Vicente's group soon began to disembark from the first train to Grandis, arriving in the capital after 25 days of travel that had passed very quickly.
As they left the train car they had traveled in, they were met by royal soldiers and the royal family who were waiting for them.
This was no ordinary day for the city or the kingdom. King Seidel did not want to miss the inauguration of the local train station, which brought a super-efficient means of transportation to connect parts of his kingdom.
At the same time, a great local prodigy was moving into his city!
The moment he spotted Vicente, King Seidel broke into a smile, seeing this young man after years of not seeing each other.
Vicente was now just over 21 years old, but his appearance was still much the same as it had been two or three years ago.
His aura was stronger than ever, and both the King and the Paragon hidden among his guards could see that Vicente was close to reaching the pinnacle of his stage.
This was a tremendous progress for the short time that had passed since his ascension to the level of Sky Sovereign!
But while he couldn't ignore Vicente's strengthening, King Seidel couldn't help but notice the beautiful young black-haired woman next to Vice.
"This is Nina Fuller, Your Majesty," one of the men close to the king said as he pointed to the girl Killian had been studying with.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"I see. No wonder. She's very beautiful indeed," the king laughed, understanding the things that were probably going through Killian's mind.
If he were the same age as Nina, he too would be captivated by her appearance and demeanor!
"Tell Killian to come to me later. I want to talk to him," the king told his subordinate. 'I will make the boy hurry up and make up his mind. A girl like her won't be 'free' for long.'
Vicente was talented and powerful. The king would love to have this young man in his family. But he didn't know how difficult it would be to get close to such a man. Vice already had several women and didn't want to give up his lifestyle to be the husband of one of the princesses.
The king didn't want to lower himself by simply giving one of his daughters to be just another one of Vicente's women, so Killian and Nina were the best way for him to have family ties with the man.
But that was something he would deal with later. Once Vicente was within a few feet of him, he approached to greet the young man and the newly arrived group.
"Welcome back to my city, Vice," the king said as he shook the hand of the black-haired young man, who stood as tall and strong as a door.
Nina looked at the king with a twinkle in her eye, feeling proud that the most respected figure in the kingdom was there to greet her family.
"I see you have several companions for your hunt," the king commented as he looked at Casey and Sarah.
"Hmm, we've had some success lately," Vicente commented as he had Onyx on one of his shoulders.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})As for Rory and Layla, who were also supposed to join him on his hunt, they were already in Grandis waiting for this group, so it was only natural that they weren't there.
"This must be your sister, right? She seems like a very promising young woman. I've heard a lot about her from my friend Newton," the king said as he looked at Nina and Newton.
"Yes, my sister recently turned 14. I intend to go to the Awakening Temple now to see what she can accomplish," Vicente commented, trying to be hopeful and not think about the possibility of failure.
Newton approached the King and said. "It's good to see you again, Your Majesty."
"Hmm. Having you in my city now will be very important for us." The king commented to this other genius of his state. "You will probably be advancing very soon, right? I'll help you get your pentagram when the time comes."
"Thank you for the opportunity, Your Majesty."
So their group left the metal station, with the King talking a little more to Vicente's group after greeting Nova and Eve and making it clear that they could come to him whenever they needed help.
Not long after that, the King and his group temporarily said goodbye to Vicente's group to make room for them to go to Nina's Awakening.
This was a special moment for the Fuller family. It wouldn't be good if the royal family tried to interfere and crowd the local Awakening Temple.
The king knew that Nina had a high chance of failing to get a Magic Gem, which would make the situation rather bad for him or his people to be around.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Thinking about letting Vicente's group settle down in his city before dealing with more important matters, the king decided not to talk about business and Vicente's departure from his city until the day after tomorrow.
That should be enough time for Nina to wake up and for the family to adjust to the city.
Soon Vicente, Nina, Eve, Nova, Casey, Newton, Sarah and Onyx were in front of the local Awakening Temple, where Rory, Layla and Jasmine were already waiting for them inside the large pantheon-shaped building.
There was still an hour to go before the day's Awakening Ceremony, but the group had no trouble making their way into the building, quickly reaching a special area where only guests or members of the organization could enter.
Once there, Vicente and his people found their companions and allies waiting for them, along with some strange people.
"You must be Vicente Fuller..." Said a man with white hair and a build as strong as King Seidel's.
Vicente recognized Jasmine's father, remembering the time he had feared this person.
He smiled and said hello. "Hm, it's nice to finally meet you, Sacred Devotee Barber. I've heard about you several times over the years."
"My daughter has spoken of you as well. You were, no, you're a good friend to her. Thank you for helping my daughter, Vicente." Said the man with a sincere smile on his face.
He then looked at Nina and wished the Fuller family the best of luck.
"... Sometimes certain bad things happen for a greater reason. I know that's not nice to hear, but whatever the outcome today, there is a greater purpose behind all things. Today's outcome may be for the better. At the end of the day, happiness has nothing to do with power." He said to Nina before leaving the group.
