I.

RIGHT AFTER BREAKFAST, Siegfried and Luciano went back to the spot where they sparred with the intent of training the former.

The two exchanged strikes and Siegfried dared not to take a step back as it would mean an instant defeat. Regardless, Luciano still found an opening, making Siegfried lose his balance and fall to the ground followed by pinning the tip of his sword near Siegfried's throat.

“Not good enough, Drasgardian. If you want to beat Zeb or anyone from the Auros executives for that matter, you'll have to be faster. Again.”

Siegfried stood up and went back to his offensive stance. He released faster strikes, but Luciano noticed the lack of power. With a single parry, Luciano stopped Siegfried from his barrage and landed a blunt hit on Siegfried’s breastplate.

“All speed but no strength,” Luciano shook his head disapprovingly. “Again.”

Siegfried breathes deeply. “What else am I missing?”

“Do you remember why you lost to Zeb?” asked Luciano as he raised his swords in a defensive stance.

Siegfried recalled as he attacked Luciano. “He’s faster. And he’s stronger.”

“Exactly. But that doesn’t mean he is not flawed. The Auros family all have the same Karma—” Luciano blocked Siegfried's strikes and grabbed his right wrist, “—transform into an auroch and back. They can also transform something in between, their hybrid form, which is a huge pain in the ass.”

“Yeah, I remember,” Siegfried replied, struggling to free himself.

“Their auroch form grants them unbelievable speed and strength—” Luciano let go of Siegfried and instantly made a distance between them, catching Siegfried off guard, “—and their hybrid form adds a certain characteristic!” Luciano closed the gap as fast as he made them and released a sideways strike that forced Siegfried to block with both his swords.

The strength of Luciano doubled when he activated his power before the impact, managing to knock Siegfried back.

Siegfried's arms trembled from blocking Luciano's attack, almost making him want to drop his swords and his legs barely kept him standing.

“As for their weakness, they tend to go into a straight line, sort of.”

“What does that even mean?”

“It means that when you are in their line of attack, you’re good as dead if you fail to dodge.”

“What about their hide? It seems they are invulnerable when it comes to slashes and blunt attacks. He was even unfazed by my flame.”

“Flame?” asked Luciano, wondering what Siegfried meant by flame.

“These swords of mine can produce flames. It's one of its nine perks.”

Luciano didn't bother understanding it. “Can you make your blades sharper though?”

Siegfried didn't answer right away. The answer was yes, but it was something he hasn't mastered yet. “I can try.”

“Hmmm...well, your reverse grip style focuses on cutting the enemy at weird angles. Like what my long-distance friend once said: You don’t cut a bull. You stab them.”

* * * * *

Daisuke was with Lira, an executive known as an excellent Karma user in the ranks of the Lumbard Famiglia that could go head-to-head with Luciano. They’ve been sparring for almost an hour now, but Daisuke still hasn't been able to land a single hit on her. Even with his speed, he could not match Lira.

Daisuke tried to punch Lira with his right wooden arm when he thought she was at striking distance, but Lira, instead of dodging, countered with her Karma-imbued punch.

Lira's punch easily matched Daisuke's strength, making the wooden arm crack and splinter. One-second delay later and Daisuke felt another punch that totally shattered his wooden arm and knocked him away.

Lira looked around and saw how the backyard turned into a forest-like landscape due to Daisuke’s Karma. “Umm...Maybe we should go somewhere else,” she suggested. “Uncle would not appreciate us ruining the mansion’s landscape.”

Daisuke, after looking around, agreed with a nod.

They walked outside the mansion and headed to an open space where they could spar without thinking about trees growing everywhere.

“Seriously, why is it like you are not losing any mana?”

Lira grinned at Daisuke. “I trained for years. With proper mana control and familiarity with my Karma, I was able to maximize my poor mana pool and use my power with better efficiency.”

Daisuke scratched his head. “Any tips?”

The two sat down on the grassy field as they conversed.

“Tell me what you know about mana control and your Karma first. For example, our families' ability has to do something with 'doubling' our strength. But my Karma kind of...mutated. Instead of doubling my strength, I could double the amount of my attack, like an echo.”

Lira made an example by poking Daisuke's nose once. Another poke followed which Daisuke found amusing, judging from his grin.

“That's a really neat trick.”

“I only spend mana when I activate my power, unlike Luci and Uncle who continuously consumes mana as long as their power is activated. So, what about you?”

“Well, mana is this mystical energy that we spend to use our ability, right? There are three basic principles of mana control: circulation to 'activate the mana for Karma or magic usage'; suppression to 'keep the mana inside our body', and concentration to 'allocate mana within specified parts of our body'. As for my Karma, I can create and manipulate cherry blossom trees, whether it is on the ground or my body.”

“Great! You have a good understanding of mana and your Karma. Now, how about your mana consumption? How much do you need to spend to use your ability?”

Daisuke demonstrated his ability. “It takes much just to create a seedling and even more to make it grow. Since trees are living things, we use a lot of mana to make them grow.”

“If it takes that much, how are you able to make tons of trees? Is that because of your avatar power?” Lira asked as she kept getting closer to Daisuke.

“I-I’m not sure, but I do have a large mana pool compared to other elves. But what about your speed, though? How come I could not land a clean hit on you.”

“Your movements were sluggish when you are using your Karma.”

Lira and Daisuke both looked behind them and saw Volg approaching them.

“Volg, what are you doing here?” asked Lira, flustered. She then noticed that there were no runic cuffs on his wrist.

Volg sat down near her. “I watched you two spar earlier. I just followed to spectate again.”

Lira cleared her throat. “Daisuke, this is Volg, the student of Lars. Volg, this is Daisuke.”

“Umm...What do you mean when my movements were sluggish?” asked Daisuke.

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“The things you make on your arms are obviously heavy, which hinders your movements. To compensate, you propel yourself by making a tree beneath you. If that is how you were fighting, no wonder you are wasting a lot of mana. Is that how you've been fighting all this time?”

Daisuke nodded, which made Volg and Lira grimace.

“Wow. Well, for what it's worth if you have been doing that all this time, then you should be plenty fast and strong without those wooden arms. I mean, they're like weights, aren't they?”

“Huh. That actually makes sense,” said Lira.

Daisuke thought about what Volg said. Back at Maria Island, he had poor mana control he tended to produce oversized wooden arms and just go along with it, making it look like he made it on purpose. At first, they were so heavy that he could not even raise his arms and he could not run. Whenever he had free time, he would train his body—lift some weight, run a few miles, do some push-ups—and soon, he became used to his oversized wooden arms. He was even able to run with decent speed.

Now that he was able to control his mana and power better than before, he was still making huge wooden arms and several mature trees to launch himself forward or up in the air. Now, what if he tried to make things just right, he thought.

“Nice to meet you, Volg,” Daisuke greeted, offering a hand to shake.

Volg nodded and accepted. “Likewise.”

“Alright! Now come on, let’s see if we can improve your moves,” said Lira.

* * * * *

II.

WHILE DAISUKE AND SIEGFRIED WERE BUSY training with Lira and Luciano respectively, Riku, Robin, Mirana, Brunnhilde, and Raijin were with Graphael to formulate a plan to infiltrate the ranch of the Auroses.

“I think those two just wanted a rematch after their defeat,” said Raijin.

“Let them be,” Robin responded as they walked. “We need to make our preparations. Graphael was kind enough to give us information about the Auroses' territory.”

“Besides, this time, things will be different,” Mirana added. “We are all going to be there...together.”

“That's right. Also, Mirana and I have been trying something out as well,” Riku winked at Mirana.

“Oh, no. We're not ready for that one, trust me.”

The group reached a room where the Lumbard Famiglia executives usually conduct their meetings. It had a cylindrical layout with four floors filled with books and scrolls, making it look like a fancy library. The center of the room was open, so everyone could see the other floors while they were on the ground floor. Everyone was in awe as they looked around the room with their mouths wide open.

Graphael looked at them and snickered. “This is just the library, guys.”

Hanging on the wall at the far side of the room were the portraits of the current and previous heads of the Lumbard family. Starting from the left, there were Don Luca’s, Don Lucio's, Don Luceno's, and Don Lucero's. A portrait of Fumiko was also hanging on the wall beside Don Lucero's, surrounded by fresh flowers.

At the center of the room was a wooden round table with a map of Elysia. When Raijin tried to inspect the table, he saw runic stones around it. “Why does it have runic stones?”

“That's a runic strategic map,” Brunnhilde responded.

“You know what this is?” asked Graphael.

“Of course. Each Dragon Raider boats come with one. Though this one seems to be a rip-off or something. A real one, or a better one, has carved runic symbols. But this one is just an ordinary table with runic stones that achieves the same effect somehow,” Brunnhilde claimed.

“Right, I forgot. Drasgard is the Runic Magic Capital of Laniagaea. Well, we purchased this back at Gloriosa,” revealed Graphael. “This is a military-level strategic map, used by the United Alliance themselves. Maybe a variation from the Drasgardians?”

“Figures. I heard that there's a lot of runic items that the U.A. has been experimenting on, trying to make their own but less dependent on magic or something.”

“So, you use this against the Auroses?” asked Raijin.

“Kind of. We use this to ensure that we are updated on the status of our territory,” Graphael activated the table and showed the map of Mozzarea.

“Unlike us, the Auroses doesn’t care that much in other cities of Gorgonzonia region. They focus their men on the city of Saint Fontana. After what happened two days ago, they will be more alert.”

Graphael made a zooming gesture on the table which made the interactive map zoom at the border between Mozzarea and Gorgonzonia. The area had several red markings on it. “Is that…real-time?” asked Riku.

“Almost. This map depends on the runic stones on top of the towers at the border that sends information here. And as you can see, there is a high number of people at the buffer zone near the border, which means that the military has been patrolling that area.”

“That’s bad,” Raijin said as he scratched the back of his head. “You’re telling us that not only we are dealing with the Auroses, but also with this country’s army.”

“It’s not too late to back out from this,” Graphael offered.

“No,” said Riku. “If Daisuke wants to do this, then we are going to do this. We may not look like much, but we’ve been in a few battles ourselves. I’m sure we can all handle this.”

Mirana chortled. “Damn right, we did.”

“Agreed,” said Robin.

Graphael made a chuckle and shook his head. “This might take a while...I'll ask the servants to bring us food and beverages.”

“Planning and all sounds good. But first, we got to do something about that maid of yours,” said Brunnhilde, much to everyone’s surprise.

* * * * *

At the Auros Manor, the Auros family invited the Giovanni family for a luncheon.

Don Tauran was placing his index and middle finger on his ear, his eyes moving as if he was listening to someone or something.

“Father, do you mind? We have guests,” Gauro scolded. “Don Sergio is asking you something.”

“Oh, yes. Yes. Sorry, what was it again?”

“As I was saying, is it true that you have Luca's top hitman? Lars Vera?” asked Sergio Giovanni, the current head of Giovanni Famiglia.

“Yes,” answered Don Tauran. “Zeb and Gauro here managed to catch him during their failed attempt to enter our ranch.”

Zeb was already patched up and was already out of pain as he ate and listened to the conversation. He wasn't sure if he should be glad that his father was praising him after his face-off with Luciano.

“Ahh. And I heard about your recent attack at Saint Crudeo. You’re lucky the Secretary of Defense has a huge investment in your family’s business. Otherwise, you would have not left that place in one piece.”

“Tch, if not for that damned Luciano, I would have already caught that elf.” Zeb expressed his irritation.

“What elf?” asked Stefano, the eldest son of Don Sergio.

Yakia kicked Zeb under the table. “Nothing. Just an elf that he thought we could sell at the Slave House.”

“Speaking of the Slave House, how much are you going to sell Lars Vera?” asked Sergio in anticipation.

“Dear, we talked about this,” said his wife, Sienna Giovanni, “We are not buying people...n-no offense, Tauran.”

Don Tauran swallowed his food. “Don't worry, none taken.”

“Thank you. It's just that, having forgeries in our place is already stressful enough. Having...strangers in our place would be the death of me,” said Sienna as she death-stared her husband, making Don Sergio flinch.

Don Tauran made a soft laugh. “Anyway, my apologies Sergio, but Lars is not for sale. After all, we could use him against Luca.”

Don Sergio looked around the table. “Are you talking about using him as leverage? I thought we are going to attack the Lumbards with a full assault with the defense minister's men?”

“Yes,” Don Tauran wiped his mouth, “But with Lars, I’m thinking that we could take even more from Luca himself.”

Stefano finished his steak and wine. “Suit yourself, as long as no one hurts Lira. She’s mine.”

Serena, Don Sergio's daughter, rolled her eyes. “You and your poor taste in women.”

“Ha!” Yakia laughed loudly. “I like this girl already. We could be friends, you know.”

“Serena, dear. Mind your tongue, please?” asked Sienna as she sighed.

Gauro noticed that his father was occupied by something on his ears again. “Father, do you mind removing that thing in your ear? Again, we have guests. We already know what they're planning anyway. Just watch the recording later.”

“You can never be too careful son. All the real-time information we could get from those Lumbards is worth it. Here, listen,” Don Tauran handed the runic earpiece to Gauro. “Even before they could do anything, something already happened to one of their recruits.”

Gauro wore the runic earpiece and could hear people panicking. Then, he saw inside the Lumbard’s mansion from the eyes of another person where Graphael and Daisuke’s friends were devising a plan.

'Geode, Vent, take her to the infirmary!'

'What happened to Brunnhilde?! Is she okay?'

'We don't know. But lately, she has been pushing herself too much.'

'Just give her some space for now. I already called for a doctor to check on her.'

Gauro sighed and decided to remove the earpiece and placed it in his pocket before resuming his meal. “You can have this back later.”

* * * * *

At the Silent House, Antonio's presence was requested by the president.

“You were looking for me, Mr. President.”

“Ah, yes. Please, take a seat, Antonio.” When Antonio was seated, Veneto continued. “I heard that you mobilized a few of our men at the Mozzarea-Gorgonzonia buffer zone. Could you remind me why?”

“Y-Yes, sir. I just thought that the military presence at the buffer zone would de-escalate the tension between the Lumbards and the Auroses. We are simply patrolling the buffer zone. Our men’s order is purely to patrol and not to engage.”

“Well, make sure that they don’t. We do not want any unnecessary conflicts with either of those families, do you understand?”

“As you say, Mr. President.”

An officer suddenly came into the room. “Mr. President, apologies for the interruption. We have news about the Giovanni family and Auros family.”

Veneto sighed. “Oh, gods, now what? Are they in a conflict as well?”

“On the contrary, Sir, it seems that the Giovanni family is having lunch with the Auroses. Our surveillance reported that Sergio Giovanni, his wife Sienna, and their two children, Stefano and Serena, were invited by the Auroses to their manor.”

“Okay...while we're at it, how about the Caponili family? Are there any movements?”

“None, sir. There have been no unusual movements within their territory.”

The president rubbed his chin. “Keep the surveillance at the Auroses and Giovannis. I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Uhh...Mr. President, may I ask a question?” asked Antonio.

“Go ahead.”

“If you have a surveillance team that checks on the Mafia Famiglia, doesn't that mean you are seeing all their activities? Including their alleged illegal businesses?”

The president made a smile before responding. “Yes, that's the point, to check all of their activities. However, we still haven't seen any illegal businesses. If ever they have one, it seems they are hiding it so well. And we need more concrete evidence if that is your concern, Antonio.”

“Ahh...I see.”

“Well, we've still got much to do. Carry on you two now.”

Antonio and the officer saluted before leaving the president's office. And once they were gone, Veneto’s smile promptly disappeared.