"Arf! Arf! Arf!..."
Sophia was crying as she ran through the corridors, leaving the guards confused because—even amid her tears—she was also smiling, and smiling broadly, as if she were overflowing with joy.
"Miss...?"
"W-Wait, miss...!"
The guards in the main hall didn't have time to try to stop her—Sophia is normally polite and never ignores anyone—but now they felt as though they hardly existed before her.
She pushed open the doors to her parents' room, which slammed shut—Arthur startled awake, raised his arms, and immediately positioned himself in front of Alice. His eyes swept over the room, searching for the threat. But, much to his surprise—and relief—it was Sophia who leaped toward him.
"W-W-what happened, dear? What is it?" he asked, worried to see her in tears.
No matter how hard she tried, Sophia couldn't get the words out; her chest felt as heavy as if it were about to burst, and her throat tightened with every tear that fell—she could do nothing but cry. But when she saw her mother wake up and, worriedly, stroke her face, Sophia managed to choke out the words that had been lodged in her throat:
— O-O Noah, he...! He knows about alchemy, Dad...!
as she sobbed.
Arthur froze, letting her slip from his arms so that mother and daughter could embrace. While they wept together behind him, astonished, all he could manage was a smile as a single, liberating tear rolled down his face—the only tear he had left.
"A-Are you sure about that, my daughter?" Alice asked, trying to keep her composure.
"Yes... He... He asked me to buy an oven for training."
"An alchemy oven?! But that's going to be very expensive! We don't have the money for something like that right now," said Alice.
But clenching his fists until his nails dug into his skin, Arthur declared:
— No! ...We're going to buy it.
No room was left for any debate.
He got up, lost in thought, and, upon leaving the room, wandered aimlessly under the moonlight. Arthur fell to his knees. In the vast courtyard of rectangular stone tiles, he simply wept. He cried and gave thanks—kneeling before whichever deity would listen—for the god who had answered him.
Ever since she was young, Sophia had always been the most beautiful of all the girls—a distinction obvious to anyone who looked at her. She was—and remains to this day—the most coveted, and besides her beauty, like her mother in her youth, she possessed one of the greatest cultivation abilities in the entire city.
For some reason, cultivation proved to be much more challenging for the women of that city, as few had the capacity or resources necessary to become cultivators; even fewer managed to earn the title of master.
Unlike most girls who typically enter the world of cultivation late, Sophia began cultivating at the age of eight, and a little before nine, she managed to reach the first stage of her tempered body. However, just like her mother when she started cultivating, Sophia's rate of progress plummeted drastically upon reaching that first stage.
Even though everyone laughed and said she was "just a pretty face," Sophia never gave up and continued to cultivate day after day. Yet, despite all her effort, it took just over two years of hard work for her to reach the second stage. And from that point on, her condition only worsened, with her proficiency deteriorating progressively.
Her father sought help from several doctors to try to resolve his daughter's problem, but although many evaluated Sophia's condition, none could point out any abnormality – or rather, there was nothing wrong with her. Her body, her Qi flow, and her Dantian were all in perfect condition.
Thus, after so many attempts without identifying any issue, Mr. Radiance had no choice but to stop calling the doctors. This decision was made partly because, despite his deep distress at seeing his daughter sad, his wife was also not well – a problem that had begun a few years after Sophia's birth.
Even though it wasn't her true intention, Alice ended up getting married at 23 and had a daughter at 24. She didn't feel sorrowed by that; on the contrary, Sophia was the second best thing that ever happened in her life, and she loved her so much that she called her "my little jewel" or "ray of light." However, as much as she loved her daughter and wished to be with her constantly, over the years it became increasingly difficult.
At 25, while cultivating, Mrs. Radiance began feeling pain all over her body. Not wanting to make a fuss, she chose to keep those pains to herself. Then, at 26, she started coughing up small amounts of blood while cultivating. This deeply worried her, as over the course of a year the pain became so intense that she didn't even know when she'd be able to hide it from her husband, her daughter, and the rest of the family.
When the pains first worsened at 25, she sought a doctor's help, but he found nothing wrong and assured her that everything would be fine. However, after she began coughing blood at 26, she returned to the clinic and explained what was happening. The doctor couldn't understand it—everything about her appeared perfectly normal, her health impeccable.
Unable to find a solution to her problem, she returned home, consumed by doubt about whether she should tell everyone what was happening to her.