Chapter 18: Why Do You Want to Get Stronger?

Mira followed Cole back to the Zaria Family. Cole, Ariel, and Mira stayed silent throughout the walk.

Once they made it to Cole's house then he finally started talking.

"It's good to see you, Mira. I didn't expect to see you so soon in the city. I'm sure Maria will be glad to see you." Cole said with a gentle smile.

Mira just shrugged. "I didn't either, but with me being attacked by a Rank 2 Ghost Wolf and with all of these people looking for me, I figured I'd come back with Ellen and the others. Then at least I have an escort."

"You got attacked by a Rank 2 Ghost Wolf near your cave? That is interesting since Rank 2 beasts don't usually venture out that far." Cole said a little surprised.

"Yeah, anyways do you have information about the forest. I remember Maria saying that it's actually a Rank 3 forest instead of Rank 2 due to the amount of Rank 2 magical beasts residing in it, but I think that there's something more to the forest." Mira explained.

"Yeah, actually Dark Moon Forest itself is quite the mystery. It's classified as a Psuedo-Rank 3 Forest because the highest-ranked animals that people see there are Rank 2, but I think there are Rank 3 and Rank 4 beasts in that forest. Maybe one of them made a move and the Rank 2 beasts have started traveling outwards. Or maybe a strong magical beast from Skytop Mountain is going through. Who knows? Anyway, it's probably for the best that you get out of that forest right now. Feel free to stay here with us." Cole said to Mira.

Mira nodded. "Thanks."

"You can go get cleaned up and have a bath. I'll also give you some clothes to wear while you're here. I'll take you to my wife and Maria so we can surprise them. HAHA." Cole laughed just thinking about their reaction.

Mira left and went to take a bath. She was incredibly dirty. After a while, Mira came out wearing a black hanfu with red lining. With the bath and the new clothes, she had an otherworldly aura to her. The contrast between the black hanfu and her silver hair was breathtaking and the red lining matched her wine-red eyes.

"Damn. How was someone like you born in this world? Especially as a mortal? If I didn't have a wife and kid, I might even be tempted to snatch you up. But I wouldn't give up their love for anything even beauty, so rest assured." Cole muttered, staring at Mira.

Mira just ignored him and Cole brought her to meet her wife. They reached a door that seemed to be leading to the back outside of the house.

"Erika! There is a visitor here for Maria!" Cole yelled through the door.

"Oh? Bring them here. Maria is with me as well." Erika said back

Cole motioned for Mira to follow him and they walked through the door. Mira saw Maria, she seemed to be training with her sword. She was constantly swinging it. She didn't look any better than when she left Mira 6 months ago.

Mira then saw someone who looked similar to Maria. She had long golden hair that reached her waist and ocean-blue eyes. She looked like she was reading something.

'This must be Maria's Mother.' Mira thought.

The woman looked up and was stunned. She dropped what she was holding and just stared. What she was looking at was so beautiful that she almost felt the need to kneel for a moment. There was this mysterious otherworldly aura around this being.

"MIRA?!?!" Erika awoke from her stupor when she heard Maria yell.

Maria dropped her sword and came running to Mira and hugged her. Mira just stood there. Even though she and Maria got along well and Mira felt that Maria was genuine, it's hard for Mira to label someone as a friend. She's lived through 10 lives and died 10 times. Either her friends and family die before she does or she dies before them, but in the end, she can still remember them. Even if they are still alive when she dies, she will never see them again. It's easier when people hate her or disregard her. If someone can't follow her whenever she dies then what's the point of getting close to them?

"I'm surprised to see you here Mira!! I was hoping to reach Qi Condensation and find you in 2 years, but this is even better. OH! I'm ready to break through to the Qi Condensation realm at any time. I figured that I would try to solidify my foundation and make my body stronger in the meantime. I thought about what you're doing and how you want to grow up a little before you break through and your body stops aging so I've decided to make a breakthrough in the next 6 months then use the next year to consolidate my cultivation. Then I'd be ready to go on an adventure with you!" Mira happily exclaimed.

"So this is Mira. You truly are incomparably beautiful like Cole and Maria described. I'm Maria's Mother, Erika. Nice to meet you." Erika said still in a half-trance starting at Mira.

"I'm Mira. Nice to meet you." Mira nodded while Maria was still hugging her.

Mira then turned to Maria and said, "I can see that your strength has grown, but even if you reached Qi Condensation, you'd still be useless. What have you been doing these last 6 months that you haven't made any progress with the sword? It almost seems like you aren't able to synchronize your sword skills with your strength." Mira said with a slight frown.

"A-Ahaha. Well, nobody will spar with me. Since I'm not great at the sword, I lose almost immediately to people stronger than me and there is no point with me sparring with people weaker than me." Maria said with a wry smile.

"Very well. From now on you will spar with me until you can't even move. This will be my payment for staying at your house." Mira said and Maria gulped. Cole and Erika were stunned. This sounded like a command, but they also felt like they couldn't refuse so they just kept quiet.

Mira shook off Maria's arms and grabbed her. She then threw her into the training grounds.

"Pick up your sword! Training starts now! Mira yelled

They sparred until it was dark outside. There were many times when Cole and Erika wanted to interrupt as Mira would occasionally knock Maria unconscious. Then she would just kick her in the gut to wake her up and continue. They wanted to interrupt, but Maria would just get up and charge at Mira. Mira would tell her what she's doing wrong and continue using Maria's weak points against her. It was rough to watch, but Maria was visibly improving even at a small rate.

The training ended when Maria couldn't stand anymore and was covered in bruises.

"If you went farther into the forest with me you would die immediately." Mira said that and left.

Maria just bitterly smiled and collapsed. Erika picked her up and brought her to her room to fix her up.

After an hour Cole, Erika, Maria, and Mira had dinner together. Mira looked at the food with a bit of melancholy.

"It's been almost 5 years since I've had something other than dried meat." Mira muttered, but everyone else heard. They could hear a distant sadness in her voice.

They all finished dinner and Mira was led to a room so that she could sleep. Mira put her stuff in the room then went to Maria's room. She reached her door and knocked.

"Come in." A voice from inside said. Mira opened the door and walked in.

"Mira?" Maria was a little surprised that Mira came to her room and wasn't sure why she was there.

"Hello Maria, I'd like to talk to you." Mira said and Maria wasn't sure how to feel. It almost felt like she was about to get scolded by her mother.

"Sure! Come in!" Either way, Maria was happy.

Mira walked in and sat on her bed.

"Maria, do you want to get stronger?" Mira asked curiously with a hint of seriousness.

"Eh? I... Well of course I do. Who doesn't want to get stronger? Why do you ask?" Maria said unsure of why she was asked this.

"It's because you seem like you don't want to." Mira said

"What do you mean?"

Mira ignored that question and asked something else.

"Would you be content with your Fathers level of strength?" Mira asked instead

"Of course! Then I could live comfortably in the city!" Maria said without hesitation.

"I see. Then would you like to be my friend?" Mira asked back with a serious face.

"Eh? I already consider you a friend, but of course, I want to be your friend and go on adventures with you!" Maria seemed to misunderstand. There was an awkward silence between the two for a while before Mira opened her mouth.

"Pathetic. I would never accept you as a friend with that half-assed resolve. Unless you have the resolve to join me to the peak, then you can forget about being my friend. Unless you have the resolve to watch those around you fade away to the passage of time or die due to being weak, then I'd rather have you forget about me. You are a good girl with a genuine personality and I'd hate to see that get ruined by the ruthlessness of the world." Mira said with an almost downcast-like tone. Maria was stunned by her words and didn't know how to respond.

"Take time and think about it. We can still go to the forest together in a year and a half, but we will part after that." Mira said and was about to get up when Maria stopped her.

"Wait! Can I ask you something?" Maria asked. Mira nodded.

"Why do you want to get stronger, Mira?"

Mira clenched her fists and said with a murderous tone.

"Vengeance." Mira muttered

"Vengeance?" Maria didn't know what that meant as she was sure that it wasn't to get strong enough to just be able to kill the bandit group that raided her village.

"Well, that's part of it I guess, but there is only one thing that I really want and I can only get that with enough strength." Mira paused there.

"I just want to be able to die." Mira said with a small tear in her eye.

Maria was completely shocked by that answer. She'd never seen the always ruthless and decisive Mira looking so downcast. Almost like she is longing for death, but is trapped and unable to. Those words carried a sense of loss and loneliness that a 9-year-old couldn't possibly have. She just sat there for a while before hugging Mira.

"I don't really understand what you mean, but I can see that you are being sincere with that thought. I can't give you an answer to joining you on a journey to the peak yet, but I will still make the most out of the time that I currently have with you. If we have to split up later, then if fate wills it may we meet again. The only thing I want right now is to train with you and make the most out of the time that we will spend together." Maria said with a cheery smile.

Mira just nodded and after a couple of minutes stood up. She walked towards the door and turned around right before opening the door.

"I will probably only spend around 6 months in the city with you. I don't plan on leaving the house much since dealing with all those people sounds bothersome. I may have to ask you to get some herbs or maybe some Rank 1 pills to have as a backup while in the forest. Most of my time will either be sparring with you or training. If you decide to breakthrough to Qi Condensation in these 6 months then I will spar with you for a couple of extra weeks to get you used to your new strength. Though I will have to shamelessly ask for a Low-Grade Mortal Class space ring as payment for my services though." Mira said while Maria chuckled at that and nodded. Then Mira left and went to her room to go to sleep.