To their surprise, Jarrut didn't stay for too long, leaving the Island by night, giving his thanks for the entertaining tour, and departing in a happy mood. As soon as they were back in the tower, Lia hurried to the top floor, into their observatory, locking herself in, saying she needed to meditate. Nobody was surprised, knowing her excitement about the fire seeds, but the reality was different. When Jarrut talked about his views on love, something clicked in Lia's head. She wanted to try and go meditate on it immediately, but she couldn't leave just like that. She was an Amarin; her duties and promises came first… and she remembered Dayen's advice to not force it and let her mind relax before trying anything.

"It grows from the fire of passion…." She repeated, sitting down, immersing herself in her usual meditation routine, and floating before her incorporeal self. She was now circulating her mana, letting it burn brightly, not even trying to control it or lower its speed. "Love grows from the flames… When the passion dies down, love is what remains…." She murmured, continuing the circulation of her fiery mana. She was slowly but surely replacing the words passion with fire and love with water. Her mind was focused on what she had learned about the elements of water and fire as she did so.

She suddenly found herself in a wonderful state, where she was doing multiple things at the same time, without much thinking, letting her feelings guide her actions. A few moments later, her fire-like mana started to change its hue. Going from its dark, crimson color, it slowly passed into magenta, then purple, until a bluish color was where it settled down. The painful hotness rapidly subsided as she let the fire burn freely, without any mental restraint or worries.

"Let it grow from it…." She murmured to herself; the pain that was usually unbearable by now was gone, and her mind became clearer than ever before. Everything seemed simple and perfectly straightforward. "The Scale is balanced. Warmth must be found in the Coldness. The Flame brings forth Chill." She spoke out and then opened her mismatched eyes with a snap.

They were burning in differently colored fires, and as she looked down, her hands were covered in blue flames, emanating an intense chill from them. It was crackling just like any fire would, but Lia could feel the extreme frostiness coming from them. She hardly believed that she had done it and refocused her eyes, staring at them, taking a deep breath… and they changed their attribute following her will. They went from blue to orange in a flash, then crimson, burning more fiercely than ever.

"Fire of Noon…" She grinned happily and then thought about the other part, "Ice of Midnight…."

As she spoke, the flames started to change. They slowed down at first, and their flickering became different and was now more tangible, turning into wiggling jelly-like strands. They were going more solid, and as their color turned blue, water was now surrounding Lia's hands instead of fire. It flowed around her skin like a whirlpool, gaining speed with every rotation. Ultimately, the water glinted as it flash-froze and then exploded, throwing Lia backward and jolting her back to reality. She was sweating, breathing heavily, and she was sprawled out on the floor, meters away from where she had sat originally.

"Uuugh…" She moaned but was still grinning as she pushed herself into a sitting position. Her clothes were nowhere to be seen, burnt into ashes sometime ago, and now she was riddled with small, sharp cuts all over her body, bleeding continuously. The floor was littered with small chunks of ice, quickly melting into little puddles dyed pink by her blood. “I have still too little… understanding… of water magic…” Lia groaned, wiping her mouth, fighting to keep herself awake. Bringing up her bracelet, she noticed it was telling her that she was fully out of mana and tethering on the verge of a meditation backlash. "Combining them kinda… works… but summoning ice is still a no-no… ugh… I’m… feeling sick…” She moaned as she fell over when she tried standing up. Now she felt how much pain she was in, looking to be in terrible shape.

"Lia?" Arrive a familiar morse-code-knocking on the door, and she could only groan in answer, knowing it was Aurora, before sending a ping through their bracelet.

The moment Aurora received it, she simply kicked the door in. Seeing Lia's pale, weak body, riddled with hundreds of minor cuts, she hurried next to her, kneeling and taking out a mana potion, forcing it down her throat as Lia went unconscious.

…

….

……

Lia woke up only at dawn with a sharp breath, feeling the cuts on her body sting. She felt weak, as if coming out of a feverish sickness and struggling to sit correctly. Looking down, her body was bandaged, and they gave out the smell of medicine soaked in some kind of ointment, helping her skin heal without leaving any marks on her body.

"Mhm?" Koa moaned, waking up beside her, yawning, and rubbing her eyes. "You up?" She also sat up, naked, as she was hugging Lia while they slept.

"Um!" Lia nodded, looking around in the dimly lit room. "How long was I out?"

"A few hours. What happened? Aurora carried you down with a somber look, and I had to call for Ceiline to patch you up!"

"Why not for Sion?"

"You were naked."

"And?" Lia asked, not really getting the problem, tilting her head, but Koa, surprisingly, ignored her.

"So? What happened? Besides a backlash, emptying your mana to zero? I get it if you faint and become powerless! But something exploded, didn't it? Leaving you with 112 cuts! I counted!"

"Woah… that many?"

"Yeah, and some were thin as a hair yet refusing to close up until cleaned out with mana! They were bleeding continuously!"

"Oh… I did that?" Lia flinched, twitching her mouth.

"Duh! Who else?"

"Well… I was experimenting with a spell-" She raised her hand, but Koa slapped it.

"Don't cast spells now! Idiot! Rest first!"

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"Ehehe… s-sorry! I managed to willingly combine my elements! I can cast the spell by myself now! I figured it out! But as I am lacking in water manipulation. When I was testing out the icy part… it exploded."

"Makes sense. You couldn't cast a water bubble before, and now you had tried freezing spells? You got what you deserved!" She grumbled, flicking her forehead. "Scaring us like that… reckless!"

"Says who?" She tried arguing just to receive another flick, making her squirm in pain. “Owie… o-okay… It was my fault!"

"Of course it was! But that is great news! Your mother would want to hear about that!"

"Ah, true! And I do need to tell her about Mr. Jarrut's idea! I will write for her!" She scrambled forward, falling out of bed as her legs refused to support her weight.

"Good to see you look energetic without any real energy… come! You dictate, I write!" Koa sighed, helping her up, spoiling her injured cousin a little.

…

….

……

"Reyra!" Kawu rushed into her study with an excited look on his face, waving a bundle of letters around. "She did it! Lia did it!"

"Is she pregnant?" Reyra stood up with a bang; one side of her face was annoyed and angry, the other happy and proud.

"Eh!" Kawu stumbled in place, barely stopping himself from falling. "Why do you ask that? And what is with your face? You are scaring me…."

"Because she is with Koadriana!"

"..." He thought for a brief moment, then shrugged, "No, she is fine. I meant she managed to combine the two elements! Read!" He pushed the multiple pages long letters into his wife's hand, letting her read them in silence numerous times.

"Ahahaha! Good girl! Good! Call up a meeting in the family! Summon all leaders and all decision-makers! We are ready to tell them!" She grinned, happy to receive some good news, especially because there were still no clues about Razael's well-being.

"Will do! And… about that Jarrut guy."

"Let her do it. Support him and Lorin too." She waved her hand nonchalantly. "If my girl wants to grow strong, she needs her own people who stand behind her. So be it if she trusts them and wants to build them up. As her mother, I will help! Also, as the head of the Amarins, I always welcome families who want to join our ranks!"

"Yes, Ma'am!" He saluted, slapping his chest, just like when they were not yet a pair but comrades in Reyra's group of adventurers. Those who survived their last battle were all still supporters of Reyra and the Amarins, governing their own cities or even kingdoms, ready to answer her call anytime it may arrive.

"Ehehe~ Send the man's recipes to Juju!" She thought about it, smiling, remembering her old friend, a bit eccentric woman who was the old Vanquishers' leading alchemist. She was now a Grand Alchemist in her home country, living a life of luxury. "Let her grade it, correct the mistakes and send it back to Jarrut with the resources."

"Should I deliver it personally?" Kawu asked but then received a cold gaze from his wife.

"That bootylicious-hip-shaker would try to seduce you, so NO! I don't trust her not to try and drug you! She always wanted to sample your seed after I had given birth to three boys! Out of the question! Send Solren over! She can't deal with someone who is too straightforward, and I trust my boy! She wouldn't be able to violate him!"

"That… is true. Okay! I'll call him back! He has been looking for Razael ceaselessly. I am worried that he may become restless."

"They are good brothers," Reyra commented with a soft, warm smile. "We raised them well, didn't we?"

…

….

……

"Don't worry! I will be fine!" Lia grumbled as she was now accompanied by all of the leaders of the Misfits, surrounding her at the top of their tower. She was preparing to try out the fire seed that would turn her flames into that of Stumpy's only a few days after she finally recovered.

"Then don't mind us!" Aurora signed with her hand.

"It is better this way." Ceiline agreed, patting Stumpy's head, who was sitting next to her. "And if you succeed, we can compare it to his!"

"Okay, okay!" Lia raised her hands, giving up.

"Just don't burn us all." Sion joked, "I remember hearing that Raufon got angry about it last time."

"Hey!" He elbowed him, "That was straight on the first day! I was already nervous about school and all!"

"It was funny…." Keily murmured, receiving a cold stare from Raufon.

"Why didn't you laugh then? You were sitting next to me."

"Do you think I would have dared to laugh? You are triple my size!"

"Ah. Okay." Raufon nodded, finding the logic in it. "True."

While they were talking, Lia waited for no one and opened up the wooden box, swallowing the pill without hesitation under the watchful eyes of Aurora and Koa.

"Woah! This is weird!" She exclaimed after a second later, raising her hand, and when summoning her fire, it was jade-colored. Stumpy reacted to it first, scampering forward, sticking out his tongue, licking her flames, and tasting it.

"He seems to like it!" Ceiline chuckled, watching him trying to wiggle his small stump and then releasing his own green fire into the air.

"It is weird!" Lia repeated, "I feel it is not even my fire anymore! Brr… I'm not really liking this! It's… it's like wearing different-sized clothes that don’t properly fit me!"

"Why are you looking at me?" Keily asked, snorting loudly when the boys all turned towards him.

“Nothing… nothing…” Sion and Raufon mumbled, holding back their laughter. “I just… pictured something…”

"KOA!" Keily cried out, turning pink like the dress he was made to wear.

"What? I just only showed them one image! They didn't recognize you at all at first!"

"You…!" He heaved, feeling deeply embarrassed.

"You were cute; if I didn't know it was you, I would have tried and made you into my next bride!" Raufon laughed in a booming voice, further increasing his embarrassment.

As Keily opened and closed his mouth, gasping for air, trying to find his words, Lia's fire slowly changed back to normal.

"Oh… it really does burn out quickly… I wonder if it's just me or others would also last as briefly as me…." She murmured, then without hesitation, she took out another seed, flicking it, masterfully sending it down Keily's throat.

"Eh?!" The bunny boy shuddered then his hands burst into black flames, burning dangerously. It took only a moment before he turned towards Sion and Raufon. "I will burn that image from your minds!" He threw out a few fireballs, making the two try and defend themselves with their own spells. To everyone's surprise, those black flames consumed their mana without an explosion, burning in place just as intensely as before their clash.

"Oh…" The rest watched as the trio started to fight, Keily chasing them around in the top room, trying to burn off their hair, forcing Raufon to transform into his bestial form to shrug off his spells. Stumpy couldn't hold back his excitement, joining in the fun, rushing after the three but stopping ever so often, simply eating up the fire that was left behind from their clashes.

"Weird…" Lia murmured, watching them, "His transformation lasts longer than mine."

"It probably depends on a person's tier. You are a Magi; he isn't one yet." Ceiline theorized, "Oh, there he goes!" She smiled as the black flames suddenly vanished, returning to Keily's original, orange fire, slowly dying down by themselves.

"Keily!" Lia shouted, wanting to discuss it with him, but he was too immersed in trying to teach the still-laughing Sion and Raufon a lesson. "Eh… well… let's wait until they settle it!" She shrugged, patting Stumpy's head when he returned to them, licking its lips, sometimes burping out a mix of green and black flames.