Althea sighed. "Perhaps we should hurry up. The sun is setting, and we have delayed far too long. The forest may get dangerous at night."

Aasha shrugged. "Not really. I survived it."

Althea looked at her questioningly. Of course. Aasha probably wouldn't have walked this fast if she were alone-wait a second.

"Aren't you tired?" she asked.

Aaha avoided her eyes. "A...bit. I can still walk! There is a clearing just a little ahead of us-"

Of course. Althea sighed. A Novice was just barely stronger than a normal person from Earth. The two of them had walked like ten kilometers at a very brisk pace-for a normal person. To her, it was too slow, but she was a Master. The difference in cultivation was just too big.

"There is no need." she said, holding out her hand. "I can carry both of us."

"Oh." Aasha took her hand as she pulled her close, basically hugging her as she lifted them into the sky. The girl was lighter than her dress. The problem was that at the speeds they were traveling, if Althea didn't protect her, the wind alone would cut her down.

The wind picked up as she carried them into the sky, just above the tree line and then forward. Aasha extended her head out.

Althea shoved it back towards her body. "Keep your head in, the wind will pluck it off your body."

Aasha grunted, turning it around to look out. Althea just rolled her eyes. The girl was reckless as fuck. A normal person would take care of her body, not try to sight see in the air.

The journey ended quickly. Just a few minutes, really. The village was barely fifty kilometers away. A lot for someone walking, but flying... Althea could go as fast as three hundred meters a second. Of course, that speed was difficult to reach in a distance as short as this one. The village was practically close to her.

The difference between a Master and a Novice, she supposed. A flock of birds approached her, their razor sharp beaks looking at them threateningly. Althea glared at them, flexing her mana.

Fire burnt them off a moment later.

"Oh come on!" Aasha said, her words escaping into the air.

Althea sat them down at the border of the village. "What's the problem!"

"That's a waste of food! The village eats those! Now they're burnt!"

Althea looked at the burnt birds-well actually there wasn't anything of them left to look at. The fire had burnt even their bones off.

"I shall try to burn less of them next time." she assured her. "How do you hunt them anyway? The birds were quite quick for you, if I do say so."

"Not so quick for her, '' Aasha pointed towards the village. Althea turned to see an elderly couple approaching. The two of them looked like they were at the end of their life, their skin loose on their face, their bodies crooked. But they still walked well enough, and their presence told her of their position.

Master stage. The most powerful in the village by far.

Althea bowed. "I apologize for spoiling your food source. I was unaware."

The old woman looked at her, suspicion clear on her face. "Why are you here?"

Mana gathered around her, but it was...weak. Althea suspected that she could defeat them both easily. Then again, she had miscalculated with Feng. The battle manuals were very irritating. The two still seemed a bit on the weak side of Master. Perhaps because of their age? To be honest, she hadn't seen anyone in this condition before. Not among cultivators.

Of course, logically speaking, there were many people reaching the end of their life. There just weren't many of them around her. The elders in the Diery county did not often travel outside their homes, let alone to the palace.

"I am simply passing by and in need of-"

"Gramma, she said that I have an element!" Aasha interrupted her. Althea through her an irritated glance, shaking her head.

The old woman looked at the girl rushing towards her. "Shut up for once, child. I am trying to have a conversation with someone other than you."

Aasha looked at her pleadingly. "But you are...so slow. And if you let her" the girl threw her a glance. "Talk as slowly as she would, she will speak a sentence in five. I saw her do it a few minutes ago!"

Althea sighed. "Speaking in an expanded and accurate manner might be exhausting to the impatient, but it lends a certain-"

"See?" Aasha smiled.

Gramma did not seem impressed. "Go back in, we were worried about you. Did you really think you could go hunt a Mist Tiger on your own?"

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"I did!" Aasha smiled. "Well, she did, but he's dead! And she killed Zhang something too! I am sure she can kill his father too."

"Zhang Rui was just a puppet, you idiot. And It is too much to ask a stranger to interfere in your affairs." Gramma said. "Now, go back before I have to drag you."

Althea suppressed a giggle, even as she felt like sighing at Aasha's antics. Just presuming that she would help with whoever it was that was threatening them...

"Please forgive me for saying this, but I might not be able to interfere in your affairs. I am a Northern official and interfering would-"

"This...disagreement involves a boy with Space magic." Gramma commented.

Althea shut up. The official stuff just went out the window. Interfering would be troublesome and more than a bit out of line, but Space magic. There was no way she was saying no.

"I am open to negotiation." she said, unable to hide her embarrassment. Just a few seconds before, she was talking about it being hard for her, and now. Even with her training, showing her greed like this was embarrassing.

"At least you have the decency to be embarrassed." Gramma said, looking at the girl that still hadn't gone inside the village with the corner of her eyes. "Now, who are you?"

The man beside Gramma stepped out and started dragging a struggling Aasha back in. The bottom of the Master stage to be sure. The couple should still be powerful enough to protect the village from beasts...until humans got involved. This Zhang was clearly at least Master stage. Althea had to show off her background to show that she meant business.

"I am Althea Diery, the Countess Guarding Diery, Head of the Druid clan, guardian of the Solerian Empire, member of the Solerian royal council. custodian of the Eastern isles. Honorary member of the Human Council and leader of the Northern team to this Human Cup." she said, giving a slight smile.

Gramma's face showed no difference.

"I see. Come in, now that you're already here. The sun won't be setting any time soon, but I suppose you won't be going off to another city now."

Althea followed behind the old woman, feeling strangely humiliated from how she was being treated as a greedy noblewoman here to take advantage of someone in need.

Then again, was what she planned to do something else? Didn't she plan to have whoever this space mage was join her county? Even though she planned to be fair and kind and all that stuff, she could not deny she was going to use him.

For some reason, she felt like the villain in the situation. Even as she assured herself she was only going to take the boy in if he was willing, and she wouldn't exploit him, and that she wasn't doing a bad thing, she felt sad.

The reason was clear enough. If Gramma actually felt even a percent of the emotions she was showing, this was the boy's home. The boy's family clearly cared for him. And the only reason he couldn't stay here anymore was because they aren't powerful enough.

That was unfair.

The memories she had forgotten came back to her, propelled by an unknown force. The same memories that were making her feel so much about this situation. And then they were shoved back in. Althea startled, realizing what the force was. What it represented.

Mind mana. This situation had reminded her of something, something that was probably from Earth. And someone had shoved it back in. A flash of anger rushed through her, hot and fiery, as pinkish-purple mana shot out from her.

The mana of her core flared as she tried to get her memory back. But it was useless. The memory was gone. The Great Mother had stolen it from her. And she was too weak to do anything about it. Just like this boy she had not met was too weak to decide where he got to stay, she was too weak to decide what memories she kept.

What a cruel world it was.

The burning tree's decision to stay away from the war made even more sense to her now.

"What happened?" Gramma asked. Althea noted the mana flaring around the old woman, the other Master ranker returning. The two must have noticed her using mana and were cautious. Not of her, but of what was going on.

This Gramma was more intelligent than she had thought. Saying that it was nothing would just make her suspicious.

"I simply realized what I was about to do." she sighed. "Where is this Zhang? What has he asked of you?"

Gramma looked at her with a confused and wary expression. " Lord Zhang hasn't asked anything of us. The only thing he did was tell that foolish girl you brought that she could see her brother if she brought him the pelt of a Mist tiger."

"I see." This Zhang had already taken the boy then. "How powerful is he?"

"The late stages of Master." the old man replied. "What do you intend to do? I can feel the mana rolling off you. If you intend to harm us, I assure you we will not-"

Althea let out a frustrated sigh. Of course they took her calling on mana as a threat. To be honest, she hadn't realized she was doing it, but she was. Preparing to blow things up was a very hostile thing to do in the middle of someone's village.

"No, I fear I lost control." she replied, asking mana to be calmer. Mana followed her instructions, but continued gathering anyway. "I apologize, I got carried away thinking of throwing away some human trash."

The air around her stilled, Gramma's lip quaking as she seemed to struggle between laughing and keeping a serious expression.

Althea, on the other hand, was feeling rejuvenated about thinking of an Earth term. The tendrils of mind mana encroached upon her, trying to get at it, but she stopped them. Pinkish-purple fog protected her mind, dissolving the tendrils as she detected them. An imitation of her dear aunt's flesh eating fog brought out by her anger and will.

The tendrils dissolved as she waited for another attack. An attack that overpowered her. But it did not come. The tendrils encroached again, but they could not take her mind. The fog was only able to dissolve the tendrils when she detected them, but she was quite good at detection. Thanks to a certain half-Fae, she had spent quite a while practicing it.

There were two reasons why the tendrils could not pierce her defenses. The Great Mother had decided there was no need. That could happen, this was hardly an important thing. But powerful people that went around controlling their 'pawns' hardly ever let their pawns gain even a chance at independence.

That left the other option. The Great Mother couldn't. Of course. The burning tree had mentioned that the Great Mother was also a tree. And most trees only had the Wood element. The Great Mother might be the same, just using Mind mana through the ability one gained as a Grandmaster.

To call on any element, up to the Apprentice level. And even the most experienced Apprentice mind mage...would have trouble breaking into a Master's mind.

The Great Mother might know much more about mind magic than her, and be able to scurry away memories into places that she did not know. But as long as she kept her guard up, and her senses on the lookout for some more tendrils, she was safe.

A smile stretched across her face as she looked towards the Gramma.

"Tell me, where is this Zhang? I feel like killing some..." Althea searched for another term to describe him, but came up blank. Even though she blocked the Great Mother, she didn't have that good a memory in the first place.

"I feel like killing some human trash." she finally said. The declaration might be awkward, and she might be more than a little embarrassed, but the emotion was true.

Althea was going to grow on this journey, and she was going to start with killing some irritants. The dream of a manhwa commentator come true.