“I’m finished.” William said as he walked up to Dong Xin.

“With what, exactly?”

“A technique scroll for Shattering the Soul.”

Dong Xin just stared at William for a few moments. “... Really?”

“Of course. Have a look.”

Dong Xin unfurled the scroll. He read it. “Convert the soul to power. Destroy the cycle of reincarnation. Shattering of the soul.” The results surprised him. He wasn’t surprised that the words actually peeled off the page, and flew into him. He was aware that William had the technical capabilities to write a technique scroll. Rather, it was the actual results, the level of insight he gained, that were surprising. Mastery of a technique couldn’t be transmitted except under very special circumstances. Technique scrolls really only contained the basics, and insights on how to move toward mastery. These were things that couldn’t properly be spoken, but only felt. It didn’t require full mastery of a technique to create such a scroll, but a certain level of completeness was absolutely required for the insight to be useful. William had certainly achieved that. Dong Xin didn’t think he would suddenly be better at Shattering the Soul, but if he took some time to train and apply some of the insight to himself… he would most certainly make faster progress. Dong Xin looked up at William. All he could say was, “... Impressive.”

“Thank you.” William grinned. Dong Xin had commented on his training before. Some things were “tolerable” or “adequate”… and a few things got called “good”, but this was the first time that Dong Xin actually seemed surprised by the results.

“I had a plan for what we were going to do next. Our representatives to Eclea were not extremely well received. The Order decided that perhaps wizards, or those who understand them, would fare better. Though there would be some danger as well, since they might react… negatively… to the slayer of the Archmage. However, before we can actually decide whether or not that is a good idea… we must make another trip.”

“To where?”

“Liaoyang.”

“Why? Not that I wouldn’t like to visit again, but the Order is already firmly established there.”

Dong Xin looked at William as if he were crazy. Then, he held up the scroll in his hand. “This.”

William held the back of his head in embarrassment. “Right, sorry… I forgot that nobody else has seen the original.”

Dong Xin just shook his head. “Your grandfather would also like to see you. We would have sent a letter to you while I was there telling you to come, but letters to you, or anything to the Cyril household… it would be problematic if any connection was found, even if there wasn’t anything incriminating.”

-----

William and Yu Li took some time to say goodbye to the Cyril family. Yu Li especially had become friends with Daniel and Ivy. William considered them friends as well, but their friendship was different, since William didn’t act at all like the child, and now young man, that he appeared to be. That was because, in reality, he was older than everyone else he had ever met, with the exception of Lorelei and Chris. Not that William thought he couldn’t be friends with others because of that, but it affected the way he was, and thus how he treated friendships. Yu Li was travelling with them for several reasons. Although it would be useful to her growth as a wizard to remain with the Cyril family, she hadn’t seen her home country in some time. Though William only had connection to Liaoyang as a place that he had lived for a dozen years, she had lived there longer, and more importantly for her entire life. Thus, it would be good for her to go with them, and see friends, family, and home.

-----

The trip back to Liaoyang was somewhat complicated by the presence of both William and Dong Xin. Though William’s wanted posters were somewhat less accurate, there was a greater possibility that they would be recognized if both he and Dong Xin passed through the border. Although they weren’t stringently checking everyone, the posters were still around, and some of the guards always remained familiar with the various wanted posters, even older ones. At least, they were supposed to, and they weren’t going to bet on them not doing their job when there were better options.

Though, the current option was much more viable now than it would have been years before, not that there was any reason for them to do anything special when they were traveling with a caravan. Just like Dong Xin had already done, they planned to pass through some of the more dangerous parts of the endless forest. However, although he was perfectly capable of defending himself, three people might attract more attention, and more importantly he couldn’t guarantee their safety completely on his own. Now, though, William was much stronger and had Chris. Yu Li also had another five years of experience with magic under her belt.

There was always the possibility they wouldn’t encounter any magical beasts in the forest, but that possibility was low enough that nobody bothered to guard anywhere but the main road, and even there travellers still experienced attacks. Though, it wasn’t like they had to entirely avoid the main road. They just had to avoid the first half, where guards from Ostana would patrol. They also didn’t have to be too far from the road, but for surety, they wanted to stay at least a couple kilometers away from the road, which wasn’t exactly straight. Thus, they would be travelling through some of the less safe portions of the Endless Forest, but not the deepest portions. Nobody travelled there, but it was easy to figure out it would be even more dangerous than anywhere else in the forest. Though the main road went through the middle of the Endless Forest, it just so happened to be an area where it was thinner. More likely, it was where two different forests met, but since the whole area was populated by trees, people still called it by the same name and considered it one forest. Regardless of whether it was one forest or two, the group was prepared to fight monsters as it became necessary.