Alex stood before the Matriarch once again, this time all alone. He didn't have to worry about her like he did before.
"You are interesting, you know that?" she asked. "Seven Daos in a single day, four of them relating to Time; that's not the sort of thing you see every day."
"I'm happy to hear such praise from you, Matriarch," Alex said, bowing slightly.
"It is not empty praise. I've sensed the Dao you've learned. I have three of them as well, so I can say with a great deal of authority just how incredible it was. Learning them on their own would be incredible enough, but at the same time? That's unprecedented."
Alex raised an eyebrow. "You're missing one of the Daos, Matriarch?"
"The Dao of Time Awareness. I'm afraid I never had the talent to learn it," she said. "My daughter knows it though. Thankfully, it's not that useful a Dao when it comes to being a ruler. The other leaders do fine without it, so I should be the same."
