Valerian’s question was sudden, and it took the siblings by surprise. They did not expect him to say something like this to them. While Wen was somewhat excited in his mind about life in the city. Zen did not have any such notions.

The girl was the first to regain her composure and shook her head. She said, "I will not go with you to the city, Val."

Wen was surprised again and could not understand why his sister rejected such a godsend opportunity to change their lives. The girl continued, "You might be thinking that I am a fool to refuse you, but the thing is, I spent my entire life here, in this village. My parents passed away in this house. I do not have it in me to forget and move on to the big city."

Valerian had a clue about what the answer would be. However, asking did him no harm. At least he would be able to move forward without any regrets. Wen countered, "Zen, why do you not want to go? If it is because of the house, we can return every month to ensure things are alright. The money we have can support us in the city."

Zen smiled faintly and said, "That is not the point. In this village, we have people who look after each other. They care and trust us. In the city, there is no such thing as trust or loyalty. I do not wish to go there. If you want, you can leave. You are old enough. However, I will stay here and look after the legacy that my mother left me."

Wen was surprised and somewhat saddened by all this, and his eyes were filled with tears. Valerian saw the situation was not good and said, "Your sister means to say you are old enough to make your own choices. She does not want to hold you back."

Wen nodded and wiped the corner of his eyes, "I know what she means, but how can she think of me leaving her? Hmph, she is always like this."

That said, the young man left the table. Zen wanted to say something but held back. Valerian shook his head and replied, "You have to learn to lean on him like he leans on to you. That is family."

The girl sighed and said, "I want to lean on him, but when I recall how he exhausted himself to keep things going around the house after my father passed away. I do not wish to hold him back after that."

Valerian shook his head and said, "I do not understand why you must look too deeply into things. It is a male instinct that he should not let his sister suffer, but that does not mean he is weak. Even if I look at things from your point of view, I would like to mention that things are not the way they were in the past. You ought to calm down."

Zen gazed at him and fell into deep thought. After a few minutes, she nodded and said, "You are right. I should lean on him a bit."

Valerian nodded and said, "I will go and start packing. I intend to leave in the morning."

Zen nodded with reluctance evident in her eyes. The young man could see it, but he did not answer to her. He did not want to make things more complicated. Zen also left the dining room and went to find her brother.

These days, Wen had only one goal: independently refining a high-level weapon. However, he was just short of experience. Valerian packed himself a few changes of clothes and some of his things, like an identification paper the village chief gave him. The people were kind, and they valued loyalty.

Valerian bought a lot of changes in the village and a constant flow of merchants and money. The young man taught the people how to make proper roads with stone and clay. He taught them a lot of new recipes and even gave them ideas on fashion and clothing.

The villagers were surprised by the ideas but began profiting from the effort; thus, Valerian was the people’s favorite. This was why the Village Chief signed his identification paper.

The young man finished packing his stuff and was ready to go to the city and look for a way back to his home. The night was fleeting, and Valerian was busy drawing something on paper. He was not good at it, but when he started forging weapons, he also used his free time to learn art.

Zen was his teacher, and she was good at it. Valerian finished drawing and sighed, looking at the portrait on the table. After a few minutes, he signed his name and let the ink dry.

...

The next morning when Zen and Wen came to find Valerian to bid him farewell, they found the room was empty, and a note was stuck on the door. The note said, "I left early because I did not want to cry. I left you two something on the table. Take care of yourselves, and I will write you letters. Thank you for everything you have done."

Zen had tears in her eyes, and she did not know that when last night she saw him go into his room was the last time she would see him. Thinking about this, her heart was even more in shambles.

Wen shook his head and said, "This is just like him. He takes after you, hiding his emotions."

Zen glared at him and then kicked him in the shin. Wen shivered from the pain, and the two entered the room and on the table. They found a portrait lying on the table.

...

Valerian was walking down the dirt road through the forest. He wore armor and carried a small bag on his shoulder. The young man recalled all his time in the forests of the Acies. He looked around a few places and could not help but look for the similarities. He tried to make a few beast sounds but failed.

He had a bitter smile on his face and recalled a metaphor. One can never get everything in the world. Thinking so, he moved forward. The way to the city was simple; he had to follow along this dirt track, and he will reach the city three days later.

He wondered if the journey would be as good as he thought. He had two silver coins on him and nothing else. If the bandits were to attack, he also had a sharp high-level dagger strapped to his thigh. Some of him wanted to fight against a bandit group and kill them to see if he could still pull a few things like he did in the past.

However, he was not without uncertainty. These past two months, he has been working on his body, but he still lacks confidence as he walks through the forest one day passed by. The young man sat down on the ground to rest at night. He took out his knife and held it in his hand. The young man sat leaning against a tree but wanted to be ready in case any beast sneaked up on him.

The young man sighed as he gradually entered a state of semi-sleep. His eyes were slightly open. Not long in his sleep, he sensed a gaze looking at him. The young man opened his eyes and found a snake gazing at him with emerald green eyes. He was calm, and the snake did not scare him.

On the contrary, he was mesmerized by this snake. The animal had a small orange flower blooming over his head. The body was flaming red. Valerian could tell that the snake was poisonous to the extreme from the green eyes. However, the red scales were very much like gems.

The snake slithered closer to Valerian, and the young man tightened his grip around the knife. He was ready to cut off the head the moment the creature came to attack him. Valerian watched the snake come closer to him, and it slithered over his leg. It did not take the snake to reach the chest, and then it shivered.

Valerian moved his hand, but the next second, the flower on the snake’s head bloomed. To be safe, the young man stopped breathing, and the flower wilted as it fell from the head of the snake onto the young man’s chest.

The snake’s green eyes faded into black, and the body fell limp on his chest too. Just when Valerian was confused, he heard someone land beside him. It was a female with long golden hair and she wore silver armor. The shadows hid the face, it was already night and the moon was not very bright either.

The lady sighed and said, "You are lucky that you got the flower of fire. Flame snakes choose a few lucky ones to pass on their fire before they die."

Valerian did not lose his calm and asked, "Who are you? Also, you have been watching this snake and me for a few minutes now, why only appear now?"