That night, while Mau and Ivan were sleeping, Leonard had managed to make it back to his residence. He was dressed in black and carried a bloody katana; he cleaned it with a black rag, sheathed it on his back, and quickly appeared on his front porch. The little robot on the porch came out of its hidden door on the floor, scanned Leonard, and gave him access to the house

[welcome lord Leonard]

The robot quickly retreated back to where it came from, and the hidden door slid shut soon after. Then, the estate door slid upwards and granted Leonard entry to his residence. Once he walked in, the white household robots quickly made their way towards him and welcomed him

[Welcome Lord  leonard, how may we service you]

"fetch me some clothes. I'll be bathing in the bathroom. Make your way there so that I may change after my bath." 

Leonard then disappeared from the spot he was at, almost as if he had vanished. The robots moved quickly to complete their tasks as well, but nowhere near the speed Leonard displayed. While the robots were getting clothes for their lord, Leonard was in the bathroom, fully naked, and slowly stepping into a big, steamy tub that looked like an indoor pool. The room was adorned with potted plants and flowers, and the walls and floors were made of marble. The pool was filled with flower petals and lily pads, gently floating as steam rose from the warm water. Leonard, now neck-deep in the warm tub, leaned against the walls and relaxed as he contemplated something with a devious smile. 

"I'm sure by now there's no way he'll turn down my offer after the report Alban gave me on the time Ivan and Mau had spent together. I didn't expect them to be so fond of each other so soon, but it works for me. I've never seen such a talented child. I can't wait to see what type of person he'll become under my teaching." 

[ 7 hours later]

"Huuuuh, wow, that's the best sleep I've ever had."

"Good morning, Mau. The teacher left me a message letting me know he's back and wishes to speak with you. I'll escort you to his room so that you both can have a conversation."

Oh ok thank you Ivan, can we go now.

"Of course, but you should get dressed first. 

Mau just blinked at Ivan. Wasn't he already dressed? This confused Mau, so he just sat there with a blank face until Ivan noticed how confused Mau looked. 

"Oh, I'm sorry! I forgot.

 You can wear some of my clothes. You can't go walking around in sleepwear." 

Mau still didn't understand, but he did notice that Ivan had on different clothes than he was wearing last night. He wasn't wearing a clan uniform like yesterday either. He was wearing a white collar shirt with a black zipper that started from the top of his chest and ended at his neck, black pants with a white belt, and white shoes. 

"Oh, why aren't you wearing that uniform everyone was wearing in your clan like you were yesterday?" 

"That's because I only need to do that when I go to the clan. Since I'm a disciple of a lead, I really don't have to wear that. It's just seen as respectful, so my teacher  says I have to. Not that I mind."

 "Oh,  ok

Three robots came with clothes and undergarments for Mau. He started to take off his clothes right there in front of Ivan, causing Ivan to panic and speed walk out of the room. Mau paid this no mind and continued to undress before changing into his undergarments, followed by a black hoodie, dark brown jeans, and black sneakers. Once he was done, he walked to the door, opened it, and found Ivan with his back to the door.

"Can you take me to see Mr. Leonard now, Big Brother Ivan?"

"You can just call me Ivan, you know," Ivan said with a flustered tone in his voice.

"Mau noticed that Ivan was blushing again when he said this and decided not to comment on it because Ivan's cheeks would usually get even more red when he did," Mau thought, still oblivious to the reason why Ivan was blushing. "What a strange fever," Mau added to himself.

"Okay, I'll just call you Ivan from now on."

Mau said this with a bright smile on his face and a cheerful tone. It was too much for Ivan; he felt like he was going to explode. Mau was just way too adorable. Ivan turned around as his cheeks started to glow even more red. Mau wasn't  aware of this because this time he managed to turn before he could see him blush. But he was still confused as to why Ivan turned his back to him. However, Mau didn't really care too much as Ivan was always doing strange things he didn't understand.

"Thank you. We should probably go now. You slept for quite a while.  teacher actually told me this a while ago, but I didn't want to wake you.

They then made their way to the third floor of the building so that they could speak to Leonard. Ivan tried not to be too quiet while they made their way up the stairs and would make some conversation here and there. Once they had finally made it to the third floor, the decor was way more colorful with more flowers and plants with vibrant colors than the last one, and the aroma in the air was very sweet and flamboyant. Mau actually found this smell intoxicating.

"Wow it smells amazing up here"

"Yes, the teacher loves flowers and sweet feminine aromas because he has a poison and life dao. He likes to surround himself with plants, but I believe he also just enjoys them," .

Mau didn't really know how his dao explained why he had so many plants and flowers in his house, but he was sure that maybe Leonard could probably do a better job of explaining that than Ivan could. They slowly started to approach a doorless room with multiple windows illuminating the room with sunlight. 

Various plants and aromas merged together, making an intoxicatingly pleasurable smell. The room was huge, about 17 meters wide, with ceilings about 12 meters high. It was furnished with wooden benches and chairs, vines with rose-like flowers wrapped around the edges of the furniture. 

Leonard sat on one of the benches, feeding huge, carnivorous flowers that towered at least 5 feet with razor-sharp teeth. Mau found it shocking to encounter living plants, as he had not realized they existed. He did recall seeing similar plants when he first arrived at Leonard's estate.

"Hello little mau. some closer, don't worry these are my creation, they do as i will them to."

Mau approached Leonard, and a small white robot brought out a chair for him to sit in. He sat down a few feet away and faced Leonard, who was petting one of the towering, carnivorous flowers. After a brief moment of silence, Leonard finally broached the conversation he had been eager to have with Mau.

"I'm guessing you have a answer for me, I'm surprised you have and answer for me already."

"Um yes mr Leonard, I think I want to stay here, but I have some questions." said mau.

"Ask away young one."

"Um ok, well if i become your disciple what happens after that." Said mau

"I see. good question, and i have and answer for you, if your ready to receive it"

"I am, said mau."

Leonard then began giving him the rundown. "Well, let's start with how you'll be interacting with the clan. Once you become my disciple, in order to receive any benefits from the clan, you'll need to register with the clan. Resources and things like that to add to your cultivation will come from me, but in order to grow, you'll need to work for it and move up in the ranks as a disciple. There are four disciple rankings: 1st Disciple, Median Disciple, Upper Disciple, and Lead Disciple. To move up in rank, you have to complete 3 missions two stages higher than your stage and 30 regular missions, along with reaching whatever cultivation stage or realm criteria that is required for that rank."

"OK, Mr. Leonard. I understand you have more to tell me, but I just want to say thank you for helping me, giving me somewhere to stay, and saving my life." said mau.

"Oh, well, don't thank me yet, because in order to stay here, you're going to have to put in a lot of work. And once I put you through training, you may not feel the same way about me as you do now. But this world isn't  kind to the weak, and as you are now, it would kill you. So, in order to thrive, you have to suffer," Leonard explained.

"Honestly, the second thing I wanted to talk to you about is training. The physical training is something you and Ivan can do together, and I'll give you a personalized breathing technique to help you with Qi and Dao comprehension. When it comes to weapon specialization, you'll have to see which weapon you're most connected to, and for that to happen, you'll need to train in as many weapons as possible until you find what feels comfortable."

And with that, Mau and Leonard went over a few more little things before it was decided that before he went to register with the clan, he would need to find out his weapon specialization. This would take no more than a week. Leonard had an idea of what type of weapons would best suit him. 

When he observed his fight that nearly ended his life, he had already thought of a few that would fit him and what martial technique he was best suited for. But to narrow it down, his best bet was to put him through the process of learning the basics of every weapon and martial technique he felt would work best with Mau in order to find what he was most comfortable with

This was going to be a hell of a week for mau, but he was looking forward to it, and had no complaints, life for mau was looking up, so far.