"Why did you kill him? It was obvious that he wasn't going to do anything to the kids." Danadie asked Aurelie, genuinely curious.

"For how long? He could spy on them for weeks if he wished. The second they were out of our sight they were dead. Having him alive and around would just be an unnecessary source of worry and stress for all involved. You need to stop thinking of the Meir Villagers as your friends, because they aren't going to be reasonable and settle this. You are at war. Realize that." Aurelie's face was uncharacteristically harsh and the eyes were sharp. "The longer you take to move decisively, the more danger they are in. And I'm not going to let friends of mine be in more trouble than absolutely necessary."

Having said her piece, she stalked over to the dead man, pulled out the knife, and wiped it on his shirt to get rid of the blood, before placing her knife unerringly into her sheath, an impressive feat, considering she couldn't see where the empty sheath was, and an act that betrayed her familiarity with the act of using throwing knives as hair ornaments. The more time they spent around her, the more evidence they found of her lethality. They knew that she was capable of hiding her abilities, the very fact that their children hadn't reported her as danger immediately after meeting her a testament to that. So right now she was likely sending a message to them, one that said 'This is who I am, deal with it because I'm not going to go away.'

Aurelie popped up from her crouch by the body and stomped down the dirt path that wound it's way towards Lejus Village. She only went about ten steps before turning on her heels and walking back, ending up right in front of the adults. They stiffened, remembering Aurelie's angry outburst, and expecting another, similar, scathing declaration. Instead, Aurelie looked up at them and smiled sheepishly before saying, "I don't know where to go." and giving a little laugh. The tension in the air drained and Manadet let out a small hmph, before saying, "Of course not. Come, you will live with Farn in the Village Hall."

Manadet started to walk again, this time leading the way.

~~~~~~~

Aurelie sat down on the bed that she had been given in Farn's house. It wasn't anything like the beds on Earth. The mattress had no springs or foam layers. It was basically just a layer of cotton covered by cloth, like a huge pillow but with no fluff. She could feel every bump and blemish in the wood of the bed frame. Having the mattress was practically the same as not having it, though it did beat sleeping on the floor as she had been doing for the past week. Of course, she had only just been told about an hour earlier that most cultivators didn't sleep. They entered a meditative state of cultivation all night, and their body and mind rested while they absorbed the World Energy.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Aurelie had noticed that she had felt slightly rested and relaxed after cultivating, but had never thought that it was actually to the point that she could cultivate in lieu of sleep, by way of a special, widely known Cultivation Technique. This night she cultivated for three hours, until midnight. The Lejus family had told her that most of the villagers, and they too, woke up at daybreak, or five in the morning. That left her four hours to do her business, and another hour afterwards to continue cultivation.

Silently, she slipped out of bed and put on the clothes that Farn's parents had secured for her, before noiselessly going to her window. She had never removed any of her weapons throughout the course of the day. Habit from her childhood, though they came in handy now, as they made negated the possibility of her making a noise to awaken any of the house's inhabitants as she armed herself. Still, before opening the window, she opened her senses and scanned her whereabouts with her Spirit Energy, to make sure that everyone was where they should be and that no one was lying in wait for her. Satisfied that everything was fine, she slid out of her window and stepped onto the tree branch a foot from her perch. Pausing as the tree shook slightly, she scanned again. Nobody had moved from their positions. Quietly, she climbed down the tree, keeping her senses open. When no one made any movements, she nodded to herself, then melted into the shadows, pulling them around her like an old familiar coat as she soundlessly ran in the direction of Meir Village.

~~~~~~~

The next morning, Farn pulled her out of the dining room the instant she finished her rather gross breakfast and took her to the library, where Mellana was waiting for them. Her mother stood right next to her, obviously there just to watch and make sure that Aurelie didn't try anything. As Aurelie passed by the entrance, she stopped and abruptly turned her head to the left, her deep blue eyes piercing the shadows. After a moment she relaxed and turned to follow Mellana while casually saying, "You take after your dad more than your mom in terms of looks, Mel."

Mellana and her mother exchanged looks of surprise. Almost no one could sense the Library Keepers if they wished to be hidden. The only one who could was Farn's father, and even that was only when he put in considerable time and effort into it.

Manadet had thought about this yesterday as well, when Aurelie had killed the man in the trees. Truthfully, the adults at the time only knew what tree the man was in. But in order to have hit him so accurately in the throat, Aurelie would have needed to know which part of which branch he was on, whether he was standing or crouching or sitting, whether there was anything in the way and a dozen other small details to have carried out the successful attack. And her just randomly guessing and then throwing wasn't an option, as she had already stated that she wouldn't put her friends in any unnecessary danger, which they would have been in if the knife hadn't killed him and he'd decided to strike back. Both the incident yesterday and the one just now showed that although her strength was at the first level of the Master Realm, her level of awareness was equivalent to that of an Elemental Apprentice practitioner, or even higher, which was ironic given her appearance.