It was three days after Leona took Claire away.

Aleen, Aya, and Lily were currently in the outskirts of London, in the abandoned building where Aya used to live.

After Claire left, Aleen convinced Aya of living with him. After all, now they were teammates, it would be better if she stays nearby in case of an unexpected incident.

As expected, Aya refused at the beginning, but under Aleen’s constant persuasion, she finally ceded. Although she looked at Aleen warily for some reason.

Aleen could swear that he did not have any strange intention when he suggested the idea, but when he thought about it, he realized that he truly seemed was a bit suspicious.

Anyway, with Aya living together with him, Aleen found it easier to face Claire’s absence. It was the first time in years that the siblings were so far apart for so long. Moreover, he was not sure when he would see her again.

But when he thought about his sister’s determined face, he strengthened his resolution to become stronger.

And that is the reason because they are here today.

When Aya learned that Aleen had been searching for a place to train secretly, she suggested her former hideout. She then brought Aleen with him to visit it, and Aleen could not help but be impressed.

Not only was this place secret and hidden from other people’s eyes, but it also was pretty orderly. After all, Aya had lived here for a long time, so she made sure of keeping it moderately clean.

Aleen instantly agreed to take this place as their training place, base, and hideout.

And now, Aleen and Aya were using this place to train.

But instead of practicing their skills or circulating their mana, they decided for a more violent kind of training, a spar.

Taking a step forward, Aleen slashed towards Aya with his wooden sword.

The sword moved a great speed. In a second, it reached near Aya’s neck.

But Aya remained unperturbed facing that attack. With a step back, she evaded the slash and counterattacked with her metallic claw.

Unfortunately, her movements were slower compared to Aleen. Aleen just took a step aside calmly and was already out of Aya’s range. Then, he circled around the claw and stabbed towards Aya’s chest.

Aya reacted instantly. She twisted her body strangely and avoided the stab, then, she took a step forward closing the distance between Aleen and her.

Her movements were strangely cat-like. She clawed towards Aleen’s face with her metallic claw at incredible speed. When Aleen evaded the attack, she used the floor to recover her posture and crouched down agilely, before jumping towards Aleen again.

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Sometimes, Aya would use the walls and objects around the place as footholds to attack Aleen. Her movements were so strange and precise that Aleen had trouble coping with her even with his greater speed.

Like that, they continued sparring for another hour.

During the past two days, Aleen and Aya had sparred a few tens of times.

During their spars, the two of them restricted their skills. Aleen could not use Lightning Movement or Dynamic Sight, and Aya could not use the help of Lily. It was because when Aleen used Lightning Movement, Aya was unable to respond.

But without using their skills, their spars were much more even.

Although Aleen was faster and stronger due to his enhanced body and the last time when he failed to acquire his skill, Aya’s fighting techniques were better. She did not use any martial art, but her movements were strangely ghostlike... or catlike. At the same time, her senses were sharper than Aleen, her body was incredibly flexible, and her battle instinct was astounding. Her movements did not follow any pattern, and sometimes, they were as bizarre as they were incredible. To be honest, Aleen had a bit of trouble coping with them.

The pair concluded that such movements were probably due to the influence of her bond with Lily. Leona said that both Aya and Lily would benefice from the bond, even going so far as to get some of the abilities of the other.

Thanks to Aya’s great fighting abilities, the spars were of great use to both of them.

Aleen did not just acquire better battle senses, but he also realized that his mind had adjusted completely with his body. If before he felt that his movements were a bit stiff and slower he expected, now they felt incredibly smooth.

Aya, on the other hand, had a more noticeable grow compared to Aleen. In the beginning, Aleen would win eight of ten spars, but now, he could win only six. Furthermore, with each battle, Aya seemed more used to her style of battle, at the point that Aleen thought she would look very well with cat ears.

One hour later, the pair finally finished their spar.

“Well done.” Aleen wiped the sweat on his forehead and smiled at Aya. “I almost thought I would lose this time.”

“… I’ll not lose next time.” Aleen thought he noticed a bit of grumpiness in Aya’s voice, but when he looked at her, she had her usual expressionless look.

“Haha, cheer up, you were pretty impressive. Moreover, your body is weaker than mine, so it’s normal if you lose most of the time.”

“… Mm, I know.” Aya said in a deadpan tone.

Aleen could only smile wryly and shake his head.

‘Even if you try to hide it, it’s obvious you are not happy with losing, huh.’

Although when he thought about it, it was pretty cute in its own way.

Now that they finished training, the pair left the abandoned building. They walked until a more populated area of the city and asked for a cab.

In a few minutes, the pair was already at home.

“What do you want to eat today, Aya?” Aleen asked before opening the door. He normally would ask Claire, but now that she was not at home, he decided to ask Aya.

A hesitating expression appeared briefly on Aya’s face, but she quickly returned to her expressionless look. “… Anything.” She said softly.

Aleen looked at her with a doubtful expression. “Are you sure? I don’t mind if you want to eat something specific.

Aya moved her beautiful blue eyes towards Aleen’s face. For a moment, she seemed to wonder if it was alright to ask for something.

But Aleen simply smiled and nodded.

A small blush surfaced in Aya’s face. She hides her face on Lily’s fur (Who was being carried on her arms) and whispered something.

“… Pas…”

“Huh? Did you say something?”

“… Pasta.” Aya spoke again, this time a bit louder.

“Okay, I’ll do pasta.” Aleen agreed instantly. He did not mind accommodating Aya. Instead, he thought that it was a good way to make their relationship closer.

So, the two then entered the house with Aleen smiling and Aya hiding her face timidly. For a moment, Aleen had the impulse to tease her, but he feared that it would destroy all the progress he had made.

But when they reached the living room, they found a gray-haired woman seated on the sofa.

Under the startled gazes of the pair, the woman opened her mouth and spoke.

“Get ready, we are leaving now.”