We left the House Sturm manor at about mid morning and headed for one of the entrances to Sunheart Undercity. I rode with Mother and Kaylee in a House Sturm carriage, which Leroy and Caitlyn drove. As for Kaylee's bodyguard, she didn't have one yet because she wasn't an adult.

During the carriage ride, I sat there with my arms crossed, an annoyed expression on my face. Kaylee wore a smug smirk, which just deepened my annoyance. The bright and sunny weather did little to lift my mood. However, Mother looked so happy about our outing that I kept my anger in check.

"I can't remember the last time we went out like this," Mother said, "Just the three of us."

I thought back on it.

"I can't either." I said. "Not since Kaylee and I were children at the very least."

That was a sobering thought. Our family used to be closer when Kaylee and I were young. However, we drifted apart over time. I withdrew from everyone and became a homebody, Kaylee became busy with her studies, and our parents focused on their respective duties.

"In that case, we're long overdue." Mother said in a cheerful voice.

I sighed. While I still felt annoyed at Kaylee for making me go through this, I didn't want to ruin Mother's mood. Besides, maybe I was remembering wrong. Shopping with Mother last time had been boring beyond belief, but what if I was distorting an old memory? What if it wasn't as bad as I remembered?

I kept that in mind as we continued on our way.

To my surprise, the nearest entrance to Sunheart Undercity was located in the Earth District. However, it made sense when I thought about it. While many Clans and Houses were intertwined in some way, not all of them were. They wouldn't have access to the Sky District. It was more convenient to have an entrance in the Earth District. I assumed that there was also an entrance in Outwall.

The entrance in the Earth District, at least the one we went to, was located in a tea house of all things. Everyone there, from the servers to the customers, were all Awakened. I wondered how many of them were martial artists, and how many of those were guards assigned to watch over the entrance. It was impossible to tell.

When we arrived, Mother asked for a private room and whispered a phrase to the server helping us. The woman gave us a knowing look and escorted us to a small room located at the back of the tea house.

Once we closed the door behind us, the server pressed a hidden button. One of the walls opened up to reveal a hidden staircase. Unlike the ones leading to Icefall Undercity, this staircase was wide, spacious, and well lit.

Mother slipped some gold sols to the server, before leading the rest of us down the staircase. It took a good half hour to reach the bottom. As we walked deeper, a constant cool replaced the summer heat. Along the way, Kaylee and I asked about Sunheart Undercity but the others refused to answer. Even Leroy remained tight-lipped.

"You'll see," Mother said, a mysterious smile on her face. "It's best to experience it without any preconceived notions."

With no other option, Kaylee and I kept our questions to ourselves and kept walking.

When we arrived at the bottom, a grand double door awaited us, watched over by a pair of gray-robed guards. It occupied a decorated arched doorway, one at least twice my height. The double door was thick enough that it would take at least two regular people on each side to open it.

"This is a test." Mother explained, gesturing to the grand double door. "At least one of us must be able to open the door using physical strength alone, without any outside help." She nodded towards the two guards. "They're here to ensure that no one cheats."

Kaylee and I glanced at the pair of guards. They nodded.

"This is to ensure that at least one of us is a martial artist?" I asked.

Mother nodded.

"A simple test," Kaylee said, "but effective."

"Now then," Mother said, stretching her arms, "allow me. It's been a while, so I'm a little excited."

Mother walked up to the double door and put her hands on it. I'll admit, I resisted the urge to chuckle. Mother's short and petite frame looked comical when compared to the large double door. However, despite the disparity in size, Mother had no difficulty in opening the door. Afterwards, she gestured for us to follow her before walking through.

My jaw dropped when I saw what lay on the other side. Unlike Icefall Undercity, which was two tunnels that crossed each other, Sunheart Undercity was a massive vertical shaft. It had a half-mile radius, and was so deep that I couldn't see the bottom. It just disappeared into darkness.

The undercity itself was built upon several terraces that emerged from the walls of the shaft, which formed several layers. Each layer had a cross shaped stone bridge that people could walk across inside of going the long way around. These bridges were so large that they must've been built by, and were reinforced with, magic. Otherwise, they would've collapsed underneath their own weight.

The ceiling contained a massive mural that depicted the sky, complete with a stylized sun. However, this mural wasn't painted. Instead, it was made from thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of glowstones. They were enchanted to change color to match the current time of day. Even as I watched, some turned golden yellow and others turned blue, in order to simulate the sun moving across the sky. This mural shone bright enough to light up the entire undercity.

Each of the terraces contained all kinds of buildings, though none were more than two stories tall. Several small gardens decorated the terraces, adding a touch of nature to this underground city. There were even a few trees dotted all over the place. Again, I assumed magic was involved somehow.

Thousands of people occupied each of the terraces, all of them going about their business. Their voices seemed to echo throughout the entire undercity. Like in Icefall Undercity, while a few of them wore Luminian style clothing, the majority wore robes in the style of First Murim. Using Earth terms, this style looked like a cross between ancient Chinese and Korean. Several gray-robed guards patrolled the terraces, maintaining peace and order.

Kaylee and I looked around in a bit of daze, our awe and wonder evident in our expressions. Leroy and Caitlyn looked amused by our reactions. Meanwhile, Mother looked excited.

"What do you think?" she asked, spreading her arms out. "Amazing, isn't it?"

I nodded.

"I have never seen anything like this." I said.

Kaylee nodded as well.

"Neither have I." she said.

Mother chuckled.

"Bask in it." She said. "This is a part of your heritage, one I should've shared with you years ago." She clapped her hands together. "Now then, first order of business: new clothes. We look too much like outsiders. To avoid attracting too much attention, we need to fit in." Her eyes sparkled. "I know just the place. If we're lucky, it's still there."

My feelings of awe and wonder evaporated, and were replaced with dread. However, before I could say anything, Kaylee grabbed my arm.

"Excellent," she said, a mischievous grin on her face. "Lead the way, Mother."

With that, my mother and sister dragged me off to go clothes shopping.

Shopping with Mother wasn't as bad as I feared. It was much, much worse. She dragged us off to a clothing store on the Second Layer, one that catered to Clan scions. Along the way, she gave us a brief description of Sunheart Undercity.

There were twelve layers in total. The top three layers were the undercity's commercial district. The First Layer was for Luminian mundane goods and services, while the Second Layer was for Murim mundane goods and services. Food, clothing, entertainment, and so on. The Third Layer, on the other hand, was for everything magical or mystical in nature. Enchanted items, Spirit Elixirs, elemental crystals, etc.

Wizards and other Luminians were welcome in Sunheart Undercity, as long as they somehow had a connection to Murim and kept to the upper three layers.

Learning about the Third Layer piqued my interest. I wondered if I could find someone there who knew anything about spirits. One of my goals was to learn more about Aurora's current condition, and reverse it if possible. The professor I consulted in the Solarian Imperial Academy was less than helpful. Perhaps someone from Murim, or at least related to it, knew more.

The next six layers were residential. Commoners and minor nobles lived in layers Four, Five, Six, and Seven. They were the equivalent of Outwall and the Earth District. Meanwhile, layers Eight and Nine were the equivalent of the Sky District. This was where the Clans lived, at least those that had residences in Sunheart Undercity. Like the Sky District, access to layers Eight and Nine was strictly regulated.

The last three layers were reserved for food and agriculture. It turned out that Sunheart Undercity had several underground farms in order to feed its populace. These farms were built and maintained through magic. This allowed them to grow food all year round, even during winter.

This set up would've been useful in the Icefall region, where farming was difficult. In fact, perhaps there were underground farms in Icefall Undercity but I never realized it. I hadn't explored it all that much, since I spent most of my time aboveground.

However, even if Icefall Undercity had underground farms, they couldn't have been extensive. It would've been expensive to maintain them. While House Icefall and Clan Frostheart were wealthy, their funds weren't unlimited.

All these thoughts and more passed through my mind, as I tried to distract myself while shopping with Mother. The clothing store we went to was small, but upscale. Clients could either commission custom clothing, or pick ready made clothes from the racks. Mother picked both: custom clothing for later, ready made clothes for immediate use.

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What made shopping with Mother such a bore was that she insisted on considering her options. All of them. For example, she spent five minutes examining two kinds of cloth, before deciding on neither. And this was just for one outfit. She did this for all them, including the ones she commissioned for me and Kaylee, not just the ones for herself.

All in all, we spent hours in that one store. Worst of all, Mother refused to let me wander off and explore Sunheart Undercity on my own. Not because she was worried about me or anything like that. No. She wanted my opinion on everything. Granted, she did the same with Kaylee. However, my younger sister was far more enthusiastic than I was. By the time we finished, I felt drained of all vitality.

Right then and there, I vowed to never go shopping with my mother ever again after today.

Still, as much as I hated the process, I liked the results. I acquired several sets of beautiful robes, including a set that I wore out of the store. They were blue and black, with gold trimming. I thought they made me look dashing.

Mother and Kaylee also wore a set of robes out of the store. Kaylee's were black and red robes with silver trimming, while Mother's were red trimmed with green.

As for our remaining clothes, Mother arranged for them to be sent to the House Sturm townhouse.

"Now then," Mother said as we left the clothing store. Somehow, she looked even more lively and energetic than when we started. "Time for us to find a gift for Clan Thorne and Lady Annabelle."

I looked at her, feeling complicated. On the one hand, I didn't want to go through several more hours of shopping with Mother. On the other hand, I wanted to get a gift for Anna. Kaylee watched my struggle with a satisfied smile on her face.

However, before I could say anything, we met with an unexpected and unwelcome interruption.

"My lady." Caitlyn said with an edge to her voice.

She looked off into the distance, her eyes narrowed. We followed her gaze to find a group of people heading in our direction. There were about a dozen of them, all of them Awakened. Most were armored retainers. They escorted a trio of well-dressed Clan scions.

In the lead was a woman who looked a little older than Mother. She had fair skin, long wavy red hair, and brilliant green eyes. Her features were similar to Mother's, delicate and doll-like, though she was a touch less beautiful. The woman wore a set of red and yellow robes with a lion motif. She was a Fourth Ranked Awakened.

A young man and an adolescent girl followed right behind her. They looked to be about the same age as Kaylee and I. Like the woman, they had fair skin, wavy red hair, and wore red and yellow robes with lion motifs. However, while the young man had the same brilliant green eyes, the adolescent girl's eyes were light brown. The young man was at Second Rank while the girl was at First Rank.

The group stopped a dozen feet away from us. Given their appearance, it was clear they belonged to Clan Leone. The woman regarded us with derisive sneer on her face. No. She focused on Mother and ignored the rest of us, as if we weren't worth her attention.

The other people nearby, perhaps sensing a looming confrontation, decided to vacate the immediate area. Soon, an open space surrounded our two groups. Nearby gray-robed guards kept an eye on the scene, but decided not to intervene yet.

"Well, look who it is," the woman in the lead said in a nasty tone. "I thought I'd never see you again, after you decided to abandon your family and play around with that wizard of yours." She smirked. "What? Did you finally realize your mistake and come crawling back to beg Father for forgiveness?"

I looked at Mother and decided to follow her lead. If she wanted to hurl insults, I'd hurl insults. If she wanted to fight, I'd fight. However, to my surprise, she wore a calm expression on her face.

"And who might you be?" she asked in a patient tone. "Do we know each other?"

The woman's face twisted with anger.

"Don't play games, Claire." She spat out. "You know exactly who I am."

Mother tilted her head, as if confused.

"I do?" she asked. "Since when? You're a stranger to me." She smirked. "Isn't that what you told me when we last met, Shannon? To regard you as a stranger from that point on?" She shrugged. "So, that's exactly what I'm doing, treating you like a stranger. Isn't that what you wanted?"

The woman, Shannon, curled her hands into claws and looked ready to attack Mother.

"You!" She said, her face turning red with anger.

"Careful, Shannon," Mother said, a hint of malice in her tone, "you weren't a match for me twenty years ago and you aren't a match for me now. However, if you want to fight, I'd be more than willing. I could use the warm up."

Shannon looked like she was on the verge of apoplectic fit. For several moments, I didn't know if she would fall for Mother's provocation or not. The young man behind Shannon looked ready to fight, while the adolescent girl looked fearful. The retainers behind them looked uncertain, as if they didn't know whether to prepare for combat or not.

However, Shannon took a deep breath and managed to calm herself down. She uncurled her hands. Despite this, hate and anger lingered in her eyes.

"Your taunts won't work on me, Claire." She said. "Not anymore."

"I'm impressed." Mother said. She sounded sincere. "By this point, I'd usually be smashing your face into the ground." She gave a little clap. "Congratulations, Shannon. You've finally matured."

The young man's composure finally broke.

"How dare you speak my mother's name with that filthy tongue of yours, Traitor!" He snapped.

Mother looked amused rather than insulted.

"Oh?" she said. "Is this your son, Shannon? What am I saying? Of course he is. He has the same temper as you."

Shannon stepped in front of her son, as if shielding him from my mother.

"Leave him out of this." She said.

Mother snorted.

"Then put a muzzle on him, before I teach him what it means to insult his seniors." She said.

The young man opened his mouth to retort, but Shannon silenced him with a look. At the same time, the adolescent girl tugged on Shannon's sleeve.

"Mother," she said in a soft voice, "everyone's looking at us."

Shannon looked around and realized that the girl, her daughter, was right. A crowd had gathered around us to watch the scene unfold with amused expressions on their faces. Shannon's face turned an even deeper shade of red.

"What do you think you are doing?" She shouted, gesturing to a nearby gray-robed guard.

The guard blinked at her in surprise.

"Me?" She said, pointing to herself.

"Yes, you idiot!" Shannon pointed to Mother. "That's Claire Sturm, formerly Claire Leone. She was banished from Murim by the Martial Arts Alliance over twenty years ago! Why are you letting her walk around instead of getting rid of her?"

The gray-robed guard wore an aggrieved expression on her face, as if to question why Shannon dragged her into this mess. At the same time, the crowd around us burst into excited murmurers. I heard the words "Claire Leone", "abandoned her family", and "ran off with a House lord" several times.

Oh, right. I had forgotten that my mother's story was famous in Murim.

"Well?" Shannon asked. "What are you waiting for?" She threw a glare in Mother's direction. "It's a disgrace that she managed to sneak into Sunheart Undercity in the first place!"

"I didn't sneak in." Mother pointed out. "I walked in."

"That's even worse!"

The gray-robed guard sighed, before she gestured to her compatriots. A few ran off, no doubt to get reinforcements, while the others followed the first gray-robed guard's lead. Soon, they approached Mother and the rest of us.

"Does she speak the truth?" The first gray-robed guard said. "Are you Claire Leone?"

Mother gave the guard a smile.

"It's Claire Sturm now, but yes." She said. "And before you ask, Shannon is correct. The Martial Arts Alliance banished me from Murim twenty years ago."

The expressions on the gray-robed guards' faces fell.

"In that case, will you come with us, Lady Sturm?" the first gray-robed guard said. "We will escort you back to the surface." She paused. "Please, don't resist."

The first gray-robed guard looked like she was on the verge of tears. I didn't blame her. The gray-robed guards were all at Third Star. Meanwhile, Mother was at Fifth Star. She could kill all of them without breaking a sweat, and they knew it.

"That won't be necessary." A woman called out.

We all turned to find another group approaching us. There were about half a dozen of them, all women. Five were armored retainers. The sixth was a beautiful woman who wore a set of elegant red and gold robes with a rose motif. She had fair skin, long blond hair that she wore loose, and beautiful blue eyes. Like Mother, she was at Fifth Star.

When I first saw this woman, I did a double take. She looked so much like Anna, that I almost expected to see a blue choker around her neck. However, after taking a closer look, I realized that she was much older than Anna. At a guess, I'd say she was almost my mother's age.

Well now, things just got interesting. Clan Thorne had arrived.

"Lady Josephine." Shannon said, a stiff expression on her face.

Upon hearing the newcomer's name, the crowd broke into a wave of murmuring. At the mention of her name, Lady Josephine glanced at Shannon but didn't respond. Instead, she turned towards Mother. Shannon fumed, but didn't say anything.

Hmm, interesting. Lady Josephine must yield considerable influence, if she could get away with outright ignoring a member of Clan Leone.

"Josephine," my mother said, a half smile on her face, "it's been a while."

"Claire," Lady Josephine said, an impassive expression on her face, "yes, it has been."

The two studied each other for several long moments. No one dared interrupt them, not even Shannon. I looked between the two of them, wondering what their relationship was.

When Mother first told me about my upcoming engagement to Lady Annabelle, I assumed she had some kind of friendship with Clan Leone. However, I began to doubt that assumption. Mother and Lady Josephine didn't resemble two friends who hadn't seen each other in years. Instead, I noticed tension between them. However, neither did they seem like enemies.

"You look good." Mother said.

"So do you." Lady Josephine said, eyeing her up and down. "I see that your exile from Murim hasn't slowed down your cultivation. Congratulations on reaching Fifth Star."

"I could say the same for you." Mother said with a smirk. "Have you also reached Grandmaster?"

Lady Josephine nodded. Mother clicked her tongue in displeasure.

"Damn." She said. "I had hoped to be ahead of you when we finally met again." She let out a melancholic sigh. "Oh well."

The gray-robed guard, the one who spoke to Mother earlier, finally spoke up. I commended her courage.

"Excuse me, Lady Josephine," she said in a timid voice, "we need to escort Lady Sturm out of Sunheart Undercity. She was exiled from Murim by the Martial Arts Alliance."

Lady Josephine faced the guard.

"Yes." She said. "And we all know why that happened." She glanced at Shannon. "However, Lady Sturm is here as my guest." She gave the guard a meaningful look. "I hope you understand what that means."

The gray robed guard nodded.

"Yes, Lady Josephine." she said.

"Good. You may go now."

The gray robed guard saluted Lady Josephine, before gesturing to the other guards. Soon, they all resumed their regular duties.

"Lady Josephine!" Shannon said. "What is the meaning of this? Since when did you become so close with Claire?" She smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes. "Need I remind you that my…" She spat out the next word, as if it were something filthy. "… Sister is a traitor who abandoned her family?"

Mother scoffed.

"I didn't abandon Clan Leone." She said. "They abandoned me. After everything I did for them, they threw me away because I didn't marry the man they tried to force on me. Don't twist the story."

Shannon snorted and opened her mouth to retort, but Lady Josephine cut in.

"Enough." She said. "Claire and I have some business to discuss, so we shall be taking our leave. Goodbye, Lady Shannon."

"Do you really intend to make an enemy out of Clan Leone?" Shannon said in a threatening tone. "Our two Clans have been friends for generations. Are you willing to throw all that away?"

Lady Josephine released a bit of killing intent. It felt like being scoured by countless thorns.

"Careful, Lady Shannon." Lady Josephine said, speaking in a pleasant voice that contained a hint of malice. "Otherwise, you'll be the reason why Clan Leone gained Clan Thorne as an enemy." Without waiting for a reply, she looked at Mother. "Shall we, Claire?"

Mother gestured towards Lady Josephine.

"Lead the way, Josephine." She glanced at the rest of us. "Come along, my children."

At that, we left with Lady Josephine. I had a lot of questions about what just happened, but I decided to keep them to myself for now. Shannon glared at us the entire time, until we disappeared from sight.

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