"You can stay here. It isn't much, but it's all we have available." The chief said, as he took Minos towards an old shack.
"It's fine, thank you." Minos said, just happy to have a roof over his head.
"Well I won't bother you any longer. Rest well." The chief said, before slowly walking away with his wooden cane.
Closing the shack doors behind him, Minos laid down on the small wooden bed in the corner, quickly nodding off.
…
Getting up bright and early the next morning, Minos opened the shack door to find the villager's already at work, seemingly having been awake long before him.
While Minos were appreciating the villager's work ethic, they were also looking at him with interest, having not seen an outsider for a while.
"Who is that? He's so handsome!" One village lady said with a slight blush.
"My heaven's, he makes the villagers here look like, well, cow dung!" Another added.
"Come on, the difference isn't that big, at most like horse dung."
"Hmph, well it seems dung is the best you ladies can do, because you have no chance. Besides, he must be an outsider, so he'll probably be gone in no one." One male villager said, annoyed at the attention Minos was getting.
Seeing the villagers looking towards him, Minos returned a smile and a wave, nearly causing one of them to faint, only barely keeping up because their friend caught her.
"..." Seeing such an exaggeration, Minos couldn't help but feel a little awkward, deciding it was probably best to leave this place as soon as possible.
"Hey Mr. Outsider, are you a cultivator?" One more courageous little girl asked, as she ran up and tugged at Minos's robe.
"You guy's know about cultivators?" Minos asked, a little surprised, but then again, this area was much less secluded then his little village, so it made sense.
"Of course! Our ancestor was a super duper powerful cultivator! He was so strong that he could split this entire village in two with one slice!" The little girl said with excitement, as she proceeded to karate chop the air.
"Really now? That's quite impressive." Minos said with a laugh.
"So Mr, how strong are you?" The little girl questioned, her eyes filled with curiosity.
"Not nearly as strong as your ancestor, but I'm not too bad." Minos said with a gentle smile.
"Awesome! Show me please!" The little girl begged, tugging at Minos's robe with big puppy-dog eyes.
Minos wanted to reject, but seeing the little girl's big glossy eyes, he eventually gave in with a sigh.
"Fine, but only one move, okay?" Minos said.
"Great! Wait, let me call my friends first, they'll want to see too." The little girl said with joy as she ran off to call the other children.
Soon enough, a small group of children had gathered around Minos, but it seemed other than the little girl, the other's weren't quite as courageous, standing behind her in fear.
"Nona, we shouldn't be doing this. My mommy said not to talk to strangers." A fat little boy said, as he slightly tugged at the back of Nona's shirt.
"Relax Chubby, our parents are right over there, so what could happen?" Nona said confidently, not at all afraid.
"Well, okay!" Chubby said, thinking Nona made sense.
With Chubby and Nona agreeing, the other children also seemed to calm down, not as anxious as they were at the start.
"Well Mr, let's see!" Nona shouted with beaming eyes.
"Well, I can do a lot of things, so what do you guys want to see?" Minos asked with a slight smile.
"Wait, let us discuss first!" Nona said, as she gathered the group in a huddle and began whispering.
"We've decided, we want to see your most powerful attack!" None said, though whether it was actually a group decision or just hers was to remain unknown.
"I'm afraid I can't do that." Minos said solemnly.
"Why not?" Nona questioned.
"Because if I did, I'm afraid this whole village would be destroyed." Minos replied seriously.
"No way!" Chubby shouted at the side, nearly plopping on his rear from fear.
"Don't lie Mr, there's no way you're that strong!" Nona said, not believing.
"No lie, but since I've already promised to show you guys something, how about this." Minos said, before pulling his Diving Eagle from his spatial ring.
"What the heck, where'd that bird appear from?" Nona asked with shock, as she walked circles around Minos, attempting to find his hiding spot.
"That's a secret, but watch this." Minos said, before proceeding to control the Diving Eagle to fly above the village in circles.
"Woah! Are you controlling that thing? Let me play!" Nona asked, as she leapt up in a poor attempt to catch the Diving Eagle high in the sky.
"Cool!"
"Awesome!"
The other children said in wonder as the Diving Eagle soared across the sky. Even the villagers paused their work, looking up at the sky, shocked at the strange metallic bird circling the sky.
With a twist from Minos's finger, the Diving Eagle took a sudden nosedive, heading right towards Nona.
Despite being incredibly courageous, Nona wasn't completely immune to fear, and seeing the large bird darting right towards her, she couldn't help but shout out in shock, before running off.
However her speed couldn't come close to comparing to the Diving Eagle, so after only running for a few steps, the Diving Eagle gently grabbed her by her shoulders, lifting her off into the sky.
Feeling her feet separating from the earth, Nona was terrified at first, but as the exhilaration of flight set in, she couldn't help but begin laughing uncontrollably, the Diving Eagle taking her on a quick tour around the skies of the village.
Seeing Nona so happy soaring the sky, the other children couldn't help but begin shouting out for a turn as well.
Seeing all their begging, Minos gave in, setting Nona down before picking up another child, giving them each a quick flight around the area.
By the time the children were done taking turns, Minos hadn't noticed the small crowd of adults who also wanted to take flight.
It seemed they were much more reserved than their children, so they didn't say anything at first, just looking on with excited eyes.
Seeing their appearances, Minos couldn't help but laugh, deciding since he's already given the children a turn, he might as well give the adults a chance as well.
Without realizing it, the entire village soon got a turn taking a flight around the, even the village chief, as old as he was, took a slow breezy trip across the skyline.
"Cultivators sure are something amazing! I thought they were just strong, but who knew they had such amazing tools as well!"
"Mommy, I want to be a cultivator when I grow up so I can fly forever." A little boy said as he looked up at his mother with glittering eyes.
"Well Mommy wants to be one too." The mother returned with a laugh.
Seeing the whole village in such a joyous mood, the chief couldn't help but smile, feeling quite content.
"Outsider, you really are something special. It's been a long time since I've seen the villager's so happy, thank you." He said genuinely.
"No problem, just a small trick. Well anyways it's about time I headed out, so you guys take care." Minos said, not minding.
"Do you really have to leave Mr. Outsider, can't you stay one more day." Nona asked, her eyes slightly tearing.
"I'd like to, but I have a family of my own waiting for me, so I'm afraid I have to leave." Minos said gently.
"Wait, before you leave, I'd like to give you a proper thanks. Please, follow me." The old chief said.
Seeing the chief's serious attitude, it would be rude to reject, so after following him, the two arrived at a small shrine.
Walking inside, the room was mostly empty, except for a small portrait hanging at the front, two candles lit up just in front of it, illuminating the portrait completely.
The portrait was of a young woman. She wasn't the most beautiful, but she had a soft gentle smile that had an endearing charm to it, as if no matter how long you went, she'd always be waiting for you to come back.
"That is?" Minos asked curiously.
"That's our ancestors' wife." The old chief responded.
"Wife? How come you have a portrait of the ancestor's wife, but not of him?" Minos questioned again.
"Well, our ancestor only stopped by our village for a short time before leaving, so there was no proper chance to capture his image." The old chief replied.
"I pray that the ancestors bless your future journeys." The old chief murmured.