Moments later, Dyon walked into Lotus Tower with Ri still sleeping in his arms. It didn’t take him long to spot a bloodied Delia, breathing heavily even in meditation.

She sat near the edge of the Lotus Tower gardens, but she had left a clear trail of blood along the once lush and beautiful greenery.

The anger that Dyon had tried to temper raised in his heart again. Ever since he had come to this martial world, the cruelty of its people and rules had been grating on him. And maybe the worst part was that he was beginning to realize as he matured, that maybe the mortal realm wasn’t so different. Maybe his anger had clouded his judgement into making him think that the mortal realm was somehow some utopia in comparison when that was really far from the case.

The only difference between the mortal and martial realm is that the people here had power. And what Dyon was beginning to realize was that power doesn’t change people, it just makes them more of what they already were.

If the mortal realm suddenly gained the ability to extend their lives by hundreds of time, or the ability to grow strong enough to take your destiny into your own hands, would the outcome really be much different from what Dyon was witnessing here?

The martial realm was a place where no one hesitated to turn on their own comrades – comrades that had quite literally just been putting their lives on the line for you – just for a small chance as survival.

Were the big sect geniuses truly stupid enough to believe that Silvyr would let them go should they follow her orders? Dyon doubted it… No one is that stupid.

They simply latched onto their last fading hope. They latched onto the easy way out. They didn’t want to fight against a mountain they deemed unclimbable.

“Delia? Have some of these fruits.”

Delia’s head snapped up. She had been too focused on healing and recovery, even to the point where she hadn’t heard Dyon approach her. 𝘳𝑎.𝒸ℴ

Dyon was slightly started by the cold blue in Delia’s eyes. It was odd. Her hair was no longer white, but her eyes still permeated with a dense ice that made even Dyon uncomfortable.

“Delia? Is something wrong?” Dyon felt silly asking this question. Of course something was wrong, she was littered with injuries and had lost far too much blood. But, he still felt that there was something off…

“I – ” Delia seemed confused herself. She felt that something in her had changed, but she didn’t know what it was. It had to have something to do with her god level constitution, but, she hadn’t had any constitution awakening pills. So, she had no concept of what could be different.

Dyon shook his head, “It’s alright. We can figure it out later. What’s most important is that you recover.” After shifting a bit awkwardly because he wasn’t willing to let go of Ri, Dyon managed to take some energy fruits he had stored in his ring and gently lay them in Delia’s lap with wind will.

A small smile graced Delia’s lips in that instant. The thought of someone who had become as powerful as Dyon still seeming like a scared child when it came to not wanting Ri to feel uncomfortable, or how he was still so thoughtful to her in that same instant, it made her realize that the world she had been hating all this time still had some good people in it.

Well, that and Dyon did look silly trying to figure everything out with his arms occupied.

After nibbling on a few fruits, Delia felt much better. Although not fully healed, with her essence energy replenished, it would only be a matter of time and rest.

However, Dyon didn’t leave her. He instead chose to sit cross-legged and speak with Delia. It wasn’t that he wanted to romance Delia in any way. If he was being honest with himself, he simply didn’t have feelings of that nature for her. But, he owed it to both Delia and Ava to figure out whether or not the illusions of the old man were true or not.

Someone might think that there was no use in doubting the illusions anymore now that it was confirmed that something really had happened to the Viridi family. However, Dyon remember quite clearly that during the trial, Jade wasn’t sure what happened to the Viridi family either. She spoke in maybes, and not absolutes.

Maybe the old man just made a good guess. And maybe, he specifically went with guesses that he knew would hit the deepest parts of Dyon’s feelings. If that was the case, maybe Delia had never seen him as more than a friend at all.

As Dyon spoke with Delia, he learned a lot. He learned about her troubles with her father. He learned more about the Clyte God Clan and how they had taken her mother from her. He learned about what Madeleine’s relationship meant to Delia, and how in a lot of ways, Madeleine was more like the mother she hadn’t seen in more than a decade rather than just a big sister.

Seeing Delia open up, Dyon did the same. He had never really felt as though he had issues sharing about his parents. In fact, he had told Madeleine about his parents on their very first date together. Although it was something that pained him, he had always felt that it was a story he should tell with a smile on his face.

The truth of the matter was how he felt inside about it wasn’t smile worthy. In fact, it was something that still hurt him very deeply. If not, the trial wouldn’t have been much of a trial for him at all. But, sometimes finding strength is pain is better than ignoring it all together. And maybe thanks to that, Dyon had gained a good friend in Delia.

Updated from 𝑖𝘦.𝒸𝘰𝘮