While Taro was busy with his takeover, Jensen was leading Aiko and Kairi away from the town toward the Morvath Camp.

They had begun their journey with one of the hovercrafts from the funeral, but they had crashed it.

Now they travelled on foot, and Jensen had to move slowly for Aiko’s sake, so the journey had been nothing but boring.

No animal came near them because of the bloody aura he was releasing so he did not have to do much, allowing his mind to wander.

’Those things are truly not reliable outside the settlements,’ Jensen thought as his mind returned back to the crashed hovercraft.

Previously, he had thought it was simply a skill issue on the part of the drivers or maybe a manufacturing limitation that engineers just could not get around.

Now he was no sure that was not the case.

He was certain they were advanced enough to have spacecraft fast enough to travel between Mars and Earth in one week.

Given that the distance between Earth and Mars changed based on their orbits around the sun, even at its farthest, it would simply double or maybe triple the duration... and that was only for public spaceships.

Having enough technology to create such spaceships that travelled in space, but not one that allowed hovercrafts to travel in the forest... well you can see the issue with the logic.

The same went for communication devices.

They simply did not work outside settlements, and you required special items to send distress signals, but they were very expensive.

The entire idea that people could communicate between towns that were hundreds of kilometres away but not in the forest a few meters away was ludicrous.

But the more you put everything together, the more you realized why everything was purposefully set up like that.

Preparing them for recruitment into the war against demons.

"Hmm... Jensen, can we wait here for a bit?" Aiko said. "My feet hurt."

Jensen’s eyes moved to Aiko... he considered it for a few seconds. Then he lifted her and carried her princess style.

"Are you still good?" Jensen asked Kairi.

"Yes, Young Master," Kairi responded. "But I think we should find a place to set up camp... It is getting late."

Jensen looked around... It was indeed getting late.

He kept forgetting that he had dark vision, which allowed him to see through the night not to mention he also had higher stamina, which meant he did not tire as easily.

"Do you know how to find a good camp?" Jensen asked.

"Yes...," Kairi answered, confused. She could not tell if it was a trick question or a test or something else.

But truly, Jensen did not know how to pick a good location for a camp.

Every time he travelled, he simply chose a tree and released his aura, scaring away everything in the area before going to sleep.

"Okay... Keep an eye out for a location."

And before long, Kairi pointed out a good spot.

"I will take first watch, Young Master," Kairi volunteered as she set up sleeping bags for Jensen and Aiko.

"No... Go to sleep, we still have a long way to go." Jensen ordered. "I will keep an eye out."

"This..." Kairi wanted to speak but Jensen cut her off.

"Just go to sleep."

***

Aiko turned around inside her sleeping bag again.

The soft rustling of leaves above her mixed with the distant cries of beasts deeper in the forest.

The campfire nearby crackled quietly, giving off just enough warmth to push away the cold night air.

But no matter how hard she tried, sleep refused to come.

Today was supposed to have been important. No, more than important.

It was supposed to be the day she buried her grandfather properly and officially stepped into the position he had prepared her for since she was a child.

Clan Leader.

Even if she had not awakened yet, she wanted to prove to everyone in the Uesugi Clan that she was worthy of leading them and she had planned everything carefully.

From the invitations to the seating to the rites... Everything.

And yet the XR Gang had invaded the compound in broad daylight... destroying everything she worked on.

Her fingers tightened around the edge of the sleeping bag.

A lot of people had died under her watch, and the funeral had been turned into a chaos. And now she was hiding in the middle of the forest while the rest of the clan straggled without her.

The clan had taken more damage in one day under her leadership than in years of her grandfather’s and the more she thought about it, the worse she felt.

Her grandfather had trusted her, and he had spent years teaching her how to manage the clan, how to negotiate, how to read people, how to think beyond emotions and she had failed on the very first day.

Aiko buried her face into the blanket for a moment before slowly pulling it down again.

"Hopefully Uncle Taro is able to stabilize the clan..." she whispered quietly.

Her eyes drifted upward and landed on Jensen who was laying on one of the thicker branches above them.

He had one arm rested behind his head as he stared up at the stars through the gaps in the leaves.

He looked calm. Far to calm for everything happening... almost as if the chaos earlier had never happened.

Aiko studied him quietly.

Her grandfather had told her she could trust him completely.

At first, she had doubted it but now she understood.

He was truly a man of his word. Although she didn’t like the idea of leaving the town she knew he was right for bringing her out of the town.

If the XR Gang could attack the Uesugi compound so openly, then nowhere inside the town was truly safe anymore. At least out here in the forest, finding her would be much harder.

Aiko slowly sat up.

Since sleep clearly was not coming anytime soon, she quietly crawled out of her sleeping bag and moved toward the tree.

The moment she got closer, Jensen’s head tilted slightly toward her.

"Can’t sleep?" he asked quietly.

Aiko nodded. "Yes."

His eyes briefly moved toward Kairi, who seemed to be asleep near the fire with her spear resting beside her.

Without another word, Jensen dropped down from the branch.

He landed lightly in front of Aiko before wrapping an arm around her waist and before she could react properly, he jumped back onto the tree with her.

Aiko let out a small gasp as the branch swayed slightly beneath them.

Jensen leaned back against the trunk before helping her settle beside him.

From up here, the forest looked different and the stars seemed brighter above the dark sea of trees.

"You are thinking about your clan, huh?" Jensen asked.

Aiko lowered her eyes slightly. "Yes... I really wish I could be there."

"You want to help."

"Yes."

Jensen stayed quiet for a few seconds before speaking again. "You also have to remember that staying there would have put you in more danger than necessary."

He looked toward the distant lights of the town far away.

"And if something happened to you, the others would have suffered even more trying to protect you."

Aiko nodded slowly... She understood the logic but understanding something did not make it hurt less.

After a while, she spoke again.

"I still haven’t thanked you for saving my life today."

"You do not have to," Jensen replied calmly. "I made a promise and I keep my promises."

Aiko stared at him quietly.

"You also saved my grandfather’s life," she said with a weak smile. "At this point, I really should not make a habit of needing to be saved."

Jensen glanced at her. "There was not much you could have done today."

Aiko shook her head. "Actually... there was."

She looked down at her hands.

"I should have accepted the essence years ago and awakened the Weapon Path like the other main members of the Uesugi Clan."

Her voice became quieter.

"I kept hoping I would awaken naturally instead."

Jensen already knew about it from Himari.

The noble members of the Uesugi Clan were entitled to use special essence to create soul-bound weapons, usually katanas, allowing them to awaken the Weapon Path.

It was one of the foundations of the clan’s strength that allowed them to reach the position they were currently.

"You cannot change the past," Jensen said with his voice remained calm and steady. "But you can make better choices moving forward."

Aiko slowly looked up at him and their eyes met.

For a moment, neither of them spoke as the air between them grew strangely quiet.

Aiko’s heartbeat quickened as Jensen’s face moved closer.

Her breath caught.

Then their lips met softly.

[A.N.: Lykana, thank you very much for the Golden Tickets and continued support.

Nebulas_Juli , Golden_Wolf_ and Lykana ... Guys thank you very much for the support.

I truly appreciate it. As a small thank you to you guys, this Chapter is longer than the usual 1,000+ words.

I also what to appreciate everyone for the power stones, comment and review... Thank you... Thank You... Thank you.]