Luis followed the man as he led them through the unfamiliar Xoliti clan city. The air was cool in the city—it wasn't cold, just cool. A small breeze carried that cool wind. This was the weather Luis liked the most—not too hot, not too cold, just cool air that didn't feel cold even with a breeze.
Luis was still in awe of the city's size. The branches of the trees were bigger than even some of the houses in Luis's village. The branches cast huge shadows below, but there were gemstones that glowed at the spots where shadows were cast. Everything was interconnected in the city. The branches that led up all had paths connecting them to the ground. The branches even had houses or buildings. Multiple bridges spread across the branches and ground.
It looked like the man was taking them to one such branch. It was near the middle of the city, and the house on it was bigger than most of the houses he had seen.
It was a five-minute walk until they reached the branch and then another five minutes to climb all of it.
Reaching the top of the house, they arrived in front of a wide platform with a beautiful house on it adorned with tons of flowers. The house was built into the tree, and the platform was built outside of the tree, seemingly there for any future changes.
Right in front of the house's door was a tall man. Luis almost didn't notice him. He had crimson hair tied loosely behind his shoulder. His eyes glowed a deep crimson red; they looked a bit familiar. It felt like they had the same ferocity that Bane had whenever he talked to Luis about the responsibility of helping the clan and being the person the Phoenix reincarnates through.
He wore a blue, sleeveless robe marked with patterns, but they were slightly different from most of the patterns he had seen; it looked like the patterns on his robe represented things related to fighting. He also had a pendant around his neck and a similar gem on each of his wrists. One even hung from his waist next to his satchel.
The man stopped staring into the distance at the sky and turned around when Luis and his family arrived.
"Elena," the man greeted, while he stepped forward with a smile on his face, "took you long enough."
Elena's eyes widened in surprise. "Raien?"
"Who else would I be?" he chuckled.
Elena and Raien shared a short hug like friends reuniting after a long time.
Elena then turned toward Luis and her kids. "This is Raien. He's my cousin and Chief Bane's son."
To say Luis was surprised by this would be an understatement. He never knew Chief Bane had a son, which would also mean he was married at some point.
Kael and Lira blinked in surprise as well. Kael then asked. "Wait, does that mean your like… our uncle?"
Raien then knelt down to Kael and Lira's level and said, "Uncle, hmm… yeah, you can call me Uncle Raien."
Then he grinned slightly. "Wanna know something cool about your new uncle?"
Lira and Kael both nodded eagerly.
"I'm a mythical-tier aura user."
Luis was shocked hearing Raien was a mystical tier aura user, and he felt so unassuming; Luis expected he would feel vast amounts of aura coming from mytical tier aura users, but he felt nothing from Raien. It was like Luis was standing in front of a calm volcano.
Luis gazed then at all the pendants Raien was wearing. Maybe it was a special pendant like the one Luis was given, able to hide or show something.
Feeling Luis's gaze on the pendants, Raien stood up. "Are you wondering why I'm wearing so many pendants?"
Luis nodded
"Well, one of these helps me see through the barriers like the one you were given and are wearing. The rest of these," he said while gazing down on his pendants. "Are suppression pendants at the mytical tier when you use your blessings, even if it's a blessing that uses a small amount of aura. Your presence can be felt from huge distances. Especially if someone's looking for you." Raien turned to look towards the house. "That's why I stayed here where the Xoliti clan can hide my presence. And if the Phoenix clan needed my help somewhere, I could just come through a portal."
Kael spoke while starstruck "That's so cool".
Raien sighed. "Hmm, I guess it is cool being a mytical tier aura user... well, speaking of cool, there is something else that I should share."
He glanced to his side with his hand behind his head.
"I… haven't told my dad yet either, so don't tell him, but," smiled "three years after moving here I ended up getting married.
"Huh," Elena gasped with her mouth wide open.
Raien laughed. "You know, I guess it was about time."
"You serious?"
"Yeah, she's from the Xoliti clan. She was the one who helped me with pendants and barriers and showed me around the Xoliti clan."
Raien paused. "Also," he said with a proud smile, "I have a daughter. She's the same age as these two."
Lira gasped. "Same age as us?"
"Yep, she would love to meet you, so let's stop standing out here and go inside. I'll introduce you all."
The blue light faded away as the portal behind Anara closed.
Anara exhaled slowly. The air at the Xoliti clan headquarters always made her relax. It was clean and quiet.
Anara wouldn't want to admit it, but she had used more aura than expected before. She wasn't efficient enough when erasing all the traces of people being there. She was too rusty. She should have used only half the amount of aura she actually used.
Even for a mytical tier aura user like herself, it is hard to make barriers, open a portal, and erase any traces. But if she was in her prime, it should have been easier. Well, at least she succeeded.
Even at seventy, she looked full and graceful. She was a tall woman, at five feet nine inches, with long blue hair with faint silver strands at the ends. Her eyes were the darkest color.
Like the rest of the clan members, she wore a white robe with golden symbols etched on it. On the back of the robe was the Xoliti clan symbol, a horse surrounded by stars.
As Anara came out of the portal, the Xoliti clan members all gave her a bow. The Phoenix clan members also gave a respectful nod. Anara gave a nod in return, and Isabella was the first to speak.
"It's good to see you again, Anara."
"Likewise, I'm glad you all arrived safely."
"It's thanks to you that we made it through safely."
"Of course, it's the least we can do for all the help the Xoliti clan got in the past."
Then, a voice spoke from the side. Of the four people who came into the cavern, it was the elderly man Revan, one of the oldest Xoliti clan council members.
"If it wasn't for the Phoenix clan's deity, the mad dragon would have wiped out the Xoliti clan, and our deities are our allies; we don't forget our friends."
Anara nodded solemnly and spoke, "This isn't the place to talk. Let's head inside."