Azzy continued to immerse himself in trying out the apps and games while waiting for the arrival of Avia.
Roughly thirty minutes later, Avia finally reached the entrance of the gate. At first, she hesitated to enter, wondering whether it is a cheap ploy created by her father in order to see her.
Adding on top of this, when she tried to sense the presence of Azzy, she couldn't find him.
Of course, she isn't Azzy. She cannot see the aura of a human being from far away. Only Azzy can do that.
What Avia was depending was on her logic. It hasn't been even 2 years since Azzy's disappearance. Hence, in her opinion, he must not have gotten much stronger.
He must be in either 4-star or at best in the 5-star realm. That's what she thought but she couldn't sense any Arcana Master in that realm.
Hence, her suspicion got stronger.
But then again, she cannot miss the opportunity of finding the truth. The return of Azzy is nothing but a piece of bad news for her. After all, it would mean that her ex-lover loses the opportunity to become the clan head. So, she was hoping to be fooled by her father and Ethar.
Unfortunately for her, fate hasn't been that kind.
Taking a deep breath, as she entered the compound, walked toward the house, and entered the living room, her eyes spotted the boy who was playing a martial arts fighting game on the smartphone. Oakley was having headphones over his ears and he was watching something on the tablet and Ethar was arranging the dishes on the dining table.
"Young Master Garcia?" She spoke out loud, earning the attention of Azzy right away.
Azzy got up on his feet with a smile, "It's been a while. Nice to see you again, Avia."
Until two years ago, he used to address her as Master. So, when he spoke her name directly, Avia got an inkling that something changed with this disciple of hers.
The biggest surprise to her is that she couldn't sense anything from him. It is as if he was a normal human. "What happened to your soul energy? Are you really Azrael Garcia?" She furrowed her brows, wondering whether her father is playing a joke on him. She was also seeing Azzy smile for the first time. It was also suspicious.
Meanwhile, Oakley also realized that his daughter is in the room and his face glowed in happiness before it died down because of her expression. "What happened?"
"It's nothing, grandpa. She was confused why she couldn't sense my soul realm," replied Azzy as he waved his hand. He then looked at Avia, "It's a technique I learned from someone. I can erase my soul power at any given time I want. As for my identity proof, I think you will recognize these two."
Azzy unsealed one chain, increasing his soul power to 10 in number before proceeding to summon the Death Scythe and the hourglass to prove to Avia that he is Azrael Garcia, not an imposter.
As he dismissed the weapons of the Reaper, Avia wiped off that disappointed look on her face and went on one knee, bowing to him formally, "Welcome back, Young master."
"No need for formalities. Be at ease, Avia."
Azzy handled it like a clan heir rather than a friend or sibling as he was about to do something that will make her angry. But, it is a question of priorities and he had to choose his grandpa who raised him.
Obviously, Avia felt the personality change as well as unapproachability from the teenager and she couldn't help but be curious about what happened in the past two years.
Azzy didn't reveal to her like he did with his grandpa and he just gave her a vague reason that he was lost in the wild. He didn't explain her anything and Oakley understood that he wanted to keep the time traveling, a secret. The exiled heir of the Night clan then diverted the topic to dinner.
He asked her whether she had dinner. To which, she lied that she did.
Azzy believed her and went to the dining table while asking Avia to accompany them. She sat down and was served coffee as per her request while the others were eating. This way, Avia suppressed her feelings of hunger and appetite.
Once the dinner was finished, Azzy then came to the real topic. And without any surprise, Avia objected to it. "I'm sorry but he cannot return to the clan. He was being forgiven by the clan but his suspension wasn't removed."
Azzy didn't take no for an answer either. He directly said to her, "Then, he won't come to the clan as Avia Night and Aspen Night's father but as the adopted grandpa of Azrael Garcia. I will talk to the monarch and grandpa will live with me at the palace. The Night clan won't have a problem with him."
Just as Azzy expected, Avia furrowed her brows in displeasure. There was a lot going on in her mind and she couldn't express it to the teenager who returned as a fellow who can argue in return and not follow others' words blindly.
In the end, she nodded with great difficulty, "Lord Qridus has the ultimate authority in the clan. He can lift the suspension from anyone. If you have his permission, then, I have nothing there to speak."
"Good." Azzy nodded with a smile. "We'll return early in the morning. There was no need for a helicopter or vehicle like last time. We can go to Freyles through portal points and we can go on a flying card from the nearest one to the clan's location."
"I understand." Avia agreed unwillingly.
Oakley wanted to say something in the matter so that his daughter won't be displeased, but to date, he never said no to his beloved grandson's wishes. Not to mention, he would be able to see his family members more often if he will stay at the clan. Hence he stayed silent and became a spectator.
After a brief amount of silence, Avia then spoke, "I wonder if you know the situation in the clan."
"Yeah, I know." Azzy nodded in response and then said, "Don't need to worry. That Velez won't stay as clan heir for too long anyway. The position will return to its rightful owner by legitimate means."
"You want to challenge him?" Avia was taken aback upon understanding the hidden meaning. She added, "He is almost at the doorstep of the legendary realm, you know. At present, only four people in the clan have the ability to defeat him. No one in the right mind would give their approval for your challenge."
Azzy let out a mysterious smile and responded with a challenge instead, "How about we do this? At the dawn, let us spar for a bit. Perhaps, you will grow a little bit of confidence in me."
Avia didn't know whether her former disciple wanted to show off his two years of training or whether he was really serious about taking on Velez, but at the very least, she knew that would be able to understand how long Azzy will take in order to surpass Velez.
She agreed to it, "Alright."
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺