Chapter 9 - The Beginning of Apprenticeship

Only three people were left in the Town Hall as evening settled itself comfortably.

“Dad, can’t we do something for Dellons?”

“Hmm... Let me think of something, okay?”

Evan patted Daniel’s head and addressed his sister Alene.

“Oi. (Whap) You should have come back earlier. I thought that you were going to miss the Manifestation Ceremony.”

On her face appeared a shadow of repentance and her eyes shifted down to the ground, unable to meet the big brother’s gaze. The back of her black robe started to dampen as But Evan allowed none of that.

“Alene, don’t avoid my gaze. You need to be more self-aware of the fact that you’re the Ninth Elder!”

“Dad, you’re saying too much! Big Sis Alene came back on time for the ceremony, right? And she seems to be regretting her actions.”

Daniel positioned himself between the two adults. He was happy to see the affectionate and gentle brown-haired lady and although she was at fault for not coming back to Ván for nearly a month, the child felt that her actions didn’t warrant such a reprimand.

“You…you’re always too nice to Alene. Sigh... Fine. I’ll go think about Dellon’s problem.”

The father left the hall, heading to his office. As the door closed, Alene jumped to hug the ten-year old, burying Daniel in her not-so-insignificant chest.

“Thank you Dany!”

“Big Sis, you’re suffocating me!”

Her two mounds were akin to two small watermelons pushing on both sides of the poor ten-year-old. As oxygen was getting scarce in the boy’s lungs, the shapely lady let go of him.

A deep breath served to revive Daniel.

Daniel gave Alene a frustrated stare that she paid no attention too. Although those breasts tormented him from time to time, he loved her curves of softness. It calmed him. She gave him part of the motherly love that he had never had. She was his protector, someone with whom he had discovered the world in his infanthood. He had lost count of the number of times her soft blue eyes, unchanging black hair and soft citrus scent had lulled him to sleep. She was something robust and real. Alene was his Big Sis, his father’s little sister.

A recent flaw of hers was that she would often disappear for a week or so from time to time. Daniel did not know what she did in this period of time, but she would always come back when she needed to fulfill her limited responsibilities as the weakest of the Nine Elders, as well as the youngest. Daniel routinely pestered her about what she did during the times when she was away, but Alene would never say.

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As Daniel bent down to touch the morning dew, he didn’t see Mark approaching him from the side. A branch cracked, soliciting a reaction from the blue-eyed boy, much to the dismay of the red-haired boy plotting to push Daniel from the back. As he saw his two friends approaching, a smile crept up on his face.

“Where’s your dad?”

“Inside! Come in, it’s going to be your new house for a while.”

The three friends entered the premises of the Town Hall. After having put down their belongings into their respective rooms, the trio knocked at the door of the study.

“Come in.”

Daniel opened the door, leading the other two in the room.

“So, I’ll be your master in cultivation for a while if you guys don’t mind. Do you know why I chose to take you guys? I mean, of course I was going to take Daniel in. He’s my son. But, for the two of you, the reason’s different. It’s not simply because of your friendship with Daniel. Mark, you’re predisposed towards swordsmanship with your Night Swordsman. And your Lustrous Wings also gives you a predisposition to my own cultivation art, so I deemed that you’d get a good instruction under me. I mean, you’re always free to go study under someone else, but I thought that’d be the best for you. As for you, Dellons, you don’t have to be dispirited about not having a Martial Spirit. I have ways for you to cultivate.”

(Growl)

“Haha, but before explaining that, it seems like someone needs to eat breakfast.”

A growling stomach had cut Evan off. Mark’s face turned all red as Dellons and Daniel restrained themselves from laughing. However, it didn’t take long for everyone to burst out laughing when Daniel’s own stomach harmonized with Mark’s.

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Under Evan’s supervision, the four of them started to prepare breakfast.

Daniel broke several eggs in a bowl and started beating it. Dellons sifted the flour, over Mark’s bowl in which he mixed the sugar, baking powder, salt, milk, and oil that Evan passed him one by one. And then came the beaten eggs. Evan took over to mix the whole until the texture became smooth. As Evan poured the batter onto two lightly oiled frying pans, the children seated themselves at the dining table. They drank milk in anticipation of the thin and round flat cake that would degust soon.

Probably awaken by the scent of the soon-to-be-made breakfast, Alene appeared in the dining room, her eyes still half closed. A yawn escaped her sleepy lips, just as the first two pancakes made their way to Mark and Dellons. The two children poured a thick, viscous syrup onto the golden delicacy. The sight blew any drowsiness away from Evan’s little sister, who seated herself, awaiting her turn.

After several pancakes, the stomachs of the three children and two adults were satisfied. A curious dragon watched on as they ate. Alene took their plates to wash while grumbling, as a punishment for waking up late.

“So, yeah. Teaching you guys everyday stuff like cooking is also part of my mentoring in cultivation. You need to be good human beings before becoming a strong cultivator. Your mentality has a great impact on how you progress, so you have to keep that in mind.”

Three heads nodded simultaneously.

“So let’s finally begin talking about cultivation.”