“For that reason, you will always be welcome here.” Isabel didn’t sit around, as quickly as she came she disappeared.

Jessica was unsure of where she had gone. Nor was she sure where she had come from. Currently, her mind was occupied with other things.

The first thought she had was thinking back, while she said a little girl, there was no specific age. Without much suspense, Jessica couldn’t remember seeing her before. Not even a vague recollection.

These thoughts caused her to think back to her earliest moments, of those that she could remember. Similar to pictures, she could remember certain moments.

Like the large house they lived in. Growing older, she knew the house wasn’t that large, but back then she thought they lived in a mansion.

As a kid, learning they were not filthy rich wasn’t really that upsetting. Having no idea why it was a thought in the first place. Jessica remembered a moment she learned that she was just small, and it wasn’t that the house was that large. In the end, she wasn’t disappointed as before she could get down, the old man would always sit in his room and read her stories.

At some unknown moment, she felt her face was a bit wet. Bringing her hand up, she wiped her eyes on her sleeves. Not knowing the last time she had cried, possibly in the laboratory when she made it to Leo’s room…

Remembering Beast’s words, she could feel herself getting a bit down. However, she also knew that the old man wasn’t dead. Instead, of focusing on this, it was more beneficial and increase the chances of meeting him if she grew stronger.

As time passed, at some point the silent plains were disturbed for the first time in a long time. As she opened her eyes, she was met with Cassie running towards her and giving her a bag.

Looking behind her, Jessica saw Saleh with a strange expression. He seemed both exhausted as well as happy being back. It shaded his face uniquely.

“This is for you!” Cassie’s excited voice entered her ears as she watched her with expectation.

Opening the bag, she found a smaller bag at the bottom. The outer bag was just a cover and carry for the product inside. The object in the secondary bag was different.

Fitting perfectly in her palm, covered in a fancy looking cloth bag, it was blue in color. Stitched in the Blue Wolf Tribe language was protection. On the back was the characters describing freedom.

Looking up at Cassie with expectation written across her face, she was a bit lost.

Seeing this expression, Saleh laughed a bit, “I told you she wouldn’t know what it is. It might be in other cultures, but I have never seen it before. You also needed me to explain what it was.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Pouting slightly, “I just thought she would know what it is. She knows a lot of strange things.” Turning back to face Jessica, she continued speaking, “This is a protective charm. Made by the shamans of the Blue Wolf Tribe, said to be magical.”

Dangling it a bit in front of her, Jessica couldn’t feel any mana from it. Though that wasn’t enough to warrant her disbelief.

From behind them came Isabel’s voice, “Don’t knock it, until you try it. I doubt even Everblood could find any mana in them. However, the mythical effects are trusted by everyone in the tribe. It doesn’t have to be worn to be effective, just need to be in your possession.”

As she spoke, an amazingly high quality cloth bag appeared in her hand. The stitching seemed to be similar yet different. The language was clearly influenced by the Blue Wolf Tribe, it was just more ancient or slightly different.

With a gesture, the two turned to look at Saleh who had a matching cloth bag to the one in her hand, “I never leave home without it.”

“You must have great fortune, I was the one that gave Saleh that protection charm. The ones you were able to find are rather high quality. They aren’t something that can be made on the whim. It requires fate to be able to find such high quality charms, you should hold on to them, they’re quite precious.” Isabel’s voice seemed to soothe the furrow in Cassie’s brows.

A large smile appeared on her face as she took out a second bag before pulling out an object and holding it tightly in her hands. Yet, before she could do anything else, a hand clasped her hand, “There is no need to use something so precious for something like this.”

There was a clearly unhappy look on her face, “Uncle, this is very important.”

Sighing with resignation, “Okay, you’re right.”

Cassie beamed as she gave a slightly better charm to Everblood. Jessica happened to be in a position, she caught a slight look of shock on Isabel’s face. Which quickly disappeared as she glanced at Saleh for a second.

Thinking that was the end of the manner, Cassie glanced at Everblood. He could only ask with a bit of doubt, “What?”

Seemingly a bit afraid to ask, she made a cute gesture for him to come closer, however when he refused she could only lower her voice a bit. Whispering it to Everblood.

The problem was that every single person here besides her was a graded being, they could all hear her.

“Can you feel any mana in it?”

Without lowering his voice, “Yes, it is very minute. The mana flows, in a very obscure manner. I am experienced in formations, but I don’t know what this is used for. While shamanism is an altered path of mages, it is completely beyond spell casting, and normal formations.”

Isabel seemed a bit perplexed by his answer. Clearly not surprised he couldn’t understand it, she was in fact surprised he could sense the flow of mana. Speaking to smooth over his shortcomings, “One path leads right, the other left. There is no path in between. Both paths are completely individual, allowing you to accomplish the same things in completely different manners. Those that can make protection charms are those with very high levels of shamanism.”

Cassie’s interest was sparked by something that even Everblood couldn’t understand, “So which one is stronger?”

Everblood’s face was hidden behind his mask, thus all that could be seen from him was a sigh. Isabel didn’t seem to mind the question as she smiled, “That is tricky, but ultimately I believe shamanism is stronger.”

Trying to restrain herself, in the end, Cassie glanced back at Everblood for a retort. He was in fact a mage, therefore she could be seen to be instigating a fight.

Seeing this, Isabel just chuckled, “Little girl, you misunderstand. I believe even Everblood would agree with me. It isn’t that shamanism is inherently stronger. In fact, it would be considered stronger because of its obscurity. It is the unorthodox path. Which makes it harder to guard against. If shamanism was better than magic downright, why would I allow Saleh to become the student of Everblood?”