Nayi had stopped immersing herself in her own thoughts and was surprised when she found the two kids sitting to the left and the right side of her, silently keeping her company. She felt as if all three of them shared the same troubles of life, even though Asura and Xia were only children.

"What happened for these kids to be so compassionate as to silently stay near me and let me immerse in my own thoughts for so long? As far as I'm aware, kids their age should be extremely annoying to the point where you want to slap them to death, or even drop-kick them ... Why are these two so different?!", she thought.

Noticing that Asura had been absent-minded for some time, Nayi raised her hand and weakly patted him on the head, causing him to snap out of his thoughts.

"Eh? Ah, master. Are you done with reminiscing about the past?"

"Yeah ...", Nayi sighed.

"Say, master - wanna tell us the story of your family some day?"

"Huh? How do you know I was thinking about my family?"

"Well, you were occasionally talking aloud, which is why we didn't disturb you."

"Oh ... was I? How embarrassing ... Wait. You can actually move after all that?! Come here, let me check your body!"

"Ah ... sure!"

Nayi pressed her hand against Asura's back and used the energy of her Soul to feel the inner state of his body. She was left tongue-tied when she found that all the energy she'd previously used had mysteriously disappeared and all the internal damage was gone.

"Wha—Hey kid, what are you?"

"Hmm ... As far as I know, I'm half-human, quarter-demon and quarter-spirit. Why?"

Noticing the awkward silence, Asura turned to look at Nayi only to see a 'WTF' look in her eyes.

"Master, are you okay?"

"S ... seriously? Are you seriously ... a hybrid? Is it actually possible to merge the three together?! This ... this is ... amazing!"

"Eh, even if you ask me - I don't know. I'm not even one day old. This is all I know - you may even know more about me than I do. Is it so strange for this combination to happen?"

"Strange? Let alone strange, it's almost impossible! Humans are the weakest of species, I don't know how a human body could possibly withstand the intrusion of demon and spirit bloodlines. No wonder you could absorb my blood, you're simply a walking treasure! A mini-monster!!"

"Eeeeeh ... Why are humans weak species? You aren't weak."

Asura obviously knew that Nayi wasn't human but he had no valid explanation as to how he knew, therefore he had to feign ignorance this way.

"I'm not a human actually, I just have a human body. All demons and spirits get a human form after they reach a certain level of cultivation. I must say, the bodies of human beings are the most balanced overall and their vitality is pretty strong. Other than that, humans have no redeeming qualities for survival in this world. That's why there is only one human nation currently."

"Oh, what are the other nations then?"

"I can teach you about that later. However, since you are curious, I'll tell you now that there are four Spirit Nations and three Demon Nations. We live in the nation of humans, which is a place where all three nations gather and that's the only reason why humans have some standing in this world. Though I can't look down on them too much - there are some of them who are even more terrifying than demons and spirits when it comes to cultivation."

"Then, why are the humans weak?"

"Because those who have talent are rare. Most of the humans can't go above the end of the fourth realm - eight in ten humans never reach the fifth realm. However, those who pass can usually aim for ninth realm or even for the quasi-divine one, which is why they are respected a lot. That is also why human race values those who show potential. If they knew about your existence, they'd be screaming in happiness. However, I suggest you present yourself as a demon in human form rather than saying you are human or else you'll lose your freedom."

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"Hee ... so complicated. You will explain more later, right?"

"Yeah. I don't want to overwhelm you with information that you don't need to know yet. For starters, you have to chose a suitable cultivation technique and start gathering the worldly energy to thoroughly repair your body from that lightning strike. Also, never allow anyone to see your breakthroughs - if you want a calm life, that is. I can protect you for now, but you'll eventually have to go on your own so ... treasure yourself and your freedom."

"Umu. I will! You can rest easy, master. As for the cultivation technique, I already have two so there's no need to worry about that. However, I don't know if Xia has any."

"Eh? You already have the techniques? I think my technique would suit you better but you should tell me their names so that I can check."

"Hmm ... one of them is called The Abyss of Sin and it's a body training technique while the other's name is The Art of Chaos."

"Eh? I don't recall any technique like that existing ... where did you get them?"

"My Fated Souls gave them to me."

"........ what?"

"What's wrong, master? You look shocked ... Did I say something weird again?"

"Your Fated Souls gave you the techniques ... how did they exactly 'give' them to you?"

"Hmmm ... I don't exactly know what method they used - they just told me to relax and then the knowledge directly appeared in my mind."

"They—what? They 'told' you?", Nayi said with face full of doubt.

When Asura saw the piercing gaze in her eyes, he knew there was something wrong with the situation.

"It seems my circumstances are more grave than I previously thought ... I definitely can't reveal this to anyone in the future!", he decided in that moment.

"Y-yes ... One of them is called Tenri and she gave me technique The Abyss of Sin. Oh, Tenri's a Dark Angel. The other one's name is Lilith but I don't know what kind of Fated Soul she is. She gave me The Art of Chaos technique."

"Your Fated Souls have names? Did you name them or did they also 'tell' you their names?"

"They told me themselves. Why would I name them?"

"So, you want to tell me that you can speak with your Fated Souls? Like we are speaking right now? Are they living entities?"

"Y-yeah ... is that strange?"

"... Asura. Listen to me very carefully."

Asura looked at the dead-serious golden eyes and noticed a sudden change in Nayi's tone of voice. This made him a bit on the edge but he steeled himself and slowly nodded. "I'm listening."

"You are not allowed to talk about the matters of today to anyone other than Xia and me. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand."

"Swear that you will never tell anyone what you told me today."

Asura took a deep breath, placed his hand on his heart and spoke in serious tone, "I, Starseeker Asura, swear to never tell anyone else what I said today. If I break this oath, may Heavenly Thunder strike me to de-"

"ENOUGH!", Nayi suddenly shouted while simultaneously releasing a terrific aura which made everything in their surroundings stagnate for a moment, as if the space itself became sticky.

She raised her hand and tapped Asura on the head in annoyance.

"You little thing, I didn't tell you to make a life's oath! You almost scared me to death. Who in their right mind swears on their life?! What were you thinking???"

"Eh? Then, how do people usually make an oath?"

"Everyone has different ways of doing it, like 'may I not sleep for three weeks' or 'may I not be able to cultivate for a month' or something like that. Nobody is crazy enough to swear with their life on the line, especially not for some trivial thing like this."

"Ah, is that so ... Then is my previous oath valid, considering you stopped me in the last moment?"

"It isn't. If it was valid, you would have felt it since the promise would brand itself in your soul. You can go ahead and try it - swear that you will protect the Starseeker family but don't use your life as a stake."

"Oh, okay."

Asura scratched his head in embarrassment and recollected himself before trying again.

"I, Starseeker Asura, swear to protect and cherish Starseeker Nayi and Starseeker Xia for as long as I'm alive. If I break this oath, may I be unable to sleep for a year!"

As he said the last word, Asura suddenly felt as if an invisible mark had appeared in his Soul, as if serving as a reminder for this oath.

"You're really a troublesome brat. But more than that, you're surprisingly cautious!", Nayi said with a gentle smile that seemed like a smile of an elder sister.

"Cautious?", Asura asked with some doubt.

"Yeah. I told you to swear to protect the Starseeker family but you only named Xia and me, not the entire family. What a cunning brat. Did you factor in that someone else may join the family in the future?"

Asura realized that his master was actually a pretty smart girl and became bashful because he was caught. "Y-yes ..."

"Hehe, I knew it. Though, I can't complain really, as long as you are willing to uphold the promise for the two of us, I'm more than satisfied. It seems like I don't need to worry about your survival in this world, what a relief."

"..."

"You two don't fit the definition of 'kids' at all. I expected you to be annoying brats to be honest. I'm surprised and relieved to find that you two are decently mature and capable."

"Emm ... I don't think that we're mature at all ... I certainly feel like a kid, at the very least. And I don't think Xia's any different either. Though, I appreciate that you feel like that."

Nayi chuckled and used her hands to gently caress the heads of the two children as she took another glance at the blood-red boundary and then stood up.

"Let's go, my disciples. Let's go home!"