The door opened revealing a middle aged woman in her late 40s and younger man just grazing 20. Though faint, Sol was able to recognize the familiar traits of Lillica in the woman. The young man returned Sol’s gaze without an ounce of emotion.

“Mom? Come in, come in! How have you been?” Lillica moved into action immediately upon recognizing the individual. Interestingly, Sol noticed the young man was explicitly ignored by Lillica. Despite that, he followed the woman inside without comment.

The tension was palpable and Sol could feel the woman’s assessing eyes fall on her. Though landing and staying for a few seconds, the woman passed by without commenting on Sol’s presence. Intrigued, Sol found her response similar to Lillica’s towards the young man.

‘Internal strife? An inheritance battle?’ It was hard to know without asking, however Sol understood the tension was likely due to the Drant couple being incapable of having children. A simple smile broached Sol’s face as she decided to jump headlong into the issue. By agreement and desire, Sol was already a child of the Drants. Adoption or not, she had already recognized the couple as family, so their problems were her problems.

Lillica escorted her mother to a receiving room in silence. The two settled into a pair of seats and the young man moved to stand behind Lillica’s mother. Without a concern for the tension, Sol moved and sat down next to Lillica stunning the older woman in the process.

Her eyes remained strict, however Sol couldn’t detect any hostility from them. Oddly enough, Sol felt a hint of panic from the young man. Too young to hide his emotions, Sol’s spiritual awareness caught the minute changes around him with ease.

‘Interesting’, she thought. “Mom, is this lady your mother?” Sol went straight for the jugular and Lillica choked on her drink. Sol ignored her coughing fit and wry smile, displaying only a curious attitude filled with the innocence of an apparent 10 year old.

Having lived long enough with Sol, Lillica already found that Sol was a clever girl with a mind far beyond her years. Her childish and blunt act was clear as day to Arnold and her. Evenso, she was grateful for the break in the silent atmosphere.

“Yes. This is Forcelia Drant, my mother. Be sure to say your greetings. She traveled a long distance to visit us.” Using tone, body language, and word choice, Lillica hinted at many things with her answer and Sol caught every one of them. 

“Your mother?!” Sol pretended to panic somewhat. Moving from her seat, Sol curtseyed before Forcelia. “Nice to meet you Grandmother, I’m Sol Drant, your Granddaughter.” The woman’s eyes twitched for a moment before shifting to glance at the young man next to her. Though her emotions were covered well, the man’s eyes were wide open revealing everything.

As unconfirmed as it may be, Sol was fairly certain this young man had something to do with the Drant couple’s exile. The moment she labeled her relation to the Drant couple, the man’s fists clenched. Before Sol was able to recover her stance, she felt hostility fill the room.

“You adopted a child?! Now?! Why her?! Why not me?!” The man acted as he felt and though he kept his voice low, Sol could detect a mixture of hate and jealousy carried within. Sol didn’t mind the man and walked back to Lillica with a smile.

Without an ounce of hesitation, she sat next to Lillica and leaned onto her shoulder. “I have no obligation to explain my decision to you. My husband and I agreed on this. If you don’t like it, the door is over there.”

Unlike her normally reserved self, Lillica remonstrated the man with a sharp tone. Though he appeared hurt by the comment, Lillica remained firm. Forcelia only let out a sigh at the event. She had only arrived and there was already conflict. Such a thing wasn’t her intention.

“Young Master, sit down for now.”, she said and pointed to the chair beside her. ‘Young Master?’ The identity made Sol curious about Lillica and Arnold’s situation even more. BEfore her thoughts could continue though, Forcelia continued.

“I’m sorry Lillica. I didn’t come here to cause trouble, I just wanted to help… The clan head is extending an opportunity to the branch families and so I volunteered to deliver the news to you.”, Forcelia relaxed as she moved into the main topic. From the entrance, Arnold appeared and took his seat on Sol’s other side.

As always, Arnold showed his support through his actions. After petting Sol’s head a few times, his attention returned to Forcelia and nodded for her to continue. “As you know, our clan has ties with many of the Guilds and Cultivation clans in the area. A Drant disciple was killed while fulfilling a rather important mission for the ‘Heavenly Demon’ guild. As part of the posthumous reward, the guild allotted 3 positions for our family. A mystic guild offering us 3 positions, you understand the immensity of that, right?”

A frantic fire burned behind Forcelia’s gaze as if daring the Drant couple to say otherwise. The couple nodded at Forcelia’s words and the woman continued. “The clan head was overjoyed at the contribution and immediately slotted 1 of those positions for the family of the dead disciple. The remaining two slots will be determined by aptitude. In a few weeks, an escort from the main branch will visit to pick up your representative…”

The woman’s gaze landed on Sol for only a moment, yet Sol couldn’t feel any direct hostility within it. Sol’s thoughts turned on the relationship between the couple and her. Though she couldn’t decisively state it, she felt it wasn’t as volatile as she first thought. In fact, it might be that the couple excused themselves from the clan politics willfully. It’d explain a portion of the strange tension floating around.

“Originally, I was going to suggest adopting the Young Master as your representative, however as fate has granted you a child…” Her words alluded to the alternative. Before Lillica or Arnold could reply, the young man inserted himself into the conversation.

“I refuse to accept that! This little girl can’t represent the Drant family in a mystic guild! It’d be ridiculous to allow an outsider to represent our honor!” Anger flared from him and hatred laced his voice. The degree of it surprised Sol. ‘Parochialism? No, he was fine until I became a representative. Xenophobic then? Maybe… Jingoism?’ Sol smiled as if she hit the mark. ‘Yeah, probably jingoism. Useful at times, deadly in others. Now then… how will mother and father decide?’

“Is there a reason my daughter can’t represent us? Young Master doesn’t have an ounce of blood related to me or my husband either. Are you suggesting you would be better?” Lillica remonstrated the young man to Sol’s surprise. ‘No blood relation?’ The comment made Sol’s eyes go wide. How can a man with the position of ‘Young Master’ not be blood related?

“Quibbling! I’ve undergone the rite! That girl is foreign! Can she even cultivate? Does she even have an affinity for magic?! Even from sitting this close, I can tell she is weak!” For the first time since arriving, Arnold responded to the guests.

“My daughter might appear weak, however she is someone capable of single handedly hunting a Cathis. Is the Young Master capable of that even with your new bloodline?” There was a smirk riding along Arnold's mouth as he asked the man with sarcasm.

“A Cathis? Impossible! If you’re going to lie, at least make it believable.” The man scoffed in reply and dismissed it. Beside him though, Forcelia took a measured gaze at Sol. Sol felt as if a blade were penetrating her very being and broke into a cold sweat. She soon felt a warm veil cover her and the penetrating feeling disappeared.

Sol controlled her breathing and gasped in subtle breaths to regain her calm. Her face raised and her eyes locked onto Forcelia’s. The woman spared no effort in unraveling her secrets just now. With that, Sol understood a bit more about the conflict between the couple and the main branch. The accepted behavior and willingness to throw their power around was clearly different.

After recovering herself, Sol directed a fearless gaze back at the woman. Though weaker, Sol wasn’t afraid. What hasn't she experienced at this stage? Hunted? She’s an expert at being the prey. Hunter? How many times did she successfully corral the enemy? Fight those more powerful than her? Since when has she ever fought someone weaker? Her inner spirit flared and flashes of memories filled in what she lacked.

Unaware of her surroundings, Sol became hyper focused on Forecelia as the changes within her ignited a chain reaction to the probe. Her spiritual awareness flooded the area and nearly materialized. Her stubborn will radiated through that awareness and sought to subconsciously strangle the intruder.

Forcelia’s eyes widened in amazement. She had only probed the girl’s inner world out of curiosity. Arnold would never exaggerate another’s strength. That meant the little girl truly had the capability to take down a Cathis alone. Despite that, the girl radiated such a weak presence that curiosity got the best of her.

To her surprise, upon probing the girl for only a moment, an immense repelling force destroyed the spiritual awareness she extended and triggered the girl into a state of enlightenment. A single glance around the room showed flickering faery lights of concentrated spiritual awareness. It was a sign that someone was nearing breakthrough into the Master Assembler realm, yet Sol wasn’t strong enough for that.

Forecelia smiled at the curiosity. Her daughter certainly picked up something unique. Although Forcelia was smiling, she certainly categorized Sol as a thing rather than a person. After all, that momentary intrusion revealed at least one thing. Sol didn’t cultivate according to the layered realm’s standard. If so, where did her cultivation come from?