Lottie blew into a whistle as she shouted, “Line up Kristel!”

“Uh, yes!” Kristel said as she stood to attention.

“Where did you get that whistle from?” Bryson asked as he sat himself under the shade of a large tree and pulling out his Communicator to surf the Aethernet on the latest news.

“I asked if I could have one earlier and one of the maids gave it to me.” Lottie said waving it around.

“Of course they did.” Bryson muttered, “Is this even a good idea? Not six hours ago this girl was dying on the streets. Can she even do anything right now?”

“That’s kind of you to worry about her Bryson, but don’t worry I’m a professional.” Lottie assured him.

“Normally I would agree with you, but right now we simply need to awaken what is inside her. It shouldn’t take too long.” Florence said.

“How would you go about doing that?” Bryson asked.

“A few ways. Stress would help.” Florence said and Kristel immediately tensed up, “But that is only in extreme cases, and she is not in the right condition for something like that. We simply need her to get a grasp of her power.”

“So some simple mind exercises will do the trick!” Lottie exclaimed.

“Mind exercises?” Kristel asked.

“Yes, that’s why I took you to the forest, it’s quiet and calm.”

“The manor is quiet and calm.” Bryson said.

“But it's boring.” Lottie said, “Outside is so much better than being indoors. Besides the environment can allow you to concentrate better.”

“What do I do?” Kristel asked.

“Hmm, let’s try something simple but not possible for a normal person.” Lottie said before looking up at a tree, “Let’s see if you can make it up that.” She said pointing at a large branch that was a few stories tall.

“How do I get up there?”

“Simple, jump with the aid of mana.” Lottie said as she leapt upwards and gracefully landed on the branch, “Like this.” She said calling down to Kristel who looked a little lost.

“How do I do that?’ Kristel asked hesitantly.

“Great job at teaching.” Bryson said sarcastically.

“I’m not done yet!” Lottie called back sticking her tongue out at him before referring back to Kristel, “First, you need to really want to get up here.”

“Uh, okay.” Kristel said looking up at her.

“No I mean, really want to get up here. Like there’s something special up here and you need to see it sort of feeling. You need to will yourself up here. Closing your eyes will help you to concentrate.” Lottie said.

“Breathe calmly and try not to overthink it. Just think that you want to jump up high and believe that you can do it.” Florence advised.

“Also give yourself reasons to get up here. Not just so you can jump higher. Think about who and what you are doing this for, what inspires you!” Lottie continued to say.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“I… feel something weird.” Kristel said her eyes closed as she was concentrating.

“Good, that’s the mana being unlocked!” Lottie said cheering her on.

“That is impressive.” Florence said.

“Is it hard to do that?” Bryson asked.

“To grasp it so quickly means that she has a lot to draw from if nothing else.” Florence said.

“Good sign then.”

“Grab hold of it and use it! Let it fuel you and spread this feeling through your body. It might feel a bit itchy at first, but it will be fine! Once you feel it use it and explode.” Lottie said continuing to advise her.

After a long moment of silence, Kristel began to take in deep breaths. Bryson suddenly perked up as he noticed a small change in Kristel. A small, tiny ripple, but it appeared that the mana within her changed. It began to resemble the mana that the others had.

“So that’s what it looks like.” Bryson mumbled.

“Do you see something changing?” Florence whispered and Bryson gave a quick nod in response.

All of a sudden Kristel opened her eyes and jumped upwards. It was visually quite a strange sight as she leapt several body lengths her own height upward, but the speed she leapt with wasn’t much so it seemed as though her jump was rather slow.

In this pseudo-slow-motion, Kristel went up and up and then found herself just a couple of arm lengths too short from the branch.

“Uh, oh.” Lottie said eyes widening as she realized this.

“Aaahhh!” Kristel cried out as she found herself plummeting to the ground.

As Kristel shut her eyes in fear as she fell before feeling her body be embraced by someone from behind. Opening her eyes in confusion she craned her neck back to see Bryson hugging her tight as the two plummeted headfirst into the ground.

She then felt the strangest sensation as her body was suddenly very cool and the sensation of falling disappeared. Looking at her body she saw it shimmer a bright blue and quickly disappear. It was old as everything was moving in slow motion before she felt her entire body disappear and surge forward back to the ground.

Bryson successfully ‘Flash Stepped’ himself and Kristel out of danger. What’s more was for the first time out of practice, Bryson didn’t hurt himself doing so.

“That’s a relief.” Bryson muttered as he let go of Kristel, too busy regarding his own accomplishment to notice Kristel’s bright red face. Steam practically rose from her face.

Florence quickly appeared next to her and gave her a quick once over as Bryson looked up to Lottie.

“This is your plan? Really?” Bryson shouted up at her.

“I’m sorry!” Lottie said looking extremely guilty, “I just thought that she could do it because I could.”

“You’re telling me you got up there on your first try?”

“Yeah!”

“She’s very special. That’s why Mister Phillip decided to teach her.” Nico said.

“Her, special? At what? Being annoying?” Bryson asked.

“Hey!” Lottie complained.

“You don’t get to complain!” Bryson shouted back.

“Huuu.” Lottie said, begrudgingly agreeing with him, “Are you okay Kristel?”

“Uh, y-yeah, I- oh.” Kristel said as she tried to take a step forward only to find that her legs gave out from under her.

Florence quickly caught her, “Hmm, mana exhaustion. It’s to be expected. She’s the done for the day.” She told Bryson.

“No, I can-” Kristel started but immediately shut her mouth the moment Florence gave her a hard look.

“You are done.” Florence said sternly and Kristel could only nod in response.

“You heard the doctor, get down here and go get your sister and go back home.” Bryson ordered, “We’ll continue this tomorrow.”

“Okay.” She said dejectedly leaping down next to them.

Bryson noticed the look of guilt on her face and Bryson decided to relent a bit on the pressure, “You did manage to get her to unlock her inner power. So at least we have a start.”

Lottie seemed to brighten a little after hearing that, “Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“Not like I have much of a choice.” Bryson said as he walked off.

***

Crux the ‘living’ suit of armour stood there inside the Coldwater storage basement as he did for the past few months. All he had been doing was standing there. On occasion he was brought out and was used for either training or destroying random junk.

It was all rather dull, mundane tasks that were unbefitting for someone or something of his stature. He was getting bored. This was not why he was here. He was here to deal with Hallow.

Yet there was nothing. Crux had not felt anything out of the ordinary. Anything that resembled magic anomalies were all of this world and natural. Hallow hasn’t done anything and that bothered Crux. Something was happening and Crux had no idea what.

He wasn’t in the mood to sit and wait. He was going to do something. He knew from earlier conversations that he had overheard that he wouldn’t be needed again for a few weeks. Plenty of time for him to get his job done.

Without so much as a noise, the massive lumbering piece of armour that was hung on a frame disappeared without a trace. Off to gods know where. It was out to do its job.