"Father?!"

With an expression and tone of immense shock, the little girl exclaimed as she turned around and around 50cm behind her, was her father.

One would think that this little girl's father would be an old man or at least a middle aged man, but to Corey and possibly every ignorant individual, the little girl's father looked like a man in his middle twenties.

This young looking father had a face which was heaven defying. Corey in his entire life, had never seen a face or a being with such a handsome face.

The young looking father had a small goatee on his chin with a teddy that only stopped halfway by the sides of his face.

He also had ponytail dreadlocks as his hairstyle. The dreadlocks were colored black but at the tip, it was colored white.

The man was wearing a silver colored t-shirt, black trousers and white sneakers. Also, on the neck on the little girl's father was something which Corey definitely did not expect to see.

Wireless headphones!

Corey's eyes widened with shock as he saw the headphones and for like two seconds, Corey was stunned with numerous question marks appearing all over his head.

But a few seconds later, he quickly remembered something and with a quick turn of his head, he looked to the man's right where a black bird was floating in the air in a seemingly paralyzed state.

'Rhea? Are you alright?'

Seeing Rhea not moving at all while floating calmly in the air, Corey spoke to her though the mental link between the two of them.

'Caw.'

A second later, Rhea mentally responded with a 'caw' sound, telling Corey that she was okay but as Corey heard her response, Corey could feel slight fear from Rhea, which was not surprising if Corey's guess as to who the little girl's father truly is, was right.

'But isn't this a trial?'

Why did he interrupt when Rhea was about to kill the little girl through a sneak attack?

Was all my planning all for nothing?'

Just as this thought passed through Corey's mind who was frowning, the little girl spoke one more time but this time, there was a little bit of anger in her tone.

"I asked what are you doing here dad?"

The little girl's father sighed hearing the anger in his daughter's tone."I just couldn't bear to see you hurt pumpkin."

The 'young' father said with a soothing tone filled with affection and love, but the little girl still had an expression of anger.

"This is an avatar dad. An avatar of when I was ten years old. It's not the real me, so why would you interrupt my battle?!

Who knows, I might have won!"

With a childish tone that had a tint of rage in it, the little girl spoke in a slightly loud tone.

"You know it's cause I care about you so much little pumpkin. Even if this is just an avatar, watching you die would be painful for me."

The 'young' father spoke with a tone that was still gentle, soothing and filled with love and affection.

He moved closer to the little girl, wanting to pat her head but with a harrumph, the little girl dodged her father's hand and moved farther away.

The father sighed and in the next instant, he disappeared from where he was and appeared behind the little girl and with a small smile, he patted her head a few times much to the displeasure of the little girl.

"Daaaaddd!"

The little girl stomped her feet as she shouted but the father just chuckled with a soft smile.

"I can't help it, you're just so cute at this age."

Hearing her father's words, the little girl made another harrumph then she turned around and faced the sky with her arms raised towards the sky.

"Fall."

As soon as that word was spoken by the little girl, the sky rumbled and in the next instant the winds became very turbulent.

A few seconds later, lightning flashes appeared in the sky and in the next instant, numerous lightning bolts fell unto the dead forest beneath the group of three that were up in the sky.

"Fall."

Seeing the lightning bolts fall unto the dead forest beneath her, the little girl spoke once again as she looked at the reddened sky.

A second after she spoke, the sky became more red and a few seconds later, numerous fireballs broke through the black clouds and Corey felt his scalp tingle seeing the absurd amount of fireballs falling unto the dead forest.

A few seconds later,

Bang Bang Bang

Boom Boom Boom

A cacophony of numerous explosive sounds resounded loudly, causing Corey squint his eyes.

"Hmm. Now I feel much better."

After everywhere became quiet, the little girl spoke with a satisfied nod and with a humming sound, she skipped for some meters before she stopped and sat in a cross-legged position in the very air.

Corey looked at her with a curious and confused expression and just as he was looking at her, the voice of the little girl's father reached into his ears.

"A lesson from me young man, if you ever have a daughter, know that they would definitely give you headaches."

Corey turned towards the father and he saw him release a soft sigh. Corey's eyes moved towards Rhea who could still not move and the father noticing his line of sight, exclaimed.

"Oh, sorry about that. I forgot to give you back your pet."

The father spoke and with a snap of his fingers, whatever it was that prevented Rhea from moving, was dispelled.

Rhea released a caw and with a flap of her wings, she flew towards Corey and landed on his left shoulder.

The little girl's father looked at Rhea, then he looked at the chains that was still around Corey's body. He snapped his finger a second later and the chains disappeared.

Surprisingly, Corey who thought he was going to fall, did not fall but instead, he felt like he was standing on a solid ground.

Corey raised his eyebrows and looked down reflexively, and just as he did, the little girl's father spoke, causing Corey to look up.

"Throughout the time I watched your battles, only two things which you had, interested me."

The father paused as he spoke with a calm expression and Corey hearing the words spoken by the father also had a calm expression.

"I was interested in your pet and your skill, Full Counter.

I've never heard of a Spirit Devouring Bird and neither have I heard of a skill that can send back magical attacks with two times the power.

They're both interesting."

With his right hand stroking his chin, the father spoke and Corey once again had a calm expression, though internally, he was beginning to get worried.

A few seconds of silence passed until the little girl's father spoke with a shrug.

"So I just remembered that I've not introduced myself."

After the little girl's father spoke, his demeanor changed.

No longer was he the playful, kind, caring and loving father.

No!

eαglesnᴏνel As Corey looked at him, Corey saw a king, a god and a being above all.

"You can call me The Defying Paragon or The Defying Star, the Ancestor of All Paragons."