Maxine was thoroughly looking over the documents sent by the information broker. She wanted to make sure it had as much concrete evidence as possible to put Petre Andrevich into prison. Unfortunately, there wasn't much besides his 'over zealous' attempts at acquiring more cultivators for his nation. I'm actually impressed that he wasn't involved in some other scandal or criminal activity, but all that means is he's uncommonly skilled at keeping himself from being implicated. Or he's just an all around nice guy, but I don't buy that. It makes it a lot harder for me to ruin his public image with so little hard evidence. It looks like I may have to get personally involved with this. I really don't want to want to any connection with this when I make my move to cripple him. Still, I can imagine what would happen if I were to be involved. His superiors back home will probably do just about anything to fix this problem and will in all probability look the other way if I were to turn him into a cripple. At least if I'm revealed as a victim, I'll have a legitimate reason for wanting to hurt him. The only drawback to this plan is that it will be most effective once my training to be completed in the event I have to get involved.

"Why are you here, instead of with Emily?" Hellen asked, "Isn't this her lunch hour?"

"It is, but I'm giving her some space. She's still mad at me for forgetting to personally invite her to my concert," Maxine replied honestly. And for some reason, it doesn't matter that she still got to see it since uncle Zeph invited her for me. I felt like an idiot for forgetting to invite her msyelf. Although, I don't think it was the best idea to tell her that I forgot. I should've just kept my mouth shut and thanked uncle Zeph for being so thoughtful.

"That's not what I heard," Guan said as she set a few potion bottles in front of Maxine, "In fact, she and I had a little chat last night. So you should listen to me when I say you should really just talk to her."

"What?" Maxine asked in confusion.

"She's not angry, Maxine," Hellen said, "She's jealous of the attention you've been giving Lucas."

"I guess I have been neglecting her," Maxine admitted to herself.

"Just take care of it," Guan said, "It doesn't matter how."

"You two talked about this behind my back, didn't you?" Maxine asked.

"Yes," Guan answered honestly, "It still doesn't change the fact that your beloved is jealous."

Maxine glanced at the potions before scooping them up. "What are the potions for?" she asked.

"Oh, that," Guan said, "I made a few gender inversion potions for Emily and some fertility boosting potions for the both of you. You know as well as I do how much easier it is for a silver stage cultivator to have children than a gold stage one and your mother insisted that I make them."

"I insisted?" Hellen asked while raising an eyebrow, "If I remember correctly, I believe it was you that wanted them to 'hurry up and have some children.'" Guan barely seemed to react, but she still saw his eye twitch very slightly. It was barely there, but it was enough for Maxine to see his discomfort at his intentions being revealed.

"Really?" Maxine asked with a smirk.

"I'm concerned that you will have as hard as we did at having you," Guan answered, "Even with all of my knowledge, it's extremely difficult for us to conceive another child any time soon."

"He's right, Maxine," Hellen chimed in.

"Fine, I'll talk with Emily about it," Maxine said.

"Good," Hellen said, "Now didn't you have something you wanted to do today?"

"Yes, I'll be heading out in a few minutes," Maxine answered, "Oh, and I may bring Emily by for dinner. Is that ok?"

"Of course, it is," Hellen said happily.

"Thanks, mom," Maxine said as she gave Hellen a hug, "Now, I better get going. I've got an appointment to keep."

Maxine created an arch that lead near the arachne nest and walked through it. She hiked towards the arachne nest, but paused for a moment when she noticed Turan talking to a blonde arachne. However a smile spread across her lips when she saw the look on that arachne's face. Oh, poor Turan. She's sizing him up as a potential mate. I wonder if she's the kind of arachne that forces her affections on others. It would teach him a good lesson if she was, but I'm more interested in the change in some of his behaviors. It's completely unlike him to appear where I'm going. He normally just appears beside me.

As soon as Maxine entered the blonde arachne's line of sight, she greeted Maxine, "I'll let Michelle know that you're here. But before I do, I have a question. Is this male your mate?" Well, this gives me a perfect moment to test a theory of mine.

"Nope," Maxine said honestly, "He's all yours." A smile blossomed on the blonde arachne's face.

"What does that mean?" Turan asked in confusion.

"It means that you're available," Maxine said, "Arachnes have a strong aversion about grabbing another woman's man. She probably caught my scent on you and asked me about our relationship because she's interested in you."

"She's right, you know," the blonde arachne remarked while flashing a beautiful smile at Turan, "Could you wait here while I go get my friend? I'll be right back and we can talk some more."

"She really is quite beautiful," Turan said after the blonde arachne was out of earshot and Maxine was instantly on guard.

"Who are you?" Maxine asked with hostility as she took a few steps away from him.

"Maxine, you know who I am," Turan replied, "What's this about?"

"Fine, if you know me so well, who was the only man that I've ever shown a romantic interest in?" Maxine asked, "Surely, someone as dedicated to stalking me as you would know this."

"What?!" Turan asked in disbelief.

"And you already failed my test," Maxine said coldly, "If you were Turan, you wouldn't have hesitated at all. Instead, he would've said it was a trick answer or guessed based on my past behaviors."

"What gave me away?" the fake Turan asked.

"You're an idiot. That's how," Maxine replied coldly, "But I guess you want more details, so here it is. First off, Turan has always disengaged his stealth technique no more than ten feet from me and he hasn't done so indoors if he could help it. Second, aside from our first meeting, he has never once made any comment about my eyes. Third and most importantly, he's confessed that he's in love with me and would never flirt with another woman where I could see. There are a few other things, but next to those three, they are nearly irrelevant."

"You must have some affection for him yourself if you noticed such details about him," the fake Turan remarked.

"That's where you are wrong," Maxine replied, "I consider him a non-aggressive stalker that's been following around me for years. It would be more bizarre if I didn't pick up on his behavioral quirks. Now, what have you done with Turan?"

"Nothing, and he's fine by the way. I'm just here temporarily until he's done with a certain task," the fake Turan said, and he turned towards the arachne nest before smiling, "Welcome back." I can't tell if he's lying or not. But he probably is lying. I doubt he would be taking on Turan's face otherwise. Great, this is the last thing I want to deal with. I much rather have Turan around. He may be a stalker, but he's the one I know. I have no idea what this new guy is capable of.

"Thank you," the blonde arachne replied happily as she approached and gestured towards her right, "Michelle is waiting over there to talk to you."

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Thanks, and that guy's face is an illusion," Maxine said before creating dozens of energy threads before throwing them at the fake Turan's face, but not to harm him. It was just strong enough to shatter the illusion. He was still a shadow lord, but he looked far more ruggedly handsome than Turan. However, the blonde arachne wasn't surprised at his change of appearance.

"I was aware of the illusion, but thanks for dispelling it," the blonde arachne said, "Now, handsome, where were we?"

Maxine shrugged and walked towards Michelle. She was still wearing the rags, but she looked cleaner than before. "Did you come to a decision?" Maxine asked.

"Show me what you have on him first," Michelle answered. Maxine shrugged and retrieved the documents from her dimensional ring. She created a tendril to hand it to her.

"That's all I could find on him," Maxine said, "I know most of it is circumstantial at best, but you should take a peek at page 13. On it is a list of everyone he's sent squads after. That's literately the only event that can be directly tied to him."

"If you have this, why do you need me?" Michelle asked.

"Look at me," Maxine told Michelle as she gestured at herself, "Between you and me, who do you think the public is more willing to listen to? I'm some scary beastkin girl and you're a beautiful, albeit emotionally damaged, young woman. It doesn't matter if I'm a good alchemist. People judge others based on appearance whether they admit it or not."

"I've noticed that kind of thing when a few people approached our home. They reacted either acted like a bunch of horny idiots or were afraid of Lyssa and the others," Michelle answered.

"I wasn't expecting some of them to behave like horn dogs, but it still proves my point," Maxine said, "So, do you agree to help me out, or am I on my own?"

"I'll help, but first, tell me why you even bothering after ten years to go after him," Michelle demanded.

"Because I haven't had an opportunity yet," Maxine replied honestly, "And there was a proximity issue as well. I was away from Earth for years at a time."

"I see," Michelle replied, "Fine, what do you need me to do?"

"For starters, we need to get you into something other than rags," Maxine stated, "After that, I don't know. You can decide how to circulate that information. You can go to your aunt for help, post it online or go to the news stations. It doesn't matter to me how you do it, so long as it gets done."

"And if he doesn't get punished?" Michelle asked.

"I'll shatter his spine in just the right way to turn his body into a literal prison that can still feel," Maxine answered honestly, "Although I'm thinking about doing that anyways and using my amassed wealth to keep him alive for a very long time."

"Can't we just do that?" Michelle asked, "I think publicizing all of this dirt you have on him is a waste of time if you're planning on doing that to begin with."

"True, but by doing it this way, there will be next to no public sympathy," Maxine answered, "If there's public sympathy, there will be more people looking for the person or persons that rendered him immobile. Which translates to it becoming more likely that one or both of us will be found out to be his attacker."

"I see your point. I'm going to grab a few things and let the others know that I'm leaving," Michelle said before she ran back deeper into the arachne nest. When she returned, she was wearing light grey pants with a matching shirt and she was wearing a large traveling pack strapped to her shoulders. Is that undyed arachne silk? It has be. There isn't any other material that they could've used to make it.

"So, where do you want me to drop you off at?" Maxine asked.

"My aunt's place," Michelle answered, but she looked nervous, "I want to let her know that I'm okay and maybe, live with her."

"Are you okay with flying?" Maxine asked, "Or would you rather I create a portal that leads directly to her front lawn?"

"I thought we were just going to walk there," Michelle replied, "But if we have to take one of those two, I'll go with flying." Yeah, I've known a quite few people that would much rather travel the normal ways than through portals or teleportation arrays.

"Good choice," Maxine said as she levitated off the ground and created a couple tendrils to grab Michelle. Michelle looked surprised that Maxine could actually fly, but that was quickly replaced with fear when she saw the tendrils grabbing her.

"You're not planning on doing anything weird to me, are you?" Michelle asked nervously. Oh, I guess she's heard about tentacle porn.

"I'm not going to anything weird to you with them. They are just meant to hold onto you while I fly you there," Maxine reassured Michelle, "I could carry you on my back, but I might accidentally poke out your eye or something with one of my quills. It's safer for you this way. Oh! And try not to talk while we are flying. You might end up swallowing a bug or something. If you need to talk, use your spiritual sense."

"Spiritual sense? What's that?" Michelle asked as she let Maxine's tendrils pick her up. Oh, I guess no one has taught her how to use it yet.

"Oh, it's a special sense that cultivators like us can use," Maxine replied, "I can teach you how to use it later. It's not that hard. Most people figure it out after an hour or so."

"Thanks. By the way, how long is our flight going to take?" Michelle asked. Her aunt lives nearby at least. I think she stayed to continue looking for her niece. So it shouldn't take me too long, even if I fly to it at a slower speed.

"Oh, and about ten to fifteen minutes give or take," Maxine replied and began to levitate the both of them above the tree tops, "You might want to brace yourself."

"Why?" Michelle asked.

"You'll see," Maxine said with a smirk and slowly accelerated towards the city that Michelle's aunt lived in. Just as Maxine was about to hit Mach 1, she glanced back at Michelle. She didn't look stressed, but that didn't mean much. Maxine accelerated past Mach 1, and the accompanied sonic boom thundered in her ears. Michelle looked as if she just took a punch to the gut. I was afraid of that. Cultivators under silver stage can't withstand a sonic boom that well. Still, I factored that in to the flight time that I told her earlier.

Maxine maintained her pace until they neared the city and reduced her speed. There were several laws prohibiting super sonic flight over cities or suburbs due to it startling both animals and people. Regardless, Maxine was still able to zero in on Michelle's aunt, who was home for her lunch at this time.

Maxine approached the house and came in for a landing. However she made sure that Michelle was firmly on the ground before she released her and landed herself.

"So, do you want to knock on the door or should I?" Maxine asked, "And if you're wondering, she's home right now."

"I'll do it," Michelle said as she walked up to the front door, but she hesitated for nearly a minute before she gently knocked on the front door of her aunt's house. After a few minutes, the door opened and once Michelle's aunt saw Michelle, she started breathing quickly.

"Hey, auntie Sue," Michelle said casually, but her body language showed that she was uncomfortable.

"Michelle!" Michelle's aunt Sue howled with tears in her eyes and quickly embraced Michelle. Maxine smiled at the two and felt happy for them. She gave them one last look before she began walking away to let them get reacquainted. It's not my place to interfere. I just have to wait for things to play out.

However before she got far, she heard Michelle's aunt Sue call out to her, "Thank you for bringing Michelle home."

Maxine looked over her shoulder and replied, "You're welcome. I'll leave you so that you two can catch up." She quickly created an arch before walking through it without waiting for an answer.

"Welcome back," Hellen said, "Did you finish your errand?"

"Yes, I did," Maxine answered simply and she looked to Lucas, "Ready to go to the park?"

"Yes, mama," Lucas said as he bounced with an excited look on his face. She checked his special gloves and shoes to make sure they wouldn't come off while he was playing before she created another arch.

Once they walked through, Maxine saw the park had dozens of beastkin families with their children. Lucas' gaze zeroed on on the closest group of children before he literately ran on all fours, almost like a wolf, towards them.

Before he reached them, she checked their cultivation and was somewhat surprised when each of them were bronze stage. It's unfair that they are born with their cores, but I guess it evens out since their cultivation rates are much slower than that of a human. And their limited by how strong they can get due to their age. Peak bronze stage is probably the strongest they can get before they reach adolescence.

The other beastkin children just looked at him as he approached and thankfully Lucas stopped to stand up right just as he reached them. They simply stared at each other for a few moments before one of them rushed up to him before saying 'tag you're it' as they gently touched his shoulder and in the next moment, they collectively ran away from Lucas.

A smile instantly appeared on Lucas' before he started chasing the other beastkin children around. It took only seconds for him to catch up to one of them and tag them.

Maxine continued to watch Lucas and the other beastkin children play before she found a bench to sit down on to watch him. This is like heaven and earth compared to how normal human children react to him. Hmm, I wonder if Emily is on her lunch break. It should be about that time. She checked the time on her cell phone to make sure and called Emily.

"Hey, Maxine. You have the oddest sense of timing," Emily said as soon as the call connected, "I was literately about to start eating."

"Sorry, but I wanted to make sure I got in contact with you," Maxine said apologetically, "I was wondering if you want to do anything with me tonight?"

"What did you have in mind?" Emily asked.

"Maybe dinner and a movie," Maxine answered, "Or you can decide what we do. I don't really care so long as it's time spent with you."

"A dinner and a movie sound great," Emily said happily, "But will it be okay for you to leave Lucas with Hellen?"

"It should be," Maxine said, "I'm actually watching him play with a bunch of beastkin children. He seems to be having a lot of fun."

"Take a video of that for me," Emily said, "And I really should get to my lunch. My lunch break is limited."

"Alright," Maxine said, "I'll see you tonight."

"See you then," Emily said before the call ended.

Maxine activated the camera mode on her phone and began recording Lucas and the other beastkin children playing. She also used her spiritual sense to constantly monitor the condition of his gloves and shoes to make sure they stayed on. Good, they don't look like they're going to fall off any time soon. And it's nice that Emily is able to go out with me tonight. Things are really coming together. Still, I should tell her my plans about dealing with that prick, Petre Andrevich. It's something that I need to take care of before Michelle begins spreading the news about him. I just hope she doesn't get too angry about it.