I punched over and over the pure white Essence Crystal at my front. Each time I did it, the flesh and skin on my fists got pulverized and only my cracked bones survived the impact.

Even though I do it since I was two years old, I still can’t get used to this excruciating training. The pain seemed to seep through my brain and arrive at my soul.

But I won’t stop until my body gives out and go unconscious.

Essence Crystals are regularly granted to us by the Maroeltha’s Will and we can use them for anything possible. We can construct carriages, bombs, Artifacts, lamps and other things. Our creativity is the only limitation to this miraculous crystal.

The crystal at my front is called Heaven’s Retribution and has two enchantments, Reflection, and Absorption. When I hit it, it absorbs all my Essence, making my body temporally weaker than a baby’s body and then reflects the fist’s impact and my Essence against me. In this process, my entire body breaks and is reformed after reabsorbing my Essence again.

Why am I doing such inefficient training when it is better to focus on an Artifact's utilization? Many asked this question to me since I was two years old, and I always answered in the same way. ‘Different from you guys, I don’t have the talent to use any kind of Artifact well’.

I can seem impressive by having two Arcanum Artifacts, but a weapon you can’t utilize all its potential is useless against the truly powerful ones in this world. It is the classic dilemma, Master of One or Jack of All?

So I neglected all the sword, spear, shield and Arcanum’s training to perfect the only three weapons available to me that can one day reach all their potential.

My body, mind and my pure Essence that isn’t tainted by the usurper False God, the Mother of All.

“Alex, can you stop your training for today? You still need to go see Amayomi before going to Zorenyth’s mansion, don’t you?” Mother appeared with her silvery white eyes and hair shining amidst the sunbeams penetrating the Training Room.

Mother has little fangs protruding from her mouth and always uses the Noble Robe with a tinge of shame because of her really short horns which aren’t normal to her age.

Probably a minor side effect of being a Demi-Eltha, the progeny of a Demon and a Maroeltha’s offspring.

“Nuala, is it already so late?” I asked using mother’s real name - she hates being called of Mother, in the last time I did it, I had to eat her food in all the meals.

“Yes, you always lose the track of time in this room.” She said with a lovely expression on her heart-shaped face and bringing my Noble Robe to me.

I took my sweaty clothes off and began to wear the dark Noble Robe. It is a form-fitting full-length robe with the option of changing its slits for the part below waist become reinforced long pants.

The robe also has symbols and decorations that will appear according to your Arcanum’s Artifacts, and it functions as an armor to protect even your head as the amount of Essence you can control increases.

My symbols are from the First Arcanum and the Twenty-Second Arcanum, a hollow sphere and a grayed out planet.

“Why don’t you stop training like this? Your body is already strong enough to endure my food and that little bitch’s hits.” Mother said, worried about my well-being.

But… bitch?... oh!

She is talking about Solaris.

Since Solaris swore to kill Mother, their relationship only gets worse by day. I didn’t know Solaris has already descended to the position of… bitch in Mother’s heart.

“You are wrong, Nuala. My body isn’t strong, every day I wonder how I am still alive with it being so weak. Zorenyth can easily send me flying and my teeth even fall when Solaris is more serious about breaking my body to the ‘healed’ version be stronger.” I walked with Mother until the castle’s gates where Solaris is waiting with a carriage that hopefully won’t explode.

“If you say so…” Mother said with sadness on her face and bid me farewell.

The carriage was blueish and had four white wheels, my Arcanum’s symbols, and black leather comfy seats that won’t even make you perceive a slight trembling from the carriage.

I entered it and Solaris as the driver asked. “To Torest’s mansion?”

“Yes, and give me some Augmented rations. I’m hungry.”

“Your Highness, I am worried that maybe you are burning yourself out.” She held the square cereal bar without giving it to me. “In the last two months, you have been working without a real rest in the Throne Room and also doing that mad training. Moreover, when you have time to eat, you eat these... emergency rations instead of a proper meal.” She said worried about my well being just like Mother.

Why they only concur on this point?

I understand their worries, but it is a, “nonsense, just give me the cereal, I am fine.”

“I think you should stop with your train-”

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“Shadow.” I used Solaris’ formal name as my maid and also the name her mother gave to her. “Just give it to me.” I slowly said looking into her restless eyes.

She became infuriated with her eyes widening and darting around, not believing I used the accursed name that she inherited from her hateable mother.

Solaris and Mother are so alike, both of them don’t like their formal names. Why can’t they get well? Maybe the saying, ‘likes repel each other’, is correct.

She angrily gave me the Augmented ration and began to drive to Torest’s mansion while doing unnecessary daring maneuvers through the streets to annoy me.

I ate my dull ration whilst analyzing in my head once again the information the spies got about the Fourth Demon Prince yesterday.

He went to the Holy Silver Castle to receive a new armor and a high-grade Artifact from our Blacksmith, the grandpa of Mos’ban’s clan leader. He also bought miscellaneous general war’s items, Essence Bombs, standard armor to his personal army and…

The list goes on and everything about it seemed suspicious.

Later he went to Brountight’s mansion and met the First Demon Princess. Of course, their meeting was a disaster and the Broutight’s clan leader had to save him. Did he think he could talk with that psychopath? She is rotten to the core.

…

Could be he went talk with her as just as an excuse to privately meet the Brountight’s clan leader after being trashed by her? Or am I going too deep in such strange but trivial meeting?

Anyways, after leaving the mansion he hurriedly left the capital to the city where his father governs.

The spies are still tracking him and an army to siege the city if necessary is going there ahead of us.

We will leave the capital tomorrow with a clan leader as a guardian to arrest - kill - him.

I don’t get-

“Your Highness, we have arrived.” Solaris already outside of the carriage opened my door for me.

Putting my foot on the overgrown grass of the Torest’s mansion, made me remember of my failure of curing Amayomi.

Amayomi is the Torest’s clan leader and was inflicted with three curses. They made her quickly age, lose the capacity to rationalize and finally forget about her loved ones.

In this mansion infested with overgrown plants and wildlife, you can’t anymore appreciate the antique splendor of this mansion. You can only see the vines and rust winning over everything.

Demons like Solaris can’t approach it because of the curse power permeating the mansion, so she is waiting for me in the carriage.

I am somehow not really affected by the curse.

After spending one month with Amayomi I discovered the cure for her curses when I decided to give a bath to her. In her body, there were three strange spear’s fragments that were invisible and intangible to everyone with the exception of me.

Because of my training with Heaven’s Retribution, I was strong enough to pull off the first fragment and stop her aging.

Sometimes I wonder if my mind is more ‘mature’ than my peers because of the time I spent here when the first curse was activated.

The second one was harder and only ten days ago I was able to take it off, but she still sometimes blabbers or suddenly drool without reason. So I can’t consider that she recovered the capability to rationality yet.

However, every day I give her an activity or a question to her answer to me in the next day. Yesterday, I asked her to say her own name after she suddenly gave me her Clan Seal.

The third fragment is impossible right now, but thankfully the abilities of her Arcanum Artifacts can still maintain her alive until I get strong enough.

I opened the main doors and saw Amayomi with her asymmetrical body waiting for me on a chair.

Amayomi had her left side dominated by the blue color and her right side dominated by the red color, the proof of her absorbing her twin sister and being acknowledged by the Nineteenth Arcanum and Twentieth Arcanum, The Moon and The Sun.

I said. “Amayomi, since when are you waiting for me? I hope it's not since the sunrise.”

She continued still with her heterochromatic empty eyes only staring at me without any expression.

Sometimes she answers me and others not, I am used to it, so I began to talk with her not expecting her to answer me every time.

When I am close to leaving, I got up from the rusted chair and looked at her. “I will leave tomorrow and I don’t know when I will come back, so don’t wait for me, okay?”

She nodded and then flinched not knowing exactly what she did.

“Can you answer me the question I left to you?” I said.

“...Hmm…Anoiomi Forest?” She rocked her head to the sides and finally answered after ten minutes doing it. “No, it is Amayomi Torest.”

“Good, while I am away I want you to not forget of taking baths and to next time answer me how many times did you take a bath.”

She made a disgusted expression. “...I will try.”

I left the mansion and entered the carriage. This time Solaris didn’t even ask me and already began to drive to Zorenyth’s mansion.

I silently observed the sunset, thinking about why do I care so much about Amayomi.

It is possible to me analyze the reason just like I did when I was torn between ignoring or saving the Half-Demon, however, it is unnecessary.

The reason is simple, I do it because her daughters groveled at my front to try to save Amayomi.

What I don’t understand is why I put so much effort into doing it. Is it pity? Or is it just because everyone says it is impossible to cure her and I in my ‘child’s stubbornness’ - in Solaris’ words - want to prove them wrong?

Lately, my life is being filled with a lot of questions, I should consider sometimes stop thinking too much about everything and just act.

When we were close of reaching Zorenyth’s mansion and with the street strangely empty, I felt an Artifact pulse coming straight to the carriage, it was too quick to me warn Solaris or to take the steering wheel. So I just kicked Solaris out of the carriage and used the kick’s impulse to leave it too.

The carriage was cut in the middle by a big sword made of fire which created a gigantic ball of fire around the carriage and an enormous explosion sound echoed through the streets.

The silhouette of someone began to seem visible as this person left the fire.

With such flashy entrance, it is safe to assume it is not an assassin sent by the traitors or the Humans.

“Who are you?”