"That mission holds a special place in my heart even to this day, but the only two names that I remember from that trip are Marlev's and Zerrin's. In comparison the rest were merely average. I can't even remember how many I took with me, though I'm sure the number did not exceed ten.
The objective was to investigate and potentially put a stop to some of the disappearances of upper level disciples that were happening in one of the nearby towns. The reason that the weaker students were even selected for this mission was that only those more advanced and stronger people had disappeared. Weaker cultivators, even those in the same party as some of the stronger individuals would be left alone. Strange, but potentially due to some restriction on the assailant.
My theory was that someone had a star that granted them the ability to kill someone a certain level of strength above them with little resistance, though one of the temple masters was convinced it was someone or something with malicious and odd motivations. Perhaps something they were doing required the Nexus of a cultivator of that strength."
He looked down on Arc to make sure he was listening. As he had expected, Arc was watching him intently. Kelvin deemed Arc calm enough to begin searching his body for abnormalities, but to be safe he would wait until Merri returned.
"Regardless of what it was, our mission remained unchanged. It was honestly refreshing to go on mission at that point. If I remember correctly, I had been doing nothing but sit in front of a stupid building for three years and only occasionally receive guidance from the sect master. If my duties up to that point could be described as a smolder, Marlev's introduction into my life could be consider pouring oil onto the coals.
Not even five minutes after we had left she was already starting fights with other disciples in the group. It was petty too, they called her hairclip old. Can you imagine my surprise when she socked someone five years older than her in the teeth? The gap in their power meant that her knuckles bruised, but it was enough of a surprise attack that it knocked him out. We hadn't even left the territory of the sect and we had already suffered injuries.
Of course, I reprimanded her for this behavior. However I kept the punishment light and tried to make it as much of a benefit to her as possible, holding weights at arms length perpendicular to her body to build up strength. I even went as far as to scold the person who got knocked out for having been bested by a girl so much younger and weaker than himself. In hindsight I find myself shocked that she would even attempt such a thing given her somewhat weaker constitution, but I suppose she needed to be aggressive and assertive in order to claw out a place for herself in that sect.
I found that aggressiveness to be quite a positive attribute. Rarely did I ever meet cultivators with spunk. Even Zerrin wasn't quite what I had hoped he would be, but his style of fighting revolves around remaining calm. The vast majority of cultivators I run into always seem to remain aloof and attempt to give off an air of coolness and calm. There seems to be this stupid theory in the world of the cultivator that having the mindset that you are above the rest will just automatically make it true. It doesn't.
They don't realize that if you want anything in this world where people kill because they covet another man's peace, you need to be aggressive, assertive, and made out to be a threat. Your father is the embodiment of that mindset, how do you think he got the title "James of the Bloodied Star"? He was so ruthless in both combat and social circles to make it clear that anyone who attempts to take from him would pay the price.
I had thought your mother would walk the same path as your father, but she would turn into something far scarier."
Slowly and quietly, Merri entered the room with a small bottle. She made eye contact with Kelvin and took the initiative to sit on one of the sofas. Kelvin also began his probing at this time, making sure to not interrupt his story.
"You see Arc, your mommy developed into what I can only lovingly describe as a manipulative nightmare. I feel partially to blame myself, many of my reprimands on her behavior over the years meant that she developed a habit of bending the rules. The biggest influence on her was definitely that old witch though. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if Marlev had never been taken under her wing. Maybe she would still be alive. Maybe you wouldn't.
One thing is for certain though, she would not have been as happy as she was with some of the opportunities she was provided. And she wouldn't have met that witch if it weren't for this mission.
The first part of the mission, finding the culprit, went smoother than I had expected. It was an animal, or rather, a monster. It wasn't one I was used to, nor do I think I will ever be comfortable facing one of those abominations. It is usually called a Glutton, but others might refer to it as a Flat-Head, False Tiger, or Brainless Muncher.
They are massive, their shoulders reaching twice the height of your daddy, and their heads bring their height even further still. their main body takes a shape similar to that of a tiger, but they are covered in a thick layer of feathers with a hide of scales. They are, without a doubt, hideous. But that is not the most disgusting thing about them.
What sets them so far away from other animals is their heads. They have a single head, with a neck in the same place as a tiger, but as long as an elephant's trunk and as thick as man's torso. Unlike the rest of it's body it is plated like the carapace of a bug, with that shell being harder than most metals. At the end of that neck is something that does not qualify as a head. It is flat, much like an alligator or crocodile's, but it has no eyes, ears, or nose.
Nobody knows how it navigates the earth, nor how it is so precise when it hunts, but it is clear that it somehow uses Xan to do so.
Much as it lacks the necessary orifices, it also lacks a brain. Every time one of them is vanquished the best doctors of the world, be they ordered, corrupt, or neutral, come together to dissect it and decipher their secrets so as to better understand how to defeat them."
Kelvin was detecting an increase in Arc's heartbeat. This reaffirmed his theory that he could understand Kelvin's intent.
"It was lucky, then, that your mother and I were there to subdue it."