9 || The Town in Crisis! An Aural Beast Raid Appears!

You truly thought I'd let a damn snake into this tiger's den without knowing? Foolish." She spats, as two of her guards appear and take him away. As soon as he's gone, Shuyren immediately wraps her arms around a shaking Chun. Shuyren views all of the children as her great-grandkids and cares for them deeply.

"You'll stay with grandma tonight, and tomorrow, I'll take you to Gaste and buy all the sweets you want!" Shuyren places Chun on her hip with practiced grace, her free hand patting Tara on the head as she passes. She had sensed that wave had belonged to Tara making a breakthrough.

"We can't have you destroying everything with a power you can't control, starlight. It's too suspicious to have a spy blown to bits by a small one like yourself. I'll call a maid to replace your sheets. Your alchemy and combat skills lesson shall be canceled to make up for tomorrow's seclusion as we're going into Gatse."

Unlike noble families that had a city underneath them, many big families like the Hufang and the Shepi, for instance, shared profits of various small towns in a mutual agreement. Even some of the family members of the lower branches would open up shops in these towns, knowing they'd have to pay less taxes than in a noble's city.

The town closest and mostly controlled by the Hufang is called Gatse. It was a large town boasting twelve thousand people, half of whom were part of the Hufang's lower branches. The eight upper branches led by the Elders and the Matriarch lived within the mountainscape.

For a civilian, it would take a day and a half to walk to the mountain. For martial artists, it took about an hour's time. Normally, if Di was there, she'd argue that Shuyren needed a visible escort if she were to visit. With Chun's mothers hidden from view, it was more than enough.

'Did you learn anything from that man?' Tara asks Shuyren as they travel using her newly acquired energy message ability.

'After I probed his memories, yes. What he said was true with some of our family returning home! It seems your mother has caused quite a stir even showing up to some of the Martial Academies students. It's very likely some of the braver families like these snakes will attempt to sneak in.' Shuyren's eyes carry a dangerous look.

'Then shouldn't you stay and weed them out?'

'Your father should be able to deal with them with lunar energy, right?' Shuyren replies. People within a martial arts family often carried a similar energy signature that marked them. When someone was getting married into the family, these betrothed were often given either jewelry or weaponry that had this energy imbued into it. Eventually the energy would bleed onto them.

Tara nods. During her sparring sessions with her father, Tara has learned that lunar energy acted similarly to psychic energy, so he should be able to check if something was amiss. The lunar mind, as she called when both energies were used, were even stronger together.

Thinking about it, Tara hadn't tried stretching out her own senses, despite having both energies at her fingertips. She holds Shuyren's hand, closing her eyes to center on phlox and turquoise energies. It feels strange to stretch her senses out as her mind projects out of her body.

First, she quickly finds Kohra and Ashne's position. They stood out among the other things that entered her mind's vision. Amazingly, she could see and hear all sorts of things within almost 30 yards! This was on par with a low tier Bone Crystallization!

Shuyren watches as Tara grins, still focusing as she begins to explore what it was like to see and hear things from a distance. Soon Tara comes back to herself and Shuyren steadies her. The first time extending one's senses always causes some dizziness and lack of balance.

Once Tara is grounded, she suddenly races ahead using both her physical and solar energy. Amber and purple within her dance as she becomes a blur to Zuwen, Chun, and even Shuyren has to truly focus to see her. With her solar body, Tara laughs as she zooms about at a ridiculous pace and feels the wind pick up around her. If she was only a low tier Skin Igniting, she could hardly imagine how amazing her mother was.

They arrive outside of the town's Eastern gate in no time at all. Two armored people with the Hufang family crest guard the entrance. All of the town's guards were direct members of Hufang's, a mix of singulars and aurators.

Now this mystic man and warrior woman had never seen the Matriarch before outside of her carriage, but they did recognize the children with her. Their parents were frequent visitors with Casian and Kohra hailing from Gatse to visit their parents.

"Tiny Tara and Zuzu? Little Chun? What are you doing here?!" The man exclaims as the three young girls approach. He looks for their parents, only seeing a smiling woman in her mid-thirties accompanying them. Tara can't help but giggle internally.

"We've come to visit with my baba," Tara told them slowly, watching as a look of confusion came over their faces.

Tara referred to her paternal grandparents with Gatse as Mama and Papa with only one person she called baba. The woman's eyes widen as she turns to her companion. She's about to say something before Chun's mothers' appear beside them, placing a finger to their lips. The woman gulps as these two simply melted into existence.

Chun's delighted to see her parents, rushing over to hug them. They quickly sweep up their daughter with hugs and kisses as they step away from the guards. Shuyren steps forward and greets the two guards both while thanking them for doing a fantastic job. They deeply bow to her, with a quick and clean response to her presence.

"It is obvious that you wish to keep your presence a secret here, Matriarch, but the town master would be greatly humbled if you visit. Gaste has a bit of a crisis," The woman says nervously as they straighten up and guide the group into town. As they enter, many people greet Tara and her sister as well as Chun and her mothers.

"What kind of crisis? And why weren't I nor any of the Elders informed?" Shuyren is not bothered that she wasn't recognized or acknowledged. The two guards share a look before the man presses his left middle and pointer fingers together before tapping the side of his head. Shuyren's calm expression shifts slightly as she's relayed a telepathic message. What was that idiot child of a town master thinking not contacting the upper family!

"Kohra, please take Zuzu to her grandparents here in Gatse and stay with them. Ashne the same goes for you and Little Chun. Tara, with me." Without another word, Shuyren uses a simple flicker step ahead of the guards towards the central tower. Tara has to use her Sunny Dance to keep up. Shuyren stops just outside of the building.

"Restrain your aura to that of a civilian, please," Shuyren asks Tara. Tara figures her talent should be kept a secret. A guard immediately recognizes Shuyren and guides them to the town master, Hesif's, office. Outside stood a hulking teenager who had a handsome face.

"Welcome to our humble home, Madam Matriarch." He said with a smile. He cups his hands and bows. Shuyren inclines her head.

"Wait here," Shuyren orders as she enters Hesif's office. Upon the Matriarch leaving, the bulky teen's pleasant appearance vanishes. He is the tower master's son, Jangi.

He glares at this young girl who had accompanied the Matriarch. Just where had she picked up such a stray who wasn't even a warrior or mystic? He scoffs loudly for he boasts having a midtier Blood Directing at fifteen. Such a thing was a rarity even among the upper members who only reach Skin Igniting at the same age. It is because of this that Jangi believes he had a great future ahead of him.

With her aural senses repressed Tara uses her lunar energy to wash over him instead. Shuyren believes that if one wasn't aware of the Twin Sphere energy then they couldn't perceive it. Tara wasn't that impressed by what she saw of his internal energies: the exit ways for his aural energies in his navel, brain, and heart were smaller than normal. It was a wonder he even made it to Blood Directing at all! Jangi's foundation was clearly built through alchemy.

Elder Fraiz focuses plenty on the theory and effects of what could be created. And while Tara hadn't made any medicines, such as potions or pills, she has an understanding of how solely relying on them affected a person's ability and growth.

Pills especially had a place in navigating an advancement but one's aural energy still needed to move by their own power. Jangi's aural threads, for instance, were split and frayed to the point where even if Tara shared the Twin Sphere technique he might make midtier Bone Crystallization eventually.

With this insight, Tara ignores his foolish glares and instead turns her energy throughout the building. Many of the officials were either high tier Blood Directing singulars or high tier Skin Igniting aurators with the leaders being midtier Blood Directing aurators.

Any room where she sensed a mystic, Tara didn't stay. She wasn't sure if having stronger psychic energies could allow them to feel her presence. Tara reels her mind back with a frown.

Many people were rushing hastily going over town defenses and civilian evacuations. Tara's mind immediately went to her paternal grandparents.

They weren't singulars let alone aurators. How could they overcome whatever this threat is? Before she could ponder further, Shuyren exits followed by a man with very round features. He was around the same age as her father.

"As you are aware an attack on Gaste is imminent. Something is happening within the jungle area that has riled the Aural Beasts into forming a raid." Shuyren begins with a pointed glance to Tara. Tara understood that their actions within the ruins had displaced many Aural Beasts and caused them to relocate. A possibly more intelligent Aural Beast might have indicated it was the humans who were at fault.

Jangi immediately perks up at this news. Finally an opportunity to show his strength! Then a look of confusion crosses his face in the next moment. While he has no respect for his father because he wasn't even a singular, he acknowledges that Heisf was an extremely capable leader. And yet here Hesif is bowing his head towards the child across from him in greeting. Just who was she really?

"Do we know when they'll show up?" Tara asks worriedly.

"About three hours until they reach the edge of the forest and into the clearings around the city. The western side will take longer as it's guarded by an intersection of the river. Evacuation and defensive measures were being put into place the moment you arrived. Your grandparents have already been relocated to my estate." Hesif replies to her, sparing no details.

"The situation is less than ideal and the window for meditation is smaller than what you've handled. I had wanted you to not push yourself too far but tomorrow calls for it." Shuyren says to her, asking her to join the coming conflict in her own way.

After Tara visibly relaxed from Hesif's assurance, the young girl's eyes were clear with determination for the challenge ahead. As Tara enters one of Hesif's rooms within his mansion, Shuyren quickly places a few energy gathering symbols through the room.

To learn as much as she could from the ancient psychic energy in such a short span of time with the crawling doom inching closer, it was a lot to ask for. Tara takes several steadying breaths to clear her mind of distractions. All she could do was try her best, no, she had to do her best in order to protect the innocent people under her family's watch.