“Hawawawa… I’m sorry!” Zesty was holding her head in shame as she crouched down on the spot. Talia explained what happened to both parties to calm the situation. Adel closed his eyes and massaged his chin. “I see. So this girl, Zesty was training my son to strengthen his mental fortitude and as they were very absorbed we disturbed them. She then by instinct launched a mental attack or something like this on Lionel, which resulted in you protecting him. Is that it?”

“About it yes.” Talia smiled thinly while standing next to the crouching ashamed girl. Of course, she might have only explained the big picture and not the whole story. The reason was in fact simple. Really simple. Talia thought about this as she gave a look at the girl beside her. ‘Her ability changed, evolved. And for some reason, I can feel it. How do you want me to explain this.’

It was an odd feeling, even for Talia who went through a lot of states, to say the least. It looked like she had to have a good conversation with her. However, the moment was not for this right now. Adel glanced at Zesty, then at Akim. The two of them exchanged looks for a few seconds. The father then spoke up. “I will trust the way you want to do it. As long as you pass my test at the end.”

“...Yes!” Akim replied, his expression more determined than before, his eyes burning stronger. Talia felt like this short conversation was the fuel needed for Akim to stay on the path he had started to walk on.

Adel scanned the surrounding once more and noticed the practice swords resting on top of a table. he walked to it and grabbed one of the batons. “This is?”

Before Talia could step in, Akim arrived next to his father and took the baton from him. “This.. is my sword.”

With dexterity, he pushed the two buttons and extended the blade of the practice sword. As he grasped it, the sensation was surprisingly pleasant. Having a sword in his hand was somewhat refreshing.

While Akim was deep in thoughts wielding his sword, Adel sensed the change of air around his son. He nodded once and landed his eyes on Talia. The girl returned the glance with a smug smile. Adel then spoke up. “I wish to speak with you in private. Is it fine?”

A silence swept up the place. Talia also raised an eyebrow in response. She still accepted as there was no reason to decline. “Sure. Whenever you want.”

Adel closed his eyes as he started to walk in another direction. Lionel gave a side glance at Zesty before joining the master of the place. Talia put a hand in her pocket and began to accompany them, her expression not showing any emotion. However, she did look at Sanya. “The maid-like lady from last time is behind the door. I took some snacks in my bag, so go on and take a break before me.”

“Euh? Ah yes….” Sanya was not uneasy as she was used to situations like those now. Unlike the others, she was the first to react as she made her way toward the place they had put their bag.

Meanwhile Habel, the head maid of the family really opened the door for Adel and the two people following him. She then entered the training room and gave off a sunny smile. “You must be exhausted from your training, how about taking a break. I prepared some refreshments.”

The group had nothing better to do now that their leader was gone, so they just accepted. After all, each of them was in their own way tired from the training. Well, all of them except maybe one.

‘...I did nothing. I was just playing around with big sister.’ Ashia felt a strange feeling as that realization kicked in.

/\----/\

* w *

Talia was following calmly Adel and Lionel. As the soles of her sport shoes were hitting the shining floor, she tried to guess the reason for this sudden demand. It could either be about Akim’s training or her true identity. It was not a stretch to think that the head of the Ayms family had connections with the government, meaning they would have heard about the reason behind her strength.

‘...’ Regardless, Talia just waited for them to start the conversation. She was not so impatient that she could not bear a moment of dead silence. However, this same silence didn’t last long. Adel started to speak while maintaining his pace.

“...This girl with chestnut hair, from what you implied earlier she could be a threat for people at least as strong as Lionel. I never heard of anyone as strong as her at Akim’s school.”

Talia didn’t immediately answer. In normal circumstances, she would first have to determine what Adel was really thinking behind this statement. But, she was pretty sure the man in front of her was on their side. Or at least, he didn’t mean harm to Zesty. “Let’s say that some kids take more time to find themselves than others do. Even though I feel like abilities are just plain cheat powers.”

“Is that so…” After this brief exchange, silence returned between the two parties. They finally arrived in front of a nice-looking wooden door without any unnecessary decorations. It seemed to fit the person who spent most of his time inside working. Adel turned the doorknob and entered his office. Just behind him, Lionel politely gestured to Talia to enter the room. She did as such and found herself inside something she would qualify as an organized-messy office.

To be more clear, there were a lot of things all around her. Maps of Pacifica with their own features, like the ground levels, the population distribution, and so on. There were also miniature models of wind turbines and solar panels visible from inside showcases placed on both the left and right walls. Plenty of books adorned the shelves attached to the four walls of the room. Illuminating all those props were the wide glass panels at the back of the room. In the middle of it was a desk where Adel directly went to stand next to.

“Please take a seat.” He said such as he pointed to a chair on the other side of the desk. Hearing the sound of the door closing behind her, Talia walked up to the chair as she was still unaware of the reason for her presence here. Meanwhile, Lionel was waiting by the door inside the room, observing the situation as an onlooker.

Now with both of them sat, Adel went straight to the point. “You might have already guessed, but we heard about you directly from the government.”

“Ok?” Talia was not remotely fazed by this. It was not too unrealistic to think people at the head of big names of the industry would not be left in the dark about her.

“So, how much did you hear?” Talia crossed her legs and took a business-like smile as she took a slight interest in knowing how she was portrayed. Adel closed his eyes as he recalled the letter he received when he was on a business trip.

“Effortlessly won against the strongest S-ranked ability user, tends to look down on those who confront her, unpredictable, to avoid create conflicts with her if possible or even get in contact with her. that’s around it.”

“...” Talia’s mouth twitched upon hearing the content of the message. They were basically insinuating she was a bad person. Well, it was not too far from reality but still. It was not like she was the one who started it.

Such thoughts emerged from her mind as the smile on her face disappeared. She crossed her arms and spoke with a rather annoyed tone. “Like I care what some forgettable guys wrote about me. The real issue is why you still let me stay to train your kid if I’m such a ‘dangerous person’?”

Adel intertwined his fingers while leaning forward. “This is Akim’s responsibility. If he is not able to gauge the people around him, he would hardly be fit at the position where I’m sitting today.”

Talia raised an eyebrow. “And the other reason?”

Adel remained silent for a few seconds. He gazed into Talia’s eyes with an unperturbed expression. “...You understood the true nature of my test, right?”

“Heh, I’m rather shocked that I seem to be the only to get it. At this point, it’s more a joke than anything else. Not nice of you to play with the words given your strength. I don’t plan to tell Akim though. If he follows my training he will reach it, clueless or not.”

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A sigh escaped the middle-aged man’s mouth. “I am to blame you’re right. Nevertheless, I can’t believe Akim is dense enough to not catch on the other meaning. Well, what he is doing now can still be regarded as the best result in my opinion...The rest can be learned with the experience.”

The moment Adel finished his sentence, Talia rose from her seat. “You got what you needed, right? Or do you need something else from this ‘unpredictable’, ‘tends to look down on people’ girl?”

“I do have one more question.”

“Go ahead.” Talia put her hands on her hips as she stood straight.

“Why help my son? I can kind of tell you don’t have feelings for him or interest in our fortune.”

Upon hearing those words, Talia’s face gradually turned a shade sadder. This change internally surprised Adel. It was the same face as his own father when he talked about his late friends. “I will only say I knew someone who had the same face. He also had a little sister.”

Saying this, Talia turned her heels and made her way to the door which Lionel opened for her. As they crossed each other, Talia spoke shortly. “Don’t hold a grudge toward Zesty. She only meant to help Akim.”

“...I know.”

Talia exited the now unmoving room.

The two men were standing there, a strange silence taking place in the middle. Adel stood up from his spot. “Don’t interfere with Akim’s training. The moment he steps into the training room, he is no longer under your protection.”

Unlike his usual frivolous attitude, Lionel was this time frowning under his glasses. “Are you sure about this, sir? Putting Talia aside, even this Zesty seems to be a potential danger for him.”

“Which means they might also be potential great allies. The finish line is not to inherit from me. It’s to surpass me.” The middle-aged man looked outside the windows, staring at the far horizon.

“...Understood.” Lionel turned around. His hand began to make its way toward the doorknob

“Also.”

“Yes, sir?”

“Don’t start digging too much about the matter with this girl named Zesty. There seems to be more, but this may cause much more troubles than it is worth.”

“...Yes.” As he finished this word, Lionel vanished into a cloak of darkness floating in the air before vanishing.

/\----/\

* w *

“Here is your glass of jus.”

“T-Thank you very much.” Zesty received the glass whose temperature started to cool down due to the ice-cold liquid inside. She placed it on the table and looked around her with uneasiness.

The group was at the same location as last week when they had their talk with Akim’s mother. They were sitting at a table where they were served drinks and other things by Habel. Sanya had also taken out the stuff from Talia’s bag. At this moment there were a lot of sweets laid in front of the group of teens.

‘This is way too many sweets...I get heartburn just by watching.’ Akim was not still accustomed to the surreal amount of sweet things that could appear in Talia’s periphery. With his big hands, he cut slices of an apple as he had those thoughts.

Meanwhile, Sanya took a bite into her waffles while looking in Zesty’s direction. “Hey, what did you do back then? You got Talia all pumped up. There was also the weird thing with Akim.”

Zesty jumped straight startled by the sudden inquiry. The thing she had done back then was enough to make Talia start a fuss about it. Knowing this, she was afraid to cause more trouble than necessary by spilling the beans. She obviously avoided Sanya’s gaze as she peered down at the glass in front of her. “H-Ha, Haha...I wonder…”

Sanya narrowed her eyes in suspicion. A hum escaped her mouth as she scanned the table to find a certain thing. After locating it, her hands reached out to grab the sole Berliner with raspberry jam fill present. Seeing her actions, Zesty gasped in shock as she made the gesture in reaching out to prevent the crime of taking her favorite dessert.

Nevertheless, reality was cruel. Sanya had now the German pastry in her hand, ready to be eaten at any moment. The blond-haired thief looked at the sweet before shifting her gaze toward Zesty. “You like those, right?”

“...Yes.” Zesty’s eyes were glued on the lump of sugar swaying in front of her. Berliners were the best. She discovered them when she visited the country of her parents during a trip when she was younger. Since then, they had remained at the top of her personal list. After the tiring effort, she had accomplished a moment ago, her body was craving for something nice for the palate. This Berliner had been in her sight since the moment she had entered the room. Now that it had been taken as a hostage, despair only filled her mind.

However, hope seemed to remain.

Sanya handed out the sweet toward her. “Eh?”

The disbelieved Zesty timidly took it and looked up at Sanya. In response, she followed up with an explanation. “Talia also loves donut-like pastry. I’m pretty sure she will have questions for you regarding this matter. It might be hard for you but you should yield it to escape her. Sweets work perfectly as negotiation pieces with her.”

“I see….Thank you!” Zesty was momentarily surprised by this news. Regardless, she resolved herself to give up on her favorite pastry if she could escape the claws of the terrifying devil in sheep clothes.

‘Why so dramatic…’ Akim finished his apple the moment the conversation between Zesty and Sanya reached its end. Then, his eyes moved to another direction. A new spectacle unfolded in front of him.

“Apple juice is really the best.”

“E-Eh? Oh yeah, you’re right.” Sitting next to each other was Ashia and Ellen. The smallest of the group was sipping a glass of apple juice through a straw while the other was slowly eating rice pudding with a spoon. The latter had her cheeks bright red for some reason.

Ashia turned her head to peek at Ellen. This action resulted in Ellen to avert her eyes by reflex. Ashia wondered with a tilt of her head. “Are you okay? You went all out against Talia before.”

“I’m okay, I’m okay. I recovered since then.”

“I see. Why are you hazy like that?” From an outsider’s point of view, it was true that Ellen’s actions were sloppy or more accurately vague.

In fact, Ellen had not really recovered from her spare with Talia. She might be someone with one of the strongest abilities in the world, It was not like she had the opportunity to use it at its full potential every day. It was obvious that Ellen would be exhausted.

Still, this was not the main reason why Ellen was acting weird. The girl looked at the bag at her feet. Her courage soared with the same momentum as her lowering spoon. She gathered it and spoke up to Ashia. “Say...Last time you said you liked dogs, right?”

Ashia stopped drinking and nodded after putting the glass on the table. “Yeah, that’s right.”

Hearing this, Ellen opened her bag and took out a plushie from it. Upon laying her eyes on it, Ashia’s expression radiated. “Oooh a doggo!”

The sitting husky plush was a tad bigger than her head. Ellen gave it to her nervously. Ashia’s hands began to stroke the fake fur that felt like silk under the hands. The nice sensation made a grin appear naturally on her face. She then directly looked at Ellen and said. “Thanks!”

“A-ah, eh. Yesh. I mean, Yes.” Ellen’s scarlet face could burn iron at this point. Her lips curled up into a smile while her fist pumped under the table in success. Flowers seemed to bloom around the two of them. The calm and gentle scene could heal the heart of the most tired person.

Akim held a bottle of water to his mouth as he found the interactions between his friends and his sister quite amusing.

However, peace was such a feeble thing.

Doun. The door leading to the room opened in an instant. Talia was at the doorway, all the gazes in her direction. Her expression blank, she didn’t bother to return them. Her eyes were just focused on the food present on the table. She licked her lips as she saw the different kinds of juice and the myriads of sweets. “I need sugar.”

She sat down next to Sanya and finally noticed the gazes on her. She took the glass of juice Sanya prepared for her and asked. “What? Why are you all looking at me?”

She gulped down the sweet drink while waiting for the answer. Akim was the first to break the silence. “What did you talk with my father?”

“Stupid things and about how dense you are. Be careful, I don’t know if I can handle a black hole.”

“...” Akim furrowed his eyebrows in response. He felt like he was being bad-mouthed but he didn’t know why. She remained silent as he was pondering over her words.

“...Now then” After drinking and eating a bit, Talia’s eyes landed on Zesty. The tallest girl of the group flinched back in surprise. She prepared her weapon in case she needed to give up on it.

“What did you do to your ability back then? It should be impossible for you to make someone enter the State of Void.”

Zesty started to panic as she heard unknown terms. State of Void? Why something that looked like it was coming from a martial art movie was mentioned right now. She moved back from the pressure. Still, she opened her mouth and began to form weak words. “I-I’m not sure what you are talking about.”

Talia was making circles with her empty glass as she kept her stare on her. She quickly explained to everyone what a State without going into details. Akim was remembering the feeling he had during his training with Zesty. It was very close to what Talia described. His gaze naturally moved to look at Zesty.

The girl looked at Talia with somewhat a restless expression. She then looked at the Berliner in front of her. With a sad expression, she took it and handed it toward Talia.

“...What is it?” The blue-haired girl looked at the pastry with confusion. Sanya next to her gave the explanation with a smirk on her face.

“It’s a bribe to let her off the hook.”

“I see, so you’re the one behind it.” Talia understood. There were other kinds of food on the table however this was the remaining Berliner. Sanya had been by Talia’s side long enough to know what type was her favorite.

Sanya approached Talia’s ear and whispered. “Just leave it for today. You didn’t tell the others about your powers so it’s fair for them to have some secrets too.”

“...Aah, ok. Fine.” Talia sighed out and took the pastry. Seeing this, Zesty heaved a sigh of relief. She could not help but think that her friend could be scary from time to time.

“Damn, that’s so good. Next time you train, take some time to make Akim enter the State of Void. Even if it’s an artificial one, it could only raise his awareness of his body. This will help.”

Zesty nodded as she collapsed on the table. She felt both physically and mentally drained.

As such, today’s training ended on a good note.

Following this, some days passed and it was already the week before the school competition.