The next morning.

After Aleen woke up and did his morning training, he cooked breakfast for Claire and Aya.

Claire wanted to cook breakfast, but Aleen scolded her and told her that she was not completely healed yet, so she had to rest.

After a night of rest, Claire’s condition got better, but she was still a bit weak; moreover, Aleen noticed that her temperature was a bit higher than normal, so he forced her to rest and forbid her from helping with the chores.

Although Claire was a bit displeased, she relented in the end. After all, she knew that Aleen was doing it for her own wellbeing.

Aleen noticed that Aya had been lost in thoughts from the moment she woke up. During breakfast, she did not say a word and spent all the time thinking silently.

Aleen thought about speaking to her, but in the end, he decided to give her time to think. He knew that she was thinking about the conversation they had last night, and when she reaches to an answer, she was going to tell him.

After they finished breakfast, he went back to the courtyard to continue his training and Claire followed after him.

Unexpectedly, Aya also followed them.

Aleen was surprised when he saw her crouched in a corner with Lily on her arms, observing his training; but she was not bothering him, so he nodded at her and continued swinging his sword calmly.

A few minutes later, Claire approached Aleen while he was honing his swordsmanship.

“Bro- Aleen, I want to train too.”

Aleen was startled by Claire’s words.

‘Wait a moment, she called me by my name? How strange…’ Aleen wondered briefly about the reason for the change but quickly moved his thoughts towards her request.

“… I think it’s better if you wait a bit longer before training again. It would be bad if the training affects your health.” Aleen said with a concerned expression.

Claire pouted displeased. “But I’m bored, and you don’t let me do anything. Furthermore, mana is good for the body, so it perhaps will help me to recover faster.”

Aleen fell silent hearing that.

Although he thought that it was not a good idea for Claire to train so soon after she was discharged from the hospital, he had to admit that Claire’s words had a bit of truth.

Moreover, he could notice that Claire seemed awfully determined to train for some reason; so, if he did not allow it, she probably will find an opportunity to train secretly without his knowledge.

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So, after reflecting for a few seconds, he finally agreed.

“Very well, but if I think that something is wrong, you must stop immediately!” Aleen said with a serious expression.

“Yay, I love you, Aleen!” Claire jumped towards Aleen and hugged him.

Aleen’s heart jumped a bit when he heard Claire's words.

Though it was not the first time that she said that she loves him, for some reason, he thought that it carried a different meaning this time… Maybe, it was because she used his name instead of calling him brother.

Aleen instantly shook off those thoughts out of his mind and patted her head with a smile.

Claire excitedly began with her training. As always, she created small red birds of mana around her and made them follow her will and attack the trees nearby.

But quickly, the birds began to change. First, they became faster, then, they became livelier, and finally, they began to grow bigger.

Both Aleen and Aya were spellbound by the spectacle. They got the impression that Claire was the empress of flames, governing over fire and birds… That a wave of her hand was enough to bring an ocean the flame to Earth.

Compared to Aleen’s training, Claire’s was many times more beautiful; like a fairy dancing in the mortal world with birds descending from the skies to protect her.

But when they were lost in the beauty of the spectacle, Aleen realized that something was wrong.

At some point, Claire’s hair began to turn crimson. At the same time, her reddish eyes began to glow like fire, and her body began to turn hot.

“Claire, stop!” Aleen instantly shouted.

But it was too late.

At the next instant, Claire suddenly fell to the ground.

“Arrrggghhhhhhhh!” Claire grabbed her chest and gave a cry of pain. Her face turned pale, and the birds around her disappeared in a rain of fire.

“Claire!” Aleen and Aya rushed toward her frantically. The temperature of the surroundings began to increase crazily, and her black hair turned more and more crimson slowly.

“Arrrrgggghhhhh!!!” Claire continued screaming in pain while grabbing her chest. She ignored Aleen and Aya’s voices and twisted her body on the ground in desperation.

Aleen tried to grab her, but her body was incredibly hot. “Water!” He shouted to Aya, who quickly brought a pot filled with water. But when she was going to give it to Claire, it happened.

Behind Claire… A portal opened.

Aleen’s expression turned pale.

But in the next instant, his gaze turned determined.

Without caring if he was burned by Claire’s high temperature, he hugged her firmly and glared at the portal.

At the next instant, the portal swallowed them.

But before the portal closed, a hand grabbed his arm.

Aleen glanced back with a shocked expression and saw Aya looking firmly towards him.

With a nod, she hugged Lily with her other hand and was swallowed by the portal too.

Aleen’s expression turned complicated, but in the end, he nodded gratefully.

One day after finishing his last game, Aleen began his next trial.

Inside a secret room in Lars island, Kdon Srive was talking with an old man through the screen of his bracelet.

“It’s done, I sent the girl you told me at the game. But I have to remind you that I cannot make the manipulation too obvious, so she was sent to a level-three game.”

“It’s enough.” Kdon said with an ice-cold tone. “Two of the best level-three of my race were sent to that game. They will take care of the rest.”

The old man looked at Kdon with a suspicious gaze, but after a while, he simply sighed. “I don’t know why do you want to kill that girl so badly, and I’ll not ask. But I hope that it doesn't bring me any trouble, okay?… Anyway, I made sure of sending your two level-three near the girl, so they will find her quickly.”

“Thanks, old man. You were of great help.” Kdon nodded in gratitude.

“Don’t thank me. With it, my debt has been repaid. I hope never to see you again.” The old man snorted.

Kdon nodded again and an instant later, the communication was turned off.

Looking at another screen that was showing the details of a game that was about to begin, Kdon smiled cruelly.

“Soon, a new level-six will be born in our race.”