The afternoon went by fast.

Orion, Amelia, Karteira, Dramia, and Drania, the five of them, trained together.

There was not much for Orion to bother with, so he fought against a shadow, simulated to hone his reflexes and observation capabilities.

After that, he went to see the sisters that weren't training at all.

He quickly understood why, and did not hold it against them.

Dramia was a wind magic user, by weak as can be. Having a little breeze as an ability doesn't help in a fight, where every bit of power is necessary.

While Drania was powerful with her water magic, she required a dense amount of water for her ability to shine. She could only make little bubbles at the moment, as there was no water in Horizon yet.

For Orion, that wasn't necessarily bad for them, as he would most likely not bring them with him in any of his future fights, but not being able to defend themselves was quite bothering.

They had their speed, which was unparalleled to anything he saw, their strongest weapon currently.

So, while talking with them, multiple ideas on how to at least make them slightly powerful formed in his head.

In the end, he asked both of them if they would agree to train close combat at a later date.

This was the better option he thought about. The speed, combined with powerful strikes, could bring anyone to their knees in seconds.

Dramia was as always reluctant to do anything, but had no choice but to follow her sister, who really wanted to punch someone in the face for the first time.

Which led to Orion instructing them to strike at each other, carefully as to not injure the other, using their burst speed.

It seemed promising, so he left them to their training and went to Amelia and Karteira, who were training together.

He had something to tell Amelia about, and now was the perfect moment.

When he approached both of them, he watched as Karteira moved incredibly fast while attacking with her tail.

"Training the Cerulean Storm?"

Amelia turned around when she heard his voice.

"Orion? Yes, she wanted my help to fasten the steam process."

"But what are you doing here? Aren't you training? I saw you move around earlier, so I was expecting you to be completely immersed in that."

He shook his head.

"I don't have to train that hard currently. Seems like I've attained the peak for every abilities I have, except the Arm Overdrive."

Sending a sharp gaze toward Amelia, she immediately defended herself.

"You know why I don't let you use it. Stop being a kid about that. If it wasn't that dangerous, I would let you use it anytime, anywhere."

She crossed her arms in front of him, standing straight.

"I know, you don't have to get angry, I was joking."

Smiling, he placed a hand on her head and caressed it.

"Hmm."

While enjoying the little affection she received, there was another question in her mind.

"So, tell me why you're here. You wouldn't come for no reason right? Or are you really looking at our progress that carefully?"

"I do look at your progress, though I'm not there to always notice it. But you're right, I have something to ask you actually."

He removed his hand and walked next to her, looking at Karteira initiating the airborne attacks she used against Orion.

"Did Ego speak to you recently?"

"!"

Her face showed surprise.

"How did you know?"

She looked at him intently, as she wasn't expecting that topic to ever be touched upon.

"Because she talked to me earlier today. At first, I thought of keeping this to myself, but you are the only one who needs to know about that matter. But knowing her, she most likely spoke to you before me."

"That's... no, you're right about that. She talked to me yesterday, when I was waiting for you to open the portal to the fairy realm. What did she said to you?"

Orion began to explain most of the conversation, keeping the advice Ego told him for himself.

...

"There's a lot you still don't know about your abilities either?"

"So she told you the same thing?"

"Almost the same. My turn to tell you."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

~

"Those were some great details. I hope he notices you at some point."

Kamala, Amelia, and Karteira were talking about the recent event concerning Karteira's feelings about Orion.

"He might accept if you ask repeatedly."

They had finished enjoying all of the juicy details, and were now cheering on her to make the first move.

"I already said it, I'm not trying to! That's just how I feel. Stop hoping for that to happen!"

Beat red, she defended herself from the women around her.

'Having fun?'

But then, Amelia heard Ego's voice in her head.

'Well, yes.'

'I have something important to talk about, so can you make time for me? Right now if possible.'

Amelia looked at the two girls talking to each other.

'I should be able to go.'

"Can I take a bathroom break?"

She asked Kamala.

"Of course."

With that said, she quickly left Kamala's room, and went downstairs, inside the bathroom of her house.

'What's that important topic?'

Sitting down on the toilet, she waited for Ego to continue.

'I wanted to give you some points to improve on, give you an idea of what you've created so far, and what are your future opportunities. This is something you, and Orion have to go through.'

'I don't understand? What are you going to speak about?'

'Your abilities, mostly. I'll also give you a personal advice at the end.'

She crossed her arms and listened carefully.

'Alright, let us start.'

Amelia was closest to Ego than Orion, as she sometimes exchanged words about her elements, and some points that could be improved.

The voice of the Key was always talking to her when she needed to, and this time was no different.

There was a little problem within Amelia currently. She thought she was improving way too fast.

When she heard the monotonous voice of Ego, a weird feeling invaded her mind.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

- The Marked: The individual that possess the Key inside their soul, able to release the Shackles' power with time.

- The Five Natural Elements: Earth, Fire, Lightning, Water, and Wind. Given to the individual by The Marked abilities.

Earth: Ceres. Intermediate Stage.

Fire: Vesta. Linked Mastery Stage. Ability: Sacred Fire.

Lightning: Leima. Intermediate Stage.

Water: Dana. Intermediate Stage plus Ice Scale.

Wind: Aura. Intermediate Stage plus Velocity Scale.

- Calm Analysis: An ability used to perceive the most details in a given situation, forcing the users brain to process said details at an unrivaled speed. An incompatibility causes a lack in proficiency.

- Elemental Transfer: Make it capable of giving, or receiving an element from the Bearer of the Shackles. The masteries between both The Marked and The Bearer of the Shackles are shared without any loss in performance.

- Elemental Shaping: Modify the structure of magic to accommodate the user's other abilities.

- Creation: One of the rarest form of magic modification, able to be used in its fullest with The Five Natural Elements ability. The innate ability of the user to picture detailed images and the creativity behind it brought it to reality.

- Dragon's Pact: A pact made between the user and the Dragons Monolavir and Ruminona. When the user activates it, a rift will open, forcefully summoning both dragons, while improving their overall statistics by 300%. The stronger the elemental scale given by the dragon is, the higher the percentage gets.

- ???? Cannot develop.

- ???? Cannot develop.

- ???? Cannot dev- ERROR!>

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

~

"That's what it said."

Amelia stared right in front of her, thinking deeply.

"You have quite a lot of abilities too. That also confirms our thoughts on your abilities to shape, transfer, and create with magic."

"Yes."

-

'Amelia, I'll be honest. You've been progressing really fast. I know it looks and sounds problematic for you, and that you think that you are getting stronger than Orion, but that won't happen.'

'Why? I'm sure that if I use everything against him, I'll win.'

Ego laughed hard at that.

'Are you sure? Orion is not only extremely proficient with his three elements, he also possess an almost infinite amount of stamina, and close combat capable of sending you straight to the afterlife.'

'Do you really stand a chance, as you think? When was the last time you fought seriously against him?'

'...'

Amelia stayed silent. She knew exactly when was the last time she was serious fighting Orion.

'Before leaving Auro, isn't it?'

The tone Ego used suddenly switched to a colder one.

'Amelia, get it together. Fight him seriously, don't be scared of getting injured. See how much the difference between you and him there is, and find what is lacking in you.'

'Orion is strong, and only by giving everything against a powerful opponent can you seriously improve yourself.'

'Critically reflect upon yourself, and challenge everything you know. Don't regret your choices, because the moment you will realize that your strength is lacking, it will be too late.'

-

'I won't speak about that to him, though I know I should. But I don't want to bother him.'

Orion realized something was up. Amelia was kind of distant at the moment, avoiding looking at him.

But he remained silent. Instead, he looked at Karteira pushing her limits.

"Can I be honest with you?"

In a gentle voice, he asked Amelia.

"Hmm?"

She looked at him when she saw that he wasn't staring at her.

"I always found it attractive. A woman determined to improve. Of course, when I say attractive, I'm talking about respect too."

"Kamala's determination to best Ivan after her defeat was attractive, and extremely brave."

"Karteira's constant struggle to stay near our level, even though she cannot use magic is attractive, and I respect her greatly for putting up with my demands every time I want to train."

He turned his head slowly, and stared deeply into the pearly pink eyes of Amelia.

"And I find it incredibly attractive when I see you break every expectations I have for you. The constant novelty you bring is refreshing, and the power behind each and every now abilities you develop is incredible."

"You have no idea how much having you next to me influences my training. Just by working on yourself, you give me idea on how to develop my own strength."

"Thank you Amelia."

He had to say it, because the words Ego gave him turned in his head again and again.

Regrets. The only thing he didn't want to have.

If by honestly thanking Amelia for being by his side was enough, he would say it again and again.

And to that, Amelia was her mouth wide open in shock. Her eyes were fixated on his, until her brain finally processed the whole thing.

'I can't... why is he so kind?'

She warmly smiled at him, but the lingering thought that Ego's words were right kept pestering her mind.

The smile quickly disappeared, and a frown appeared on her face.

'I have to ask him. I don't want to regret my choices either. And I need to face him, and myself. We have to progress together.'

With a determination rivaling Karteira's fervor in training, she spoke.

"Orion..."

"Yes?"

"Can we have a serious fight? Without limitations?"

It was now Orion's time to fall in shock.

The day where Orion and Amelia fought for serious was finally here. A fight absurdly different from the one between Orion and Karteira.

A fight with their emotions and worries on full display.