A few hours later, Yves was smiling proudly to himself as he stared down the ground... where his precious disciples are currently lying on, barely even conscious and panting heavily.
"My, my~! For some brats with textbook knowledge, your improvements sure exceeded my expectations!" Yves cheered in delight, but the disciples weren't happy with the compliment at least one bit.
"Is he for real...?" Kian muttered weakly.
"Fucking liar, he ain't even out of breath." Ezio stated firmly and annoyed despite how you can barely even hear his voice.
"He's at least sweating, you two... Unlike before..." Milera adds, she herself was annoyed, and is trying her best to calm the fuck down. Negative emotions
"That would mean we barely improved after a decade!" The two boys protested, and that seemed to the reason why Milera finally snapped.
"HE'S A DEITY IN A HUMAN'S BODY! WHAT DID YOU FUCKING EXPECT?! DID YOU THINK WE'D BE ON THE SAME LEVEL AS HIM WHEN THE WHOLE FUCKING TIME WE'VE TRAINED ARE ONLY TWENTY-ONE TEXTBOOKS HE WROTE HIMSELF?!?!"
The two immediately covered their mouths to keep themselves from making anymore comments.
I keep forgetting that she's a still a dwarf, Kian stated. No one can actually blame the prince as the girl was half human and half dwarf, and she has more features of a human than a dwarf, just like her older brother Tadeas.
I should not have said anything. I made her upset, fuck, Ezio thought as he simply sighs in disappointment with himself. Anyone can tell he's trying to score points.
On the other hand, Yves thought: Damn, I guess she does have dwarf's temper.
From what he recalls, Milera never shouted at someone so loud and full of annoyance when they were in their pre-teens (even though she did).
After a moment of silence, Yves spoke up again.
"Well, I'm not kidding. I actually had to put effort in handling all three of you, and mind you, I am also self-trained for the past few years. I can say that I have at least half of my original strength as a deity now," Yves says with a small genuine smile.
At this point, they can even win a spar against Father, but I can't say that now, can I? he thought and stretched his arm out.
"It's nearly seven in the morning," he stated as he glanced away from the sun. "Let's head inside for breakfast and have a meeting for the mission... and by nightfall, we should be all ready for the operation."
Their ears perked at the mention of the operation. As they all glanced at him, Yves already had a wide grin plastered in his face.
"I've formulated a perfect plan."
After washing up, the four ate breakfast over a table in the open garden. The maids would've usually been around to assist them as they dine, but Kian dismissed them. Yves took this opportunity to discuss his discovery and conclusions from this morning.
All three listened attentively and stated their opinions and questions as the discussions goes on. Yves couldn't help but feel amused at their behavior, statements, and opinions towards the discussions. Their level of understanding is already on par with someone who has been living for centuries.
They're too smart for their own good.
Now he wonders how the discussion would've been if it all nine of them were actually here.
It was nearly evening, and the three brats were in a room with Samael, Callista, Tadeas, His Majesty the Emperor, and Isaac, Samael's right hand in Knight Royale.
Yves was still in his room, and they are waiting for him in the lounge.
"So, how did you feel meeting him again?" the Emperor directly asks the three who were prepping themselves for tonight's operation.
Kian, Ezio, and Milera glanced at each other. While the others anticipated their answer to the question. The Emperor, Tadeas, Callista, and Isaac has always been curious what they think of Syvestian, unlike Samael who already knows how much they adore him.
"Well, to be honest, it's as if we never grew up," Milera stated firstly. She was smiling gently, Kian agreed, nodding and saying;
"He still treats us the same way he did before... there's still that gap between us."
Ezio laughs in response to what the two said, as the oldies seem to be confused.
"What they mean is, he never changed. From how he was before, to how he is now, it's still him. Even the gap of our capabilities as people in general... the way it was before when we were kids, it's still the same as now." Ezio says, with a small smile. He didn't seem so disappointed or envious as he says those words.
"But, the thing is, we're glad enough that he was still himself." Ezio added, and the other two silently agreed.
They were glad that he never lost himself... while in the process of looking for a way to immortalized his mortal state.
They knew it was never an easy journey and that they would want to be with him on that journey, but Syvestian would never want that. All nine of them knew that from the time he revealed his past to them.
He has always been used to being alone.
The sole reason of why they've reached their current state right now is because they want to be able to stand by Yves' side when the time comes again. They want to be on equal footing with him... so that he won't leave them again... so that they'll be together.
It's sad that they can still feel that gap, but there's nothing they can do now. They're more glad that he's come back to them now, and is willing to put their group back together again.
"Well, of course, we'd feel more delighted if he met all nine of us together. But it's not possible as of now," Kian added. He was not sad, but he seems to regret.
"That day will come, claim it," Kyro stated with a small smile, and his son smiles back.
"Of course, it's only a matter of time and effort."
The door then opened, revealing the man they've been waiting for. He was in his all-black fit, similar to the ones the other three are wearing. Unlike the other three, he held no weapon.
Because that's how capable he is.
Yves smiles as he sees how prepared the other three are now.
"Shall we?"
"Aye!"