"What do you want?" the old man got suspicious. There was no free food in this world, so certainly, the young man in front of him was looking for something.
"I want 3 spots of the 5 you have to go to the Forbidden Island," Ning said. "Can you do it?"
The old man frowned for a moment. "3 spots? That's a lot," he said.
"If you agree to do that and then break the marriage, I can heal your daughter right now," Ning said.
The old man rubbed his chin as he thought for a moment. He didn't care about the spots as much as people thought he did, but there was no way this young man could just heal his daughter who he himself had tried to do so for a very long time.
But, the old man couldn't give up on the chance, now could he?
"Fine, you have a deal. But I have some conditions of my own too," the old man said.
"Hmm, let's hear it," Ning asked.
"I cannot just give away my spots. You will have to join my school and then you can take it," the old man said. "Also, you will only get the spots after you heal my daughter."
"That's…" Ning thought for a moment. He didn't really want to join any school, but if he had to…
Ning shrugged. "That's fine with me. Should we go heal your daughter then?" he asked.
"Okay, get in the carriage," the old man said and go in himself first. Ning followed behind and got into the carriage. The beasts pulling the carriage started moving, and the two of them were on their way.
"I don't have much time, sorry," Ning said and grabbed the man's shoulder. The old man immediately attacked back in reflex, but he stopped when he saw the world change around him.
From the carriage, he had suddenly appeared inside… his house? Was this his house? Or some sort of an illusion?
What was going on?
"Papa! You're back." A middle-aged woman ran up to the old man and hugged him around his chest.
Ning looked from the side at the innocent woman who looked old but had a mind no better than the little princess he had left behind a few days ago.
"Hello," he said from the side and waved his hand towards the woman.
The woman finally noticed Ning, and immediately ran behind her father before peeking from the side. "He-hello," she said shyly. "Are you my father's friend?"
"Yes. Yes, I am," Ning said with a smile. He slowly walked closer, while the old man got on guard.
He ignored the old man and looked at the woman. "My name is Ning. What's your name?" he asked.
"Ye-Yelena, Yelena Beringer," the woman said.
"Can you come here, Yelena," Ning asked.
The old man was still reeling from the fact that he was back in his home. What sort of beast had this sort of ability?
Yelena looked at her father with curious eyes and the old man finally needed to think for real.
"Yes, go," he said and let his daughter walk up to Ning. Yelena nodded and slowly strode forward, feeling shy but in no way afraid like her father did.
Ning watched the woman come close to him. He was a little surprised when he noticed that the woman actually didn't look like a woman. Her chest and hips hadn't grown at all despite being so old.
Ning asked the system and it turned out that due to the damage to her brain, many hormones that should have helped in her growth just weren't created.
It was like while some part of her kept on going with time, some part of her was forever in the past.
The girl arrived right in front of Ning, and he placed his hands on her head. With a single thought, she healed.
The injury in her brain that had stopped her mental growth was gone, and her brain could finally function like an adult.
Her thought process got faster and more distinct, and her understanding of everything around her grew by a good amount. Hormones that her body previously didn't let out were starting to get created and the woman would soon go through physiological changes that she didn't understand about herself.
"What, what's happening papa?" she asked her father. Even though she was healed, she was still a child mentally, but she would grow soon.
"What did you do?" the old man shouted angrily when he saw his daughter cry all of a sudden.
"Don't worry, I healed her," Ning said and touched the woman's head and she lost consciousness.
"Where's your wife? You and your wife should have a talk with your daughter once she wakes up. Her latent developments will now take place and someone should really make her understand everything she missed."
The old man was too stunned to say anything for a while, but he quickly gathered his thoughts and called his wife.
"What? When did you get back?"
The old woman ran up the house and entered the room to see her daughter unconscious on the bed already.
"What's wrong?" she asked, not even paying attention to Ning.
"Nothing's wrong," the old man said. He was about to tell the woman that their daughter was healed, but just in case Ning was wrong, he didn't want to.
"Can you look after her, please? senior Haymond and I need to go somewhere real quick," Ning said and walked out.
"I'll be back in a bit," the old man said and walked out of the room with Ning.
The next moment, his world changed and the old man found himself in a dining room, standing to the side of the table, looking at the duke's family.
"Please, follow through on your promise," Ning said to the old man.
The old man finally understood what he was here for and spoke up. "Duke Grecian, I am sorry to say this, but I cannot have my daughter marry your son."
