What can I say, these people… sure don’t like losing time, do they? Not even been two hours since dad left, and she is already training. What’s up with these muscle head dummies?!

The morning had come, and it was time to say goodbye; it wasn’t a tear-jerking moment, at least not for the kids, Freesia did cry a little, she held onto her husband a kissed him for what seemed to be an eternity, at least to the onlooking kids cringing at the sight.

He also kissed Gabrielle goodbye though hers was a much more chaste hug and kiss, a shorter to the point, done and dusted kind of deal, not that both parties didn’t enjoy it, but their relationship was a more closed-door type, it always had been.

Some things don’t change

“Luc, don’t lag behind on your training, when I come back, I hope to kick your ass a bit slower,"

“Whatever, by the time you’re back here, you’ll already be worth less than the dirt on my boots,”

“Lan, keep practicing and try not to make Joanne cry. We all heard that last night. She isn’t good with bugs,"

“Good to know, bye olds,”

“And you Ran, you keep practicing too, don’t give up, it’s never not worth it to improve yourself, even if you think it’s useless,"

And with those words, he was gone.

He left the village on the horse Joanne had come in; a purebred Ostaran horse, a beautiful animal with a brown hair coat and a black crest, he seemed to be a good-natured horse, Joanne said his name was plop, for she was told by the farmer who gifted the horse to her, that when it was born it fell on a mud hole, and the sound it made was that, plop, so that’s what they named it.

Pretty shitty naming sense man, put some effort into it. You’re like an orphanage director

She said to them at the time.

Alden had other plans, but setting off on a horse from the village would speed things up, even if ever so slightly.

So, once the head of the house departed, everyone went on their separate busyness. Freesia opened the clinic with Lan. Maddy and Gabrielle went back inside to do some cleaning. Lucius went on his morning routine.

Only Joanne and Edwin were left behind.

Anne did what she likes to do when she’s bored, train.

She started drawing lazy circles with the tip of her sword, then moved to more complex figures that flowed seamlessly onto cuts and slashes.

Woah! So different to dads. Dad’s swordplay it’s like, trying to smash a rock. Her swordplay is all flowy

Her swordplay was definitely different from his father's.

If Ed had to put his finger on it, Alden’s style was more rigid, filled with technical aspects and movements that you had to memorize. Hers seemed to be more free-flowing, and very graceful.

“That’s amazing swordplay, Ms. Joanne. Where did you learn to use the sword like that?!”

She looked at him and smirked. “At home, drop the Ms. I’m no noble. Who taught you to speak like that?”

“My grandfather always tells me to be polite when I meet someone new,”

“It’s not a bad lesson. If you only want to meet nobles and highborn people, that is, the little people will probably feel, put off from your way of talking, especially coming from a kid,”

“Then how should I talk?”

“Just normal, you don’t speak with your friends the same way, no?” He shook his head “then speak to me like I’m your friend, I don’t like small people that hide behind big words” She eyed him again and saw in his expression that he understood “And to answer your question, I was born in the east, on the coldest part, type of place where you had to eat your meal before it froze”

“a wolfkin village?” He asked, a bit worried about offending her.

“Guess you could call it that. Yes, we did move around the place, but you could call it a village. That’s where I grew up. They taught me everything I know,”

“Oh, so it’s a special style?!” Ran got close to her, eyes shining with intense excitement

“Yes, it’s the one we learn. It is mostly for killing big things though. If you want to learn, you should ask your father or get a teacher since I’m not really good at teaching,"

“Doesn’t matter, father already tried to teach me but I stopped, I’m not good at it,”

“You’re still young. You’ll learn with. time, come on, show me what you got,”

She kicked another training sword from the ground. The piece of wood flew up, where Ann caught it in mid-air and tossed it to Ed.

She then set herself in a defensive position.

“I don’t think this is a good idea Ms. Anne. I’m no match for you,”

She struck

“You’re getting there, next time drop the Ms.” She made slow and strongly telegraphed strikes “Don’t worry about it, not many are a match for me,”

“You have been adventuring for a long time? Anne,”

She grinned. “Yeah, about seventy years, give or take,”

“Woah! I didn’t know wolfkin were that long-lived,”

She hit him again on the head, not enough for it to hurt him, but for him to feel it “We are not, at least not as much as elves or half-elves as Free but we do live for two hundred years or so,”

“And how did you meet my father? He always tells me stories but never really goes into the details,”

“Well, when we met, I was accompanying an old friend back to his homeland, we crossed paths with Alden and Freesia, worked together for a while, and decided to travel together, however, I think you already know a lot about it,”

“Is it true you fought a water dragon?”

Anne laughed. “Yes, had to make time for my crew to run away. He kicked my butt, had to run for my life, barely made it,"

The two of them talked about Joanne’s adventures.