Chapter 31: Finding Family
The little girl asked nervously, "What are you doing?"
"I'm healing you. Don't move, it will be over soon."
As he spoke, Noah took out a potion and began to treat her feet. In a few moments, the cuts on the girl's feet had healed. She curiously wiggled her toes.
"It doesn't hurt anymore!"
"Of course it doesn't. I healed you." Noah clapped his hands together, stood up, and asked her, "What do you want to do now?"
The little girl was startled. "Right, I have to find my mom!"
"Where is your mom? I'll go with you."
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it. Let's go."
Following the direction the little girl pointed, Noah walked with her. Snow began to fall from the sky, and the temperature dropped sharply. Noah gave the girl another layer of clothing to wear. They had entered a snowy mountain range. Everything was white; the ground and trees were all covered in a thick blanket of snow.
The little girl stumbled forward, running. She had already been running for a very long time and was exhausted, but she insisted on finding her mother. Noah wanted to make her rest, but she refused, wanting only to see her mother as soon as possible. Seeing her stubbornness, Noah couldn't bring himself to force her. Instead, he used his Gravity Magic to lighten her body weight so she wouldn't have to run so hard.
The little girl felt her body become lighter. She looked up and saw a magic circle floating above her head, then turned to look at Noah. "Did you do that?"
"Mhm. I saw how hard you were running, and you wouldn't stop, so this was the only way I could help."
"Thank you." Her eyes were filled with gratitude. She turned back and continued to run, with Noah following closely behind.
She led Noah into a forest. After a series of twists and turns that almost made Noah dizzy, they arrived in front of a house. The girl was clearly very familiar with this place. But her hopeful expression quickly faded. There were no lights on in the house, which meant no one was home.
"Mom must have just stepped out," she said, trying to console herself. "Right, she must have gone to that place to train."
As if struck by an idea, a look of excitement returned to her face. She turned and ran off in another direction. Noah had wanted to stop her for a rest, but seeing her like this, he could only sigh, maintain the Gravity Magic, and follow her.
The little girl stumbled as she ran, making her way up a small hill. She leaned against a tree, looking down with a heart full of hope. But the scene that met her eyes plunged her into despair.
Down below stood a remarkably beautiful woman. She had a slender, graceful figure, dark eyes, and dark purple hair cut to chin-length. Her hair was voluminous, layered on the sides of her face and covering her ears, with a small fringe hanging over her forehead. She wore a short, tan jacket with a dark brown collar and cuffs, and two pockets. The jacket was open, revealing a dark purple top and her navel. Below, she wore black pants with a metal-buckled belt and a simple pair of brown shoes.
She was smiling and talking with two young boys who were bare-chested, wearing only their shorts. One boy had black hair and dark blue eyes, while the other had blue-silver hair and black eyes. They were chatting happily, but the little girl watching from the distance looked more and more pained, and tears began to stream down her face.
Noah, standing behind her, could only shake his head helplessly. He released the magic he had been using to conceal their presence and magic fluctuations. All along the way, he had used magic to hide them so they wouldn't be discovered.
The woman below suddenly sensed the fluctuation of magic. She immediately pulled the two boys behind her, her expression grim as she faced the hill and shouted, "Who's there?!"
Seeing the woman's defensive actions, the little girl froze, a look of disbelief on her face, as if she had been dealt a devastating blow. She didn't move forward. Instead, she began to back away, step by step, until she bumped into the person behind her.
Noah placed his hands on her shoulders and spoke softly. "That's the person you were looking for, right? Go on up and talk to her."
"N-no... she abandoned me..." The little girl's body trembled, and tears flowed uncontrollably.
Noah gave her a gentle push forward, but she recoiled so violently that she almost knocked him over. Seeing that she wouldn't go, Noah rolled his eyes, reached out, scooped her up around the waist, and strode forward.
The little girl was startled and began to struggle desperately, pounding on Noah with her fists. "What are you doing?! Let me go!"
"I saw you hesitating and feeling sorry for yourself up there, so I decided to give you a hand," Noah said as he walked. "Even if you think she wronged you, you need to ask her and get a clear answer. As they say, you deserve to know the truth before you die, right?"
"No... I don't want to go over there..."
The little girl was still struggling, but Noah ignored her and carried her straight out into the open.
The dark-purple-haired woman saw that it was just two children who had emerged and let out a sigh of relief, her whole body relaxing. She had been truly frightened; an incredibly powerful surge of magic had suddenly appeared nearby, and she had thought an enemy was upon them. Her first instinct was to protect her two disciples.
But the next second, the breath she had just released caught in her throat. She saw a familiar shade of dark purple hair, so familiar it was seared into her soul, unforgettable. It was the same color as her own.
The boy was carrying the girl, who was struggling, but the closer they got, the weaker her struggles became. By the time they were standing in front of the woman, the girl had stopped struggling altogether. Her entire body began to tremble. She raised her hands to cover her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes, and a choked sob escaped her lips. "You... you..."
Noah walked right up to the woman, lifted the little girl in his hands, set her down squarely on her feet so she was facing the woman, and then let go. He took two steps back, looked to make sure they were face to face, staring at each other, and was satisfied. He clapped his hands together and said to the woman and the girl, "Well, I've brought her to you. It's better to say whatever you have to say to each other's faces, so there are no misunderstandings."
The woman threw her arms around the little girl, and tears streamed down her face. In a voice full of disbelief, she asked over and over, "Is it Ultear? Is it really Ultear?"
Seeing the woman crying so sorrowfully, the little girl couldn't hold it in any longer. With a loud "Waaaah!" she also burst into tears.
Seeing both of them crying, Noah felt a great sense of relief. It was good for them to cry. Once they had let out all their emotions, communication would be much easier. He glanced at the two boys who were still standing there, completely bewildered, and with a flick of his Gravity Magic, he floated them up and moved them off to the side.
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yo guys it's me hollowborn, brothers help this poor motherfu8-er give me some power stone we'r so close to top 10 rank in monthly power stone ranking i'm begging you'll.