Weirdo

The cold tone of Radus's voice caused Sana to shiver, but she quickly gathered herself and stepped away from the painting.

Her mother laid a hand on her shoulder and said to Radus, "That's enough. I think we should leave now," she declared with a glare.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Radus quickly apologized. He shuffled between them and the exit of the courtyard, gesturing at them to stop. He wrung his hands before speaking rapidly, "Please let me at least paint you. Both of you, together. Just for today."

After glaring at him for a while, Aria looked at her daughter questioningly. Sana nodded in agreement, and her mother turned back to Radus. "Very well. Just for today."

Radus quickly brought out a new easel and empty canvas and asked them to stand in the middle of the courtyard. Aria stood behind Sana with a hand on her shoulder, both looking towards Radus, who quickly started painting.

At first, Sana was quite interested in Radus's painting but quickly grew bored with the inactivity. As she was debating whether to try meditating, her mother spoke up, "So, you want to know how I got to know him?"

Sana blinked in surprise. "Shouldn't we stay quiet?" she asked. "Don't worry, he's lost in his work. He probably isn't even conscious of our conversation. So, do you want to know?" Aria repeated.

After Sana nodded she continued, "After I met your father in the Twilight Lands and after we were travelling together for almost a year, we stumbled upon a half starved young man.

"We were pretty deep inside the Twilight Lands, and the sun had already set beyond the horizon. We found him dying in a cave system we were exploring. He was lying against a cave wall, clothing ripped. Your father convinced me to help him and share our food.

"Imagine my surprise when it turned out he wasn't even a Martial Student yet. At that time I couldn't even understand how someone so weak could get as far into the Twilight Lands as he did. I wanted to get rid of him immediately but your father felt pity for him.

"He was as weird then, as he is now. Though he did have hair back then. I don't know when that happened." Aria shook her head.

"Anyway, he attached himself to us immediately after he recovered. At first, I thought he wanted something from us, but eventually, I figured out that he was just a weirdo. I wanted to get rid of him many times in the following weeks, but your father found him hilarious for some reason.

"It wasn't until two months later that he showed a use. We were trapped in an old immortal formation with two Beast Emperors. Thankfully, they were distracted by each other more than they wanted to pursue us. Radus, thankfully, studied the Immortal ways, like the formation in which we were trapped. He guided us out of the formation unharmed. It was the first time I felt anything positive towards him.

"After that, your father and I had a third person joining our journey. He saved us a few more times after that with his knowledge. He also started drawing us and his surroundings during that time."

"How did he get the supplies to do that in the Twilight Lands?" Sana interjected.

Aria answered with a smirk, "The Twilight Lands aren't as desolate as the people here believe. Sure, cities like this one don't exist. A gathering of so many people, people so weak especially, would be destroyed in weeks. But small gatherings of Martial Warrior groups, to trade or to set up camp temporarily, definitely exist. Even more permanent camps exist, but only under the protection of overwhelmingly strong beings. Like the Lord of Blackspire Mountain I told you about.

"Well, after a particularly dangerous situation your father convinced us to leave the Twilight Lands and eventually me and Radus relented. We escorted him back to Blackwood City and returned ourselves back to Tekiel City. The return of your father after he ran away was certainly a scene," she added with a chuckle.

When Radus was finished with painting what he needed them for, he called a couple of servants and persuaded them to stay for a meal. The servants first brought in a table, carefully moving some of the easels with the half-finished paintings, and then the meal. When Aria and Sana sat down for the meal, Radus's eyes lit up. He brought another easel and blank canvas and started painting them at the dinner table. Her mother simply told her to ignore him and started eating. It took Sana a while longer until she was comfortable enough to eat while being painted, but eventually, she did manage.

The conversation during the meal was getting more and more comfortable as time passed, Sana had almost forgotten about Radus entirely by the end. She asked her mother for more detail about her travels with her father and Radus in the Twilight Lands. When Radus was finished with that painting as well, he joined them at the table and occasionally interjected his own very weird comments.

When Radus had bid them farewell, and Sana and her mother were back in their rooms, Sana reflected on the day and thought that despite the oddness of Radus, the time spent with him was actually enjoyable. Watching her thoughtful expression, her mother said, "Yeah, he isn't a bad guy. He simply comes on too strong. Sleep well, Sana," she finished with a kiss on her forehead and left.

Before going to sleep, Sana sat on the bed and started meditating. She finally managed to fully control the little portion of Primal Qi she could move. So she started trying to move a larger portion of Primal Qi, and if she concentrated fully, she could move almost half of the Primal Qi in her body. Her mother said that if she worked on fine control, she would find it a lot easier to move the Primal Qi, and it looked like she was right. However, if she knew Sana managed to control that much Primal Qi so soon, she would be astonished. Even she only achieved full control over her Primal Qi after half a year.

Sana managed to control half of the Primal Qi she moved, formed it into tiny blades and penetrated her bones. The cool feeling coming from her bones was noticeably stronger than usual, causing shivers to run down her back. The overwhelming feeling broke her concentration and snapped her out of her meditation. Grinning to herself, Sana laid back in the bed and fell asleep.