With Trin's Abode's future direction set, Minos wasn't too worried that anything would go wrong, deciding to focus back on his own cultivation as well as his families.
After all these years, his cultivation hadn't actually improved much, his Inner Heaven only about 10% full after four years of hard work.
This was mostly due to the lack of resources, which were ultimately limited in this backwoods area, so Minos planned to head out with his family and finally go to the Aleph Empire after all these years.
The journey would certainly be a long and treacherous one, but it was necessary for the sake of his family.
He wanted Rinka to see the world and soar to the heavens, and as long as she was limited to this small pond, her potential would similarly be affected.
Of course before any of that, he needed to cure the tribe completely, but that shouldn't take much time.
More than that, he was worried about Lilia, and the idea of stumbling into her, but considering just how massive the Aleph Empire was, that was extremely unlikely.
Clearing his thoughts, Minos finally decided to divulge the news to his family as they were heading back to the tribe, still wanting to know their opinions.
"Tinka, Rinka, I have important news…" Minos said solemnly, catching both their attentions.
"What is it dad?"
"Tell us dear."
"After I cure the tribe, I want us all to go to Aleph Empire. You're both going to be cultivating soon, and this small place will never let you reach your true potentials." Minos explained.
"Aleph Empire? Isn't that far away?" Tinka asked.
"Very far. The journey alone may take us a few years, that's why I'm asking the two of you."
"Wherever you go honey, I'll follow." Tinka said with a gentle smile as she leaned on Minos's shoulder.
"Yeah dad, my home is with you two! Besides, I've already gotten bored of our little tribe, I want to see the world!" Rinka said excitedly, not at all afraid of the journey, but rather filled with anticipation.
"Great! Then our family will soon spread our name throughout the continent." Minos laughed, causing Tinka and Rinka to laugh along with him.
Relieved that his family was with him all the way, Minos continued the journey with a calm heart, the family soon arriving back at the tribe.
After greeting everyone like usual, Minos, Tinka and Rinka headed back home, Ronkus and Meninka waiting for them patiently.
After gathering around the table for a meal, Tinka and Rinka began chatting joyfully about all the things they had seen, not forgetting to present all the things Minos had bought for them.
Naturally, they didn't forget to buy a few presents from Ronksu and Meninka as well, so after showing off what they got, they gave them their presents.
With the mood high, Minos decided to reveal the news to Ronkus and Meninka, wondering whether they were willing to come along as well.
But just like Minos expected, they both refused, after all, Ronkus was the patriarch, so how could he just leave? And as his wife, Meninka naturally wouldn't abandon him.
While he was slightly disappointed, Minos was also somewhat relieved since it meant he had less to worry about it.
"So when are you all leaving?" Ronkus asked, his voice a bit low.
"Once the tribe is fully cured, we'll head out, so probably within the next few days." Minos said.
"And how long will you all be gone?" Meninka asked, having never spent more than a few days without her daughter and granddaughter.
"..." Hearing Meninka's question, Minos paused slightly, not because he wasn't sure how to answer, but rather because he knew the answer would be devastating.
After sitting in silence for a moment, Minos finally opened his mouth with a sigh, deciding to be honest.
"Probably a decade at the least, if not more…"
"A decade! Impossible!" Ronkus said, standing up firmly as he slammed both his hands down on the table.
Meninka didn't say anything, but she couldn't help but cover her face with her hands, soft whimpers coming from her frail looking body.
Seeing her parents like this, Tinka's heart began aching tremendously, her initial resolve beginning to falter as the reality that she wouldn't see her parents for years began setting in.
"Grandma, don't cry!" Rinka wailed, running to her grandma and hugging her tightly.
Seeing the whole family's reaction, Minos couldn't help but lean back in his chair, slightly forlorn.
While he had already seen such a thing coming, it was clear that this may be a harder problem to solve than he initially thought.
He had to go to the Aleph Empire no matter what, and he also had to take his family, not willing to let them waste their futures in this place, but how to do them both at once was a real conundrum.
While he could just put his foot down and force them, what kind of husband and father would he be then?
Thinking for a bit, a light bulb suddenly went off in his mind as he thought of a possible solution.
Using a Crystal Recorder and Crystal Display, it would be possible to fuse the two devices together and create some sort of communication device!
It would be like an extremely evolved version of a signal talisman, capable of not only multiple uses, but also having the ability to send and retrieve both image and sound.
The only problem was the signal strength, which was far from being strong enough to communicate across the continent.
Brainstorming, Minos had another idea, a signal tower! A device capable of refreshing any signals sent into it before sending it back out to another signal tower.
If he created dozens of these across the continent, then he could send a message from any place!
Of course, a signal tower was his own unique idea, having never seen such a thing from among the Lukalu people's technology, which meant he'd have to create it on his own.
With no time to waste, Minos jumped up from his seat and ran off to his lab, the family taking a slight pause from their depression as they looked confusedly at Minos running away.
Quickly reaching his lab, Minos quickly activated his puppets which had already begun collecting dust after these few days alone.
Connecting his Nux Strings to them, he sent a few off to create plans on creating a signal tower while using the other few to try and create his unique communication device.
He wanted it to be small enough to carry around so that one could use it wherever they were, and it also needed to have the ability to receive and display both sound and image.
Receiving image and sound was something the Crystal Recorder could do, whereas displaying it was the job of the Crystal Display.
However to connect these two devices organically in one would be a challenge for Minos alone, relying on his own talent.
Fortunately, those four years of tinkering in his lab weren't a waste, and while most of it was spent studying biology, he also used a good chunk of time learning other fields in an attempt to expand his knowledge and find a different direction.
Like the saying goes, the woodsman wastes no time sharpening their ax, and Minos similarly wasted no time in his pursuit of trying to cure the tribe's curse.
With all his past experience, fusing the two devices was a simple matter, and after messing around for a few hours, he already had a prototype.
Looking at the brick sized device that weighed a couple dozen pounds, Minos could only shake his head in disappointment.
While it could receive and display sound and images like he wanted, albeit poorly, the size was far from being satisfactory.
Trying again, Minos created Prototype V2, which was slightly smaller, but still had poor overall quality that Minos wanted to improve.
Like that, While Minos was trying to create his communication device, the family was consoling each other.
While everyone was sad and the mood was low, they all knew that they would have to separate from one another eventually.
As much as it pained Tinka, she couldn't just let her husband leave without her, not to mention, she was also concerned about Rinka's future, wanting her to have all the same opportunities as the other children.
Since her husband was willing to sacrifice so much to make their futures easier, how could she make his life hard and fight against him?
So even though it hurt, after crying for a bit, Tinka made her intentions clear, silencing everyone.
"Are you sure? You won't be able to come back for so long." Ronkus asked, having calmed down from his rage.
"I have too, not only for me or Minos, but also for Rinka. Minos is capable of giving her an amazing future, so how could I keep her from that?"
"But mom, I don't want to leave grandpa and grandma!" Rinka cried.
"No one wants to leave Rinka, but sometimes you have to." Tinka sighed.