Soon-Yi was stretching in the bath. The steam was thick which suited her just fine since it somewhat concealed her face. A few days ago, she had been mad with worry but now she had finally managed to calm down. However, her c.h.e.s.t felt heavy, she kept on sighing and even had some difficulties to breathe from time to time. She also lost her appetite. She never knew one could become so weak and frail because of anxiety and worry.

Obviously, Xian was the only one she cared for to that extent. Nobody could ever create such a turmoil in her heart. She was on edge every single second of the day and it was exhausting but it couldn't be helped, he was her one and only child, after all. She knew she was bad at expressing love and her pride often prevented her from being emotional. However, she did worry a lot.

Luckily, she had stopped aging a long time ago so no wrinkles and gray hair were visible. However, her eyes were red with lack of sleep and tears of frustration. She felt helpless as her son, her most important person, had disappeared in the middle of danger.

She didn't want to raise a whining wimp and her upbringing methods had been stern, even harsh sometimes. She was well-aware of her short-comings. It had always been easier for her to assume the fatherly role and Xian would never expect any motherly behavior on her part. With this, at least, she had been frank, straight-forward and honest with her cute son. She had her fair share of lies, she had cheated and hidden the truth more than once but all in all, she had remained true to herself, and up to now, she had kept her oath of protecting him.

But the kid was a real handful. Soon-Yi had always been bad with children and it became worse with every century that she lived as a spinster. She had always stubbornly rejected having a baby of her own. However, she hadn't been able to refuse the late queen of Aliker who gave her so much. And ever since she took him in, Xian had disturbed her life. Xian was truly a magnet for catastrophe. It seemed to be his fate and his true nature.

She had tried so hard to teach him what was needed for his survival, but he was definitely way too hard-headed. He even obstinately neglected his magic studies, making his foster mother worry because he didn't know how to control his powers.

In the end, Soon-Yi had changed her teaching objectives. One couldn't live as long as she did without a certain level of adaptability. It was impossible for her to keep Xian close at all time to fight any life-threatening danger he might encounter. He had to fend for himself. And the best she could do to prepare him was to enhance and train his body to the maximum. Even if he couldn't use his magic, his body would not betray him, at least that was what she hoped.

As a result, from a fairly young age, Xian'd had to train and increase his fighting skills. Then he had to carry out missions, such as protecting Wei Ling, as part of his training course. However, even when he encountered danger, his medallion connected him to Soon-Yi.

Now she missed this reassuring presence. It felt as if her son had been taken away from her. Xian had not spent a single instant in her w.o.m.b but the magic of the medallion had linked them like an umbilical cord for years on end. Being cut off so abruptly had been one of the most heartrending experiences of her life. She knew that he might still be able to come back to her, but it felt somewhat different and less real when she couldn't sense him with magic anymore.

She had seen him twice since the medallion broke. The first time, she had caught a glimpse of him as he went out of the Academy of magic with Qing Chan – what an unlikely pair ! His body was shining with magic and Soon-Yi was sent in a panic. Her hatred for the former Great Mage, Cheng Hu, had blinded her. For a moment, she had believed that Cheng Hu had cast a spell on Xian to harm him. The second time, he had been on top of a huge dragon and she had managed to catch up with him just as he had been engaged in a battle with a whole legion of dragons from Lysania. Needless to say she hadn't been able to talk to him during both brief encounters.

In the end, she needed to keep her hopes up and believe in him, he wouldn't die so easily. He was her disciple after all, even if she was worried sick about his safety, she was proud of him. She wished she had, at least, told him that before. She wanted to see him right here and right now and hurried out of her bath.

As soon as Soon-Yi left the bathhouse, a swarm of ladies from a wide range of wealth and ranks entered. None had been brave enough to stay close to the Great Mage of Selnan while she bathed. Soon-Yi and her mages were currently in a small town of the Southern Duchy of the Selnan Empire and gossiping was a hobby of choice for everyone here. It was a quiet place where they often traded with Lysanian people and the mutual influence was strong. The legion of dragons went back on their side of the frontier but some emissary still stayed behind to confer with their counterparts in Selnan and cooperate.

In the neighboring kingdom of Lysania, nobility or money didn't mean much. The only power was in the hand of the royal family. The powerful people were all from the dragon bloodline and even those from lesser branches were employed in the famous and highly-esteemed legion of dragons where they could receive magic elements from a pool of mages, much like they would in the royal academy of Lysania.

People that were neither dragons, nor mages to nurture the dragons, were all more or less equal. They were normal citizens that needed the protection of dragons and served or even worshiped them in return. Even the weakest dragons somewhat looked down on normal people.

Soon-Yi had only contempt for the people that accepted willingly this domination. Even though she was a powerful mage, the most powerful in the Selnan Empire, she still avoided carefully to enter the kingdom of Lysania, if possible. She knew she would fight and not easily submit, should they capture her and force her to join a pool of mages who provided pre-processed magic elements to feed the dragons. But as she had seen a legion of Lysanian dragons fighting the legendary dragon, she wasn't positive she could beat either and escape.

Fourteen years ago, she certainly would have fought to death. Better dead than enslaved ! Her pride would have never allowed for her to be used as food provider and have her magic core s.u.c.k.e.d dry many times until it withered, and then have her own life elements, her life itself, stolen. This fate wasn't the worst she could think of, however, it was not too far down the line.

However, if she could be with Xian for a little while longer, maybe she would be willing to endure anything. This was how much he had changed her, she would even go against her sacrosanct principle of self-preservation just for him.

Meanwhile, the men were busy sending scouts and receiving reports about the damages due to the battle. The town was far enough to remain intact, however, the surrounding area was also the responsibility of the town citizens and the latter also had to send report to the Imperial capital as well as the other local authorities.

Soon-Yi hurried back to the inn, in a rush to pack everything up and leave. She hated this town where the men had most of the responsibilities and the women were leisurely...bored. She was certain they were hiding a lot of information from her but she didn't really care about the situation in the Southern Duchy, she only had Xian on her mind.

However, she could only wait until Cheng Hu, the former Great Mage, recovered from his injuries. He had been heavily wounded in the battle, moreover it had been by friendly fire. And what irked her the most was that she wasn't the one who had injured him ! She had been holding back ever since the dragon appeared and they left the underground cells of the Academy of magic in the capital. Her mood was really going from bad to worst.

But, she was not stupid enough to incapacitate him when she knew that he could rather precisely track Xian with the magic tool linked to the map in his book. It was really frustrating as she had no mean to check if Xian still had the headband with him. Because the last time she saw her son, he had been with the huge dragon, she was sure that the legendary beast had been able to tamper with Xian's magic to consume, i.e. shamelessly steal, magic elements from his core, ignoring Cheng Hu's petty enchanted headband. As a fellow mage, her heart was bleeding for her son.

But the tracking function should still be active, assuming Xian didn't lose the magic tool. How she wished she could use the magic book to locate Xian by herself! She felt her frustration was killing her.

In addition, she had tried several times to contact her friend Arthur Caucel and he hadn't answered yet, either. The battle had ended abruptly when Xian and the legendary dragon had disappeared. Soon-Yi, of course, had kept the teleport device in her possession for a long time. She had used it to flee the Aliker Kingdom when the previous dynasty – Xian's family – fell, and she had also used it not too long ago to chase after Xian when he had been fighting in the sewers. She was the only living person who knew how this specific artifact from Ancient Aliker worked. She had studied it for years, even though it was still somewhat mysterious and she certainly couldn't make another one.

What she knew for sure was that Arthur Caucel had the teleport device with him when she had asked him to investigate the woman who was with Xian and fell from the sky, from the dragon's maw. That had been the last time Soon-Yi had seen Arthur Caucel and she wondered how the teleport device he had with him had happened to be used to teleport Xian and the dragon to an unknown destination. Was her friend Arthur with them? He didn't event take part in the battle as they parted before the fight started.

If Soon-Yi managed to get her hands on the teleport device, she might be able to find the destination where they had teleported. It would be a valuable clue and bring her a step closer to Xian's whereabouts. However, even with the enchanted communication magic tools they brought with them, Arthur Caucel couldn't be reached.

Soon-Yi was feeling useless and hopeless, and she hated it. She was restless and everyone was avoiding her. At last, a trembling maid managed to gather the courage to give her the last news. Firstly, the remaining mages of the group had conducted an investigation and found the source of the friendly fire. However, said suspect had left for the capital, under escort. Indeed, every one of them was wary of the Great Mage. Secondly, Cheng Hu had just awaken. Soon-Yi leaped up, in a rather unladylike way, and stormed out of the inn, even using a magic spell to hasten her steps and reach the small local hospital faster.