Molvograd, Molkovia, Earth.

Demian's P.O.V.

The family of four then quickly gathered around ‘Miss Lirov’, the latter throwing a brief perplexed gaze toward Seraphine before declaring. “Follow me. Mr. Yanov is waiting for you.” As if speaking cost her money, she did not utter another word as she walked toward the beautifully crafted entrance doors leading to the imposing building’s interior. After glancing at each other briefly, the four fell into step behind the brunette with Adeliya and Brynhild in front while Demian and Seraphine strolled hand in hand behind them. Unlike their quiet outward appearance, the two were actually communicating soundlessly through the Bond, a skill that seemed to stem from the Perk evolving with their respective breakthrough. To be fair, it still had some harsh limits, such as having to touch each other directly and the fact that only blurry impressions could be exchanged instead of clear words, giving the whole conversation an additional layer of difficulty. Thankfully, the two had intimate knowledge of each other’s frame of mind, making it less of a hurdle.

‘Are you okay, Babe?’ Seraphine seemed to transmit. A strained smile surfaced on his face before he sent. ‘Mostly okay. But I do feel nervous.’ The purple-haired woman squeezed his hand slightly while transmitting her love through the Bond, doing her best to help him relax his tense nerves. He did feel much better with her by his side, which proved their growing closeness. Was it the time spent together or the Bond evolving? Maybe a bit of both? ‘Crying on her shoulder definitely played a part.’ He thought to himself before focusing on the lobby the group just entered. The place was as vast as the building’s exterior suggested, with two monumental staircases coiling on both sides of the room, both of them leading to the upper floor. From where they stood, another set of doors was visible below the upper floor’s balcony, with a massive chandelier hanging from the high ceiling. Coupled with the rest of the decor, Demian felt a sense of grandeur and nobility exuding from the whole place. What he noticed, however, was that a touch of modernism was added while gold and other precious metals were used only in parsimony, leaving only elegance instead of gaudiness.

Nonetheless, he had no time to enjoy the view as the woman leading them seemed to be in a hurry. She stirred the group toward the right staircase, climbing all the way to the upper floor, where her feet took the direction of the expansive corridor separating the upper floor into two and going into its depths. It did not take them long to reach the ornamented wooden door at the end, though, as they were all in great physical condition, to say the least. That being said, the young man did notice that, as their feet brought them closer to what he knew was his biological father, his heart started beating faster, his muscles tensing slightly while his breath became more hurried. The changes were not as big as they could have been in the past when he was still a normal human, thankfully. However, they were still noticeable, at least for Seraphine who gently squeezed his hand while sending calming thoughts to him. ‘No need to be afraid, Demian. He’s just an old man who doesn’t care about you. No need for any expectations. No need to care about what he...’ His ‘self-convincing’ was suddenly interrupted by a deep male voice originating from behind the door they arrived in front of. “Thank you for bringing them here, Anna. I’ll call Reynard to deal with the rest, so you can go back to your work.” Despite the clear reluctance on her face, Anna Lirov bent her upper body slightly in a respectful gesture while replying. “Yes, Sir.” She then walked back the way she came, leaving them alone in front of the heavy door.

Thankfully, they did not have to wait long as the door quickly opened inward, unveiling the room behind it. “Please, come in.” With no visual obstruction, Demian instantly spotted the voice’s owner, whom he guessed was his father. Facing the window overlooking what seemed to be the massive building’s interior courtyard, a muscular figure around his own height with short raven-colored hair was visible. The strangely familiar sight made the young man somewhat absent-minded, which almost made him miss the high-quality clothes that, similar to the building itself, reminded him of old nobility with a touch of modernism. The peculiar mix of old and new was visible everywhere in the room with modern devices set up on timeless pieces of furniture. Nonetheless, Demian’s eyes only had the man’s figure in them, to the point that everything else disappeared in the background while his thoughts halted, his heart slowed down and his entire body froze. That strange state of time stopping ironically did not last long, however, as less than a second later, Roman turned around to face them with a small smile on his face, shaking Demian awake.

“Good evening, all of you.” Moving his gaze toward Adeliya’s face, he commented with a half-hearted quip. “Liya. You’ve grown older.” Rolling her eyes, she replied. “You’re as annoying as the last time I saw you, Roman.” With a weak chuckle, he then turned his gaze toward the other two women. “Hello, Uncle.” Unlike Bryn who used a tone a bit more formal, something she tended to do when interacting with strangers, Seraphine, who by that time had taken off her hood, uttered in a playful tone. “Hey, Uncle!” As the man probably knew about Bryn’s physical particularities through either outside intel or the use of his Divine Sense during their walk, he did not act particularly surprised when his gaze fell on her body. Nonetheless, Seraphine’s transformation did manage to provoke a raised eyebrow from the powerful man, proving that despite his high cultivation base, the young woman’s new skill worked even on him. However, he did not mention anything about it and instead exclaimed with a slightly warmer smile. “Hello, girls. I see you two have grown up quite a lot since the last time I saw you.” His words made the two girls grin in response. After all, they both knew that the last time they’d seen him was for Demian’s birth, with Seraphine and Bryn being only 4 years old and 7 years old respectively at the time.

Before they could reply anything, however, his deep brown eyes finally met Demian’s blue eyes. Having stayed silent all this while, the latter found himself compelled to carve every single detail of Roman’s face in his memories. Every expression of that face, be it small or big, seemed to be an almost perfect copy of his own. Or was he the one copying his father? Adding to that the powerful aura the older man in front of him exuded made it impossible for the young man to speak a word out loud. ‘So... That’s my father...’ He thought, not quite knowing how to feel about meeting the man he had been resenting his whole life. Were it a few hours prior, he may have raged against him, maybe lost control of his Inner Energy. However, he was only feeling numb now. Numb and sad. Especially as a question wormed its way into his mind.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

‘With how powerful he seems, why did he abandon me?’ He pondered, subconsciously wrinkling his brow. It was at that moment that Roman’s gaze fell on his face. Unlike for the other three, the older man kept silent for a few seconds, the pained frown on his face displaying some emotions that Demian was not yet ready to address. ‘He looks sad. How ironic. Am I supposed to pity him?’ He wondered with some resentment. As the atmosphere was turning awkward, the older man commented in a weary tone. “You have your mother’s eyes.” ‘That’s it? That’s all he has to say after 18 years?’ Demian’s mind seemed to stop working at the man’s words reached his ears. Maybe it was foolish, but he did have some expectations. Apologies, explanations, and loving words. Those were what he hoped to receive. Instead, a simple sentence greeted his ears with words that had no connection to what he previously expected. As a defense mechanism, his brain thus shut down for a moment, leaving him incapable of doing or saying anything.

Before he could recover, however, Roman turned back toward the three women and started explaining the arrangements he put in place for their stay in the Estate, from accommodations to cultivation resources he would provide. Everything seemed to have been prepared meticulously for the four people, which seemed to reassure them. At least, that was the impression Demian had from the women’s body language, something he subconsciously noted as a wave of exhaustion inexplicably washed over both his mind and body, leaving him incapable of focusing deeply on the man’s words. Thankfully, Roman seemed like someone very concise and professional, which meant that a relatively short moment later, he ended his explanation with a few sentences. “That should be it. You only need to rest for today. From tomorrow onward, I’ll assign Anna, the woman who brought you here, to help you train in the morning. She’ll also be in charge of providing you with what you need, whether it be spells, resources, etc.”

Noticing the silent dismissal, Adeliya claimed. “Alright. Thank you for taking us in. We’ll leave you to your work, now. You‘re probably busy, aren’t you?” Shaking his head, he retorted wryly. “You have no idea.” With a small gesture toward the door, the older man added. “One of my men is waiting to bring you to your quarters.” The four nodded before turning back toward the opened door. How that door opened and closed by itself was a mystery for Demian. However, he did not attach much importance to knowing the reason. Instead, his attention was attracted by the man waiting silently outside. With short brown hair and light brown eyes, the man’s face looked oddly expressionless. Gazing at them, he bowed his head slightly before declaring in a formal tone. “Good evening Mister and Miss Mikhailovs. My name is Reynard Arimov. I will bring you to your quarters. If you would follow me?” At first glance, nothing seemed out of place in his attitude. His words were polite, his manner impeccable. Nonetheless, the young Mikhailov could not help but feel that something was wrong with the man.

However, he seemed to be the only one with that feeling as Adeliya exclaimed in a relieved voice. “Lead the way, please.” Nodding quietly in response, the man then turned around and started leading them through the same corridor they arrived through earlier. After reaching the end, which was the balcony overlooking the entrance door, they moved toward the western side of the mansion, where the accommodation previously promised by Roman was located. As their feet led them closer and closer to their destination, Demian’s previous intuition about their guide grew stronger and stronger, making him puzzled. With his gaze directed toward the man’s back, he wondered. ‘Why am I feeling like that? The man doesn’t seem bad...’ If it was in his previous life, his mental bias pushed him to ignore his own intuition many times, which led him into an uncomfortable situation he would have rather avoided. In this life, however, he would not make the same mistake, especially since the stakes were much higher. The man, who seemed to be around the Seventh Level of the Chi Gathering Rank, did help tip the scale in favor of caution for the young man.

Unlike what his ‘guts’ were warning him about, however, nothing out of place happened while on their way to the suite. As soon as they reached the place, Reynard stopped walking and turned in their direction, while gesturing toward the door. “There’s a formation covering the whole suite which includes sound-proofing, detection, locking, and protection. It’s programmed with all of your auras and will use it to lock and unlock the door. Beside Mister Yanov and the cleaning crew, only you four can enter the suite.” As if an afterthought, the man added. “By the way, Miss Lirov mentioned a problem to me earlier. She was not able to collect Miss Seraphine‘s aura. Without it, I’m not certain if the formation will let her in...” Still cautious about the man, Demian did not want to explain her circumstances too much and thus declared. “How about this? She’ll try to enter with us and we’ll see what happens.” His words were followed by Reynard narrowing his eyes slightly, cracking the emotionless facade the other man used as a mask to hide his inner thoughts. “As you wish. I’ll just wait here until the four of you enter. In case there’s any problem to inform Mister Yanov about, of course.” Matching the other man’s deadpan expression, Demian replied curtly. “Suit yourself.”

The three women kept quiet during their back and forth, seemingly noticing that something was wrong. After all, they had known him for years, and that included his habits, and he was clearly behaving out of character for the apparent situation. Not paying too much attention to their reaction, he instead set his hand on the door handle, instantly feeling ‘something’ scanning his entire body. It felt slightly similar to a Divine Sense, but more... mechanical. Or at least, that was the closest word that came to his mind if he had to describe it. Apparently satisfied with what it found, it opened the door swiftly, unveiling the expansive and well-decorated room behind. Understanding his priority, he did not waste time admiring the view and instead quickly crossed the threshold, feeling the invisible barrier he passed through ripple slightly. While feeling impressed with the cultivation world’s ‘technology’, he turned his body back to face the four waiting beyond the entrance. Gesturing toward Adeliya, he instructed. “You’re next, Aunty.”

His choice was not without thought as he was plainly aware that she was the weakest link in their team. So weak that a simple flick of that man’s finger could pulverize her, something he was not keen on experiencing. As for the other two, as cultivators, they were a lot more durable, with Bryn having her physically oriented bloodline giving her an incredible body resistance, while Seraphine benefited from his Perk. The latter would definitely help her heal from anything besides her heart or brain being destroyed. Of course, he also prepared himself to act if he noticed any suspicious gesture from the man. Stepping through the entrance, the middle-aged redhead did not look like she experienced any inconvenience. She did make a strange face, though. Nonetheless, it more than likely came from the strange sensation that she experienced when crossing through the energy barrier instead of some kind of issue. Feeling inwardly relieved, he then turned toward Seraphine and without even needing any gesture, the young woman swiftly crossed the entrance as if there was no barrier in place, eliciting a brief expression of surprise from Reynard before the man returned to his usual nonchalance.

‘As I expected...’ Demian thought when he noticed the ease with which she crossed through the barrier. Now that the ‘problem’ was resolved, he then motioned for Bryn to come in, something she did immediately, leaving the brown-haired man alone on the other side. The latter, however, did not do anything out of place but instead nodded toward them while saying. “I’m relieved that the formation worked perfectly. I will share the good news with Mister Yanov. Good night to all of you.” After the Mikhailovs bid him good night, the man left toward somewhere unknown, prompting Demian to close the door before turning toward the three women, who all sported a ‘tell me everything’ expression on their faces.

Now that the potential ‘threat’ was gone, he felt much more relaxed, and thus could not help but be a bit playful with them. “You don’t have to look at me as if you’re going to eat me. I was going to explain anyway.”