My life had become a true nightmare. Not only did the Academy and all of the other students know I wasn’t as powerless as I pretended to be, but I was also living with two battled crazed women who continually dragged me into practice with them.

When mom learned I had used my Skill, she was so happy and excited that she gave me almost fifty kisses on the cheek, then dragged me out to buy new combat gear. Xinyi came along with us, and for some reason we were now buying her things as well.

“Kyaa! What are you touching, Xuan Yan?!” Xinyi shrieked from behind a thin curtain at the tailor’s, god knows what my mother was doing to her. I tried to put the image out of my mind, but I just couldn't.

“S-Stop… I can put it on myself…”

I was so embarrassed I wanted to die, being forced to listen to Xinyi’s suggestive moans, and knowing my mom was behind the dressing room curtain as well. I’m sure of Lei was here, he would be salivating over this scenario, but we hadn’t spoken since last week.

I walked away from the changing rooms and looked at myself in a nearby floor mirror. It seems my mother dressed me up like my father, as the outfit I now wore resembled the portraits I’ve seen of the two as heroes. Lacking the armor of his uniform, but a similar style to his underclothes, in a deep black just like his.

My new outfit sported a hip length black cloak lined in a deep red, and the same red was used as an accent color throughout the elaborate uniform. Despite the complexity of the clothing, it was surprisingly easy to move in, and I didn't feel like it would hinder me at all if I were to fight in it.

I didn’t really like black that much though, but I wasn’t able to say no to my mother.

After a while, the two returned, with Xinyi in her new clothing. Gone were the ill fitting clothing borrowed from our storeroom, she now had a similar combat suit to the one I was wearing, but in a red and white color scheme. The full sleeves and tights under her uniform’s un-hindering and very short skirt covered the majority of her scars, with the only one still visible being the large one on her face.

I found myself staring at her, and the two women clearly noticed I was too. Xinyi blushed and hid behind my mother with a small “eep!” sound escaping her lips.

“Maybe I should buy a new outfit too…” my mother thought aloud, and it was easy for me to follow her train of thought. It was quite worrying actually, but so were a lot of things she did.

“You look good already, I don’t think you need to worry about it too much.”

“Should you really be saying you think your own mother looks good? When did you become such a bad boy? Was mommy wrong in how she raised you?” she made an exaggerated motion of shock, her chest bobbing dangerously up and down. I imagined that if they had hit someone at that moment, there would be a murder on our hands.

“If you’re going to act like that, then I’m going home.” I turned to walk away, but she stopped me before I got very far.

“Wait, we still need to pick out a new sword for Xinyi!” she exclaimed, grabbing my hand and pulling me back towards them.

“So? You don’t need me for that, do you?”

“You’re a lot better at haggling than mommy is…” she whimpered, and I looked over at Xinyi. Her eyes were sparkling with the idea of going sword shopping, and her innocent face made me cave pretty quickly.

“Fine, god, you’re such a pain sometimes.”

“Mommy will make it up to you, she’ll make Yi Zen’s favorite dumplings for dinner!”

I didn’t respond with words, only managing a slight nod. I didn’t want to come off as if I didn’t want them, but if she knew how much I actually wanted them, I might be in trouble. I had to put on a strong front, and seem like I only mildly wanted them!

With the promise of homemade dumplings, I grabbed Xinyi’s hand and began to lead her to the blacksmithing section of the market. She squirmed uncomfortably in my grip. Her hand started to sweat pretty soon after I took hold of it.

“Umm, Yi Zen..?” her voice shook nervously. “I can… I can walk there by myself, you don’t have to hold my hand.”

“I just figured it would be easier, didn’t want you to get lost. I grew up here, but you’re not used to the streets yet, right? The roads can be pretty complicated for travellers.”

“Ah… it’s f-fine then… thank you…”

“No fair, Yi Zen, me too!” my mother grabbed my other hand, pouting at me.

“You don’t need help finding the swordsmith, mom.” I sighed in irritation. Why was she getting jealous? I was her son, not her husband! Just because dad was gone, it didn’t mean she had to latch onto me in such a weird way.

But she refused to let go, and I had to go the rest of the way like this. Finally, after a humiliating eternity, we reached our destination. Somewhat outside of the rest of the market, in a small unassuming home, was the empire’s greatest living swordsmith, Zou Yuhan.