The final school bell felt less like a dismissal and more like the starting gate of a race. Yuhon's mind was a whirlwind of S-rank guilds, grandmother's wrath, and official commendations. He all but flew home, his feet barely touching the dirt path, the Kalmas farm appearing on the horizon not as a quiet refuge but as the only command center that mattered.
He burst through the kitchen door, the screen slamming shut behind him. His mother was at the table, meticulously polishing a set of seemingly ancient, ornate hairpins. His father was outside, visible through the window, casually single-handedly lifting the entire rear end of their tractor to adjust a stubborn wheel.
"Mom! Dad! You are not going to believe this!" Yuhon's words tumbled out in a rush. "Mei Xin! The girl from school? She's not just some civvy! Her grandmother is Guild Master Sarah Xin! Of the Crimson Phoenix! An S-rank guild! And after last night, her grandma is hunting down those A-ranks and she's issued a formal commendation and an affiliation offer to the Grinning Fox! An S-rank guild wants to recruit me!"
He finally paused, chest heaving, expecting shock, concern, maybe even a little parental pride.
Aoqi didn't look up from her polishing. She held a hairpin up to the light, examining its sheen. "Hmm. Sarah Xin. I think I read about her in a magazine. Her guild's symbol is rather garish, don't you think? All those flaming feathers. It lacks subtlety."
Zerkon ducked his head through the window, a smudge of grease on his cheek. "Crimson Phoenix? They have that big compound near Shanghai, right? Heard the property taxes are a nightmare." He disappeared back outside, the tractor groaning as he set it down.
Yuhon stared, his excitement deflating like a punctured balloon. "Did you two hear me? S-rank. Guild. They're looking for me."
Aoqi finally set the hairpin down and looked at her son, her expression serene. "We heard you, dear. It sounds very loud over there."
"But… what do I do? What if they find me? What if they try to force me to join?"
Zerkon came back inside, wiping his hands on a rag. "Force you? How? By asking really nicely?" He chuckled. "Son, if they show up and ask, you just say 'no, thank you.' It's a complete sentence. Polite, but firm. We raised you with manners."
"But it's not that simple!" Yuhon insisted, frustration creeping into his voice. "They're an S-rank guild! They have resources! Influence!"
"And you have a farm to tend to," Aoqi said calmly. "Your father's right. A simple 'no' is sufficient for any reasonable person. If they are unreasonable…" She shared a look with Zerkon, a flicker of something unreadable passing between them. "…then you deal with that unreasonableness appropriately."
"Appropriately? How?"
Zerkon dropped the rag on the counter and fixed Yuhon with a steady gaze. "By winning, son. If they try to do anything other than talk, you beat them up."
Yuhon's jaw went slack. "Beat up… members of an S-rank guild?"
"Why not?" his father asked, as if suggesting he pull a few more weeds. "You have the strength for it. You always have."
"Yuhon," Aoqi said, her voice softening but losing none of its steel. "Listen to me. They are looking for the Grinning Fox. They do not know Yuhon Kalmas. They do not know where he lives, who his family is, or what he is truly capable of. So, stop thinking about them and start thinking about you."
She stood and walked over to him, placing a cool hand on his cheek. "You are worrying about the opinions of flies when you are a dragon. Their buzzing is irrelevant."
"But Mom—"
"No," Zerkon cut in, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Your mother's right. This world operates on a simple rule, one you're too young to have learned properly yet. The strong respect the strongest. Not the fanciest, not the ones with the biggest guild hall. The strongest."
He pointed a thick finger at Yuhon's chest. "We saw your abilities from the day you were born. We felt the power in you before you could even hold your head up. You were born with enough strength to not have to waste a single thought on them, on their guilds, on their offers, or on their fear."
Yuhon fell silent, his parents' words washing over him, not as a comfort, but as a challenge. They spoke with an absolute, unshakable certainty he'd never heard from them before.
"You want them to leave you alone?" Aoqi asked, her eyes gleaming. "Then if the moment ever comes, you show them a glimpse of your real strength. Not the held-back version you used on those A-rank thugs. The real thing. You don't have to destroy them. Just show them a horizon of power they cannot even dream of crossing."
Zerkon nodded, a grim smile on his face. "They will not disturb you after that. They will respect you. It might be respect born from fear, or from awe, or from sheer self-preservation. Doesn't matter. Respect is respect. It keeps the flies from buzzing too close."
The simplicity of it was staggering. The entire complex, terrifying world of hunter politics and S-rank guild machinations was being reduced by his parents to a single, blunt equation: be stronger, and you set the rules.
"So…" Yuhon said slowly, the panic receding, replaced by a dawning, fierce confidence. "I just… live my life. And if they bother me…"
"You swat them," Zerkon finished. "Politely, if possible. Firmly, if necessary."
Aoqi patted his cheek. "Now, that's settled. Did you finish your history homework? And your father needs help replanting the tomato seedlings the rabbit got into. The world of S-rank guilds can wait. Blight cannot."
Just like that, the conversation was over. The cosmic threat of the Crimson Phoenix had been downgraded to a mildly interesting topic, slightly less important than homework and significantly less urgent than garden pests.
Yuhon stood there for a moment, watching his mother return to her hairpins and his father head back out to the field, humming a tuneless ditty. The weight was gone. The fear had evaporated, burned away by the sheer, unassailable faith of his parents.
He wasn't a boy hiding from a giant. He was the giant, and he just hadn't been standing up straight.
A slow, easy smile spread across his face. He grabbed his backpack and pulled out his history book. "Yeah, okay. Homework first. Then tomatoes." He looked out the window at the setting sun. "And then… maybe the Fox will go for a walk tonight. See if any other flies need swatting."
His mother didn't look up, but he saw the faintest smile touch her lips. "Don't stay out too late, dear. And if you see any Guild members," she added, her tone light and conversational, "remember your manners."
"Yes, Mom," Yuhon said, his voice calm and steady for the first time all day. "I'll be polite."