"Oh, brother Tyander! You're here. I'm sorry I couldn't go out to get you," Ember said when he saw the new man walk in.
"It's fine, brother Ember. I have two legs and can walk on my own," Tyander said. "Oh, the kids are so big now. Sigh, why do they always grow so quickly."
"Hello, Uncle Tyander."
"Good Morning, Uncle."
Bother Ender and Eleonora respectfully greeted the new arriver, Tyander Udler, head of the Udler family.
"So, what's going on here?" Tyander asked as he looked towards his son who was huffing quite hard. "Some form of morning sport?"
"Oh, I'm not sure either. The kids suddenly started fighting this morning and asked—"
"Brother Bradley requested a duel early in the morning and is now fighting," Eleonora cut her father off and told Tyander what was happening.
"A duel? Why?" Tyander asked as he turned to look at Eleonora once again.
"Uhh… it's better if you ask your son, Uncle," Eleonora said.
"Okay," Tyander said. He then looked over to his son and asked, "Bradley, why are you fighting with—"
Finally, he turned towards Ning and noticed him. Suddenly, he felt as though his world came crashing down, and his worst fear had come to fruition.
Tyander ignored everything and directly walked towards his son. Bradley looked to the side and noticed his father walk up too.
"Huh? When did you come back, father? I will be right there after I beat this as—"
SLAP
The backyard rang when Tyander slapped his son into the ground. "You bastard! Are you trying to kill yourself? Is that what you wish? Come, I will kill you myself!" Tyander said angrily.
"Wh-wha…" Bradley couldn't form any sentences.
"Brother Tyander… why are beating your son?" Ember walked forward, completely befuddled as to what was happening.
Ender had an inkling of what was going on and looked towards his sister who was the main perpetrator here. She knew what would happen, so she purposefully butt into her elder's conversation and forced Tyander to act.
Tyander looked towards Ning and finally spoke. "It's a pleasure to see you here, teacher Ning. I didn't get to thank you back there, so let me take this chance to thank you from the bottom of my heart," Tyander said.
"Saving… you?" Ember looked at Tyander in confusion. Tyander was quite surprised and his face got horrified.
"We-were you trying to keep your identity hidden, teacher Ning. I'm so sorry. I stupidly revealed it," Tyander said.
"It's fine. I wasn't really trying to hide it; I was just not using my name when it wasn't needed," Ning said.
"Thank you for your benevolence, teacher Ning," Tyander bowed towards Ning.
Bradley and Ember were both flabbergasted as to what was happening. Why was the head of the Udler family, one of the strongest families in the Galyra empire bowing his head to a simple teacher?
"Wait, did you say Ning?" Ember suddenly asked. "THE Ning?"
"You really didn't know, brother Ember? This is teacher Ning, the recipient of the Medal of Honor, and person who stopped the coup in the capital yesterday," Tyander said.
Both Bradley and Ember were shocked when they realized who Ning really was.
"So what about the duel?" Eleonora asked from the side.
"Duel?" Tyander asked. "Of course my son loses the duel. There's no way he can beat teacher Ning. Right?"
"I agree," Eleonora said. "Then what about the bet?"
Ember looked at her with a hint of confusion. "What bet? You guys had a bet in this duel?"
"Of course. Brother Bradley bet that he would never come to the Broken Soul city for nearly 200 years if he lost this duel," Eleonora said.
Tyander looked at his son and asked, "Is… is this true? You not only dueled with teacher Ning but also bet with him?"
"I… I didn't know who he was. So I accepted the bet, father. I…" Bradley was starting to get flustered.
"Why did you even duel him in the first place?" Tyander asked.
"Because your son thought that I had an affair with teacher Eleonora, so he came to fight me," Ning said.
"You idiot!" Tyander kicked his son. "Why do you always have to butt in other people's lives? Why are you like this? Are you acting arrogant just because you are an Udler?"
"Bastard! I was the one who worked hard to make this family. All you do is sit around and make the servants do everything. Urghh! I'm getting angry now."
"Leave right now and go back home. You made a bet. Now you will have to be a man and stick to it. Never come to the Broken Soul city for 200 years," Tyander said.
"B-But father, I haven't lost yet," Bradley said.
"What? Do you think you can win just because teacher Ning went easy on you? Do you think you can fight against a dozen of the Emperor's shadow guards like he did?" Tyander asked.
"N-No," Bradley's head drooped.
"Then leave. Fulfill your bet," Tyander demanded.
"Y-Yes, father." Bradley stood up and walked ahead. "Goodbye uncle, brother Ender, sister Ely."
Bradley immediately flew and went away. Whether it be because of his father's fear or Ning's fear, he would forever stick to the bet and not come close to Broken soul city for over 2 centuries.
"Sigh, I let you see something unsightly, teacher Ning," Tyander said.
"It's alright," Ning said.
"Ah, you must be bored from our little father-son squabble. Please, let's go in," Tyander said.
The 5 of them went inside and talked for a bit. Ning answered whatever question he could of the 2 old men and asked some of his own.
Eleonora asked Ning to stay around until the academy started, which he happily accepted. Tyander was quite happy to be around Ning and make a friend of him as well.
The academy had 3 months before it opened back up, but to cultivators, that was but a blink of an eye. Before they knew it, it was time to return back to the Five Professions city and go back to teaching once more.
