Jason was nervous to meet his old friends once again. It had been more than two years, and he couldn't help but feel worried and apprehensive.
'I hope they don't think that I've abandoned them!'
He doubted that they had much time to think about this, but Jason was more worried about how their behavior and attitude might have changed than other, more necessary stuff.
The Drake clan could have manipulated them which was something that had to be expected.
As such, the nearer he, Paul, and Anna, who was in his arms, came to the fortress that was used to nurture the Drake clan's new generation, the more nervous he became.
He was feeling guilty to have left them abruptly, while Shane's thoughtless act of bringing the Ice Dragon towards Canir had resulted in the chain reaction that had led Jael Drake to lose his sanity.
At least, that was what Jason thought, and he couldn't help but feel sorry.
If possible he would take care of the issues his master had caused, but that was hardly possible right now.
Jason just hoped that the Flers and everyone else who had been forced into a soul contract were treated well, and not tortured.
Otherwise, he wouldn't know how to bear the responsibility his master had given to him.
'Considering that Paul is willing to let me see Greg and Malia, there shouldn't be much of an issue! Calm down!!'
He cursed himself in his mind, and it was only when they found themselves standing in front of the gigantic gate of the metal forest that Jason's mind that had been filled with worry was cleansed.
It was as if he had switched off his mind, preventing useless thoughts from distracting him.
Thus, Jason was able to observe everything down to the finest detail.
His mana eyes had been very helpful to accomplish this feat, but he didn't dare to insert too much mana into them, for fear that he might be exposed.
This would not be problematic for him, but the Flers.
Because he had to tell Paul who he wanted to specifically meet, a connection between him and the Flers was evident.
As such, he was walking on eggshells at the moment. Even a single mistake of his, or his identity being exposed might cause lots of issues for those he loved.
The Flers were not related to him by blood, but without their help, he wouldn't have been able to come this far. If he could call anyone his family apart from his soulbonds, it would be the Flers and his later masters.
This was something Jason knew for sure.
With that in mind, he acted like everything around him was astonishing and extremely interesting to him, putting on a good show of how he was bewitched by the scene in front of him.
It was imperative that nothing about Jason should attract someone's suspicion, and he was of the opinion that his acting was pretty good.
Paul, who was one of the instructors of the new generation, seemed to be gentle and kind.
He spoke a lot to him and explained many things, such as the living conditions of the students who attended the academy, that had been in fact the nurturing ground.
Other than that, he mentioned their training program, what they usually ate, the cultivation resources they received, and much more.
Jason was astonished about Paul's behavior because the young man seemed to trust him a lot.
This could have been due to him having a child in his arms, or that Jason seemed to love his family enough to visit them in exchange for handing out a fully translated neutral body refinement technique.
Despite their agreement, Paul told Jason that he would still receive a large fortune in exchange.
However, instead of accepting it, Jason just told the young man to redirect the funds to Greg, Malia, and their parents as they were in more need of resources than he was.
All-in-all together, Paul noticed how much Jason cared about his family, and he told himself that in no way could such a doting young man with a child be devious or a trickster.
Thus, Jason was not considered a spy!
His sole purpose was to meet Greg and Malia, at least for now!
After they entered the fortress, it didn't take long before he was led into a small, yet comfortable office.
Jason sat down on the small couch before he began to play with Anna as Artemis, whose jealousy had shot through the roof, stared daggers at him.
She had squeezed her way between Jason and Anna which caused both of them to laugh out loud.
Meanwhile, Paul, along with a young, bulky man with short brown hair and a young woman with long, silky brown hair that cascaded down her back, entered the office.
Artemis was annoyed with the way Jason paid attention to Anna.
She meant to glare at Anna but failed to do so as the baby looked at her with innocence and curiosity. Anna blocked most of her appearance to the new entrants in the room as they could only see white feathers. Jason smiled at Greg and Malia, who were unable to identify Jason and clueless as to why a stranger was smiling at them.
His smile and eyes were somewhat familiar, but his facial features had been altered through Solaris' new ability.
As such, there was no way they could detect Jason without scanning his mana fluctuations.
However, their gut feeling told them to not do it as it would attract unwanted attention and suspicion. Thus, they resisted the urge to do so.
Jason's smile reached his eyes when he saw his old friends and a single tear streamed down his cheeks as he asked
"How have you two been?"
This confused Greg and Malia even more, and they exchanged puzzled glances with each other. When they returned their gazes back to Jason, they could see Artemis' head peeking out from behind the baby girl.
When Artemis felt Jason's emotions and saw the cause of it, she screamed out before flapping with her wings as she jumped out of Anna's embrace.
Anna's one-year-old part of the soul felt sad to see Artemis leave her side and she was about to cry, but Jason managed to calm her down.
He stood up, holding her in his arms as he approached the siblings who were more than familiar with Artemis' appearance.
"Artemis!!" Malia screamed out as she hugged the little owl that was shooting towards them.
Artemis was still in her small form, and it was only when they realised who the owl was that they understood who was the person standing in front of them.
Their responses were inarticulate in the beginning, their brains too tired and exhausted to process what they were witnessing in front of them.
They couldn't issue a word first, as tears streamed down Malia's eyes before Greg mumbled in a small voice, "I'm sorry…"
Jason stole a quick glance at Paul, hoping that the young man would leave. However, that was apparently not the case and it made things a little bit more difficult than Jason had hoped for.
Nevertheless, he was glad to see that both Malia and Greg seemed to be fine.
There was nothing more he could have wished for at the moment, and he hugged Greg firmly while asking,
"What are you sorry for? It's not like there was anything we could do!"
Patting Greg's broad back reassuringly, Jason released two paper-thin threads of mana from his body which he shot towards the two siblings.
They were overjoyed to reunite with their old friend, whom they had thought to have lost through the Great Argos war as devastating news continued to pour in through all parts of the planet, making them feel less and less hopeful of him being safe and sound with each passing day.
Despite that, they still noticed something connecting them, as Jason transmitted a single thought to them.
[Don't be astonished, it's just me. With your instructor around, I can't talk freely, just behave as if you don't notice anything]
Because Malia was hugging Artemis, and Greg was being hugged by Jason, Paul, the instructor didn't notice them stiffening for a short moment.
It didn't take long for them to regain their composure and Jason didn't waste any time either.
He hugged Malia as well and heard Greg muttering under his breath in a teasing voice.
"Since when do you have a daughter?? We haven't seen each other for a few years and you've already settled down?"
Greg was trying to hide how emotional he was right now, but it was hardly possible.
Jason just smiled as he said,
"This little girl is called Anna, and she is not my blood-related daughter. To put it simply, her parents died and I didn't want the government to take her in. They're already overflowing with orphans, and a one-year-old child would definitely be neglected."
[There are other reasons too, but I can't explain them without enough time]
He didn't like lying to his close friends, thus Jason tried to stay as honest as possible with Paul watching them.
Paul, the instructor had already expected the little girl to not be Jason's child, because their facial features and other characteristics were different.
However, to hear what Jason had done was remarkable and it restored his faith in humanity.
"How have you two been? After the Drake family took you in, many things must have happened!"
[I know roughly what should have happened, if possible, provide me with as much information about the soul contract clauses as possible! I'll find a way to take you two out of this mess!]
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