After a few more hours of talking with everyone and 'enjoying' the after-party, Mira was finally able to leave.
'Tch. Those damn fogies. Don't they have anything better to do?' Mira grumbled as she left the hall and rushed toward her home. However, before she returned, a sudden thought crossed her mind, and she flew off in another direction.
About a minute later, she sensed a familiar aura and walked past Elder Feolan, the Head of the Healing Hall, and into one of the rooms. There, still knocked out on a bed, was Talina, who was still in pretty bad shape.
Mira could see that the Elders did their best to keep her alive, but it'd be a while until she woke up. She sighed, '...I really lost control for a moment, huh?'
Releasing a deep breath, she scanned the FLDIL shop, bought a Mid-Stage Mystical-Grade Elixir, and shoved it into Talina's mouth. Forcing the liquid down the girl's throat, Mira used her Qi to help distribute it throughout Talina's body.
Within seconds, Talina's aura rose, and all her wounds, visible and invisible, began to heal. To top it off, Mira could feel her cultivation rising, and with a soft 'boom', she broke through to the 3rd Stage of the Soul Transformation Realm.
A minute later, Talina's eyes fluttered, and she saw a faint shadow of a fox before it disappeared. Blinking, she sat up, confused.
'Wh-What happened?' She touched her body all over, not understanding why she felt so full of power. 'D-Did Mira just heal me? Why?'
Complex emotions washed over her when she remembered that familiar aura and form. At first, she was furious and wanted nothing more than to get revenge on Mira for hurting her so badly, but now she wasn't sure what to feel.
'Ugh! Why'd that narcissistic asshole have to heal me?!' She grumbled before getting up and walking out of the room. Now wasn't the time to be sitting around doing nothing.
Since she doesn't have to sit in a room for months, she can use this time to train!
'One day, I'll be the one to knock you around!' She clenched her fists and flew off, ignoring the knowing look from Elder Feolan.
***
Near Mira's residence
In the middle of the valley, right outside Mira's mountain house, Dominique was sitting on a tree, staring at the sky. The sun was slowly descending, revealing the night sky.
Hana was inside, while Rhydian and Elenei had already left to do their own things, saying they'd be back later. Dominique figured they were out training.
"I wonder when Mother will be back?" She asked out loud while swinging her feet. She might've been Mira's adoptive daughter and disciple, but the coronation ceremony was too big and was broadcast too widely. Mira didn't want that kind of attention to potentially fall on Dominique, especially when the number of enemies will most likely increase from here on out.
Suddenly, a gust of wind brushed past Dominique, followed by a soft yet indifferent voice. "Missing me already?"
"Mother!" Dominique exclaimed, turning her head to the side only to find Mira standing there, staring at her with her arms crossed. She jumped into Mira's embrace and wrapped her blood-red tail around her leg.
Looking up at Mira's face, Dominique smiled and said, "Congratulations, Mother! You were amazing when you beat up all those Aunties!"
"..." Mira's mouth almost cracked a smile at how Dominique addressed Nova and the others but couldn't be bothered to respond. Instead, she just gave Dominique a few pats on the head and sat down with her.
"...Nothing worth congratulating. It was inevitably going to be mine. Aelina, that witch, would've made sure of it." Mira waved off Dominique. She really didn't feel much pride about being the Sect's Prime Disciple.
Everything was a means to an end. Aelina and her were both using each other.
Dominique crawled off of Mira and sat next to her while shaking her head. That's when her eyes caught sight of Mira's arm, the one that should've been amputated.
Pointing at it, she asked, "I-Is your arm alright, Mother? How'd it grow back so soon?"
Flexing it, Mira glanced at her arm and muttered, "It's fine now. My vitality has reached a point that, given enough time, I can even regrow limbs. However, it'll still be a few days before it reaches full strength again."
"Will I ever get to that point?" Dominique asked with anticipation and a little bit of fear.
Cultivators have meridians all over their bodies. Losing a limb essentially means that one's cultivation, and subsequently, their technique, is incomplete. That's equivalent to cutting off one's path to a higher power!
"Who knows? You're technically part of my kin now, so I'm sure if you work hard enough, combined with your affinity, you shouldn't have a problem regrowing lost limbs." Mira replied.
"Really?" Dominique's eyes shone. "Then, are you going to resume my training? I want to be able to regrow limbs!"
Mira paused and thought about that for a moment. '...Should I? From what Aelina said, those people from the Central Continent are strong. Their average talent is around Rhea's current level. The strongest ones might even be equivalent to Nova or Rayna. However, they've had the best resources, training environments, and teachings since birth, unlike most of us.'
Even now, Mira wasn't fully confident she could beat those Central Continent geniuses.
In the same Realm, she had no doubt that she could smash them, but from what she knew, most of them were at the peak of the Soul Transformation Realm, with some of the more talented and hard-working ones being in the Mortal Shedding Realm.
She could fight multiple stages above her own, but so could they.
'I wish I could fight one of them just to see where I stand.' Mira thought, wondering if she could somehow sneak into the Central Continent before shaking her head. 'With everything at my disposal, it'd be a shame if I couldn't win, but this world seems to hold weird mysteries. If there was a Primordial Ascendance Convergence realm on this Continent, I wonder what's over there or on the other continents.'
There were too many unknowns. In her experience, the best way to deal with these situations was just to get stronger.
'...Spending time training Dominique will certainly consume a large portion of my time–time I could spend getting stronger. However…' That's when a thought struck her. Simultaneously, Hana entered her mind, and she remembered that it was probably time to do something about that.
'However, what if we go on an adventure?' A creepy grin slowly crept up on her face. 'I can't stand cultivating normally, and with that witch always watching me, I can't do what I want. Perhaps it's time I finally see what this world has to offer.'
Dominique silently waited for Mira's answer. 'Please say yes! I don't want you to leave me again.' These were her thoughts, but she didn't dare to voice them out loud.
"...Alright." Mira finally spoke, nodding. Dominique's eyes gleamed as a large smile graced her lips, but Mira wasn't through. "However, this won't be a normal training session."
Dominique's smile froze, but she still intently listened. "Instead of sitting in the Sect all day, cooped up like a caged chicken, we'll go get you some real experience."
"Really?!" Dominique finally couldn't contain herself. "You mean I'm going to go on an adventure with you, Mother?! Won't Grandma Aelina be mad?"
***
Somewhere on the mountain, an ashen-haired woman spat out a mouthful of tea. She threw her cup on the ground and snarled in Dominique's direction. "Damn, brat! Grandma?! Who's your fucking Grandma?! I'm still a young, chaste woman! Call me Sister, or at the very least, Aunty!"
***
As if she could hear Aelina's curses, Mira chuckled. "Grandma Aelina, huh? I don't think that's suitable. With her age, you should call her Old Ancestor Aelina!"
"Mmhm~" Dominique nodded. "...Then, won't Ancestor Aelina be mad if you leave?"
Mira could feel a faint killing intent directed towards them, but she just chuckled and continued. "Maybe, but who cares about that old woman? She's just a greedy witch out to take my loot. If I want to go on an adventure with my da-...disciple, who is she to stop me?"
The killing intent grew stronger, but Dominique's eyes brightened. "Hahaha~! That's right! Mother is the strongest!"
"It's good that you know."
With that said, the atmosphere became quiet. The two of them just looked up at the sky and watched as the sun fell below the horizon, allowing the stars to light up the night.
Dominique basked in Mira's oppressive yet comforting aura while twiddling her fingers. Finally, she came to a decision and crawled into Mira's lap, her eyes still locked onto the night sky.
"...T-Thank you." She muttered.
Mira just sat there silently, unsure of what to do. A peculiar feeling rose in her chest. After all the shit that's happened the last few years, it was nice to just be able to… relax. In fact, she found her time with Dominique to be one of the more soothing moments in her life.
It wasn't until now that she realized that maybe she'd been a bit too neglectful as a 'parent'.
"...I…I l-love you, Mother." Dominique stuttered awkwardly.
Mira froze, but her hands unconsciously landed on Dominique's head, brushing her hair.
"I.... d-daughter." She whispered so softly that it almost sounded as if it was the wind.
Dominique trembled. She didn't hear most of what Mira said, but that last part was all she needed.
