n

n

nAfter the small altercation with the ominous black cat that I simply did not ever want to see again, I sighed and returned to my father with a complex and slightly distressed feeling within my heart. However, from the initial expression I had made when seeing that cat, I kept my face neutral, almost cold, void of any emotion. This was my expert level poker face that I had gained from my last life after being pestered and tortured both mentally and physically for years on need. I could technically take anything without changing my expression, however, since I had not used it in such a long time, my expression naturally broke down in the presence of something so much stronger than me.

nFrom the day I had been born into the world I have never felt the pressure of needing to prostrate or kneel in front of anyone. Not when Juilam showed his power, and not even when we were completely supressed by the wizard who had attacked us back in the forest. But in front of this random cat, I had felt like kneeling?

nWhile no one might have realised it, I was burning with fury, both literally and metaphorically. My soul flame was burning vigorously in extremely violent bursts and flickers. Having to kneel to someone had Infuriated me to the core, making my usually calm soul flame react so violently for the first time in over a year.

nAs we entered the carriage, I spoke to no one with a stoic expression, while simply sitting down and resting my head onto my palm while looking outside of the carriage window. While my father had expected the same excited daughter that had left the carriage with her eyes twinkling in excitement to come back with the same expression, or an expression of satisfaction, he watched me walk back in with a neutral expression. Well, it would seem like a neutral expression to anyone other than my dad, and this is evident in how Zack had sighed in relief when he was the normal me come back to haunt him once again, evidently not liking change in his life yet being so adamant in wanted to get rid of me.

nMy dad however, looked at me with narrowed eyes before looking at Olivia with a glare demanding to know what happened. He knew that expression of neutrality. It was not the usual nonchalant one I had on a daily basis, but rather it was an expression he saw on hardened warriors who had went through countless psychological and physical battles, to the point where they had found a way to mask their emotions to the point where they themselves would not realise that they are feeling. Even though this was not the case with me since I knew exactly what I was feeling, I was masking my fury from everyone around me, making his hypothesis correct.

nHowever, when he looked at Olivia with an expectant look, he was a slightly worried face gazing at her master with sweat rolling down her cheek.

nNodding towards her once, my dad signalling her to tell him what happened, to where she could only shrug as she couldn't tell her self. One minute I was normal and the other I had sweat covering my entire body before it turned into fury, to only be restricted and sealed behind the mask that was my neutral face. She didn't know what to do, and nor did she want to do anything due to being scared of what would happen if she were to piss me off by accident.

nDeciding to find out about what happened later, Olivia and my father awkwardly looked outside, trying to ignore the awkwardness and tense atmosphere in the carriage.

nAfter waiting for over 3 hours in the line, we finally reached the walls where the guards would be checking us for any illegal items through a little scan, while also checking our papers to make sure that we are citizens of the Zogarian Empire.

nMeanwhile, I was in the carriage meditating and breathing in and out in intervals to get the maximum efficiency when it comes to absorbing all the elemental particles in the air.

n*Knock* *Knock*

nLooking outside of the window, I saw that guard knocking on it telling me to get out so he can check on me too. The rest were already being checked and scanned by another group of guards, while me and Olivia seemed to have gotten our won female guard to check us.

nGetting out of the carriage with a sigh, the women took a good glance at me before thinking 'So cute' when looking at my frown of slight annoyance. Not too long after checking Olivia and finding her to be clean, she walked towards me with a magic crystal of a yellowish white colour. When she got near me, she pointed the crystal towards my feet and allowing it to let off a brilliant radiance that scanned my entire body, from head to toe.

n

"Hmm? It seems to not have worked. Give me a second okay?

" The women said. Hearing this, I supressed my divine aura to its most limited form so that crystal can actually work.

n

"Oh, it worked this time. Aaaaand... Your all clear!

" The women said with an enthusiastic smile which made me inwardly snarl and walk away without a word.

n

"Sorry about her

" Olivia apologized with a small smile on her face before walking away too.

n30 Minutes later, I saw my father walk into the carriage with a load of papers, and when he finally sat down with the rest of us and everyone including my brothers stared at him, he finally spoke.

n

"The teleporter will activate in 3 hours or so, So we can wait in the nearest town until the teleporter is ready

"

nI simply stayed silent while shutting my eyes again, not giving a reaction to his words. My brother in the other hand were grunting and sighing in dissatisfaction which I tuned out of course.

n

"Pandora

" A voice spoke out while I was in the middle of my meditating. Simply lifting my head a little in an acknowledging nod, I gestured for my father to carry on what he wanted to say.

n

"Why do you seem so off? Did something happen when you left to check the beasts?

" He asked

n

"No

" I replied simply

n

"You know you can tell me anything, right?

" My father retorted immediately, as if he was expecting me to say no.

n

"Yes

" I said in a flat tone.

n

"Then why don't you tell me what happened.

" He said with a warm smile

n'Even if I told you, you simply wouldn't believe me. Plus, it might be still watching so there might be a chance it will kill everyone when it finds out that I had told about it. Divine creatures like to keep themselves lowkey I'm guessing, since I haven't heard of any so far.'

n

"Nothing happened. Just trust that I wouldn't lie to you if it was important

" I said with a shrug while shutting my eyes.

n

"Yes, but my job as our father is to shoulder your burdens and to listen to whatever problems you may have. I know you have been hiding things from me since the first day you left the home without anyone supervising you. You can tell me whatever you want.

" He said with an even broader smile.

n

"Dad... It's nothing. Just forget it.

"

n

"How can I forget it if it is clearly bothering you right now. You don't usually get bothered this way, and the fact Olivia doesn't know why you are distressed tells me it is about one of your secret that you hadn't told us. Again, you can tell me anything!

" He retorted, now seeming a little more desperate.

nLooking at him for a second, a small part of me wanted to tell him everything that had happened to this point, but my brain finally kicked in and stopped me in time.

n

"Ugh... Alright. I'm developing this new magic spell and can't get it to work properly due to not having an air affinity. Yes, I can use the limited amount of air magic that everyone gets has from the point they awaken, that being simple tier spells, it is simply too weak for the spell and I Have to find an alternative.

" I lied through my teeth.

nMy father's eyes narrowed a little before a flash of hurt expression shown on his face, just to disappear a second later, making me wonder if it was just my wild imagination acting up again.

n

"What spell?

" He asked

n

"This

" I said while lifting a finger and creating a vortex which absorbed wind and ignited fire in all directions. Slowly, a ball of blue flames appeared on the tip of my finger, spinning at a relative speeds while growing in size until it was the size of my palm.

n

"I don't see the problem

" He scratched the back of his head

n

"Well, it isn't spinning fast enough due to it's size, and even when using fire magic I'm unable to control the flames to spin at such high speeds without losing my grip on the element. This is why it is easier when you make a fingertip version which can use simple tier magic to increase the spin speed

" I replied.

nI wasn't actually having problems, actually, it was quite easy to find the solution though what I had just said. However, I did not even need the solution to the problem as it was not my problem to begin with. My fire magic had become really advance in the last few months, and while I don't have a strong connection to the flames, nor do I have strong control over the flames, they are still extremely destructive.

nYou might be asking how being destructive would help with my control, and here is the answer. It doesn't. But there are two solutions to the problem I am having. The speed of my spells is already high enough for me to be able to create a fast spinning call of flames without much effort, however, that size is limited. On the other hand, I have air magic which can easily replicate having a strong control over the flames, even though some might think multi casting two spells of two different elements is hard, it really is not.

nThe solution if I were to not have air magic was actually pretty simple too....

n