After the fighting had died down they slowly made their way back. Mr. Flores excused himself eventually to look after the wounded and dead. Marcus felt a heavy mass in his stomach, one day this might be him. Standing in front of a row of bodies covered in white sheets, looking at the consequences of his own actions. "Tell me what you are thinking," Janette said, dodging under a piece of broken ceiling that blocked the corridor. "I don't know how he is doing it. Confronting the dead," Marcus said honestly.

Janette thought for a moment and offered him her thoughts, "You will have to accept eventually that people will die, especially class holders. It is not easy, but life must go on. What good comes from you destroying yourself? Do you think others would do better than you? Do you think Colors of the Wild will never lose members, if somebody besides you is at the helm?" Her words were heavy and hit the mark. Would things be better without me?

NO, definitely not. Do you believe some average person would keep everybody safer than you? If not, realize that a lot of people are worse than the average. You are not perfect, but nobody expects you to be. With the one exception.

Exception?

You yourself.

While Marcus was debating with Xeen, they had closed in on the private quarter of Cherry. "What the heck is going on in there?" Janette said and squinted her eyes. They came around the last corner and now they could see that the door had been destroyed by force. Marcus worried, but Janette walked without much haste into the room. Azaa and Cherry were still sitting on the large table, and Cherry was evidently teaching the ginghi woman a human card game. They looked busy discussing the game and Marcus was about to say something, when he saw Janette's face. Confused, she looked at the wall next to the door and Marcus quickly stepped forward to see what was going on.

Four people, three men and a woman, in the garments of the attacker stood in a row facing the wall. They did not move or speak, but Marcus could see tremors and shaking on their bodies. "They were rude so I told them to stand in the corner and reflect on their actions," Azaa said, looking up from her cards. "Aha," Marcus answered. "We should get them into a holding cell or something," he said, and one of the men gave him a terrified look that said, "Yes please!"

After the last enemy was removed it was time for some heartfelt reunions. Kissing was followed by a short report of the event and then Cherry turned to Azaa and Marcus with a plea. "I know you do not want to be drawn too much into human affairs, but could you maybe help our wounded?" Azaa agreed on the spot and together with Marcus she followed the Queen of Hearts to the medical station.

Here the battle had not yet ended. Priests and Menders fought to save their comrades and in many cases it looked like a losing battle. But then Azaa and Marcus performed a whole series of miracles and half an hour later nobody was on death's door anymore. The greatest excitement came when a lost arm and a lost leg reformed in front of the gathered humans, causing a soldier and a nurse to faint. "I will never be able to repay your kindness," Cherry said to Azaa, who answered with a faint smile and a nod.

Given the mountain of evidence, leads and soon prisoner statements it was only a matter of time until the organization behind the attacks would be revealed. But time it would take and the clean up would also not be trivial. In the meantime Marcus and Azaa were teleported to the villa in Italy. Azaa really wanted to visit Marcus' home and also meet the people around him. Azaa had seen them before, but their contact had been very limited.

With a thunderclap they reappeared over the villa and quickly people came running while they descended to the ground. The view of the tall, proud ginghi woman caused much uproar in the clan and Marcus introduced her to the members. "This is Azaa, my betrothed." His ears were red again, but everybody seemed in awe over Azaa.

Look how happy you are to show off your beautiful woman to your peers.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Can't I be proud that she has chosen me?

Of course, I bet she feels proud of you too.

You think?

I'm certain.

"I'm finally not the oldest person in the room," Candis joked later that evening. They had found themselves around the large fire pit for a night of celebration. It had become a clan tradition and Marcus enjoyed the hungry look in Azaa's face when she saw the fried sausages. "You are quite the carnivores," Achara remarked watching Azaa enjoying her food. "Not exclusively, we also like sweet and spicy food. Fruits are a large part of our natural diet, vegetables not so much," Azaa said with a look to Marcus.

The details of the attack on Cherry and the base were far less enjoyable, but Marcus felt he had to inform the inner circle about the truth. He talked with Kou for a long time about potential consequences for the clan and how they should act from here on out. "If Cherry asks for our support then we will help as much as we can. But given the power level only the seniors will become active. Even the second squad is too low level for this conflict," Marcus said after analyzing the situation and Kou agreed. "Talking about the second squad. I have lined up a basic mission for the them. You will find the details on your work account. If you give your green light, I will get things going." Kou said and Marcus nodded, feeling the weight of responsibility on his shoulders.

Before it got too late Marcus got to see a view that made his heart beat much faster than he had expected. Azaa had been talking to Achara a lot and eventually little Sophon found his way into her arms. Azaa cradling a child in her arms made his blood boil in a very pleasant way.

Please do not forget to mute me tonight.

Marcus said good night to Xeen and did it right that second. As Marcus walked hand in hand towards his room Grace reminded him about his intense training tomorrow. "Okay, I am looking forward to it," he said and he meant it.

There was something strangely exciting about stripping Azaa naked in his own room, and watching her lying naked on his own bed. He could feel Azaa was even more eager than before and he did not know why. Still, he wanted to fulfill her expectations. He was still taking off his clothes, and she was already taking care of him, but he had different plans.

Confused why he would not want her to continue she allowed him to push her on the bed and put her legs apart. Marcus hoped he got Janette's lesson right and gave it a go. It was a mixed success. Giggling and moaning combined and in the end he used his fingers to lift her into heaven. As soon as she got her body under control again, she came after him. His attempts to level the playing field had only made her more determined to fully rule him and by the time she let off him, Marcus was truly done for.

In the morning, Marcus let Azaa sleep and grabbed a basic breakfast. Somebody had made sure his cereals were still well stocked. He changed into his training clothes and walked to the training field. Grace was already warming up and welcomed him with a bright smile, "I'm happy you did not forget or tried to get out of it." Marcus shrugged his shoulders, "Why would I? Training with you is productive and fun." Marcus told her about his last fight and they started by discussing and talking tactics. They followed this up with practical training until the sun was high up in the sky.

"I have unlocked my fourth ability," Marcus muttered as they took a break. "Okay, what do you want to do about it?" She asked, tilting her head. He did not know what to do. Or better he knew a lot of things he wanted to do, but not what was the right choice. "To be honest, I would like to ask Kim if he would help me figure it out. But I also want to spend more time with Azaa. I also want to spend more time with the clan, because I feel I'm more like a guest than a leader. I also don't want you to think you are not a good enough training partner for me," Marcus counted down his own thoughts.

Grace laughed, "Go and train with Kim. You two are a special brand of crazy when it comes to abilities. I'm going to be here looking forward to seeing what you are going to come up with. And Azaa… why don't you ask her yourself?" Marcus turned and saw his beautiful Azaa in the morning sun. "I did not want to disturb your training. Do not worry about me Marcus, I have to return home anyway. My own duties can not wait forever," She said with a soft smile. Marcus could not help it and walked to her, kissing her gently.

"I will visit you as soon as this is over," he said and Azaa nodded. "Of course." Then she looked at the waiting Grace. "While I'm still here, I could train both of you," Azaa said and suddenly Marcus felt something cold grabbing his soul. Grace instead was over the moon and eager to get some pointers from the ancient ginghi woman. Little did she know.

Azaa did not bother with changing her clothes and they started right away. Marcus already knew what to expect and endured the next three hours like a man, but it was the first time for Grace being treated like a preschool child, when it came to combat. "I lost all motivation to go on. Maybe I should open up a nice, little flower shop in the nearby city. Selling flowers every day… that would be nice," Grace said with dead eyes. "I felt the same way the first time she trained me. The second time is not better," Marcus said, while he watched the blissfully ignorant Azaa talk with Achara. "Let it sink in and make the best of it," Marcus said and slowly made his way to the showers, leaving a small pile of Grace behind in the dirt.

After the shower Marcus called Kim on the black phone and told him he was ready to unlock his fourth ability. Ye-jun was instantly ready to help and promised to send Gamma to pick him up in an hour. Marcus, knowing Ye-jun well, also promised to tell him something very interesting as a compensation. In truth, Marcus could not wait to see his reaction, when Kim heard of Shen's level and age. Janette had made him a very bad boy.

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