Chapter 208 Memories

"You're going back where?" Natash asked as she wondered if she had heard Shiro correctly.

"I said I'm going back to Cairosa for a while. It's the city that me and my friends had to evacuate to for a short while." Shiro repeated.

"An exactly how long are you going for?"

"Hmm… well if I don't factor in travel time and the such, maybe only a week or two. Perhaps longer depending on what happens." Shiro replied. Since the second part of the task wanted her to investigate the reason as to why the distress call hadn't been answered, it may take her a while if the culprits were extra careful with their tracks.

"Mn, shall I mark it down for one and a half months of absence?"

"That would be helpful." Shiro nodded.

"Alright. You're clear to go. Just remember, if you need assistance, you can send out a signal to the nearby disciples if they're near the city and they'll come to your aid." Natash reminded.

"If I'm in trouble, do you really think that the disciples can do anything about it?" Shiro raised an eyebrow as she looked at Natash in humour.

". . . Alright alright. I know it was a dumb idea." Natash sighed as she too understood the power difference between Shiro and the other disciples.

"But if you need any help, just remember to use it ok?"

"Of course."

Leaving the faction building, Shiro wondered if she should disguise herself a little for the trip. She didn't want the enemies who blocked the signal to see her face after all.

'Hmm… Well I'll just cover it up for the time being.' She thought as she entered the rift to get changed.

Pulling out the face mask, she covered the bottom half of her face while she changed her outfit a little.

Summoning a few nanobots, she crafted a black set of armour that had a slight purple tint to the metal.

The armour was limited to her torso, shoulders, arms and boots. She added a few more parts to her dress as well.

These additions include extending the back and side parts of the skirt to reach her lower calves instead of thighs.

"This should do." Shiro smiled as she changed her stats as well.

[Nytri LVL 51 – Elemental Sword Sage]

Nodding her head in satisfaction, she stepped out of the rift.

"I was wondering what you were doing inside the rift so it was just to get changed huh." Yin said with disinterest.

"What else would I do?" Shiro shrugged her shoulders.

"Forget I ever spoke." Yin rolled her eyes.

"Anyways, we're going skydiving for a bit." Shiro grinned.

Grabbing both Yin and Lisandra by the arm, she jumped into the rift and dashed towards the edge.

"What do you mean skydiving?" Lisandra asked curiously.

"We can't have Yin transform into a phoenix in the city now can we?" Shiro smiled.

Jumping out of the rift, they dived down into the ocean of clouds.

Their postures were relaxed while Yin was acting as if she was in a hammock.

Falling through the ocean of clouds, they readjusted themselves quickly.

"Yin, would you mind?" Shiro asked with a smile.

Yin only shrugged before shifting herself back into her phoenix form.

Spreading out her wings, she quickly caught Shiro and Lisandra before flapping her wings in the direction of Cairosa.

"A little to the left." Shiro instructed since she remembers the way back to Cairosa.

Crossing her legs, she looked up at the sky while leaning back a little.

"Say mum, I've always wondered what's your background but you've only glossed over it before. Could you… tell me the whole story?" Lisandra asked curiously.

"Hmm… why not. Yin can also listen in while we wait." Shiro chuckled slightly and patted Yin's head.

*Ki~

Nodding her head, Yin was indeed quite interested about the full story.

"Where shall I start?" Shiro asked.

"How about when mum was a kid?" Lisandra suggested.

"From the very start huh? Why not. Let's see… My family consisted of only me, my mum and my dad. Born in the countryside, there wasn't much that one could do but I always played with the neighbouring kids.

"Naturally, there were monster attacks but the village guards held them off every time. The technology was quite diverse as well. There was a large division amongst the adventurers. The poor could only afford the most basic while the rich had access to the high level mana tech. No unlike my nanobots." Shiro smiled while summoning a few strands of nanobots to demonstrate.

"Anyways, as unbelievable as this is, I was quite scared of violence you know haha. I was even scared of punching something."

"Bullsh*t." Lisandra countered immediately. For someone that could skewer a boss without batting an eye, violence was definitely the biggest trait about them.

"*cough* Don't counter so quickly ok? I was very 'normal'. Even I was a delicate girl at one point alright? But while I wasn't in love or anything like that, I did find a few boys cute you know? Normal girl stuff." Shiro shook her head.

"I… can't see that happening." Lisandra pulled a suspicious face.

"Oi, I'll hit you ya know."

"I'm sorry, please continue with your story mum."

"As I was saying, I was very passive and didn't like to fight. Of course, I was pretty so there were boys wanting to go out with me but I didn't really care. After all these years, I do remember myself being quite the loner since girls didn't like me that much while the boys only liked me for my appearance." Shiro said while placing a finger on her chin.

"But before it became a problem, the village was massacred and I was kidnapped."

"I feel like you glossed over it a bit too much mum."

"You want me to describe all of the slaughter, r*pe and other crap I saw in detail?" Shiro raised an eyebrow.

"Wha? No I mean like, who did it and what happened." Lisandra quickly waved her hand in a panic.

"Hmm… It was just a small time bandit group that migrated to our village I think? But during the attack, both my parents dragged me out of the village to keep me safe. My dad held the bandits off when they were near while my mum sent me off on my own so that she could