Thera's expression changed several times, her cherry lips opening and closing without a sound coming out.
These were the kind of words she would expect someone who didn't understand how the world worked to speak, but even so just Ryu's accomplishments in the Heavenly Path made what he said difficult to ignore, the fact that he was her little cousin's Dao Companion only made those words all the more impossible to ignore.
However, before she could find a way to respond, Ryu shook his head, the echo of his voice seemingly vanishing in a single moment as he turned and walked away. He didn't want to continue this conversation, it would only frustrate him more.
"Ryu!" Mae rushed after Ryu, seemingly forgetting the rest of her family.
Thera's expression continued to change, but she didn't chase after them. What was her status? How could she chase after a junior? Even if she was willing to, she doubted that it would mean much of anything. However, what she did feel frustrated about was that little girl. She left for a few years and suddenly didn't know how to act.
Dammit, she had come here to pick Mae up and bring her home, but now it seemed that that was going to be delayed. Considering that young man's temper, he didn't care about her face at all. If she tried to coax Mae into leaving now, it would definitely explode in her face.
"...How Naive."
These were the only words that Thera could say after a long while.
Aantha pouted, "He's not naïve, he's tired."
Thera rolled her eyes. Even her own little sister was on his side, what kind of spell had he put on these little two girls? Forget it, she had a phase where she had cold and standoffish boys too, they'd grow out of it, then they'd have to be obedient to her again.
"You're protecting him like he's your husband, look at you."
"Don't take your frustration out on me just because you lost to a junior," Aantha stuck her little tongue out.
Thera released an exasperated sigh. "He's lucky that he was only lashing out to be protective of Little Mae, or else I would have had to teach him a lesson regardless of who's backing him."
"So shameless," Aantha responded. "You can't win with words so you want to use your strength instead. Tsk, tsk, I'm disappointed in you big sis."
Thera blushed, but eventually, she still shook her head and sighed.
"Just at how protective he is of Mae, and he's only her Dao Companion. What if they had a child? How protective would he be of that child? What would he do to someone who might hurt his child if he's willing to yell at a Sky God like me over a woman he's known for such a short time?"
Aantha fell into silence. She seemed to be a bit of an air head, but her sharpness wasn't something that most could match. Those with Spirit Soul Nature's all had exceptional intelligence, it just came with the territory.
Ryu wasn't the type of person who cared about morality, he acted as he pleased, and he often did so for the sake of his family. While his own martial path caused him to fear no one, would he be willing to extend that sort of callousness to his women? To his children? To their children? To their children's children?
Could he be as callous as his great grandfather and completely disregard his family even though he disliked the man for that very reason?
What were the actions of the powerful Clans and Sects of the True Martial World... of any world for that matter... if not a showing of familial love? To care for those close to them, shielding them away from the waves and tides of the world?
How far would you be willing to go to protect your own?
The fact that Ryu had gone on such a tirade, triggered by his want to protect Mae, an irony of all ironies. In fact, that put it quite nicely. Ultimately, it was hypocritical, because his own actions given the same situation may very well not be so different.
Ryu had always said that if he was born with poor talent, he would rather be hung up as a corpse to dry out beneath the sun's rays. However, it was one thing to hold oneself to such a standard, but what about those you cared about?
Sarriel made her decision quite clearly. She would rather lower her head than place her family in danger, and when she finally gained power, the world would likely pay a hundredfold for the suffering she had to go through to reach that point and there was no doubt not a single soul would ever have the courage to touch her family members.
Ryu had disdained her choice, but when he was truly faced with the same question, what would he do? His actions and demeanor seemed to make that answer obvious.
Regardless, Aantha was serious when she spoke. She believed that Ryu would normally reprimand Thera for her failure, she didn't doubt that. But that sort of tirade? He wouldn't usually speak such words. Only when he had the strength to trample an enemy might he allow such words to permeate the air, only then would he allow his enemies to know how foolish they had been.
However, he was truly tired now.
Aantha didn't know what other battles Ryu had fought without her knowledge, but she knew this much for certain. Whenever this man was allowed some decent rest, what came out on the other end would be even more monstrous than what they were seeing now.
Aantha, who very much liked chaos, smiled. She wanted to see what happened when Ryu truly entered the middle tier of the Heavens. How would everyone react? What would they do? How many would Ryu kill? How brazen would he be? -
She almost to be a fly on the wall for everything.
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