"...Is this an alchemy oven...?"
Sophia moved closer to the large object. She reached out her hand—but found herself unable to touch it. Retreating to her parents, she clutched her chest and whispered:
— It gives me chills just being near it... Are you sure it's meant to be like this, Dad?
"I don't know... but the manager of the Hall didn't mention anything being wrong."
"And why put it here...? You could have placed it anywhere else... besides, this room is far too far from where Noah is."
Arthur glanced around—the room was dark, lit only by torches. Its walls were made of stone, and the floor was nothing less than massive rock. This was the training room for the family leaders, a space accessible only to the three of them—him, Alice, and Sophia—and now, Noah as well.
"It's safer to do it this way. That way, the information won't be at risk of leaking," he explained, causing Sophia to look away in an odd manner.
"Y-Yes, you're right..." she stuttered.
"Hmm, though it might not help much. After all, someone will surely notice when it's time to buy the herbs Noah requests," Alice added.
"And they're sold at auctions... where so many people gather..." Sophia sighed.
Lost in thought for a moment, Arthur mused:
— Perhaps we shouldn't buy them, but rather harvest them...
He observed quietly.
Just as in the western/northwestern forests, the fields surrounding the city's walls are full of things—especially herbs, since it's from these places that the Moonlit Night Hall sources the items up for auction.
"No!" Alice exclaimed firmly, leaving no room for argument. "It would be far too dangerous!"
Besides the herbs, these two locations share a certain trait—they're inhabited by beasts—which is the main reason why the Hall is the only one capable of exploiting them.
"Not unless the boy tries to go there..." Arthur argued, unaware of Noah's true situation.
"Really, do you want to put him in danger for that? Especially when we're still in his debt? Listen to what you're saying!"
"But, dear, he's the strongest in the family right now."
"In the family...?" Alice smiled. "I didn't know Noah was part of our family—when exactly did that happen?"
"...You understand me..."
Restless, Arthur turned away—pouting just like Sophia—and looked at his daughter:
— What do you think about it? After all, unfortunately, you were the one who spent the most time with him...
"Unfortunately..." Sophia laughed, then shifted her posture at the sight of her father's stern look. Embarrassed, she cleared her throat and said:
— ...I also don't believe your plan will work...
"...Why not?"
"Because Noah's problem seems to go beyond mere physical pain—he can't use his own Qi at the moment."
"He can't...?" Arthur began to grow anxious; his mind wandered until he recalled a recent incident—one that bears mentioning in our current situation:
— Then how did he crush Ai's wrist that way? She's in the sixth stage of Body Refinement—it shouldn't be easy to do that unless the person in question is at an extraordinarily high level of cultivation.
"I... don't know."
"It doesn't matter how strong he is if neither his body nor his Qi can be properly utilized," Alice pointed out, highlighting the flaw in Arthur's hasty assessment.
They turned away from one another—Sophia smiled as she tried to ease the tension. She didn't like seeing her parents in that state, even though she knew these arguments never meant much—minutes later, they would be laughing together again.
"…Why don't we ask him what he thinks about it first?" she suggested, offering an option that would take the burden of decision away from them—and thus also remove the cause of their parents' squabbling.
"Huh? Didn't you say he was training?" Alice asked.
"Well, he mentioned that I should call him if Dad manages to get the oven, and… the method he's training with right now is a bit… different… from what you think."
"Different…?"
Alice and Arthur exchanged puzzled looks.
They left through a massive door as thick as two full fists—and Arthur closed it behind them. Its heavy creaks echoed throughout the room, even beyond the end of the spiral staircase. Climbing the spacious but dark spiral steps, they saw a light at the end—as the three emerged into a pavilion surrounded by a small lake.
Colorful fish danced wildly, like a living painting beneath the water. One of the walkways led to a secluded garden, while the other went to the back of Arthur and Alice's courtyard.
Halfway along, Sophia picked up a stone—an action that left her parents both confused and curious.
When they reached the room, they saw Noah meditating—which prompted Arthur to ask,
— Didn't you say he was training martial arts? That's meditation.
"And he is… even though I don't quite understand how," Sophia replied, holding the stone.
Then they would learn the reason for that stone. She prepared to throw it—gripping it and drawing her arm back—startling her parents, who even considered trying to stop her but couldn't.
Noah quickly raised his hand—faster than one could blink—and caught the stone mid-air. The pain from doing so was more than he expected, making his entire arm tremble and go numb for a while. He looked at Sophia after realizing what he had caught was a stone:
— That was overkill… you didn't need to throw it that hard.
He said.
"Sorry…"
"What was that?!" Arthur questioned, confused but also impressed that Noah had caught the stone so swiftly. "You could've hurt him, Sophia!"
"It was I who asked her to do that."
"Pardon…?"
Stretching out, Noah reminded him:
— I didn't want something to happen like what occurred with that girl… Guang Ai…? So I asked that Sophia use a stone when she came to wake me up, so nobody would get injured.
Arthur and Alice found it absurd—and very strange. No matter how confident someone might be in their own abilities, to them it seemed madness that anyone would put themselves in a situation with even a slight risk of injury without any real need or reason.
After finishing his stretches, Noah rose from the bed—to the surprise of all three—the pain he experienced was immense, as if his bones were reassembling all at once, sending a shock through his entire body; he froze for a moment because of it.
Coming back to reality, Noah nearly fell, but Sophia helped him remain upright. Looking at a stunned Arthur, he asked:
— So, did you manage to get the oven, sir?
while enduring the pain and getting used to it.