The Martial Unity

“Ahhhh!” Runark leaned back on his chair, patting his inflated belly. “That was good. That was really good. Thanks, Aunt Arastia.”

“I’m glad you liked it.” Arastia smiled at the young man.

“I’m going to go take a shower before heading to sleep.” Runark managed to pull himself up. “You guys have fun though.”

The two watched him leave before hearing a door shut behind them. Arastia turned towards Ria with a coy smile. “So? What’s the situation with Runark?”

She manipulated heaven and earth subtly to ensure that Runark wouldn’t hear them. Ria immediately felt a little self-conscious, averting her gaze. “I-I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Oh come on!” Arastia’s smile cracked a little wider. “You know that boy has a huge crush on you.”

Ria’s cheeks grew a little red, but she didn’t answer.

“Surely he’s asked you out by now,” Arastia remarked with an incredulous tone of voice. “You’ve been in the frontier for two years now.”

“He hasn’t,” Ria huffed, stuffing her mouth with more bread and stew. “But he’s not subtle about how he feels either.”

“They never are,” Arastia smirked. “But given how much of a crush he has on you, I’m surprised he hasn’t confessed.”

“…Probably because he knows I would reject him,” Ria heaved a sigh, playing with her food. “I don’t like him like that. I think of him as a brother.”

“Well, you should think about it,” Arastia remarked with an amused tone. “You don’t get to be young forever, you know? You can’t simply keep waiting for a prince charming to sweep you off your feet.”

“That’s not what I’m waiting for,” Ria scoffed at her aunt. “Not to mention, I feel like Martial Artists can remain young for a long time, even if not forever. Also, apparently, a drop of my father’s blood can make people immortal.”

“Hah, you forget about trying to get your hands on it, even if you are his daughter,” Arastia replied with a knowing tone. “He stopped giving that out as often in the Era of Expansion. Partly because one of the things that the Blood Cult wants more than anything is the secret to the blood of immortality.”

It was intolerable to the Blood Cult that anybody else would have greater blood than them, but it was simply a fact of human civilization that the Emperor of Water has the most coveted blood in the universe. “So as long as you’re mortal, you shouldn’t live as if you have infinite time, even if you do have a lot of time,” Arastia told her niece, eating some bread dipped in stew. “Because that time will pass in the blink of an eye, trust me.”

“What about you then?” Ria furrowed her eyebrows. “You’re a grown woman, and you don’t have a single relationship.”

Arastia’s eyebrows twitched as her niece turned her own argument against her. “I’m the President of the Blood Humanist Society. I’m a busy person.”

Ria simply shrugged. “You don’t have infinite time in the world, aunty. You should find a man before it’s too late.”

Arastia watched her niece smugly turn her own advice against her. The worst part was that she couldn’t even retort very well.

“You’ve grown clever,” Arastia heaved a sigh.

“I was always clever,” Ria shamelessly replied.

“Cockiness isn’t cute.”

“Good, I don’t want to be cute, I’m not a kid anymore,” she pointedly insisted. “I’m eighteen years old. That means I’m a full-grown adult.”

“Uh-huh,” Arastia replied, unimpressed. “More importantly, you should consider what I’ve said when it comes to how you want to live your life. If you want to continue living in the frontier, then you should consider forming a party with people you trust, rather than trying to freelance. You can get more done, and you can have greater safety nets. And more importantly, you can have people you share a bond with.”

She quietly stirred the bowl of stew before her, falling into thought as her amber eyes grew more hazy. She knew her aunt had a point, of course. The frontier was merely the furthest place away from the Kandrian Empire, but it was not a place that she could be alone forever. Being with Runark had delayed the need to try harder.

She was also much younger when she first came, simply trying to adjust to a radically different life. She hadn’t really had any long-term thoughts at all, at the time. But if she was truly going to remain far from home, then she would need to be more serious about it.

“I’ll think about it,” she replied. “For now, I suppose I’ll just have to look forward to seeing how tomorrow’s mission unfolds with a new party.”

“You sure should,” Arastia stood up with her plate. “Who knows, you might even like it. Now then, we all have a big day tomorrow, so let’s get to sleep.”

The sleeping arrangements that Arastia had prepared were modest. She had simply had the bare minimum, mattresses, sheets, and pillows prepared for the three of them. But the impromptu sense that it gave both Ria and Runark reminded them of the past when they did sleepovers in the Quarrier Orphanage, which didn’t have the most luxurious sleep arrangements. Not that Ria or Runark were particularly bothered by that, they were accustomed to living simply to ensure that they didn’t spend too much, especially early on. The frontier didn’t offer too much luxury, for it was a gathering of people making a living by taking commissions.

“Good night, you two,” Arastia yawned as she slept between Ria and Runark. “Make sure you get some rest.”

She didn’t have to tell them twice. The moment Ria closed her eyes, she fell asleep. After all, she had taken a somnexyl pill twice to delay the need for sleep, timing it with her circadian rhythm. Her brain got some of the long-needed rest, allowing both her and Runark to fall asleep almost immediately.

Soon enough, the next morning arrived in the blink of an eye.