In the days following Sophia’s trip to the temple of the Church of Light, she was effectively kept as a prisoner in her own home. Her mother refused to allow her to leave under any circumstances, and, the one time that she tried to escape, she was shocked to find that the doors and windows had all been warded. Naturally, Cassandra always had a perfectly reasonable excuse for why her daughter couldn’t go outside, usually involving some type of utterly tedious chore, but Sophia knew what the real reason was.

Cassandra was afraid that Sophia would blab about having the tier four Vast Ocean Spirit Realm. Honestly, what’s she going to do when I leave for a magus school? Sophia wondered in the midst of cleaning every floor in the house with a bucket and rag… again. Wait! Suddenly she started to panic. She is still going to let me attend magus school, right?! Oh, God! What if she keeps me locked up until she thinks I’m ready?! How long will that take?! Sophia’s mind was filled with the image of her fifty year old self, cleaning the floors while her mother watched over her.

“N-No, that’s just ridiculous!” she assured herself. Even so, she was already sick and tired of doing the same menial tasks over and over again. Lloyd was supposed to be making the arraignments for me to go to school, she thought. What’s taking him so long?

Minutes later, Sophia heard a knock at the door. Using it as an excuse to take a break from her work, she rushed over to answer it, even though her mother specifically told her not to. “Brother Lloyd!” she shouted, seeing who had come to visit.

“Hey there little Sophie,” Lloyd said with a smile. He looked tired. There were bags under his eyes and his skin looked pale, like he gone several days without seeing the sun. “Is Cassandra here?”

“Yup… Mom! Brother Lloyd’s here!” Sophia called for her mother who immediately ran to the door without seeming to run at all.

“Brother Lloyd,” she greeted, not even taking note of the fact that Sophia had disobeyed her. “Please, come in.” She led him to parlor and offered him refreshments.

“That won’t be necessary,” said Lloyd. “I can’t stay for very long. I just wanted to inform you that I’ve made the arrangements for Sophia to attend school.”

“Oh my,” Cassandra seemed to relax for the first time in days. “You didn’t need to go through the trouble of coming here personally. I would have gladly gone to the temple.”

Lloyd just laughed and waved his hand dismissively. “Haha, no worries. I needed to get out for a bit. I was starting to feel trapped at my desk.” It would seem that Lloyd really had been working almost non-stop for days on end, just so that Sophia could go to school without any problems.

Just what kind of arrangements did he have to make that required this much time and effort? She wondered. I’ll definitely have to thank him properly someday.

Suddenly, Lloyd pulled out an unlabeled envelope and handed it to Cassandra. “The school she’ll be attending is the South Sea Academy. Officially she’ll be listed as having the rank six Great Lake Spirit Realm, but I know a teacher there that we can trust. I’ve spoken with her and she’s agreed to take Sophia as her personal disciple.”

Cassandra actually looked legitimately impressed. “What rank is this teacher?” she asked.

For a moment Lloyd grinned smugly. “She’s… An Earthly Soul Master!” he declared.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

As usual, Sophia had no idea what the term meant. “What’s an Earthly Soul Master?” she asked.

It was her mother who answered her. “Sophie, magus cultivation is divided into four stages: Foundation, Mortal, Earth, and Heaven. Foundation stage Disciples focus on training their Spirit Realm to the highest tier possible. After condensing their Spiritual Power into a Nascent Soul, they become Mortal Soul Practitioners and are able to use soul attacks. Then, after gaining mastery over the forces of nature, they become Earthly Soul Masters and are able to condense the elements into a powerful Saint Weapon.”

“What about people at the Heaven stage?” Sophia asked.

Sophia’s mother smiled and patted her head. “You don’t need to worry about them for now,” she said. “Heavenly Soul Grandmasters are extremely rare and spend nearly all of their time in secluded meditation. So, for the time being, Earthly Soul Masters are going to be the strongest people you’ll meet.”

“Wow!” Sophia’s eyes gleamed with excitement. She now had a concrete goal to aim for, the realm of Heavenly Soul Grandmasters. “Brother Lloyd, it’s amazing that you could get someone like that to take me on as a disciple!”

“Haha, well, a big part of it is thanks to you,” he admitted. “After all, with a tier four Spirit Realm I don’t think there’s anyone who wouldn’t want you as a disciple.” Suddenly Lloyd’s expression turned serious. “Now Sophia,” he said, “you have to remember that, while your master will know about your real strength, in front of anyone else you can’t display more power than what a tier six disciple should have. Do you understand?”

“I understand,” Sophia said. “No one can find out that I have the Vast Ocean Spirit Realm, so no showing off.”

Lloyd smiled indulgently and ruffled her hair. “Well, not yet anyway. In a few years, once you have the backing of the South Sea Academy, you’ll be able to display your might for everyone to see.”

Lloyd didn’t stay much longer. He still had a lot of things to do to prepare for Sophia’s enrolment into South Sea Academy. Before he left though, he told Sophia to be ready to depart in three days’ time.

Three days… Sophia looked at her mother. In three days she would have to leave, and it might be months, or even years, before she would see her mother again. The mother who gave birth to her, who spent eight years raising and nurturing her. Sophia hadn’t believed that she would ever know what it means to feel a mother’s love, Cassandra had proven her wrong.

“Mom…”

“Oh Sophie,” Cassandra knelt down and pulled her daughter into a tight hug. “It’s ok Honey, it’s not like we won’t see each other again. You’ll be able to come back and visit at least once a year, and we’ll be able to send letters. I fully expect for you to write to me every week.”

“Yeah… I will Mom, I promise!”

“Good, now run upstairs and pack your things.”

Sophia didn’t have too many possessions, so she was able to pack everything she needed in a matter of hours. After that she spent the remainder of her time with her mother. They tried to make the most of every minute that they had together, but there just wasn’t enough time. Three days later, Lloyd returned as promised to bring Sophia to South Sea Academy.