Barren Front is the area above the collapsed central chamber of the underground tunnels.
A huge tunnel system is located directly below this whole area.
This area doesn't seem to have any corpses lying around, which means no battle took place here.
…
The party lit up a bonfire to rest around it.
Everyone had been through a lot today, thus the party decided to rest for the night and move towards their destination tomorrow morning.
The Moonlight shined on the barren land and made the atmosphere calm and relaxed.
Damian, Riya, Lia, and Kira sat around the bonfire. The rest were supposed to be on the lookout for dangers.
"But how come my name has 'Frost' in it and not your surname 'FrostFlake'… isn't this kind of weird…" (Riya)
While sitting around the bonfire, Riya nibbled on her candies and questioned Damian with great enthusiasm. She seems to have a ton of questions to ask from her father.
Hearing Riya's question, Damian smiled and said in a happy tone.
"The thing is, your mother's surname is 'Frost' my real surname is 'Flake', we combined our surname when we got married and we both became 'FrostFlake' from that day onwards, that's how we got married…" (Damian)
"That's why I use 'FrostFlake' as my surname… but it seems your mother must have been angry at me… she erased the name 'Flake' from your surname..." (Damian)
While saying that, Damian stared at the bonfire and a depressed look appeared on his face.
"or perhaps…. Raji changed the surname because she hated it… sigh~" (Damian)
The chances of the latter being true were much higher according to Damian's speculation.
He knew that Raji hated the fact that he left them for years and didn't come back home to take care of their mother who fell into a coma.
Thinking all this, Damian shook his head and said in a regretful tone:
"If only I hadn't touched that orb, I would have not sacrificed my ten years like that…. It was my fault that I got so greedy and tried to take that orb with me…" (Damian)
"I thought it was some kind of rare pearl, and I was going to sell it for a lot of money, that way I could have recovered the losses that were caused by my party's death…" (Damian)
"I thought they were just some random pearls that were supposed to be a key to a great treasure… But who would have known… that these orbs were so sinister, to begin with…" (Damian)
"I was an idiot to believe in that bulsh*t…" (Damian)
Seeing that Damian was depressed, Riya hurriedly got up and walked over towards him. She stretched out her hand and smiled cutely.
"Here, take this candy, its good… It will make you forget about all the sad things…" (Riya)
Riya puffed out her chest in pride and said with a smug look on her face:
"I have used this to cure many patients that come in our healer's office… candies are the best!" (Riya)
Seeing the smug and happy look on Riya's face, Damian felt his sadness melt away. He stretched out his hand and took the candy from Riya's palm.
When he put the candy in his mouth, the sweet flavor turned his sour mood into a relaxed one.
"See! Isn't it good, hehe…" (Riya)
Hearing the cute voice of Riya supporting him, Damian felt his tension fading away into nothingness.
His eyes became slightly blurry from tears as he looked at his daughter smiling and cheering him up.
"Yeah… it's good…" (Damian)
Damian hurriedly wiped the tears that were about to fall out of his eyes. The original hopeless look on his face disappeared and a small smile appeared on his face.
'Yes, I need to stop whining, I need to think about how to show remorse for my mistakes… I will need to make up for all the things I didn't do for my children…' (Damian)
A newfound determination appeared in Damian's eyes, he seemed to have found his reason for existence once again.
Now that he has accepted reality, he knows what to do in the future to get his family to forgive him.
'I need to thank Riya for that candy…' (Damian)
He hesitantly stretched out his hand and patted his daughter on the head.
Riya smiled cutely when her father patted her head, this was the first time she felt fatherly love.
"Hehe…" (Riya)
When Damian left ten years ago, Riya was too young to remember about Damian, but now that she had grown up, she could finally learn what it means to have a caring father.
…
When Damian and Riya were talking, Lia and Kira who were sitting nearby didn't interrupt at all, they let the father and daughter have a proper reunion.
It would have been rude to talk while the two were busy resolving their family matters, thus they kept silent and continued to stare at the bonfire in silence.
…
On a large boulder nearby.
"It's her father, you don't need to be that jealous…" (Rio)
Rio's emotionless voice fell into Link's ears, who was staring at Damian and Riya with bloodshot eyes.
"i-I know..." (Link)
Although Link said that he wasn't feeling jealous, he was still clenching his fists so tightly that it was causing the mana to tremble violently. His aura became even more intimidating when he saw Riya handing over her candy to Damian.
"Don't end up punching her father, just because of that... Riya will get angry if you did that…" (Rio)
"I… I know…" (Link)
Rio shook his head in defeat, he knew that Link was not going to stop staring anyway.
'He is too obsessed… sigh~ love is such a powerful emotion… it even made this muscle-head jealous….' (Rio)
All of a sudden the boulder they both were sitting on cracked from Link's dense aura's pressure.
"T-this!?" (Link)
Link's eyes widened in shock when he saw Damian pat Riya on her head. His aura directly caused the boulder to crack. He lost control of his aura for a millisecond because of the shock and that caused the boulder to crack open into two.
"Regulate your killing intent… don't lose control like that…" (Rio)
Rio shook his head when he saw Link behaving like that.
'Forget it, he's not gonna listen…' (Rio)
…
Under a withered tree nearby.
Liam patted the head of Ellie, who was lying down with her head on his lap.
"Yes, praise me more~" (Ellie)
"Yes yes, Ellie is a strong dragon, she has helped me a lot…" (Liam)
With a helpless expression on his face, Liam patted Ellie's head gently.
'Ugh, my dragon is too needy…' (Liam)
Liam shook his head, since the day Liam stopped caring about Kira, Ellie has become more and more clingy.
She asks for his handmade food, she makes him pat her on the head to sleep and whenever he refuses, she throws tantrums like a child and rolls on the ground.
Lately, Liam has been thinking that his summoned dragon might have some manufacturing defect in it.
(Dragons are not manufactured, he is just using a metaphor to describe the situation: a supposed mighty dragon behaving like a child and throwing tantrums is similar to how a machine works weirdly when it has a manufacturing defect…)
All of a sudden Ellie pouted her cheeks and said in an angry voice.
"Why did you go ahead to help that bad woman… didn't you say you will move on from her?..." (Ellie)
Hearing Ellie's question, Liam replied in a helpless tone.
"Eh, no way… I only helped because they are our team members right now… I don't have any emotions left for her anymore…" (Liam)
Thinking about Kira, Liam's face turned cold.
"Those who like to hang out with trash in their arms, have nothing to do with me… I don't like two-faced people like them…" (Liam)
Liam's eyes narrowed further.
"Moreover, I think things are not as simple as they appear on the surface… I have known her for a long time… I can sense deep malice in Kira's eyes… hidden from the world… she is a ticking time bomb..." (Liam)
Liam shook his head and stopped thinking about these pointless things.
"Forget it, I don't care about it anymore… let them both die in a ditch, also stop mentioning her in front of me… I don't want to hear about her…" (Liam)
Hearing Liam's cold tone, Ellie's pout disappeared and her mood seems to have improved a lot today. A happy smile appeared on her face.
She got up and put her head on Liam's chest, she pushed her whole body against him.
"Let me rest like this then…" (Ellie)
"O-okay…" (Liam)
Liam shook his head with a helpless look on his face and continued to pat Ellie on the head.
…
In a sleeping bag near the bonfire.
Fade opened his eyes and sat up hurriedly.
"F*ck! I thought I was dead for sure… phew~" (Fade)
Fade wiped the sweat on his forehead and checked his body thoroughly.
He found that he was fully healed, even his crushed leg was healed to its original state.
Seeing that he was in a good state, Fade sighed in relief.
Fade glared at the sky and shouted in his head:
'Just wait! Once I become strong enough! I will destroy all golems from this world! I will return this humiliation a hundredfold!!' (Fade)
Fade hurriedly got up and looked around.
He noticed Kira who was sitting near the bonfire and thus he decided to move towards her.
But just when he was about to take the first step, a hand pressed down on his shoulder lightly.
Fade glanced behind with a shocked look on his face, and found two pitch-black eyes staring at him.
"Come over with me, I need to ask something…" (Rio)
…
…
Yo! It's your Beloved Author here! It seems Fade has gotten himself on Rio's radar this time… let's see what happens next!
Question of the day.
Which couple do you like the most?
1.Rio and Lia (Tsundere is supreme!!)
2.Link and Riya (Cuteness overload is what I need in my life!!)
3.Liam and Ellie (A clingy one might not be that bad either…)
4.Others (Tell me in the comments.)
By the way, don't forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.