“What was that you fed him?” YunYun asked curiously after her anger was gone.

“Oh, that’s just some Qi rejuvenation potion.” Nick shrugged.

“Do you have more? Can you show me?”

“Sure.” He pulled out another one and passed it to YunYun.

She carefully opened it and smelled, then dripped her finger in a bit and tasted. Her eyes widened in shock.

“That’s a high quality Qi potion! One can cost up to a hundred gold pieces, maybe even more!”

The other girls stared at Nick in shock as well, but Steven and Clayton had totally different mindset already for a long time.

Nick smiled at YunYun and pointed at Kate, “How much is her life worth? Or hers?” He pointed at Beata, “There are things you can buy with money and there are priceless things in our lives. Why would I even care about something I can make with my own hands?”

“You made this?” This time it was Clayton’s turn to be shocked.

He thought Nick just bought a ton of different things or had them from the pirate base, but tho create a high quality potion was entirely different matter than refining a weird looking paste.

“I’ve been practicing alchemy for years, what’s the big deal.” Nick shrugged, “I’ll just make few more when we run out.”

Everyone sighed at this weirdo and shook their heads. His way of thinking was hard to understand, but it was still great to have him as a friend.

“If everyone has calmed down, let’s analyze the situation and think of our next step.” Clayton suggested and got up. He went towards the waterfall to take a look from what disaster they just escaped.

A breathtaking sight opened in front of them when they approached the cliff with the waterfall. As far as they could see was a green carpet of trees and it had only one flaw – the river that formed below the waterfall cut this carpet in two like a long snake. But looking down was too scary, at least for the sisters and Kate. They couldn’t even come close to the edge of the cliff. It was only short time ago when they were carried down from the height of eight or nine storey building, but this was too much!

It was a bit past noon and the sun was still high up. In its rays colorful rainbows played in the scattered droplets of the waterfall.

“How high do you thing this is” YunYun asked squatting on her knees to take a better look down.

“Hmm. No idea. Might be a kilometer or even more.” Nick shrugged, “We had to climb down in Rolum and the height at the top seems different than in reality. For some reason our eyes play tricks on us when it comes to the heights. Clayton, what do you think?”

“Definitely, at least a kilometer.” Clayton nodded, “Should we rest a bit and then go?”

“Aren’t you tired?” Kate was worried, “Maybe we should rest tonight here and go down tomorrow morning?”

“I would like that as well, but the only one who would be able to run around after this climb is him.” Clayton pointed at Nick, “So if we go down tomorrow morning we will have to stay there for the most of the day.”

He sat down to recover his Qi. This time it will be his turn again to act as an elevator and now he will even have five passengers.

“Can you carry me down?” YunYun squinted her eyes at Nick.

He scratched his bold head and thought for a bit, “If you asked me this two days ago, I would have said no. But now I can. Wanna go like last time?” He grinned back.

“Yes!” She got excited and was almost climbing on his back.

“Wait, wait! Let’s rest first. We also have to decide on the order.” Nick quickly stopped her, “Down there might be dangers, so probably Steven has to be the first, because he will be strong and fresh when left alone. Then the girls, one by one and then the two of us at the end. What do you guys think?”

The plan was simple and logical. This time all of them sat down and practiced Qi. This event was the last drop girls needed to prove them the necessity for everyone to have strength.

When he felt rested enough, Clayton got up.

“Alright, let’s go!” He sternly said. It was already a risky thing to carry a person down and in addition this was a foreign place as well.

Steven exhaled and prepared to climb on his back, when Conny in a weak voice suggested, “Maybe you can strap him on, just to be safe?”

“Good idea!” Clayton nodded.

One of his fears was that Steven might not hold on if he would stumble at some point and, even if Steven could, one of the girls might not.

Nick took out some leather strips from his wristband and helped to secure Steven on Clayton’s back.

“I also need few leather strips!” YunYun stretched out her hand.

“I know why you want them.” Nick smiled, “I’ll give you few right after we get down there. Other girls will start to wear their swords as well.”

The princesses and Kate exchanged confused glances? ‘Wear their swords’? Why would they start to do that?

Nick noticed their confusion and explained, “You are young male mercenaries and you have to carry a sword. Later in the evening Steven will show you few basic moves so you don’t get discovered right away.”

While they were talking, Clayton already disappeared behind the cliff. Conny clumped down with tears in her eyes and shaky hands.

“If you want to help him, practice every single moment. We don’t know when a strength difference in a weight of droplet will save our lives. Did you see the Clayton in the middle of the river? It that happened two moths back, maybe even half if not all of us would be dead by now.” Nick smiled at her, “Even though he can’t increase his Qi, he tries his best to practice its manipulation. He does it in secret, but there is no way we wouldn’t notice.”

Conny forced herself to calm down, closed her eyes and started practicing her Qi. Nick was right, even if there was a slim chance, maybe she can help out in some dangerous moment. Others saw it and sat down to practice as well. It almost felt like Nick was forcing Qi practice on everyone he came in contact with.

A bit more than an hour later Clayton climbed back up.

“Somewhere around kilometer.” He panted while lying on his back, “But it’s beautiful … down there.”

Conny was ready to go immediately, but Clayton had to rest for a while. The mental fatigue from climbing down turned out to be bigger than the Qi expenditure. After half an hour they collectively strapped Conny on his back and he disappeared behind the cliff once again.

Nick and YunYun emotionlessly started to practice again while Kate and Beata looked at them, then sighed and joined. There was no way around it. This was not Aurora and, until they were back, there won’t be any dresses, high-heels and admirers.

When Clayton came back up, Nick passed few potions to him, “I know that you don’t need them now, but take a few just in case.”

Clayton didn’t stand in ceremony and immediately opened one and gulped down, “Sorry, I needed one.”

“Hahaha! Good, I’ll make some more later in the evening. I still have quite a bit ingredients from the pirate base.” Nick laughed.

“Do you think they are already back home?” Kate asked while looking in the distance.

“Maybe.” Nick shrugged, “If everything went well, around forty ships docked in Aurora bay few days ago. We’ll know when we return.”

After a short moment of silence he seriously said, “Kate. I don’t know if you can, but I would like you and both Maxwell sisters to look at this whole situation as an adventure. A dangerous, but interesting adventure that you will have only once in your lives. If you keep being scared and cry for home, you might become a burden even if we get home safely in the end. But if you take this as seven friends traveling together in a wild and later even pretend to be mercenaries, trick some bad people and enjoy the life, it gives you different perspective altogether.”

He got up, came over and sat next to her, “Now you were staring in the distance and thinking about home, but you are wasting your life like this! Look at it!” He waved at the view in front of them, “When you will see something like this again? It is not scary, it’s breathtaking!”

At this moment Kate and Beata as well, both of them got enlightened! Nick was right, that boy always was right!

“Thank you, Nick!” Kate whispered, “It’s great to have a friend like you.”

“Sigh, why would you even mention that?” Then he lied down on his back looking and the sky with few clouds in it with a wide smile, “You know very well that you guys are my only family. And Mason, and Chris, and Zia. A big, loud and annoying family.”

Kate and Beata got really emotional. Nick was watching the sky and didn’t see it, but YunYun saw the tears in their eyes. The girls were not emotional because it sounded so nice, but because they knew his real family was killed, maybe even in front of him. But he never stopped being positive and always managed to bring out some fun in their activities.

“What about me?” YunYun sat next to him while pouting. She didn’t like the reaction of the girls and felt left out.

“Why would you even ask something like that?” Nick got up and looked closely in her eyes, “From all the people of the world you are learning from them?” He pointed at the to girls nearby.

“You bastard!” Kate got angry and leapt up to kick him and Nick escaped in a clumsy fashion while laughing loudly.

“I’m going for a swim!” He shouted and ran more upstream so it wasn’t dangerous to immerse in the quick waters.

“Sigh,” Kate sat down besides confused YunYun, “His whole family was killed and, although he never speaks of it, we think he even saw all of that. That’s why he cherishes his friends a lot. And, despite that tragedy, we have never seen him in a bad mood.”

She looked at the bold girl besides her and smiled at her, “You have made a great choice and even I a bit envy you. Although he is almost ten years younger than me, hahaha!”

She laughed at the end and got up, “Uncle, how are you?”

“We can go in a minute.” Clayton also got up, “YunYun, I also know him only for two months, but he is a good friend even if he could technically be my child, maybe even a grandchild. There are many things you don’t know about him, but you don’t have to worry at all. Even though he acts a bit roguish from time to time, he is one of the most honest people I’ve ever met. And I have met plenty.”

“Alright!” Clayton’s tone got serious, “Help me tie up my beloved niece since that rascal ran away.”

He probably was the only one who guessed that Nick wanted to shed a tear or two and didn’t want others to see. Clayton experienced the hate this kid had against the murderers of his family and it was very deep to say the least.

When Nick came back, Clayton and Kate were already gone. YunYun was deep in her thoughts, so he sat near her and grabbed few snacks from wristband. Beata shook her head when he silently offered her, therefore he munched alone while still holding them in a way YunYun could take few as well.

“Will you tell me about yourself?” YunYun suddenly asked while seriously looking at him.

“Sure!”

“But only when we are alone.”

“Alright.”

Then they sat and enjoyed nuts and dried fruits while gazing at the unforgettable view.