—A little while longer should be enough.

For the past week, Urie spent a few hours each day performing mana circulation at the garden behind the Loeth residence. Feeling a rush of warmth rushing outwards from his chest— he was now familiar with the sensation so he had no qualms about others watching from a safe distance.

Urie could hear the oohs and aahs coming from the gallery, and although part of him enjoyed the attention, he had no wish to continue giving others a show. Unexpected, however, was the appearance of a small but dense orb of mana entering his body and going directly into his mana seed.

—Ah!? What was that!?

Urie tried to halt his mana circulation, but was alarmed as his seed had continued operating on its own after unintentionally devouring the orb. A few seconds of panic, then incredible comfort washed over him, turning his alarm into bliss. Soon, he could sense a beneficial change happening within his chest.

—This was what the instructor was talking about earlier, wasn't it?

The mana seed inside him that was the size of a grain of wheat had doubled in size— a discovery he found that caused a smile to emerge on his face. A moment later, he seemed to recall that he was still in the middle of class. Quickly, Urie acted to restrain his rampant mana seed.

—I-I lost control. How long has it been? Did everyone leave?

The chatter from the crowd had disappeared. There was an odd silence around Urie once he stopped absorbing mana.

“Hah... W-What's with that smile!?”

With his eyes still shut, a voice unfamiliar gave him a startle. A soft yet audible tone, again unfamiliar. It was a voice likely from someone he had yet to meet. From the nape of his neck, an itch urged Urie to throw hesitation and open his vision, welcoming a bewildering sight.

—Ah? Am I dreaming again? Have I fallen asleep...?

Long, flowing red hair with disheveled strands falling right between the bridge of her nose. Her petite face, no longer obstructed by ripples from the fountain's surface, could be viewed in full detail illuminated by the light of the sun reflecting from a surrounding wall of ice.

Urie wore an incredibly dumbfounded expression as crimson red locked sharply with his icy blue.

“W-What are you doing!?” the red-haired girl unused to shouting yelled in a cracked voice. The sudden question shocked Urie out of confused stupor and he quickly shifted his gaze to the surroundings.

“Ah!? Is father here? Elder brother? Second older brother?”

“Hah... They aren't here...” Flopping to the ground, the girl's cheeks flushed as she tried to regain her breath. The great deal of mana she had just exerted caused sweat to drip continuously from her face.

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“Then who—?“ Urie's question was answered before it was fully spoken, as he noticed the layer of frost worn on the girl's hands. His attention drifted towards the wall of ice which had thinned down due to the dissipating heat around him.

Bang! Along with a loud sound, a part of the wall collapsed and a black-haired woman bearing uncanny resemblance to Elicia appeared from the debris, hurrying towards them.

“Are you alright?” She knelt down beside the red-haired girl, examining her for injuries. Shortly after, she did the same to Urie.

“Ya, aunt Merea!” Elicia arrived with teary eyes and flew into the embrace of the woman.

Merea asked, “Elicia, what happened here?” Finding Elicia's skin tinged red with strands of her bob-cut hair curling up. She placed both her hands on Elicia's face and wiped the girl's nose. With none of the clumsy arrogance she displayed earlier, Elicia looked over her aunt's shoulder and directed her tears at Urie.

—What did I do!?

Urie went pale. Realizing that something was amiss, he caught notice of the scorched earth beneath them. The grass had disappeared leaving barren soil. He raised his head towards the location of the other students to see a majority of them peeking cautiously from behind academy pillars. From one of the pillars then came someone's approach.

A large portion of the previously straight, brown hair covering his eyes comically stood up, and the glasses he used to wear seemed to had been taken off. Only when he was right before them did Urie recognize him as their advanced class instructor.

“Instructor Danny, what's going on?” Merea inquired again. She spoke with a serious tone but it was evident on her face that she was stifling her amusement.

Danny blushed and replied with a strained smile, “Student Urie Loeth was demonstrating mana circulation. I thought he was exaggerating when he asked us to stay back, but it seemed I underestimated his warning.” He turned his head towards Urie, “Student Urie, I apologize for not taking your warning more seriously.”

—No... That's not it!

Urie wanted to say that wasn't the case, and that something had occurred in the middle of his demonstration, but a sudden thud caused everyone alarm as their attention went towards the red-haired girl lying face-up, down on the ground.

“—Keh! It's fine, she just fell asleep. The child used more mana than her body could handle.” A deep, resounding voice echoed across the courtyard, as aged footsteps coming from underneath a red robe approached from the academy building.

“Merea, bring the girl to the infirmary to rest. I had that stinky boy, Sacha, go there. Danny, call the nurse here and have everyone examined for injuries. The infirmary can't possibly hold this much people!”

Merea wasted no time and carried the unconscious girl towards the infirmary, with Elicia running behind her like a small afterimage. Danny gathered all the students and faculty, taking note of anyone that might have sustained a burn.

“—Keh! Little boy! Come with me.”

Urie was about to follow his class, but flinched as his name was suddenly called. He eyed the ground nervously, and as the old man came closer, Urie timidly raised his head and noticed the old man's red robe. Even as the ends dragged along the charred earth, they hadn't been sullied by the ashes...

The old man stopped just in front of him and spoke, “Little boy...”

—Is he mad at me!? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do it, really!

Urie was frightened. The old man's eyes looked unusual while his wrinkled face appeared to be having a convulsion. The old man leaned down before his face but instead of speaking admonition, he asked Urie an unbelievable question.

“Would you like to kill a dragon?”