Death... and me

They were then brought into a room with Roan and the girls. Before Laun left, Frandin looked back at him and gave a warning.

"Alright, you guys better stop watching me with Spiritual Sense or Soul Power. By the way, there's a little bird using its Spiritual Sense five hundred and seven meters in that direction. Can you take care of it for me?"

Laun was taken aback after hearing that. That direction was the Ancestor's chamber. Sure enough, as soon as Frandin said those words, Sumeri felt a chill on her back.

"What?! How did he know?"

In less than an instant, she retracted her Spiritual Sense without thinking twice. It was obvious that her cultivation was far from enough to not be detected by Frandin. Soul Power was even more out of the question. That's because, unlike her Spiritual Sense, Soul Power could be felt by anyone who can also use Soul Power. Cultivation difference didn't matter in this case. Naturally, Frandin would feel it the moment someone tried to use it in the room as well.

"Oh! Whoever was looking at us just retracted their Spiritual Sense. Well, that's to be expected."

Obviously, it was Roan, who was using Rean's Spiritual Sense bending skill, that noticed Sumeri's Spiritual Sense. Once again, the stronger the Spiritual Sense, the easier it was for Rean's skill to detect it. He then informed Frandin through a Spiritual Sense message, who then told Laun.

Naturally, Laun said that he would check what it was. He already knew that it was Sumeri, so he wouldn't really go there. There's no doubt that Sumeri heard Gian's (Frandin) words with her Spiritual Sense as well. That's why she retracted it. Well, he wouldn't dare complain to their Ancestor in the first place.

Sumeri then sighed back in her chamber.

'As expected of a Celestial Land Member. Even though I'm four realms above him, he could tell straight away where I was and that I was watching him. I wonder what kind of equipment or skill they used to achieve that result.'

Sumeri then shook her head and gave up on watching them. The important thing was that he would heal them all, which was always good.

With that resolved, Frandin sent Laun and the other elders out.

"You can wait outside. It will only take a few minutes at most. Once it's done, I'll call you back inside."

Laun's group was obviously surprised to hear that. Frandin didn't do any lethal damage to Xiria and the others, but he did injure them pretty badly. To heal them all in just a few minutes, was that even possible? In Laun's eyes, they would need at least a few weeks to fully recover.

Well, Frandin just smiled in response to their non-verbal questions and closed the door to the room.

Sister Orb then verified any formation that they should be aware of before Roan began to heal everyone.

'Life Style, Second Form, Instant Recovery!'

Light Element burst out of Roan's body as his hair changed into a mix of black and white. He also used his new White Star to help gather more Light Element. As always, he took longer to heal everyone than Rean would have, but he still finished the job on those five around fifteen minutes later. He wasn't afraid that some of them were pretending to be unconscious either. Death was more than experienced enough to see through such a trick.

Eventually, the process was over, and Roan's hair went back to normal. He nodded at Frandin right after.

Outside, Laun saw the door of the room open and immediately stormed inside. As one could expect, Xiria and the other four were completely healed up. Other than their ragged clothes and bloodstains, their bodies had no damage whatsoever. He and the other elders could tell that much through their Spiritual Senses.

"Such a powerful healing ability..."

Frandin snorted, keeping his young master play up.

"Powerful? That's because you've never seen my grandfather. Otherwise, you would be laughing at my face. Hahaha!"

Laun and the others didn't doubt that. If he could already do such a thing at the Foundation Establishment Realm, let alone when he was at a higher level.

Suddenly, Xiria's eyes tightened before they opened. Laun was happy to see that, of course. He immediately hugged her, showing his worries.

"Xiria, how are you doing? Is anything wrong with your body?"

*Pah!*

Out of nowhere, a woman slapped Laun's backhead as she said.

"Stop making a fool of yourself, idiot. She's my daughter, so she's obviously fine."

Xiria looked at the current situation and couldn't help but feel embarrassed. That woman's name was Latia, her mother. Her mother and her father's antics always caused her trouble. Well, they liked each other, so it was fine... somehow.

It was then that she noticed that all her injuries were gone, without any trace left behind. Obviously, she was shocked by that sight. She knew very well how badly injured she was.

The others were also being attended by their relatives and the elders. Their condition was the same as Xiria, with no injures whatsoever. Well, Xiria hadn't completely recovered, though. She was still very pale. That being said, Frandin got close before adding.

"By the way, I healed all your injuries, but I can't replenish the blood you lost during the battle. Make sure to eat a lot to recover it."

Obviously, Xiria understood that it was Frandin who healed her and everyone else.

Laun sighed and then bowed to Frandin(Gian).

"Thank you, you really kept your word."

Latia also did the same thing.

Frandin didn't mind it too much, or so it looked on the surface.

"Hahaha! It's fine, it's fine! I'm the one looking for a new subordinate, after all."

Frandin then looked at Xiria with a smug smile as he said.

"By the way, are you sure you don't want to change your clothes? I can see your nipples through some of the gaps my attacks left behind."

Xiria's expression immediately turned bright red as she stormed outside of the room.

As for Laun, his expression turned dark as he looked at Frandin (Gian) and asked.

"You...! You dare say such a thing to my daughter?"

Frandin shrugged his shoulders as he responded.

"I was being gentle, you know? If it was really shredded, I could have kept quiet and took my time to admire the beautiful work you and your wife created. But alas, I'm not the type who indulges in these kinds of things. In the end, my training takes precedence above everything else."

Frandin then looked at Latia before saying.

"Still, there's no wonder Xiria is that beautiful. Her mother was definitely the reason behind it. I'm happy she didn't inherit this grumpy guy's features."

At first, Latia was also angry with Frandin's words. However, that praise immediately improved her mood.

"Oh, aren't you quite smooth with your words? I don't hate it, though. I agree with you as well. It was her blessing to not inherit anything from this old man's genes."

Laun felt like crying already. Why was everyone against him? Even his wife and daughter were no exception.

'Hmph! So what? He won't stay for long anyway.'

Well, at least on that point, Laun was right. Roan's group didn't want to stay for long to start with.

Frandin took the opportunity to leave the room with Roan and the girls, going back to his own room. With that, he was finally able to drop his pretense as excitement overflowed on his face.

"That was great! I've never felt like that before! Their attacks were so easy to track. My control was also much higher than I could have expected. I thought it would be impossible for me to beat all of them at once, but I did it! I did it! Hahahaha!"

*Pah!*

Sure enough, Roan slapped the back of Frandin's head, snapping him back to reality.

"What the hell are you happy about? Only that Xiria had some talent between those five, and it wasn't anything that great to start with. The others were very average. They didn't send a single real genius of their clan for this task since they wouldn't allow the loss of such materials."

Roan's expression became dark after that.

"But even though that was the case, look at you. Just how many hits did you receive during that battle against those pieces of trash? Sure enough, that easy training routine I gave you is way too simple. You embarrassed me with that fucking awful display."

Frandin's excitement immediately died once he heard that. Of course, he knew very well the difference between him and the rest. Malaka, Qia, Agis, Calina, all of them would have done much better than him. Still...

"Aren't you a little too demanding? They had been with you for a long, long time. Besides, I had truly accepted your ways only recently. Obviously, I can make up for the gap quickly. Shouldn't I receive a little bit of praise for that?"

Roan was just about to complain even more when, all of a sudden, the girls nodded together.

"Roan, Frandin's right. He did improve a lot."

"Yea! You're always such an annoying guy."

"Can't you at least admit that he performed well enough? You always do that, even with us!"

Roan's mouth twitched as he said.

"Since when did you all take his side? No, forget it. It's like I care."

Frandin felt emotional. He didn't expect the girls to defend him... or not.

"Of course, he's still terrible, but if you say it in front of his face, he will take even longer to improve."

"Exactly. You must learn how to give some encouraging words, even if they're lies."

"Don't worry, Frandin. As shitty as you might be, we know how you feel."

Frandin's emotions disappeared as fast as they came.

'Hey, wait a minute! Aren't you guys also stepping on my feelings?'

Frandin shook his head and decided to ignore them. He would be happier if he pretended to not hear anything for a while.