Shin, but she had no idea how to explain it.

“uhm…”

A weak voice escaped of Shin’s mouth.

Kali smiled slightly, she swiped the sweat of Shin’s face with her hand tenderly, not wanting to disturb his sleep.

But, as she did so, Shin drew closer towards Kali, hugging her.

“please, please don’t leave…”

As Shin was mumbling, tears could be seen running down his face.

“You don’t have to worry, Shin.”

Kali changed at once, she was speaking in a gentle tone as she didn’t reject the hug from Shin.

“Hihi, there’s no need to think about it, I’ll just stay by his side, this is also where I feel safe.”

Kali said in a very low voice, but she was smiling brightly and hugged Shin softly in her embrace.

The night slowly passed without anything happening, the sun slowly rose up beyond the mountains, shining upon everything.

“Shin, it’s time to wake up, we’re getting breakfast ready.”

Shin heard a familiar voice, he yawned and slowly opened his eyes. He glanced around the tent, finding no one inside. He tilted his head slightly before understanding that they should be outside.

Quickly jumping down from the bed, Shin fixed his hair and changed his robe.

“Shin, are you coming?”

Aria asked again.

“Yes, I’m on my way.”

Shin said with an energetic voice before running out of the tent. He swiftly placed his hand over his eyes because of the bright sunshine. Shin glanced around and saw everyone already being awake and eating meat on a skewer.

“Oh, hihi, seems like our sleeping beauty is awake.”

Kali laughed as she glanced at Shin.

Shin’s cheeks turned slightly red before he quickly sat in between of Kali and Aria.

“Here.”

Aria handed him a skewer with a smile.

Shin gladly took it and ate the warm meat with small bites. After Shin finally finished eating, he tilted his head and asked.

“Where are we going?”

Aria sent a glance towards Kali and in return, Kali nodded.

“Shin, we’re going somewhere I am familiar with.”

Shin nodded with a smile and kept his eyes on Kali, wanting to know more.

“Hihi, I’ll tell you, no hurry.”

Kali laughed softly and continued speaking.

“We’re on our path to the city of Jormun.”

When Kali said this, only Shin and Aria wasn’t surprised. The reason for Shin not being surprised was because he had absolutely no idea about any city on this continent, whereas Aria wasn’t surprised because she had heard about that city a few times.

Laura, Anaj, Peutoa and Azane were surprised because they had never heard of Jormun before. They were all respectively well-known and knew about most things in the continent, but had never heard about the city of Jormun.

“Is that a nice place?”

Shin asked with an excited tone as he kept on staring at Kali.

Kali couldn’t take it any longer and pinched Shin’s cheeks.

“Hihihi…”

“Ahh…”

Shin pouted, but he didn’t take his eyes off Kali.

“I know, I’ll tell you more about it now.”

Kali snickered and continued speaking.

“The city of Jormun was something I made a couple of hundred years ago.”

Her expression darkened slightly when she said ‘a couple of hundred years ago’, but she felt better when she saw that Shin didn’t react towards it.

“Those who were lost, settled in that city. It was a haven for those who had nowhere to go, I left that place after a few years.”

Shin nodded a few times, but this time, he stared at Kali in awe.

“You are amazing…!”

“Hihi.”

Kali laughed and wanted to pinch Shin’s cheeks one more time before another voice sounded out.

“Son, she only built something small before vanishing, I however rule a kingdom as an Empress. There’s no point in complementing her.”

Aria snickered as she sent a gaze towards Kali with a cold smile.

“Hihi, says the one who had to run away from her kingdom…”

Kali said in a slightly cold voice as she glared back at Aria.

Shin just tilted his head and glanced forth and back.

“Hehe, what are you talking about, ‘granny’…”

Aria coldly stared at Kali and continued speaking.

Kali’s face twitched, and she fiercely stared back at Aria.

“It’s fine, isn’t it, ‘mother-in-law’? Hihihi…!”

“You two really like to play games without me.”

Shin pouted as he thought they were having fun without him.

“Cough cough…”

Both Aria and Kali coughed violently when they heard Shin saying they were just ‘playing games’…

“Right, can we get back to the city of Jormun?”

Azane raised one of her eyebrows as she glanced at Kali.

Kali nodded and her expression changed to her usual calm one.

“Yes.”

She glanced at Azane, Peutoa, Laura, Anaj and lastly Shin.

“As I said earlier, I created the city of Jormun for those who didn’t belong anywhere. It has been hidden from major forces since the time it was created and not many knows about it. Hihi, even if they knew about it, they couldn’t do anything to it.”

“So, it’s a city which people can’t easily touch. What are we going to do there?”

Azane asked as she rested her arms on her hips.

“Heh…”

Kali sent a fierce gaze towards Azane before she smiled gleefully towards Shin and spoke in a joyful tone.

“Well, the citizen of Jormun hasn’t and won’t elect a ruler because they have been waiting for the rightful owner.”

Shin’s eyes brightened and kept smiling brightly and his eyes were staring at Kali in awe once again.

“It’s not what you’re thinking, Shin.”

Kali shook her head and her smile became even wider.

Shin could only tilt his head and think.

“I still don’t understand.”

“Well, Shin, let me tell you this. You lack two things right now.”

Kali spoke while lifting two fingers up.

“Two things?”

Shin repeated her words but still not understanding what the two things could be.

“1, your own strength is lacking, you need to become stronger.”

Kali said in a relaxed tone, it would only take time before Shin would become stronger.

Shin nodded seriously.

“2, you need a real army to follow your every command…!”

Kali’s eyes were shining brightly as she said this.

“An army?”

Shin was confused and couldn’t really understand why he needed an army.

“Shin, let me try to guide you through what I and Aria thought about.”

Kali sent a glance towards Aria before she continued speaking.

“Your mother might be an Empress and have high personal strength, but it’s limited. She could perhaps muster only a few powerhouses which could stand by our side without any hesitations.”

“And we’re not in a place to have allies which would hesitate…!”

She narrowed her eyes and sent a glance towards Anaj and peeked towards Laura.

Anaj didn’t mind Kali’s glance, he knew obviously that he had to show his support sooner than later to be accepted in this group.

Whereas, Laura was slightly bothered by Kali’s peek, she felt her heart beating harder.

Of course, Aria didn’t miss these things either. She had known that Kali had been suspecting Laura since the beginning, Aria didn’t want to believe it, but she would of course not be ignorant enough to not look into it. She had seen and sensed her reactions of hesitation since the start.

You should decide which side you’re on…

At that time, I don’t even need to move a finger.

Aria glanced at Kali’s frosty expression before closing her eyes and sighing deeply.

“I still do not understand why we would need an army.”

Shin said after having carefully thought of it.

“Even if they might not be in our league, they can fight people at their own levels. There might be hundreds, thousands, anyone would be slightly tired after dealing with such a mass and might therefore make a big mistake in the last fight.”

Kali explained carefully.

“That’s why, we would need an army to deal with any fodder characters, we can’t waste our strength when we are facing such a great enemy as Muir.”

After a few seconds, Shin nodded and opened his mouth once again.

“I understand why we need an army now, but, wouldn’t it be easier if you commanded them yourself?”

As he was saying this, he tilted his head slightly.

“Hihi, of course, I could easily command them.”

Kali snickered and continued speaking.

“One day, you will have surpassed everyone, glancing down on everyone from the skies. I just want others to know how magnificent you will become, in how that will happen, you will personally need to find out.”

A smile appeared on Kali’s face and she could see the expression of Peutoa, Azane, Aria and Eline soften up and nod in agreement.

Oh…!

I think I understand now.

Shin thought and nodded with a bright smile on his face.

“I will do my best!”

“Hehe, Kali, you should go and pack your tents, let’s go before we attract something unnecessary”

Aria said with a smile, but her eyes were narrowed and glancing around the area.

Kali nodded and turned around towards the tents.

Azane raised her eyebrows and glanced around.

“You want me to take care of that?”

She asked a question, but it wasn’t clear who she was asking.

“It isn’t time for that, just protect Shin and Eline, I and Kali will take care of the rest.”

Aria spoke bluntly and glanced around once again before turning around and walked towards Kali.

“Eline, why are you so quiet when mother and Kali is around?”

Shin asked as he glanced at the silent Eline.

Eline shook her head slightly.

“Even if you don’t get it, your mother, the Empress and Kali are both someone that I could only look up to and never talk with. They are both strong enough to rule and destroy anything they want, what can I, a little child in their eyes do?”

Eline had a bitter smile and sighed.

“But, they are very nice.”

Shin of course couldn’t understand what Eline saw in Kali and Aria.

Eline smiled wryly and could only nod.

“Kali, you’re sure nothing will happen to Shin?”

Aria said in a slightly cold voice as she stared at Kali.

This time, Kali didn’t bicker with Aria. She frowned slightly and nodded slowly.

“If I’m not mistaken, their strongest would only be a cultivator of Emperor Stage.”

“I know we can’t rely on Shin’s borrowed power because of the backlash, but an Emperor Stage cultivator shouldn’t be much of a problem, what do you think?”

Kali returned a question to Aria.

“Let’s hope so.”

Aria scoffed and continued speaking, but this time, her tone was serious.

“If something where to happen, I will interrupt and destroy everything…!”

“Hihi, you don’t think I’ll do that too…?”

Kali snickered, her eyes turned golden and rotated slowly.

“Humph!”

Aria gazed coldly at the surrounding before vanishing from her spot, nowhere to be found.

“I will rip every one of them if they hurt Shin!!!”

When Aria left, Kali’s fist made cracking sounds and her voice turned chilly. Surrounding Kali, a purple aura spread out and following that, thousands of needles spread throughout the whole forest, ripping apart trees, beasts and hidden people.

Well, of course, Shin didn’t react because he couldn’t sense anything at all.

But, this ample of force, shocked Laura, Peutoa, Azane and Anaj. Sweat could be seen dripping down from Laura’s and Anaj’s faces, but only a cold smile appeared on Azane’s and Peutoa’s faces.

“Why are you two smiling so happily for?”

Shin asked as he was facing Peutoa.

Peutoa cold smile turned swiftly into one of a soft one before answering Shin.

“Shin, Aria and Kali dealt with some troublesome matters, therefore I am very happy.”

Shin nodded, not sure what kind of ‘troublesome matter’ it could have been, but it wasn’t important.

“What are we going to do now? Will we be staying here, or?”

“We’ll move ahead, your mother and that girl will follow us as we go.”

Azane replied before walking behind Eline and picking her up.

“Hey, you don’t need to lift me!”

Eline shouted in annoyance before keeping quiet after seeing Azane’s glare.

“Do we even know which direction we’re supposed to walk to?”

Shin asked with a hint of confusion this time, he knew that Kali said they were going to the city of Jormun, but she never said where it actually was.

“Hihi…”

At that time, a soft laughter sounded out.

“Walk in the direction the sun rose till you see a lake, follow the right side of the lake until you find the city…”

Kali’s soft voice sounded out and vanished in the wind.

Shin nodded seriously and raised his head towards where the sun was, before glancing behind him. He could see Anaj prepared to go, Peutoa bowing slightly, waiting upon himself, Laura peeking around, Azane calmly staring back at him and the flailing Eline in Azane’s arms.

“Let’s go.”

He said while his eyes were shining brightly. Shin breathed heavily before rushing forward towards the direction Kali provided.

Shin’s steps were light and it sent him a couple of meters ahead each time. If you compared Shin to anyone else in the group following him, it could only be seeming that Shin was slow. But, none of them lifted Shin to pick up their speed, it was because rays of different lights emerged from the surrounding and being sucked inside on Shin.

Shin felt his body slowly recovering and becoming stronger, with each step he took, it reached further than the last. Shin’s eyes were wide open, but his pupils weren’t focusing on anything, he was already deeply lost in his mind while running in a fast pace.

The speed they ran to begin with was only at around twenty meters a second, this could only count as slow in anyone’s eyes if they were above the Throne Stage. After a few minutes, they could notice the changes that was slowly happening.

Anaj eyes widened slightly and asked in a quiet voice.

“Are we not running in a faster pace than what we begun with?”

With this question, they could notice their speed were at least thirty meters a second, surpassing what they started with.

Laura’s mouth went agape, and she was shocked because of the improvement in Shin’s speed.

Azane snickered and her lips curved upwards till it formed a smile.

“Of course, he’s getting stronger.”

Peutoa’s expression did not change at all, she was not surprised by something like this. She glanced at Shin, his fragile and petite body, was currently running forward without slowing down. She squinted her eyes slightly before speaking in a low voice which only she could hear.

“It seems like I have to grow stronger.”

“I as his Guardian can not be useless…”

Peutoa resolved herself and followed a few steps behind Shin at all times.

Eline could also see the improvements of Shin, she flung herself away from Azane’s grip and quickly ran towards Shin, running forward by his side.

I must improve too, I can’t stay like this forever.

After thinking this, she mustered her will and continued running faster with Shin’s pace.