"Kid, you've really grown," Dan thumped Mane's shoulder with great strength. Before Mane was merely around his chest. But now the boy was about his height.
"You've said this already," Mane smiled and slapped away Dan's large hand. His dark colored guardian grimaced slightly from Mane's slap. Then he sighed and said.
"I cannot tell how strong you have become. Before my shoulder tap would have caused you some discomfort. I have grown stronger, but you're able to easily shrug them off now. As for me it seems I am weaker than you now. For a slap from you hurts like crazy."
"I am a genius you know," Mane laughed heartily and Dan laughed as well.
"And what's with the blindfold? I didn't get to ask about it before. Is that a new fashion piece you kids are using nowadays?" Dan pointed at Mane's blindfold with a small smirk adorning his lips. While he didn't know how Mane was able to see everything he did with such accuracy, he wasn't going to ask about what kind of abilities Mane had unlocked over the past few years because a person's power was their right and secret. It was unwise to reveal your greatest abilities, even to someone you were close to. And since he and Mane hadn't had a proper chat in two years, it was probably an unwise thing to do.
"Do you have more of those?" Mane smiled and pointed at the stick in Dan's mouth. It had been two years, but Dan's habit of chewing on Lover's Whisper hadn't faded. The stalk of Lover's Whisper in Dan's mouth was long and fresh looking, suggesting that it was recently harvested.
"Sure I do. I actually brought you your own batch." Dan smirked before retreating into an inner room.
"Did you really?" Mane's eyes lit up and he followed behind Dan. Lover's Whisper wasn't easy to find. For some reason Mane hadn't been able to procure any. Even when the Triplets visited the cities, they didn't seem to come across any. It seemed that Dan was the only one who knew where to get them. So naturally Mane was very happy to hear that the older man had brought a sack of the rare herb just for him.
"Of course I did. When have I ever lied to you?" Dan exclaimed with an exaggerated expression on his face, much to Mane's amusement.
"You never did," Mane smiled before adding, "You only kept somethings from me."
Dan's expression was a bit ugly when those last words came out of Mane's mouth. This was the one thing he was worried about. He knew from his mother that Mane was missing. And when his boy appeared in Amalgamation having been spotted with an Elemental, he grew worried. Dan had learned much of himself in the past two years and knew who he was now. If Mane was with the Elemental race, then he must have an idea of who Dan was. After all, Dan learned that the only person who didn't know who he was was himself. And when Mane met him here and told him the secret about the Elementals aiding the humans, he was a bit more confident that the boy knew who he was. Why else would he arm him with such knowledge? But the issue was Dan himself had no idea who he was at the time. How was he to tell another something he didn't know?!
"You know I had no idea myself right?" Dan smiled bitterly and said. He then pulled out a large sack and threw it to Mane.
"I know," Mane chuckled as he caught the bag. He was well aware that the only person who didn't know Dan was an Ancient Prince was Dan. It was similar to how Lam and Lily had no idea that they were Elemental Royalty. Besides, he was actually the one hiding things from Dan.
"Then why did you bring that up?" Dan's eyebrows twitched in annoyance.
"Because I sensed two bags of Lover's Whisper and thought, 'Man I want the bigger bag. What can I do to get it?'" Mane smiled while checking the bag in his hands. His eyes behind the blindfold lit up when his senses picked up a great number of Lover's Whisper within the bag. There were at least a hundred of them! He swiftly threw one into his mouth and bit on it. Then he quickly strapped the bag to his waist before Dan could take it back.
"You did that just to get the bigger bag? Well done." Dan smiled wryly and admitted defeat. Mane had successfully gotten the bigger bag by making Dan feel guilty for something that wasn't his fault. It was quite smart and he had to admit that it was.
"Thank you. I learn quickly." Mane laughed and said. Dan took a while to understand the joke, but soon a small chuckle escaped his lips. Mane was referring to all those times Dan had tricked him into giving up something important for something trivial. A classic example of this was the 'Mango trick'.
The mango was a fruit Mane was unfamiliar with at when he first came to this world because there was no such thing in Zandor. Those bright yellow fruits were as sweet and juicy as a celestial peach. And Mane loved them. Unfortunately, initially the young Supreme had a hard time identifying ripe mangoes from those that weren't fully ripe. And when he got past that, he struggled to pick the best ones out of the ripe ones. Until the time he knew how to sort them out, Dan tricked him many times and always got the good stuff whiles Mane was usually stuck with a several bad ones and few good ones.
"What have you been up to kid? Last I heard you were missing and no one knew where you were. The last place you were spotted had traces of a ferocious battle. We were able to recover some of your blood and confirm it was yours by special means. We searched all over for you. The Ancients searched the world in its entirety. I even searched the most dangerous lands. But to no avail. Where were you kid?"
Dan looked Mane deeply in the eyes as he was speaking. His tone and facial expression suggested that there were no jokes to be shared at this point. And Mane could see the worry in his eyes.
"I was at a strange place. I cannot tell you about it because I have been warned not to. But I was with someone who trained and prepared me. It was because of her I was able to grow this strong in such a short amount of time. And I picked up several new skills too." Mane didn't want to reveal too much about Ashera, her tower, or the triplets. It wasn't in his power to reveal such things, especially since Dan was the son of a race Ashera considered the most dangerous thing in the World of Three Races after the Demon God.
"I see," Dan nodded at Mane's vague explanation. He clearly got the message Mane was sending him and he understood that things were best left as they were. He wouldn't pry into anything Mane didn't want to tell him. But all the same he couldn't help but sigh in disappointment.
"But I can tell you what happened before I disappeared," Mane added upon sensing Dan's slightly crestfallen expression. Dan thought Mane wouldn't sense his disappointment. But how could he know that Mane could now sense even the ants that crawled over the room's floors?
"Oh? Really?" Dan was slightly surprised by Mane's sudden zealousness.
"Yeah," Mane nodded. "It is about me and me alone so of course I can tell you what happened."
"Great. Then why keep me hanging!" Dan chuckled and bit deeply into his stalk of Lover's Whisper. Mane smiled and took his out of his mouth. The effects of the drug had dulled greatly. Mane thought with his increased senses, the power of Lover's Whisper would increase by leaps and bounds when he used it. But he had obviously thought wrong.
His body was uncommon now. It was the body of a budding Supreme, complete with a powerful physique and spirit. One stalk of Lover's Whisper alone wasn't going to be enough to dull his blood. It was a bit disappointing since that meant he might have to take several stalks of Lover's Whisper to get half the reaction another would get from taking just one. And that meant that the many stalks he had weren't that many anymore. But Mane was content. He would rather he was strong with such an irrelevant problem than if he was weak with this unusual headache solved.
"I was building suspense Dan. You have grown impatient over the years." Mane walked into the living room and sat himself comfortably on the couch.
"Well patience has never been my strong suit," Dan laughed and said before following after Mane and also getting seated himself. Once both were comfortable Mane told him all what had happened during the time he had left the village. Of course he left out some stuff. Stuff like how he helped Lam and Lily grow stronger were smartly avoided. But he did tell Dan about going to Dark Valley and about the ambush.