Sephare stood around nervously, not quite knowing where to look. She stood to the side of the Castle Master's throne, her eyes darting around from left to right.
She had grown like a blooming white rose, her delicate sort of beauty blossoming to its full potential. The little girl from back then had already formed a line of admirers for herself, even after coming to the more powerful Moon World. However, the way she was acting now was completely unlike herself.
The elders and sisters of the Awoken Moon Sect couldn't help but be baffled. Was this really their Inheritor? Wasn't she always going around confidently, stirring up trouble and giving those who worried about her a headache? Maybe the only time she would ever be even remotely serious was when she sat down to concoct a batch of pills.
Now, that girl who was always bouncing off walls, didn't even know what to do with herself.
Castle Master Toria and some elders couldn't help but smile meaningfully. Sephare wasn't the only one acting , there were many young women in their Sect that couldn't seem to get a particular shadow of a man out of their heart.
They were a female only Sect and many of their techniques worked best with virgins, especially since their Sect was so strongly Yin based.. As such, it could be said that the looming shadow of Ryu was both a blessing and a curse. The good news was that with such a shadow over them, the odds that they'd stumble and fall into the bed of another man was nearly nil. The bad news, however, was that if Ryu wanted to be that sort of man, causing the downfall of all her best disciples would be as easy as flipping over a hand.
Luckily, Toria had quite some faith in Ryu's character and most of these feelings of infatuation her disciples had were more like what one would feel for a celebrity rather than what one might feel for a man they truly loved. As such, she didn't see this matter to be too bad at all.
The only difference among them was Sephare whose relationship with Ryu was a bit more special than that. However, Sephare's feelings weren't romantic either. Her current thoughts were a mixture of anticipation and nervousness because she was worried about letting Ryu down. As much as everyone had always praised her for her talent, the more she learned about the martial world, the more she realized just how much of a monster Ryu was.
Ryu had been the one to set her on the path of alchemy and his expectations were likely lofty. If she wasn't good enough and disappointed him, she wouldn't know what to do with herself.
At that moment, the doors to the throne room suddenly opened and as though compelled by some power, every, even Toria herself, stood.
Ryu, with a light smile on his face and a full stomach, strolled into the room, his robes having been replaced by another pristinely white set. He truly looked like a deity having come down to take the form of a mortal, there wasn't a single flaw to find on him.
"It seems that you're all doing well."
Ryu smiled, his gaze sweeping through the room until he landed on Sephare. As though a startled rabbit, Sephare's heart almost leapt out of her throat as Ryu reached the base of the throne, his pace not seeming hurried, but somehow still being far too fast for Sephare to handle.
Ryu laughed. "What's wrong? You don't recognize your big brother anymore? I'm hurt."
Hearing such words, something within Sephare snapped into place. She couldn't help but remember how cold Ryu's expressions always were until that moment he sat down to teach her. Then, as though all of that had melted away, he had smiled the most beautiful smile she had ever seen.
Beside herself, Sephare found herself diving into Ryu's arms, rubbing her forehead into his chest as though a spoiled little child. The resonating boom of Ryu's laughter made the erratic beating of her heart feel far more at ease.
Sephare's fellow disciples, or at least the ones with high enough standing to be in this room currently, couldn't help but look on with jealousy between their brows. But, it was unfortunate that none of them had relationships with Ryu that were nearly as close.
The likes of Mae and Amie who had greeted Ryu when he first stepped foot into their Sect were the closest to having this sort of relationship, and yet they were still very much far away. They could only smile.
All of them treated Sephare like a little sister and she had done all of them proud.
Ironically, though Sephare was supposed to be a genius to replace Melody, capable of matching up to the level of their Sect and not exceeding it too much, Sephare still ended up being as if not more so of a genius than Melody herself.
It had to be remembered that having too great a genius under your wing as a weaker Sect was no longer a blessing, but could even be considered to be a curse. However, the Awoken Moon Sect's Inheritor, Sephare, crushed all expectations for what one might expect from a Fifth Order Sect.
After a few hundred years, the little one had already grown into being the most powerful warrior within their Sect! Toria had long since wanted to give up her throne to Sephare, but the little girl stubbornly remained a disciple.
It had to be remembered that in order to be a Fifth Order Sect, one needed ten Divine Vessel Realm experts and one Connecting Heaven Realm Ancestor. That meant that in order to be the most powerful, Sephare would either have to have already entered the Connecting Heaven Realm, or she would need to have that level of strength…
Of which, she had done both!
To accomplish such a feat in just a few hundred years placed Sephare among the best geniuses of Sacrum, especially since she had done so on the weakest Immortal Plane. So, seeing her act , even if the others were jealous, that was as far as it went.
Ryu rubbed Sephare's head lightly with a smile still on his face.
"Where is your Ancestor? I would like to speak with everyone for a moment."
Ryu had hardly finished these words, though, when the change in atmosphere made his expression darken.