Outside the bar, members of the Earthen Hall were waiting. Vivian had returned to the headquarters of Dragon Alliance hours ago to handle urgent matters, so these guards had been reassigned from Yardley Dining.

As they drove, Theodore suddenly spoke up, "Now I remember why Meadowspring sounded familiar."

"What do you mean?" Felix asked. The address the brute left was called Meadowspring, an oddly named place.

"It's a branch village of the Saphira family. We need to be extremely careful." His voice alone showed how wary he was of the Saphiras.

"Are they that dangerous?"

Theodore gave Felix a strange look, wondering how someone important enough to mobilize Dragon Alliance could be so ignorant.

"Eight ancient martial arts families have survived in modern Dragonia, with one in each province's capital. We have one in Canraville, which is the Saphira family."

Seeing Felix's blank look, Theodore continued, "These eight families have maintained their power for thousands of years. H