Civilization Chronicles: Rise of the Divine Creator

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"Toby! Watch your language!" Eris chided immediately, though she could hardly blame her adopted little brother. The people who ran the orphanage in Crystal Lake where he and Mabel grew up really were best described as ’bastards’.

Or perhaps ’monsters’ was more appropriate.

The entire orphanage had been a front for smugglers, and the children were clearly being trained to become part of the criminal ring. Anyone who failed to meet the overseer’s standards was ’disposed’ of. That was the kind of life Toby and Mabel had been living until their paths coincidentally crossed with Eris and her family.

When it all went south for those smugglers, they didn’t even hesitate to burn down the orphanage, with all the children still inside, in order to cover their tracks and create an opening to escape.

Toby thought he had managed to escape from that hell, but as he stood there, breathing heavily, his body trembling as sweat dripped from his forehead, the young boy realized that overcoming his trauma wasn’t going to be that easy.

The boy was so overwhelmed by his own emotions that he failed to even hear Eris call out his name, despite her sitting right next to him.

It was only after he felt his big sister wrap her arm around him and gently pat his head that Toby managed to snap out of his daze.

"Calm down, Toby, calm down," Eris comforted, her voice calm and soothing despite the sharp light flashing across the depths of her eyes, "If that man really is doing such horrible things, we’ll find him and make him pay. Won’t we, Aunty Tilly?"

When the young girl’s piercing gaze landed on her, one filled with something akin to murderous intent, Director Tilly unconsciously shuddered.

She had seen both Lucas and Christina when they were serious, but this was her first time witnesses Eris as anything other than innocent and playful.

It seemed that at some point she had unconsciously begun thinking of the young red-head as harmless, but now Tilly realized that she had been gravely mistaken.

Eris was no less frightening than her Senior Brother and Junior Sister when provoked, which shouldn’t have been a surprise given that Marquess Balfour had taken her as a True Disciple.

Knowing this, and knowing she had played a role in this tragedy, the middle-aged Director didn’t hesitate to bow her head, "It is as you say, Young Lady Eris. I and everyone else from the orphanage will cooperate fully in this matter."

Only after receiving this pledge of support did Eris withdraw her gaze, unaware of just how much her image had changed in the mind of the woman before her.

.....

Although she wanted to immediately begin investigating this matter, watching everyone around her handle big, complicated situations had taught Eris that rushing head-first into the unknown wasn’t just counterproductive, it could also be dangerous.

Of course, Eris had also witnessed her Master charge in and smash supposedly complex problems to pieces with raw strength alone, but the young girl was well aware that she didn’t posses that kind of power.

Yet.

The lesson she took away from the past few months was that some issues required careful planning to solve, while others were best dealt with through overwhelming force. Clearly, the issue with the suspected trafficking and abuse of children in the orphanage was an example of the former.

As such, after managing to calm Toby down, Eris and her little brother did their best to act like nothing was amiss during dinner, allowing the children to celebrate Becky’s birthday in peace.

The large pieces of beef in tonight’s soap filled everyone’s bellies, and the gift of cookies for the birthday girl were naturally a big hit with all the kids and even the adults.

Once the modest party had come to an end, it was time for Becky to try cultivating for the first time.

This was something of a ritual that all children in the Rockwell Kingdom went through, and it was why the 10th birthday was always such a big occasion as it marked the start of one’s cultivation path.

As a poor orphan girl, Becky naturally couldn’t have her Innate Talent tested on her birthday. Instead, she would get her aptitude assessed together with all the other commoner children who turned 10 recently in a few months at one of the public evaluations hosted by the city.

That said, unless Becky turned out to be a hidden genius, with at least High-Rank Mortal Grade Talent, she would simply be sent home after being briefly taught the Focused Breathing Art.

Given how simplistic this Cultivation Technique was, any of the adults, or even the older children in the orphanage, could teach the Breathing Art to Becky, but after watching how carelessly this was actually done, Eris simply couldn’t stand it and cut in.

Whether it was her mom, her dad, her teachers, her aunts, her uncles, her Senior Brother, her Junior Sister, her Master, or any of the other important people in her life, all of them had repeatedly told Eris how critical it was to lay a solid foundation, and that laying that foundation began right from one’s first cultivation session in the Body Tempering Realm.

Having had this belief hammered into her head for years, Eris had long since taken it as a kind of gospel and was appalled at how haphazard everyone was being with her little friend’s future.

And so, what should have been a short 2-or-3 minutes introduction to cultivation which would allow Becky to get a small taste of what was to come turned into a nearly hour-long lesson on all the intimate details of the Focused Breathing Art, how one should practice it, where they should practice it, and how best to maximize its benefits.

Less than 15 minutes into Eris teaching Becky, every single child and adult in the orphanage had also taken a seat nearby and was either frantically making mental notes or trying to apply this new knowledge by silently cultivating.

Even those who had proper Cultivation Techniques paid close attention to what Eris was saying as much of her lecture was nothing short of revolutionary to them.

Many were awed at how massive the difference between them and the Disciple of a Marquess was, and at how little they actually understood about what was supposedly the ’basics’ of cultivation.

When the lesson was over, everyone, from young to old, stood up and bowed, "Thank you for your instruction, Teacher Eris!"

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