Seeing the whale's strange and thoughtful gaze, Fey became anxious and intervened. "You can't leave the sect! It would be a betrayal, and no larger sect will accept someone capable of betraying them."
The whale turned to her and huffed. "Why would I do that? You will value my people and take good care of them, right? Unless..."
He spoke, and then his expression changed, murmuring thoughtfully. "Even without a sect, they can still become heroes; after all, as you said, no one knows how to advance in ranks. Perhaps resources aren't the main thing, but talent. Having a sect might be useless... in fact... maybe it's better to have nothing protecting them and be free... perhaps the key is to be favored, free to temper oneself in the world. The death of that hero proved that being protected by a sect isn't the way."
"Wait!" Mistie quickly interjected, her expression conflicted.
