Chapter 17: Instincts

Aurora just watched everything with wide eyes; her mind had long since stopped working. She couldn't comprehend what had just happened.

When the explosion occurred due to the collision of arrows and swords, she backed away and fell to the ground. Although there were runes negating the pressure and any damage coming toward her, the mere presence of the attacks had blown her mind.

But when she saw the green mist forming where both Aadi's and Asty's domains were, she felt like she understood something, though at the same time, she didn't.

All of this caused such a mess in her mind that she nearly lost consciousness.

Suddenly, everything vanished in front of her eyes, and she snapped back to her senses, seeing Aadi and Asty facing each other with clear tension between them.

Asty took a deep breath and said in a threatening tone, "I don't know how you got that, but give it to me this instant."

Aadi just smiled and responded by shaking his head. "I can give you this, but you have to promise me that you won't attack me unless I attack you for the next 7 million years, and by that, I mean without using time dilation."

Asty began contemplating, as there were only three things she liked to do: first, of course, was sleeping, second was bullying Aadi, and third was this box. Now, she was in a pinch. After thinking for a while, she gave her answer.

Asty clicked her tongue and said, "Tch, fine. I won't attack you, but you'll be the one to train the basics for Aurora."

Aadi just shrugged his shoulders; he knew she wasn't going to train Aurora either way, so it didn't really matter.

Aadi then tossed the box toward Asty and immediately heard her shout, "Be careful, you bastard! Even if you worked for millions of years, you couldn't afford this."

Aadi's eyes twitched after hearing that, and he simply looked away, not wanting to respond. Arguing with a fool only proves there are two.

Asty hurriedly caught the box and looked at it like it was the world's greatest creation. Her eyes shone with excitement, and one could even see drool trickling from her mouth.

After staring at it for a while, she reluctantly placed the box in her pocket dimension.

*'Smah!'*

Just as she turned her head toward Aadi, a cake appeared out of nowhere and smashed against her small face.

She wasn't even surprised by the loud laughter that followed, as she'd already imagined something like this happening. She knew Aadi was a petty person and would definitely take revenge, but she hadn't expected it so soon, which was why she was caught off guard.

Aadi was rolling on the ground, clutching his stomach and laughing out loud.

Asty shook herself to get rid of the cake, and soon her shiny white fur was back, with not a trace of cake left.

"I still don't understand what's so fun about this," Asty sighed, walking toward Aurora, who was watching them with a speechless expression.

Aadi stifled his laughter, stood up, and followed Asty, replying, "As I said before, you'll never be able to understand the Dao of Cake. Maybe that's why you're weaker than me."

Asty didn't even look back, snorting as she said, "Yeah, and who was getting his ass kicked just a few moments ago?"

Aadi responded with a straight face, "Of course, it was because I was in my weakest state; otherwise, you'd never have been able to even touch me."

By the time Aadi finished his shameless comment, they had reached Aurora, who hadn't changed her expression at all and was still looking at them in disbelief.

She was truly shocked to the core. One minute, they were fighting, and the next, they were acting as if nothing had happened. She even wondered, 'Am I really in good hands? Did I just choose crazy people as my Masters?'

Aadi crouched down in front of Aurora and chuckled. "Oya, oya, am I sensing fear from you? Tell me, Aurora, do you fear the power we just displayed?"

Aurora was confused by Aadi's words, but then she followed his gaze and noticed her body was trembling. She was even more perplexed, as while she felt some fear watching the battle, it wasn't to this extent.

"It's okay. Fear is good; it shows you where your weaknesses lie. Once you know your weakness, you can become even stronger." Aadi patted her head, calming her entire body.

Aurora lowered her head, enjoying Aadi's gentle pat. She felt very comfortable and safe under his touch, as if, even if the whole world wanted her dead, she would still be safe here. She suddenly remembered Aadi's goal, which Asty had told her about, and smiled a little, forgetting everything as she sat in that moment of happiness.

"As for the trembling of your body, that's a good thing too. You see, you have very strong instincts, and it was because of them you reacted that way. Since these instincts are body-related, but your mind was elsewhere, you weren't in sync." Aadi explained, retracting his hand.

Although Aurora felt a little sad, she didn't ask for more. She began thinking about Aadi's words, suddenly had a realization, and asked, "Master, is that why you told me to use my instincts during our spar?"

Aadi nodded in agreement. "Yes, I noticed it, so I wanted to confirm. You're really lucky to be born with such instincts, as it takes years of training and fighting for others to develop that."

Aadi snapped his fingers, and all the runes disappeared, causing the dimensional space to return to normal.

Aadi, as if just remembering, told Aurora, "Oh yeah, if you want power like that, you won't have to wait long, as we just used Ruler Profound Stage strength."