Drake and his group were driving back. Drake was driving his RV, Yumi was driving their jeep with the trailer and Ayame was driving the new truck.
Drake used a Mother Companion Stone in his RV and the twins used a Child Companion Stone each in their respective vehicles. Mother-Child Companion Stones were one of the best loots he got from their hired killers.
They were used when more than one vehicle traveled together in the fog. That way, one vehicle would have a Mother Companion Stone and the rest might have a Child Companion Stone each. Then the vehicles would not get lost from the main caravan, because of the absence of directions in the fog.
Aria was sitting with Drake in the RV. None of them talked with each other. As expected by Drake, her loyalty didn't drop after his harsh rejection.
Name: Aria Wildfang
Loyalty: 70 (Reliable)
[Why did you not accept her? If you accepted her, her loyalty would have reached at least 91 or above, directly becoming a Devout.]
'Yes, I know that.'
[Then why?]
'Why ask something when you already know it, Ivy?'
[...]
An individual could be loyal to more than one individual.
Name: Aria Wildfang
Loyalty: 90 (Loyal)
That's Aria's loyalty towards her masters that was ingrained in her brain through fear and indoctrination from birth.
If Drake accepted Aria's submission, her loyalty towards him would have crossed that and reached the realm of the Devout. But that wouldn't reduce her loyalty towards the second party. He would never allow his subordinate to live in the fear and submission of another person unless that person was also his subordinate.
Drake and his party finally reached the territory by 8 pm. Aria bid farewell to the party and left. When she left, her back looked desolate but no one comforted her.
Drake reached the town square of the Falmise City and went to turn in the quest. He got more than fifty Purple-Spotted Ivy leaves, but he decided to turn in only five as he kept the rest for his use if ever needed them.
He went to the admin office in the town square. He barely reached in time as it was time to close the admin office. There he saw Charles was still sitting behind the counter.
Drake approached Charles and said, "I want to turn in a quest".
Charles's face was down doing some work. He didn't turn up to look at the speaker and asked, "Which quest?"
"The Purple-Dotted Ivy Collection Quest"
Charles's face suddenly turned pale and he looked up and saw Drake in front of him with a mocking smile.
"What happened Mr. Charles? You don't look good. Why don't you take a break?" asked Drake emphasizing the word 'break'.
Charles made an ugly smile when he heard that.
"Th-thank you for M-Mr. Drake's c-concern. I-I was about to l-leave as it w-was already c-closing time", stuttered Charles, as he said with a smile as ugly as crying.
Drake gave him five Purple-Dotted Ivy leaves and said, "I want to submit them as part of the quest."
Charles somehow calmed his wildly beating heart, didn't accept the leaves, and said, "Thank you, Mr. Drake, for your hard work. But you have to wait till tomorrow to submit it as it was a special quest from the Thornwheel family. You can submit the leaves to them tomorrow and accept your reward directly from them."
Drake kept his smile and said, "No problem, Mr. Charles. I will come back tomorrow" and then he left.
Charles didn't realize but he was drenched in sweat. He quickly finished his work and left the office to inform Faulrum about Drake's successful return.
Drake returned to the twins. He told them they needed to wait till the next day to submit the quest. So, they left the town square and returned to the mansion.
After reaching the mansion, he ordered the twins to sort out all their gains from the trip and logged off.
—------------
Meanwhile, after separating from Drake's group, Aria returned to her tribe.
All the tribe members were shocked to see her as she looked beaten. Moreover, the huge bag she was carrying looked conspicuous too. All the tribe members were eyeing her curiously.
Suddenly a fox woman ran out of her shabby hut after she saw Aria coming. She looked like a mature version of Aria. If they stood next to each other, they would look like sisters, but she was Aria's mother, Maria Wildfang.
"Aria, what happened to you? How did you get hurt so badly? Did Drake do it to you?" asked Maria worriedly.
Aria stayed mute and just went inside her hut. Maria worried about her daughter, followed her inside.
Aria kept the bag in the corner and sat on the makeshift bed.
"Aria, what happened to you? And what is in the bag?" Maria was getting worried seeing the state her daughter was in. She peeked inside the bag and saw it was filled to the brim with different monster parts and herbs. There was a separate small bag inside it, filled to the brim with fog coins. She had once seen fog coins in the bull tribe hence she recognised them.
"Aria where did you get the bag from?" asked Maria as the contents of the bag shocked her.
When she was close enough to Aria, she was hugged tightly by Aria. Aria then started bawling her heart out.
Maria didn't say anything just stood still and let her daughter cry. She soothingly patted her head and back to remind her that her mother was beside her.
Aria cried for a few minutes, then slowly stopped but still tightly hugged her mother. Maria stood still and just patted her daughter to comfort her.
After her hug loosened up, Maria sat beside Aria who laid down on her mother's lap. Maria lightly stroked her head and hair.
After some time, Aria spoke. She told her mother about her adventure outside the territory. She was worried about how her daughter had many close calls to death but was happy that she enjoyed her time with Drake and was outside the oppressive environment their tribe was in even for a short time.
She knew about Drake as her daughter told her everything about him when they first met. She was worried about her daughter spending time with an outsider but was happy that she finally got a friend. She was wary of him at first, but her daughter reassured her that he was a good person, so she temporarily let go of her worries.
She thought it was Drake who hurt her daughter, but after her daughter explained that all the injuries were from fighting the monsters, she let go of her worries about Drake. Moreover, the fact that Drake shared the loot with her daughter honestly also improved Drake's image in her mind.
"Then why are you so sad?" asked Maria, who couldn't understand if her daughter was so happy going on the adventure with Drake, then why was she looking so heartbroken.
Aria explained to her mother about her thought process before asking Drake to be his follower and Drake's subsequent refusal of her.
Maria had more experience than Aria and as a fox human, she was naturally smart and wise even though it was suppressed for the most part by her upbringing. But she still understood why Drake refused her daughter.
She just consoled her daughter but didn't tell her the reason for Drake's refusal. That was the test that her daughter needed to overcome on her own. She understood that Drake was not like the beast humans, who only had strength in their mind, but appreciated wisdom too.
'Aria, I hope you understand it soon. From what you have told me about Drake, he seems qualified to be your lord, you have to prove your qualification to be a qualified subordinate.'
'This is your chance, my dear daughter. If you successfully grasp, you can change your destiny for the better.
'But whatever happens in the future, know that your mother will always be by your side.'
Those were Maria's thoughts when she saw Aria sleeping soundly in her lap after her physical and emotional exhaustion.
—------------
Back in the mansion. After Drake logged off the twins sorted all their gain. Both of them sat together, they each had a vial with black liquid in their hands.
Potion
Path: Shadow
Sequence: 9, Ninja
Rank: 1
They had finally saved up enough points to purchase the Rank 1 Ninja potion for the Shadow path. They wanted to purchase the potion formula previously as even though it was ten times more costly, they wanted it to be in the library as they understood its importance after Drake gave them access to it. The Mortal Skills they purchased before were already recorded in the library and could be accessed freely by Drake or anyone he gave access to.
Because of the rankings, they had to drop their idea and decided to purchase the potions to increase their strength for the rankings, then purchase the formula later.
They gave each other a look and drank the contents of the vial in one go.
Initially, nothing happened, but suddenly they felt cold in their entire body and then they lost consciousness.
They found themselves in different spaces. They were surrounded by black gas. They felt the gas over their skin which was very cold to touch. It was trying to drill into their bodies. Suddenly as if the gas found its way, it increased its assault.
It drilled inside their bodies through their orifices. Seven above and three down. The gas kept on going inside their bodies. They felt intense pain and cold in their bodies because of the gas's intrusion. But they held on.
They had heard stories of what might happen, in case someone failed to consume the potion properly. They held on as they didn't want to disappoint their lord.
Finally, after an unknown amount of time, they woke up. They thought they were inside that space for years but only five minutes passed outside.
Outwardly they looked the same but inwardly they felt the huge changes. They smiled at each other, they had finally become Wayfarers.
Those who have successfully stepped into any path and followed the path are called Wayfarers.
When they were about to check their changes properly, the door of the mansion was shattered by someone. The face became cold and they went to the door.
"Come out you bitches. You killed my dear brother. You annihilated the entire gang that I created after so much hard work. I will kill you", said David.
When David finally returned to his base, he was shocked that all his subordinates died while completing the mission. Their targets returned safe and sound but his subordinates didn't. That only meant that they were dead. It didn't matter how they died, either the twins killed them or the monsters, he had lost his gang.
The reason he was delayed was that he was in a meeting with another gang much bigger than his own. They had acquired a Rank 1 potion formula for Trainee Warrior. He went to them to buy a potion from them. After many meetings, begging many times, bribing many lower-level gang members, and in the end paying an unreasonably huge price he got the potion.
He successfully consumes the potion and became a Rank 1 Trainee Warrior. After that, he didn't wait a second and came back straight to Falmise City.
He was so angry, that he forgot all reason and stormed the mansion. He was drunk in power and thought that even the Falmise had to give him face with his Rank 1, Extraordinary strength.
But he was so wrong. He chose the wrong timing. But his worst crime was that he broke the door of the twins' lord's mansion.
They came in front of him and watched him closely.
"So you are those bitches who seduced my dear brother Peter. I will give you a gruesome death after playing with you to my heart's content", said David who was overcome by lust seeing the twins. He understood why Peter went after them.
Both brothers were the same when it came to women. Just that the older brother was hard-working and wanted to strengthen his criminal empire and the younger brother who was doted on by his elder brother didn't want to work hard.
The twins were already fuming and when they heard him, they understood who he was.
"Let me", said Ayame. Yumi also wanted to test her new strength but since Yumi asked, she let her do it. They could do it properly later in the Training Room.
Ayame brandished her dagger. David who saw that laughed.
"You dare to fight me. I am an Extraordinary. Mortal bitches like you should kneel and submit to me", said David. He didn't even unsheathe his sword as he didn't think with his new strength he needed that.
Suddenly Ayame disappeared. David's eyes widened. She materialized behind him and pierced his heart from behind.
Common or fake paths were no match for uncommon or real paths.
"Extraordinary!" exclaimed David.
He regretted attacking them recklessly. He had a bright future ahead of him. Even if he had lost the majority of his gang, he could recruit a new and better one with his status as an Extraordinary. But everything became smoke because of his impulsive decision.
With such thoughts, David took his last breath and died.