Once the staves were activated with a bit of energy, they stopped being a plain bit of wood and were surrounded by a field of crackling blue energy, lighting up the combat forms that the girls were practicing like a set of glow sticks.
That would make life so much easier for instructors. The bright lights made every mistake extra obvious, especially in the fading afternoon light. Done at night, it would make for an impressive show, Cain thought.
They practiced for a half hour as they discussed their future plans, then returned to Cain and Draco with looks of determination on their faces.
"As you have likely guessed, we have no intentions of returning to our Sect. But we would still like to travel with you. Since Master Draco is heading for the city, the two of us would like to go with you. We will disguise ourselves when we arrive and try not to cause trouble for anyone." One of the cultivators asked, pointing to the girl on her right.
"And I would like to travel with you, Master Cain. Unlike the others, I would prefer a challenge to help myself get stronger so that I don't end up in a situation like that, or a boring life as a shopkeeper." The one with the very light orange hair asked.
"It's true that I'm going on an adventure, without a destination, but are you sure that is what you want? It is going to be dangerous, that is the point of this adventure." Cain reminded her.
"Strength only grows with adversity." The girl agreed, unshaken from her choice.
"Alright. I can disguise the two of you for a while, a week or two at most." Draco agreed, looking at the two who wanted to go with him.
"I can do better than that. I can give you a permanent disguise if you like. Just tell me what you would want to look like. Think hard, because your appearance can cause additional issues." Cain suggested.
Draco looked shocked at Cain's offer, and his thoughts said that he thought Cain was going to use a very valuable medicine on them to cause a permanent disguise, but really, he was just going to use [Modify] to change their appearance.
"Can you just like, make my hair darker and change my face to be a bit cuter?" The girl named June asked.
"Not an issue." Cain agreed, tweaking her appearance until Draco started laughing.
"No, I didn't laugh at your appearance. I just realized where Master Cain got his skill set. You really did have a fortunate encounter today young lady. That disguise is very permanent, in fact, it will age with you, so you can consider it to be yourself." The dragonkin told the confused woman.
"It must take some sort of monstrous talent to teach such a thing with just energy manipulation." June agreed, looking at her new face in the mirror with a shy smile.
Draco was nearly in tears now and trying to hide his amusement at the word Monstrous, but the second young Cultivator that was going with him, Summer, stepped up to get Cain to modify her appearance.
She looked over herself with displeasure then turned to Cain and whispered her instructions in his ear.
"Can you make me sexy? Like really sexy? I've always been better at earning money off my feet than on them if you follow me." She whispered, too low for the others to hear.
Cain smirked, then began to work, tweaking her appearance into a polished version of the stereotypical White Lotus that shouldn't exist without a lot of makeup and some camera filters. Long, dark hair, absolutely flawless skin and a slender, pert figure no woman was naturally born with.
"Fit for an Emperor if I do say so myself. Give me one more second and I can keep it that way." Cain muttered as he worked.
[Draconic Regeneration] granted.
[Mythic Awakening Triggered]
That was the last bit needed, though Cain realized that he went overboard with the quality of the healing factor. He had only picked Draconic Regeneration because it stopped the physical signs of aging and could heal almost any wound without a scar, leaving the skin blemish free for life.
A dragon had to take a truly horrific wound to be left crippled or scarred for life.
A vortex of energy formed over her head, as the world tried to fix the power imbalance that Cain had created with his modification, and everyone present could feel the strength of her presence skyrocket as the vortex was absorbed.
"All Done." Cain declared once the energy whirlpool faded to nothing, receiving a thump on the head from Draco for his troubles.
"Did you forget that we aren't the only ones that can feel that? I think every warrior within fifty kilometers will have felt that breakthrough, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Immortals twice that far away noticed as well." Draco informed him.
"People break through all the time, right? Why would they be surprised?" Cain asked, not getting why anyone would care.
"Yes, it happens at least once a week. Inside a Sect Compound. But never out in the middle of nowhere, without any sort of warning." Draco clarified.
That was something that Cain hadn't thought of. This world didn't really have wandering adventurers, they were all organized into Sects, so they went to safe spots when it was time to advance, they didn't just do it at random when they had a few minutes to spare like he had been doing.
"Well, nobody is coming yet, so I will pretend that nobody noticed. If you three leave in the morning, there shouldn't be any issues, and they can find work in the city while you go on about your business. Nobody will suspect them of being the missing disciples now, they're not even at the same power level."
"His logic is always like that. You get used to it." Luna whispered to Tena, the girl who wanted to go with them.
They couldn't pretend that nothing happened for very long though. Master Moon himself came to the cavern at full speed on his flying sword to see what the commotion was.
"I felt someone take a step toward the Immortal. A First Awakening I believe." The innkeeper greeted them.
"That would be Summer. She will be looking for work in the city if you know someone who might be hiring. June over there will be needing work as well. They have decided to follow your Sect's Disciple back to the city and settle down.
"Are those disguises? Not bad, but you need to add a few flaws, or they look unnaturally beautiful." Master Moon informed Cain, looking over Summer's appearance.
"Go ahead and try to dispel it. It is a permanent change, a secret technique from my homeworld, usable only by a very specific specialization." Cain explained.
Specialization was a good enough word for Class and didn't lead to more awkward questions, except perhaps if Master Moon wanted a facelift or something.
"I can take them back with us, that's not an issue. I don't suppose you ladies know much about serving drinks, do you? Having some friendly faces around might help with business at the Inn. Little Moon is too mean to the customers." Master Moon suggested, nodding happily at his idea.
"They know the whole Tea Ritual, if you want to get all fancy with the Inn, old man," Draco suggested.
"Hush you, I'm still your Sect Elder, until you catch up to my Cultivation." Master Moon told the dragonkin, who didn't seem to mind the barb.
"Let's not waste time. The inn will start getting busy soon, and I left Little Moon alone without warning. Hop up on the sword and I will take you back to the city." Master Moon offered.
Draco summoned his flying sword as well, and June stepped up behind him, but Summer hopped up into Master Moon's arms with a wink.
Cain could have sworn he heard June mutter the word 'shameless' but it was drowned out by Draco's warning.
"Don't let Little Moon see that. You know how she feels about you flirting with women more than a century your junior." Draco informed Master Moon in a very serious voice.
"I swear, if I hadn't seen them together, I would think that disciple of mine was my own mother reincarnated. Always picking at me for the little things." Master Moon sighed.
"Don't let him fool you with his innocent Elder act. Master Moon has over thirty children scattered around the continent." Draco warned the young woman, who looked startled at the news. Most of the men who made it to his power level dedicated their entire lives to mediation and avoiding distractions, not to spreading their lineage all over the world.
"It seems that I have a lot to learn about the world. What was her name, Little Moon? I will have to ask her about things when my shift is over."
That made the old man look a bit sad, but he recovered quickly. "Off we go. I will introduce you to everyone when we get back. Good to see you again Master Cain. If anyone asks, I didn't see you when I came to collect our Sect's Disciple, and I don't know what went on here."
With that the two men flew away with their passengers, leaving only Cain, Luna, and Tena behind.
"I thought it was only our sect, but the Elders are all a bit strange aren't they?" Tena whispered as she watched them leave.
Cain would pretend that she wasn't including him in that assessment.
