Chapter 4023  Waking Baby

The thought of the things that they wanted to protect made them think of their families. It wasn't too long before the two of them parted ways, returning home to visit them.

WHOOSH

He returned to the royal chamber in the blink of an eye, softly landing on the ground without making a sound, gazing around the chamber. It was certainly spacious and ostentatious, but in the past six years, it had grown more homely and cozy, marked with the characteristic mess that gave it its identity in the presence of a family.

They resolved to give Ria as normal a childhood as was reasonably possible, and refused to allow maids and butlers into their personal quarters, teaching Ria to undertake tasks by herself. In hindsight, that had worked out splendidly, as Ria didn't have so much as a haughty bone in his body. His gaze shifted to their family bed, where Ria and Amare snuggled together, sleeping with each other. He found the mother and daughter to be adorable together, sleeping soundly and peacefully.

Amare had chosen to sleep with Ria, rather than heal in the manifold. Naturally, this meant that it would have taken longer for her to recover, but ever since she tapped into her body-consciousness, the timeframe for her recovery had certainly fallen. He glanced out at the brightening morning sky outside before turning back to the two of them.

"It's time to wake up, you two."

They stirred a little, but remained asleep.

He heaved a sigh, coaxing them a little.

They stirred a little, as they slowly stretched, groaning a little, before opening their eyes lightly.

"Papa…" Ria yawned before going back to sleep.

Rui directed a dubious gaze at his daughter, poking her on her little cheek. "It's time to wake up, little baby."

She opened her eyes, glaring at Rui. "Ria is not a baby."

Rui smiled, trying to control his amusement. He found her adorable when she got angry, knitting her little eyebrows, trying to muster an intimidating gaze. "Only little babies sleep so much, you know? If you continue sleeping like this, then the whole world will think Ria is a little baby."

She promptly got up at those words, sitting up straight and folding her little arms. "Ria is not a baby. Ria is a Martial Artist!"

Rui paused at those words, directing a more serious gaze at her. Indeed, she was right. Ria was a Martial Artist, even if he truly found it hard to believe at times. At the age of five, she had somehow discovered her Martial Path and had broken through to the Apprentice Realm.

It truly was mind-blowing. He hadn't had the opportunity to give it too much thought when he first reunited with her, simply content with holding and hugging her.

But now that he took a good, long look at her, indeed, he could sense her active Path. He even had an idea of what her Martial Path was with his Transcendent gaze. The only question was whether she understood what it meant and what it was.

"Now that Ria is a Martial Artist, Ria can fight alongside Papa and Mama!" she insisted, entirely serious.

But the more serious she grew, the more adorable Rui found her. "Hmmm, it's not enough to be a Martial Artist, you have to also be quite strong, you know?"

"Ria is very strong!"

"Oh? How strong is she?"

"Very strong!" she repeated with an insistent tone, emphasizing the very.

She wasn't wrong if one looked at her age group. Rui wondered how many kids her age she could beat in a brawl. He raised a hand, putting it before her.

"Hm, hit my hand with your best shot."

She didn't even hesitate, still irked about being called a little baby. She balled her little hand into a fist before swinging at his hand without even standing up on the floor.

POW

"Ouch!" Rui withdrew his hand from her as if he had just been blasted by one of those tendrils of the laminar integument he fought. "Wow! You're so strong, Ria!"

She appeared to be satisfied with the reaction she elicited from him with her blows. And to her credit, she was certainly far stronger than a kid her age should have been. She struck with the power of a young adult, something that should have been completely impossible given her weight and size.

There was no question that the cognitive endowments of the Martial Path were pulling its weight, and particularly well, too. The quality of her Realm and its impact on her output were greater than he had expected, suggesting that her talent in this regard was heads and shoulders above the rest of the world. "Since Ria is strong, can she fight with Papa next time?"

Rui's smile grew bittersweet. He found her desire to be with her parents to be truly heartwarming, but was not necessarily happy about her wanting to fight, he realized. Of course, this came with being a Martial Artist; he certainly knew that. But, at least while she was still a child, his protection of her would be absolute; there was no question about that.

"Perhaps when you're a little taller," Rui promised.

"How much taller?"

"This much taller." He stuck his hand in the air at seven feet above the ground.

Ria gasped at the height. "Ria can't become that big!"

"Hmmm… I guess that means no fighting with Papa."

"That's not fair!"

Amare stirred at the little ruckus between daughter and father, finally waking up fully. She slowly opened her amber eyes, resting her gaze on Ria, who faced Rui, arguing about her height.

CLASP

WHOOSH

"Gah!" Ria exclaimed as her mother quickly grabbed her from behind, pulling her to her, before smothering her in her arms and showering her with countless kisses. "Ahhh! Mama, that tickles!"

"Ah, I don't want to let go," Amare snuggled with her daughter. "Maybe I should keep Ria like this in my arms forever~."

"No! How will I be able to go to school then?!"

"You can do school from home like this~."

"Ria doesn't want that!"