At such words, Noah's eyes flashed with interest rather than disapproval.
Someone who refused limitation.
Who broke rules specifically because they were rules. Who achieved power through sheer stubborn insistence that arbitrary caps didn't apply to her.
He understood that impulse very well.
Riya looked toward Kael with theatrical offense.
"Unc, are you really talking bad about me in front of The Glorious Ancestor?" Her tone dripped with mock hurt.
"Why not mention how I'm the fucking strongest? Most attuned to the Way? How I've mastered techniques even you struggle with? Hmph."
She turned her gaze back to Noah, her jewel-blue eyes tracking across the molten crimson-blue landscape surrounding them.
"Ancestor," she said, her tone shifting to something more genuine, "I've wanted to leave that little bubble for thousands of years. But Uncle Kael here kept insisting we had to wait for your call. So I waited, even though it was boring as hell."
