The next morning, Lakshman woke up feeling heavy. Something was lying on top of him which started to hurt him. Along with that, he felt his arms were pinned down by two heavy objects.

“Wind Blast!” Lakshman said quietly.

With a strong force, he breathed air out and caused his blanket flew high into the air. It floated away and fell to the ground in a crumble.

Lakshman sighed and was startled to find Ondine, Emilia, Cantia and Tetra sleeping. Ondine and Tetra were sleeping to his side and pinned his arms. Emilia and Cantia were sleeping on him which really put pressure on his body.

He sighed in depression at such the situation he faced and tried remembering what happened yesterday.

Cantia introduced herself to the whole family as one of Lakshman’s lover. Indra instantly got annoyed and began to demand what kind of luck Lakshman had. Lakshmi came to his rescue and knocked her husband out with a heavy blow to the back of the head. Then she dragged him back to their room.

After that, Cantia simply walked around and watch what everyone was doing. She saw Emilia and Ondine cooking, saw Tetra playing with the babies and spoke to Mariana about the washing. Lakshman had been meditating to get his concentration to an even more depth.

Last night, they went to their respective rooms to sleep. Cantia was sharing a room with Emilia and she happily accepted Cantia. The two girls seemed to get along nicely while Cantia kept a rigid dislike towards Tetra while Tetra also kept the same dislike of Cantia. Because of this, the two girls kept a good deal of distance between each other.

With his memory finished, Lakshman muttered “I don’t remember them getting into my bed last night...”

Only one thing came to his mind; the girls crept into his bed in the night. It annoyed him because now he is in pain from their desire to be with him. He decided he will have to make it clear that he does not want them sneaking in the next time.

“But first... I need to get up before my body... can’t take anymore...!” he muttered in a pained voice.

He disliked it, but his body began to twinge with pain. Realising he was running out of time, he made his decision.

“Hey! Get off me!” he yelled at the top of his voice.

“Wha?!”

“Nyaa?!”

The four girls, taken by surprise by his loud yell, quickly sat up. They accidentally bumped their heads against each other and began to spin. Just like that, all four toppled out of bed and clutched their heads painfully.

“Oww... My head hurts...” Ondine muttered painfully.

“I never knew your head was this hard, Ondine!” Tetra said as she rubbed her forehead.

“True... I never knew your head was this hard...!” Ondine said while clutched her forehead.

“What? Are you calling me hard headed?” Tetra asked indignantly.

Ondine smiled and said “Maybe that’s the word to use?”

At that moment, they heard a loud cat-like moan from the side. They turned and saw Cantia being help by Emilia. She began shaking her while calling her to wake up.

“Cantia! Cantia! Ah...” Emilia said hopelessly.

Cantia’s eyes were spinning round and round and she was muttering “Nyaayaayaayyaya.”

Lakshman got out of bed and began to stretch his aching muscles and joint. He was glad he does not need to beat himself into shape.

Ondine indignantly looked up at him and asked “Master... Why did you disturb our sleep like that?”

“What? I disturbed your sleep? You disturbed my sleep!” Lakshman thundered angrily and they became stiff. Then he pointed and said “Every one of you, kneel!”

“Y-Yes!” the girls said.

The girls quickly shifted their position into a kneeling position. Then they looked up at him with worried expressions on their faces. Lakshman looked down at them with his arms folded and a stern expression on his face.

“Seriously, girls... You’re making this more difficult and troublesome,” he told them sternly.

“Huh? What do you mean by that, master?” Emilia asked as they looked confused.

“Sneaking into my bed in the middle of the night to use me as your body pillow!” Lakshman thundered and they winced.

Ondine looked alarmed by how angry he appeared. Then she bowed and said “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I’m really sorry I didn’t stop them last night, master!”

Lakshman looked puzzled and he asked “What? What do you mean, Ondine?”

Ondine looked up at him with an unhappy expression on her face and she said “W-We’re sorry, master, but Tetra said she couldn’t sleep without you. We got up to see if you minded us when we saw Emilia and Cantia sneaking into your room.”

Lakshman widened his eyebrows and turned to look at them. Emilia and Cantia wore guilty expressions on their faces and tried to avoid his gaze.

“I tried to stop them, but they didn’t listen. Not wanting to be left behind... we... also decided to join in...” Ondine finished and she sounded very sad.

“I see... Now it makes sense,” Lakshman said and nodded his head while continuing to gaze sternly at Emilia and Cantia. He sighed and said “Listen... We had to adjust when we were at Floria, but we have plenty of room here. So please don’t sneak into my room unless you are feeling really lonely, okay?”

Ondine was really unhappy. She failed to stop the girls from getting into his room and failed to understand him not wanting them to be in his room. Ondine was a full-fledged warrior who is a North Sword Sage. She had trained very hard to be the strength of her master, but she failed to do the simplest thing.

“I’m unworthy...” she muttered.

“Hmm? Did you say something, Ondine?” Lakshman asked her curiously.

Ondine’s body began to shake slightly. Then she looked up at him and he was startled to see tears in her eyes.

“I’m unworthy to serve you, master! I failed my duty as your strength and have failed to watch over you! I failed my duty!” Ondine cried in despair.

Then she jumped to her feet and ran out of the room in tears.

“Ondine1 Hey! Wha...?” Lakshman said, but she was already gone. He sighed and turned to speak with Tetra.

“Uh... Tetra... Would you please...?”

He indicated towards the door Ondine just left through. Tetra nodded in understanding and she to her feet. As she passed him, she stopped and looked at him with a cool smile on her face.

“You should be a bit nicer next time, master,” she told him.

“How can I when my body’s aching...” he said and began to stretch his arms to ease the muscles.

Tetra nodded and said “Then scold them. They need it more than the two of us.”

With that, she left through the room door. Lakshman watched her go before sighing heavily. Then he turned his attention back to Emilia and Cantia, but before he could say anything, Emilia spoke to him.

“Um... Master! I’m really sorry I did this, but... Cantia wanted to sleep with you and said she was lonely. I tried to convince her, but she said you wouldn’t mind. So I wound up tagging along...” Emilia said unhappily.

“Is that true, Cantia?” Lakshman asked her.

“I... I’m really sorry-nyaa!” Cantia said and she bowed her head deeply.

Lakshman looked at her deep bow and chuckled. Hearing him chuckling, she looked up at him with a surprised expression on her face.

“I’m not blaming you or anything, but this isn’t right.”

“Nyaa?”

“We can’t do this thing where I sleep with everyone just yet. I’m only thirteen years old. We can’t do this until I’m old enough or something like that...” Lakshman said wearily.

“Oh... I see what you mean, master,” Emilia said as she understood what he was saying.

He was not against them sleeping together, but it is early. He is still young and wants to keep to himself until he is old enough. That was something he will not change no matter what.

Lakshman sighed and he looked at the Crystal Clock on the bed side table. He was surprised to see that it read four-o’clock in the morning. It was very early for him to wake up and his eyes began to open and close sleepily.

Watching him sway slightly and the movement of his eyes, the girls realised he needed more sleep. So they helped him over to the bed and tucked him in. He muttered his thanks and quickly fell asleep.

Emilia and Cantia watched him sleep peacefully with smiles on their faces. Then they left the room and quietly closed the door behind them.

“I think we should go apologise to Ondine as well. Because of us, she is most upset now,” Emilia suggested.

“You’re right-nyaa. I feel bad for doing this-nyaa,” Cantia said in agreement.

While they were talking, Ondine was sitting outside on the stairs. She wore an extremely unhappy expression on her face. She was blaming herself for not considering what Lakshman would think about them doing that and only thought about her own feelings.

“I’m such a bad, bad girl...!” she said and she tapped her fist against her forehead as if to punish herself.

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“Hitting yourself like that won’t do you any good,” said a voice from behind.

Ondine turned and saw Tetra standing there with a wide smile on her face.

“Oh... It’s you...” Ondine said and she turned to look at her feet again.

Tetra walked over and sat down next to her. For a few minutes, they just sat there in silence while being surrounded by a thick veil of fog. This fog often appeared in the early morning, but would soon lift as sunlight bathed the land with its brilliant glare.

Ondine suddenly sniffed and said “I didn’t think about whether master would be happy or not. I am not worthy to serve him anymore.”

“Rubbish... You are very useful to him in your own way, Ondine!” Tetra told her with a smile.

“Maybe, but I was useless today! I couldn’t stop those girls and even got master angry! He never got angry at me until now...! I’m stupid and useless!”

“Stop that! You’re not fault at all. It’s Emilia’s and Cantia’s fault for doing that. It is also master’s fault for not telling us about nothing wanting us sleeping together. Because he didn’t tell us, you’re unnecessarily feeling sad.”

“I-I guess so, but... master never got angry at me like this... I didn’t think it would become like this...”

Tetra sighed and said “You need to stop attacking yourself like that. We’ve known master for almost a year. In the past, he certainly didn’t mind sleeping with us, but that’s because he didn’t know at his age. Now he does and he’s making the right choice to not sleep together. He just forgot to tell us since he never expected this would happen.”

Ondine looked at her with wide eyes full of surprise. Tetra nodded at her and said “Master is maturing and is beginning to treat us like real woman. I thought was becoming strangely losing my cool whenever I see him happily with another woman, but now I know. I’m becoming more like a woman.”

“Ah... So that’s why I thought I felt strangely weak... So it’s because I’m... changing...” Ondine said softly.

“That’s right. Before, you were a raging hot blooded warrior, but now... you’re more like a woman than a warrior. It all thanks to the treatment master’s given us,” Tetra said with a smile.

Ondine nodded her slowly in understanding. Then she suddenly widened her eyes in shock and said “That’s no good! I will be useless like this if something bad happens again!”

Tetra looked at her and smiled. Then she looked into the fog and quietly said “Yes... I think we’ll be facing danger sooner than you think.”

Ondine looked confused and she began to ask “W-What do you...?”

Then she stopped and looked into the fog. She thought she felt something behind the veil of fog, but she could see further than the gates. Then the feeling became stronger and her eyes widened in alarm.

“W-What’s this? What’s this I’m sensing...?” she asked quietly.

Inside the house, Cantia suddenly stopped. She and Emilia just reached the landing of the bottom stairs and looked ahead. She felt a familiar presence and she did not like it because she felt a lot of them.

Realising, in shock, she quietly said “They’re here...!”

“Who’s here?” Emilia asked curiously as she was unable to feel the presence.

Cantia did not answer, but her frightened expression explained. They quickly ran out of the house and reached where Ondine and Tetra were standing.

“Do you girls feel it?” Tetra asked curiously.

“I do and there a lot of them...!” Cantia said while panicking.

Tetra nodded and said “You’re correct. At a guess, I’d say there were around twenty of them. Strangely though, I can feel that they have the same kind of energy as you, Cantia.”

Cantia nodded and said “Yes, they do. It’s my clan... The Camdra Beast Clan and they’ve come to take me back.”

“What?!” Ondine, Tetra and Emilia exclaimed in surprised voices.

At that moment, they heard multiple voices nearing them. Then the veil of fog suddenly cleared and they appeared. Twenty powerfully built warriors appeared with cat-like ears and tails swishing behind them.

The Camdra Beast Clan were made up of cat people, but were several times stronger than a normal human being. Looking at them all, the girls the beast clan were really strong. Tetra wondered if they came here to fight. Ondine walked out through the front gates and she was followed closely by Tetra, Emilia and a reluctant Cantia.

The twenty Camdra Beast Warriors stopped. Then a single Camdra Beast Warrior walked forward. He looked really powerful and had two tails swishing behind him. The man looked extremely tough and battle born from the scar running down one side of his eye.

“C-Chief-nyaa...” Cantia said weakly from behind the girls.

“He’s the chief...? I see... He’s really strong...!” Ondine said quietly and she casually placed her hand on the hilt of her sword.

At that moment, the chief spoke loudly and said “Cantia! It’s time you return!”

Cantia winced at his loud voice, but bravely shouted “I’m not coming back! I’m staying here with master!”

The warriors around looked really angry and she drew back to hiding behind Emilia. The chief looked at Ondine and Tetra. He could feel their strong power and decided to try convincing them through words.

“Ladies of this house! You do not the right to interfere in our clan matters!” he told them loudly.

At that moment, Ondine got annoyed and shouted “Yes, we do! This concerns our master, the Phoenix Titan, right? So we have every right to talk in this matter!”

The chief’s eyes widened in shocked at her words. Then they narrowed and he looked angry as he said “You told them...? You told them?!”

“Yes, I did! I told my new family everything and why you kept on saying I can only make myself known to him when he turned sixteen!” Cantia shouted angrily.

The chief of the clan looked annoyed. Then he shook his head and said “Cantia! Return now!”

“No! I will stay here e-even if I have to fight you!” Cantia shouted bravely.

“Cantai... Don’t be so rash! Your future master is weak, stupid, dumb and careless! He is clearly not ready to receive you! So return now!” the chief bellowed and his voice echoed around.

At his words, someone got very angry. The boiling anger at hearing such words about her master made her anger bypass the tolerance limit.

“How... dare you... talk about my master... like that?!” Ondine bellowed furiously.

In that instant, she began to surge with power and a strong wind was released. It buffeted everyone as she radiated in blue aura. She glared at them fiercely as he sleeping rage rose to the surface.

While being buffeted by the strong wind and energy, Tetra shouted “Ondine! Calm down! Wait! Let’s just calmly talk this out!”

“I’m not calming down! I can’t!” Ondine yelled angrily.

In an instant, she darted towards the chief. She suddenly found two Camdra Beast Warriors baring her way. With little effort, she instantly pulled her sword out and whacked them across the face and sent them flying into the distance. Then she reached the chief and glared at him.

“How dare you call my master those things?!” Ondine said fiercely.

“Those are not lines, those are facts!” the Camdra Beast Clan chief said firmly and he matched her glare.

“Those are nothing more than junk yard crap!” Ondine yelled.

“You can’t hide the truth forever!” the chief roared.

They glared at each other fiercely. The power Ondine was releasing caused the wind to blow wilder and caused many to get buffeted by its force. The chief, however, stood his ground firmly and continued to stare right back at her.

“Maybe I will make sense if I smash you!”

“Bring on it, Water Spirit!”

The two separated and drew their blades quickly, they stared at each other. Then the chief also released his energy and began to radiate in pure red aura as wilder winds blew. A battle between the chief of the Camdra Beast Clan and Tetra of the Water Spirit.

Tetra, who was trying to fight against the forces of wind, bellowed “Ondine! Stop...!”

Then the two warriors kicked off the ground and dashed at each other with their weapons ready. At that moment, something dashed past and landed with a crash in front of them. As the dust cleared, they saw it was Lakshman and he looked very angry.

Lakshman raised his elbow and smashed it into the chief’s face and sent him flying back. Then, with his other hand, grabbed Ondine by the face and pushed her towards Tetra and the other girls. With their energies disturbed, both warriors stopped surging with power and the wind began to calm down.

As the dust settled, everyone saw Lakshman standing in the same spot. The ground had cracked due to his powerful landing. While breathing quickly, he looked at both parties with an extremely angry expression on his face.

Then he yelled “What the hell is going on here?!”