Chapter 579 - Taming the Fourth Year: Journey - Objective Change - 2

"Damn, death battle instead of expedition!" Liu complained while stretching, his joints popping audibly as he worked out the stiffness from unconsciousness and battle fatigue. "And we couldn’t even enjoy the journey... I was looking forward to bragging about having seen way farther than any of my classmates before."

"At least you didn’t have to cover yourself in Giant Cat Bear waste," Taro laughed, remembering the task Ren had mentioned as necessary for hiding among the Golden Noses.

Liu visibly shuddered, his entire body recoiling from the mental image. "You’re right. I think I prefer combat to that particular humiliation. At least battle wounds heal fast with Min near... that kind of stench would probably follow us for months."

Zhao approached with measured steps.

"Certainly nothing is lost by avoiding that aromatic experience," he observed with dry humor, his voice carrying the warmth of someone genuinely relieved to see his students safe and joking again. "But I’m sure a journey with Ren will always be fun and revealing. We just have to be patient to have it when the situation is favorable. I’d like to be part of it too."

He looked at Ren directly, his expression shifting weirdly to both respect and apology thanks to their recent confrontation. His tone became more serious.

"I’m sorry for trying to stop you by force, that energy you were emanating felt genuinely dangerous. Even so," he smiled with genuine pride that transformed his entire demeanor, "I congratulate you for beating me and showing your point. And I’m glad to see you... better. More like yourself."

The admission carried weight beyond simple power level assessment. For Zhao to acknowledge defeat to a student represented recognition of growth that traditional training couldn’t measure.

Ren considered Zhao’s words for a moment before responding.

"I don’t regret confronting you because I had an objective, and although I didn’t achieve it, I think it was worth fighting for. At least trying so I wouldn’t regret doing nothing afterward." His voice carried a calm that hadn’t been there hours before, the tone of someone who had found peace with difficult choices. "But I understand why you tried to stop me. Now that I have a cooler head, I can see that I wasn’t ready. Sirius is far above my current level."

He shrugged with resigned acceptance.

"In the end, I still lack more power, as always, to have any real hope of fixing my problems so..."

Julius placed a hand on Ren’s shoulder.

"Your connections, friends, and allies are also a type of strength. Power isn’t always about individual capabilities."

♢♢♢♢

Everyone turned their attention to the present situation when Shizu and Mako, who had listened to the entire conversation in silence with the observant habit typical of professional guards, prepared themselves for action.

Their posture shifted from the relaxed stance of people recovering from unconsciousness to the alert readiness of veterans preparing for combat.

"Explain the current situation to us," Mako requested directly.

Ren pointed toward an area near where the mutant beasts continued emerging. The stream of creatures seemed endless, each one adding to the complexity of their situation.

"Below there’s a crystal chamber that was important to me. The last time I came to see it, somehow the crystals looked cracked but the chamber was empty. Maybe this time it’s occupied by the abomination that some of you might be sensing."

He studied the terrain, calculating angles and depths based on his fragmentary memories of the place. Without his fungus’s enhanced perception, he had to rely on purely human senses and recollection, but the emotional significance of the location made certain details impossible to forget.

"I need Mako, Shizu, Julius, and Taro to help me with your earth control. The five of us can position ourselves above the chamber and bring it to the surface by rearranging the entire subsoil."

The plan was ambitious but practical, leveraging their combined earth manipulation abilities to literally reshape the battlefield to their advantage.

"Once the chamber emerges," he continued, addressing Zhao and Liu, "you two join in to attack whatever comes out. The presence I’m sensing is more or less in what should be the small chamber."

Zhao partially extended his wings, the feathered appendages catching the light as he tested his readiness for combat. "How big do you estimate this abomination is?"

"If it’s the same as the one Julius and I faced, quite large, like the mobile average of a high Gold rank," Ren admitted. "The energy feels... familiar. It should be very similar."

Liu prepared to invoke his fusion, blood patterns appearing on his skin while his hyena materialized at his side.

"And if it’s too powerful for us, even together?"

Ren unconsciously touched the letter in his pocket, feeling the stabilized energy of his core responding to his emotional state.

"Then we retreat."

The acceptance of that possibility relaxed most of the group, and for some it felt like an improvement in Ren’s mentality. He no longer felt like a stubborn and explosive teenager who wouldn’t accept defeat or take no for an answer.

Mako and Shizu exchanged a meaningful glance.

"We’re ready," Shizu declared. "What’s the specific formation you need for earth control?"

It was time to act.

♢♢♢♢

In Yano’s castle, outside Larissa’s room, things were quite noisy...

Distant shouts from those in charge of making the city function as they organized the city’s defense, hurried footsteps through the hallways, and the occasional sound of flying beasts with their strident screeches as they were summoned to carry urgent reports created a symphony of hurried chaos.

The sounds of crisis management filtered through stone walls and wooden doors, a constant reminder that the entire kingdom was mobilizing for threats that seemed to multiply by the hour.

But unlike Larissa’s curious nature, all of that didn’t seem to be affecting her.

Her private tutor was writing a diagram for her while turning her back, drawing perfect lines that explained the postures every adult noble should understand to avoid making a fool of herself at social events.

It was boring knowledge, of course. Knowledge that Larissa would only have to apply until she was ’adult’ by law and society in a few years.

The intricacies of courtly etiquette felt particularly meaningless, even more when the sounds of genuine crisis echoed through the halls... and those seemed distant too.

Larissa’s mind couldn’t help wandering, as always.

The interaction with her friends, the other maids and her cousins, was something she missed quite a bit. Not that María wasn’t a good maid and companion, but the difference in their positions and her perpetually passive attitude left her thirsting for something more authentic.

She missed Liora’s mischief, who always found ways to make boring lessons become fun. Mayo’s sharp comments mocking Luna, who couldn’t help always pretending the opposite of what she really felt. The way they could all talk without filters, without constant worry about protocol and social positions at school.

And not just them.

She also missed...

A tear ran down her right cheek before she realized she was crying.

The emotion came without warning, as it often did these days... grief ambushing her in moments when her defenses were lowered, when the carefully maintained composure of nobility cracked to reveal the heartbroken teenager beneath.

"Larissa... Larissa... Larissa..." A distant voice called her name, several times, each time louder. "Larissa!"

Her tutor had stopped writing and was looking at her with a concerned expression, her face showing the tired patience of someone who had witnessed this pattern too many times recently.

"Again?" she asked with a soft voice, her eyes showing the weary compassion of someone who understood grief but felt helpless to ease it.

Larissa quickly wiped away the tear, trying to recompose her expression into the serene mask expected of her.

"I’m sorry, tutor. I was... concentrated on the diagram."

It was a lie and both knew it. Lately it was worse, much worse. Before, she could immerse herself in studies and help with the practice administrative work Arturo assigned her, finding distraction in routine and purpose.

But as what Julius and Arturo did increasingly intersected with matters related to... Ren...

...Or had effects that derived from the actions of... well, Ren... the memories hit with a force that left her breathless.

It was as if her pain had decided to pursue her through even official reports and political decisions. Every document that mentioned economic reforms he had influenced, every strategic decision that took his capabilities into account, every casual reference to "the boy’s methods" became a reminder of what she had lost.

Her tutor approached and sat in the chair next to her, temporarily abandoning the formal lesson with the grace of someone who understood when human needs superseded curriculum.

"Larissa, dear," she began with the tone she used when going to talk about serious things, "I know you’ve been struggling with this since... since what happened. But this is affecting your ability to concentrate on important things too much."

Larissa nodded, keeping her eyes fixed on her intertwined hands on her lap. What could she say? That every time she thought of... Ren it felt like someone was tearing something from her chest?

What could she do? She didn’t like either of the two possibilities even a little.

Blame him, she couldn’t...

Hate him, she didn’t want to...

But nothing scared her more than seeing him... having him in front of her... And all those assumptions being wrong.

Because she knew perfectly well within herself... that he suffered that decision with the same or greater intensity.

The tears, uninvited, returned.