7 Preparing for departure

Meanwhile in the exhibition hall, Samuel has just decided on joining their academy. They were all very excited about it, albeit for very different reasons...

Samuel was about to leave his village for the very first time in his life. 'It feels like the starting point of a great adventure. I'm going to see parts of the world I have never seen before, gain access to an entire academy's accumulation of knowledge, but most importantly, I'm finally going to start my cultivation!'

Eva had just succeeded in getting a dao child in joining their academy! 'It's too bad I can't tell anyone the truth, but still, it will be for the best. And even though no one will know what he is exactly, there is no doubt his talents are going to shock the entire academy! I'm so curious how he will progress in his cultivation, and maybe even more so, how he will grow up and become a man a view years later, hehehe.' She thought while she unconsciously licked her lips

Sarah was most of all, extremely happy she didn't have to separate from him. 'I will have plenty of time and chances to make him mine now that he will be joining us. I'll make sure the private lodging I promised to arrange for him will be built right next to my place. This will allow me to keep an eye on him, I'll make sure none of the other girls will be able to get close to him. He is mine! I won't allow anyone to steal him away from me!' She thought while looking at him with great conviction. She was ready for it, the unavoidable and fated battle that was about to erupt, the upcoming fight between her and all her fellow sisters, 'Bring it the fuck on!'

And Anna? Well... All she was thinking about was her virginity. 'What do I do, what do I do? We'll be living in the same academy, I will be seeing him all the time! What am I going to do if he asks me? Do I just give myself without a struggle? Will I be even able to resist him? Do I even want to resist? What if he thinks I'm cheap and easy to get if I don't? Oh no, what am I going to do!?'

Thank god mind-reading wasn't something possible or things would be turning really awkward now. In Anna's case though, no one needed to read her mind to know what she was thinking.

"So what now?" Samuel asked, breaking the silence between the four of them.

"Well it depends on when you're ready to leave, but before we leave we need to either destroy or secure all of your art to make sure it won't be coming back at us," Eva answered.

'Destroy or secure she says... I rather not destroy it, maybe I can sell it somehow without it linking back to me? I'm probably going to need some money over there so selling it would be perfect.'

"Do you know if there is any way I can sell all of it without exposing myself? Is it worth the effort? To be honest, I have no idea how much it would be worth either."

"Sell it? If I act as your proxy there should be no way to trace it back to you. Even if they ask me where I got it from I just tell them I found them during one of my travels. The fastest way would be to sell them directly to one of the shops in Marz or a via an interested private buyer. If you can wait for a little longer though, offering them up for auction would give you a better price instead."

"And for how much it's worth, I'm not so sure, to be honest. These things tend to vary a lot in price but I do know they are worth a lot. You see, besides the artistic value of your work, if someone with the right affinity possessed your art they will be able to increase their comprehension of the dao, just by being in its presence. And that is something I'm sure they are willing to spend for." Eva explained.

"That won't be necessary, I will buy everything right now and I won't be stingy about it either." Sarah suddenly interrupted.

"You're going to buy all of it? You do realize that will cost you at least eighty thousand medium grade spirit stones, don't you? You don't even know if any of them suit you either." Eva proclaimed being quite shocked. The number of spirit stones certainly wasn't small, not even for a noble like her. With that kind of wealth, you could easily buy a big piece of land containing several mansions and still have enough left to live the rest of your life in comfort.

"I have my reasons, plus I will give you a hundred thousand medium-grade spirit stones instead. Since you don't have a bank account and aren't able to use a spatial artifact at the moment, I will keep the money for now and will give it to you whenever I can. If you need any money in the meantime I will take care of that as well. So what do you think about my offer?" Sarah asked Samuel. She was clearly very eager to get her hands on his work and made no efforts in hiding her intentions either.

Samuel who was a little taken aback by her decisiveness had no idea what his work was worth in the first place. He didn't even know the worth of a hundred thousand spirit stones. But seeing the shocked reaction on Eva's face, it's must be a lot. Selling it right now would save him lots of effort and will immediately solve all his money problems. Feeling he could trust them, he decided to agree to her proposal.

"I can't think of any reason why not, thank you for buying my work." He said while he couldn't help but start to have a favorable impression of her. Even though he wasn't exactly sure of her reasons, he was pretty sure they didn't contain any malice.

"The pleasure is mine Samuel, thank you for trusting me," Sarah said before she took everything away into her space ring.

'Wow... a spatial artifact! How awesome is that, I will certainly buy one for myself in the future,' Samuel thought.

"Now that we have solved all that, how much time do you think you need to tie things up here and can leave with us?" Eva asked Samuel.

Thinking about what he needed to do before he can leave he realized it wasn't much. All he needs to do is gather the few possessions he had and explain things to his parents. 'My parents,' he thought. 'How am I going to explain all of this to them in the first place?'

"I only need a little less than a day to finish things on my side. What about we leave here tomorrow, somewhere early in the morning? If you wish I can arrange a place for you all to stay tonight," Samuel asked them.

"Perfect, thank you for the offer but that won't be necessary. We will be meditating somewhere close in the woods. When you're ready to go, just walk outside the village and we'll know about it and will come for you directly." Eva said, before walking out of the exhibition hall along with her beautiful disciples.

When Samuel left the now empty exhibition hall, he was met outside with three very anxious people, Edgar, and his parents, and was forced to explain everything that happened.

"They were very interested in buying my art. I was afraid it might anger them if I would refuse to sell it to them so I sold everything. Also, they have offered me to become a student at their academy, an offer I have accepted. I will be leaving with them tomorrow morning." he explained without giving them a chance to object.

Although it would be an enormous loss for the village, Edgar understood all too well that someone as capable as Samuel would one day have to leave. Since he was already prepared for it he wasn't so shocked about it either. Things could have been far worse if these people had bad intentions after all. Plus, if Samuel would join their academy there is no doubt he will grow up to be a powerful cultivator. With his parents still living here, he was certain their village's safety was as good as guaranteed in the future. He thought they would need some time alone now so decided to give them some space and quickly left after saying his goodbyes.

Being alone with his parents now, they walked back home so they could talk in private. After they arrived, nobody wanted to speak at first, the normally rowdy house was now enveloped in silence and remained like that for quite a while. That uncomfortable moment lasted way too long and came only to its end when Samuel couldn't take it any longer and decided to speak.

"I'm sorry," he said. "For making this decision without consulting you first." He truly felt sorry but nevertheless, stood behind the decision he made. He knew beforehand that if he had asked them it wouldn't have changed anything. If he wants to leave then he will leave and not even his parents would be able to stop him. He wanted to save them the worries and troubles of a useless discussion and therefore decided to act before they had a chance to interfere. But to his surprise, his parents reacted very differently than he had expected.

"It's ok Samuel, we've always known this day would come and have long since been prepared for it. We always knew it was impossible to keep you here and have never wanted to do so either. It would be a waste for your talents to stay here, it would be an insult to the heavens. So don't feel bad for your parents and live the life you want to live, soar for the skies and make us proud, and most importantly, make sure to stay safe." His mother Hanna said while she was trying very hard not to cry in front of him.

"Your mother is right Samuel. Although we hoped this day would come when you were a little older, we still believe in you. You are everything that we as parents could've ever wished for. Smart as you are, we have fate in your ability to keep yourself from harm. To be honest, we are already very lucky that you are able to join an academy that is able to protect and guide you in our absence, we could not have hoped for any better outcome. So promise us you do your best to keep yourself from harm and won't do anything reckless. Visit us whenever you can and most importantly, don't make us wait too long for our grandchildren. Elkana said with a smirk on his face.

"Dad, mom, thank you. As a child, I could not have any better parents. I promise you I will stay safe and won't do anything you wouldn't do either. I will come back and visit you whenever I can, I will really miss you guys." Samuel said, he was really lucky with such loving parents

and couldn't help feeling bitter about leaving them.

When they finished talking he started to gather his stuff so he would be ready to depart when he woke up tomorrow. After he was done with everything he felt pretty tired and since it was late as well, decided to call it a day and quickly went to bed.

'When I wake up tomorrow I will be leaving home, I will cross the barren lands and travel into unknown lands, I will adventure through the world, I will embark on the journey of cultivation, I will grow up and become a man, I will...'

And before he could finish his thoughts, he fell asleep.