Chapter 108 - Chapter 110

Connor and Dragon had bonded quite well during the weeks he stayed in this frozen wasteland Connor called home. But Dragon had gotten the basics on water bending under control finally, so he was preparing to leave the south pole behind.

Dragon didn't feel like revealing that he had multiple elements under control so he chose to leave early. Because if he stayed here, Connor would eventually sense Dragon's heightened connection to the Water element. And he wanted to fly under the radar as long as possible, even within the White Lotus.

It wasn't that he didn't trust or respect the order. But the White Lotus has existed since ancient times to protect and guide the Avatar. That's is one among many of the secret missions that they perform in the shadows of the world.

And if the members found out about his secret, then the chances of him getting a high status within the Order would be certain. A position in which he would be required to know a lot about the world and guide an entire Order full of Grand Masters in a world he didn't understand.

He wasn't against a position of higher status. He created an Empire and took a high position in multiple worlds, so it wasn't necessarily the status that was off-putting. He didn't feel that controlling an order filled with Grand Masters was something he was worthy of. He knew little of the world so he needed to learn more if he wanted to lead the White Lotus.

One step at a time, Dragon was approaching the village that had served as his first experience beyond the mountains of the air temple. There was a lot of heart inside this tiny place and coupled with the good people living here, he had nothing but good things to say about it.

For the last time, his feet passed the man-made gates of the village. And this simple-looking village proved that the impressiveness among humans is not in what they create. But how they create it. This little water tribe village had more heart than most places because of the care and love it received from the inhabitants on a daily basis.

The eyes of the villagers opened up in surprise as he walked inside the village. He was famous in the village for being another powerful bender, just like the chief in this place. But what he was more famous for was his unique partner that he was usually arriving on.

Even though Orlando wasn't with him, his natural arrogance and loftiness had rubbed off on Dragon. Walking inside here without Orlando by his side, Dragon still carried that natural arrogance as Orlando did.

A clear cut sign that Dragon was present in any place was his aura. Or more specifically the phenomenon it caused when he didn't suppress it at all. He would affect the air wherever he walked and this was still when his aura was mostly suppressed.

Depending on how much of his aura that he let slip out, the area around him would experience different things. Right now when he was walking through this village, the winds picked up speed, so if people walked around with loose clothes, they would flutter around uncontrollably as soon as Dragon was in the vicinity.

Dragon was walking towards the chief's hut because he couldn't leave this place before saying goodbye to Connor and his family. He had gotten really close to them, a lot closer than with the rest of the villagers. All five hundred of them.

To get to Connor's home, he would have to cross over the village square. And as his eyes scanned this place that barely passed for a village square, he couldn't help but notice in the distance, Cassie standing and waving at him.

"Master Dragon! Over here!" She stood with her siblings next to her. They had always been afraid of Dragon ever since he arrived. And they still hadn't opened up to him at all. But it wasn't like he was annoyed over it or anything. He was always training and meditating so he didn't mind not having a perfect relationship with every villager.

Cassie and her siblings stood in front of something huge that had a big blanket covering it. Cassie had the biggest and silliest smile on her face the entire time he walked over. "Be prepared to be AMAZED!" She said as Dragon stopped in front of the three siblings.

She turned around and grabbed hold of the big blanket. And after counting to three silently to herself, she pulled it off. "TADA!" Now, what came into view almost floored Dragon completely.

'What the hell? That's so not good for my ego.' Right now he was staring at a massive ice sculpture of himself and Orlando. It was huge and it displayed Dragon standing on the head of a massive and majestic ice eagle. Orlando looked almost more beautiful as a sculpture then he did in real life.

"So? What do you think?" Cassie asked and looked incredibly proud. Her siblings were hiding slightly behind her back, but you could see tiny smiles plastered on their faces. It was an incredible thing to do, but Dragon was mostly confused about why this thing existed.

"It's fantastic, I assume you did it, Cassie?" He looked at the girl and she nodded proudly. A quick sigh escaped his mouth and he also started smiling.

"It's amazing, as I said. But... Why is it here? Logically, shouldn't a sculpture like this be of your father instead? He has, and always will be protecting this place. I won't." Dragon was smiling as he said it. But that quickly disappeared when he saw Cassie's smile warp from the brightest and proudest smile. To something resembling utter disbelief and despair.

"Y-You're leaving?" She said and tried so very hard to not let Dragon hear the lump that got stuck in her throat. The intense sensation to burst into tears came over her, and but before Dragon could even defend himself, she took off running.

"Cassie!" Dragon said but to no avail in stopping her running off. Noah and Grace remained standing there a loss off what to do now that their sister was gone.

"oh boy, that didn't go very well." Dragon hung his head in guilt and disappointment. Grace and Noah nodded along, but they also started to awkwardly walk away from Dragon. And he didn't try and stop them since he had no idea what to say.

Suddenly without Dragon noticing, reality itself looked to be bending in front of Dragon. The air twisted and suddenly a shape started to appear.

"Do you have kids?" An elderly woman had appeared where the kids stood in front of the statue. She had a face full of wrinkles, and among them all, you could see a smile radiating kindness.

"I do," Dragon looked up at the woman. And immediately something caught his interest. He could see right through her. Her body looked solid and she was standing on the ground, but that didn't stop Dragon's gaze from piercing right through her and landing on the ice sculpture behind her

"Who are you?" Dragon asked quickly. He scanned the woman up and down, but nothing was gained since he still couldn't feel anything from her. Whatever she was, he either wasn't skilled enough or strong enough to know.

"When you find me, I'll give you the best piece of advice any parent could ever hope for." She said with a smile and faded away into nothingness. Her image blurred out like a hallucination in the desert.

"What is going on here? I didn't know this tiny little village had secrets." Dragon sighed again and despite being utterly confused about everything that transpired. He resumed his walk to Connor's hut.

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It didn't take long for Dragon to arrive at Connor's. He hoped to find Cassie in here so he could clear out everything with her before he left. But unfortunately, she wasn't there. Neither of the three siblings was. Only Connor's mighty aura was present inside the hut. And since their spar, Connor had arguably gotten a little stronger.

"Come in." Connor's voice came from inside the hut. Dragon obeyed and walked through the broken down door that Connor had yet to fix.

"What brings you here today?" Connor sat and drank tea, like how most people spent their downtime in this village.

Dragon went and sat down on the pillow by the table and poured himself a cup. The sweet aroma of the exotic herbs they used in their tea filled the little hut ones again. "My time to leave is upon us. And I came to say my goodbyes."

"I would like to say that I'm surprised. But since you have been coming here less and less, I would be foolish to think you wouldn't leave very soon. Though it is quicker then I thought." Connor said and took a sip from his cup of tea.

He put it down on the table and sighed out loud. He met eyes with Dragon and smiled, "Did my daughter get a hold of you? She has been working on something for you in secret." Connor got a little prideful thinking about Cassie's hard-working attitude the last couple days,

"Yeah, we met, and it apparently came as a great shock to her that I would be leaving eventually. I think she was so caught up in whatever thoughts she had that the reality of the situation took her by surprise."

"That sounds like my daughter, alright. She tends to go for something with nothing less than everything she got. it's that highway or no way kind of lifestyle she got from me."

Dragon and Connor shared a laugh and enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere between them. Grand Masters rarely get to meet others on their own level and converse like the two of them are doing.

Dragon started feeling more guilty about how careless he was when speaking to Cassie. Because he was fully aware of how she felt, he felt stupid for not taking it more seriously. If he kept acting carelessly like that, he could lead her down the completely wrong emotional path, and resulting in hurting her immensely. And he would never wish that for Cassie.

She was about to turn thirteen years old this year and Dragon had never dealt with that age before. He wasn't there for Robin and that was one more person he felt incredibly guilty about leaving behind.

Because he had no prior experience with girls that age, he had no idea how to approach those conversation pieces. With only a few words he had appeared to have ruined Cassie's day and also days of her hard work. That was also why he slightly dreaded having a daughter. He didn't want to accidentally ruin her life.

There was another reason why he would probably ruin any future his daughter would plan for herself. And that was because Dragon was pretty sure he would throw any boy asking out Robin beyond space and time. So thinking about what he would do to someone asking out his daughter. These were things that kept him awake at night.

"Dragon, are you okay?" Connor was waving his hand in the air in front of his friends face with an expression of worry. "You completely spaced out there for a second." He said and sat back down when he saw Dragon regain focus.

"I apologize. that was very rude of me. Night demons coming and visiting me during the day." Dragon said and felt his anger starting to boil now that he was imagining Robin alone out at sea with the world against her.

'Those commanders of mine better protect her or it's gonna be hell to pay.' Dragon's aura flared up and shook the house a little. "Dragon, calm down. Whatever's on your mind, I'm here if you wanna talk about it." Connor said and raised his aura to stabilise the imbalance in the air, caused by Dragon.

"I'm sorry. I was thinking about my granddaughter. I left her in a place when I left for my journey a long time ago. And lately, I've started having incredible guilt for leaving her so abruptly." Dragon started breathing in and out slowly.

"Dragon, as a father myself. Let me tell you this little secret. Your granddaughter loves you. I know you, and without a doubt, she couldn't have gotten a better role model in life." Connor smiled and poured more tea in the two cups.

"Thank you. But when I left, I was. Let's just say, I was different then. This journey changed me, and I wish she was first introduced to this version of me."

"My friend. Just from the fact that you are here talking about her proves the genuineness in your relationship. No one can fake that, not even a Grand Master can fake genuineness like you are displaying. So I'm sure she feels the exact same way."

Dragon opened his eyes and his usual calm and tranquilly aura showed itself again. And Connor smiled at his success of calming down Dragon. "Now come on, no more depressing thoughts, let us make a toast in the name of your granddaughter." Connor raised his cup.

"To Robin!" Dragon said and raised his glass with love and care now the only emotions mixed in with his aura.

"To Robin!" Connor said, and they both drank from their cups. And this became the perfect way to see Dragon off. Now he only had one more person to appease before he could leave, and he dreaded for that conversation.

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End