Miles looked at the impossible image in front of him with his mouth agape and his heart racing. He even checked with Coin to see if he was seeing an illusion but Coin confirmed what he was seeing was true. Rainbow colored hairs, silver-green eyes, tanned skin and that smile. All of them were the same, it was exactly how he remembered her. But this time, she was real and not just a memory.

“Mil…” The girl barely whispered. Her eyes were wide-open in similar shock. She had never dreamed of seeing him there. Never.

“Val! VAL!” Miles cried in shock and weal, as he dashed forward to hug the girl.

————

Miles and Val speaked for hours and hours on top of a hill. The hill was Valerie’s secret spot she had discovered when she first came here. She explained how she ended up in Milosh’s city.

They knew each other since the Grader Showdown they met all those years ago. At the time, Miles thought she was just a crazy person blabbering about aura and nonsense. After that, they truly become friends and it was her assiduous happiness that broke Miles’s shell.

At the time, Miles still had some reservations and wouldn’t disclose everything to her, but she was the opposite. She would always speak about her father and how much she loved him despite him working out of the city all the time. Miles would feel close to her because he loved his parents, they were always busy too.

As they grew up, their interests also changed. Val discovered her crazy side, and Miles was happy to oblige. Both discovered that they were enjoying high speed and that started their daily routine of living fast.

But Val also loved photography. It was Miles who had bought her first professional machine with his allowances. Val was so thrilled that they traveled all over the capital and took pictures under every important place that day.

Later, they even found an abandoned factory to hang out. It was the same building where Miles built his workstation to create dual elemental orbs. It was their secret hideout and that factory was also the last place where Miles saw Val before she disappeared.

One day, when Miles was undergoing the first serum, bad news arrived. Val’s father had died. Because Miles didn’t want anyone interfering with him, he was in a secret location his Uncle Adam prepared. He was even banned from reaching out thus Val couldn’t call her best friend.

At the crematory, there was only her step-mother, her uncle, a lawyer, and her father’s best friend present. After the cremation, her step-mother berated her and shouted in front of the rest of the people there. Her father’s best friend saw this.

He confronted the family members and took Val away from them. But he couldn’t do anything against them. The wife was from an influential family and everything Val’s father had legated to his wife. So, Val got nothing and even kicked out of her house. His late father’s wife inherited all their properties because she was just an underage. Her uncle took a fair share of work on this. There was nothing left to her name.

Without anywhere else to go, Val wanted to visit Miles. All the things that had happened to her, she wanted to let him know before leaving or maybe live with him. But when she went to the Cross Mansion, unluckily, it was Marcela who received her. Because she hated Miles, Marcela told Val that Miles was gone. Val knew that Miles was about to use the Strengthening Serum, and misinterpreted Marcela's words, thinking Miles was dead.

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Although Val didn’t want to believe a single word coming out of Marcela’s mouth, she couldn’t reach Miles. With no other choice, she followed her father’s best friend who was working in the academy as a clerk.

She left the city in devastation.

It took her some time to overcome her grief. She recovered eventually and decided to get stronger to win back what were rightfully hers.

————

“So, you have been here for three years now. Are you a student or a citizen in the city?” Miles asked. Only the best of the best would be accepted to the academy, and from what Miles knew, Val’s powers were on the weak side.

“Student and Cartographer.” Valerie said and explained with her youthful excitement Miles was familiar with. “After I was brought here, I was depressed and lost, but later I found that with my superpower I could discover uncharted areas. Milosh offered me a job, and I took it.”

“Oh, right. Your superpower matches the job indeed.” Miles nodded. Val’s superpower was Clairvoyance. It allowed her to see through facades and intangible things. Increased her perception while giving her superhuman senses.

It was her superpower that allowed her to see ‘auras’ around strong people. Only later Miles realized thanks to her superpower she could see energy, like his newly acquired energy vision.

“Miles, you know my superpower can see energy right?” At this time Val spoke.

“Yeah, I guessed so.” Miles chuckled. “Although I didn't believe it before.”

“Well, my superpower also allows me to see where energy originates from. It actually evolved after I created my own mind seed.” Val said and looked Miles in the eyes.

“There is no seed in my body, right?” Miles sighed and guessed what Val was trying to say.

“Yeah.” Val nodded and looked for an answer. Miles had already guessed that he had failed to create a seed, but now that Val confirmed it, he felt bitter once again.

“When I used the fourth serum, my ancient gene crumbled on itself, and I failed to awaken a superpower despite awakening energy. Later when I tried to form a seed, it too got destroyed. But I can still form energy.” Miles said and demonstrated the energy by willing it to surface on his hand. Val looked at Miles's hand in astonishment and exclaimed.

“Such pure energy. It is the purest energy I have ever seen.”

Even Makwa woke up from Val’s lap and came to lick Miles's hand. To Miles's surprise, he realized his energy entered Makwa’s body through its mouth.

“Father said because my ancient gene is gone, energy in my body doesn’t get washed by any element, so it is attributeless.” Miles said.

“It makes sense. With this type of energy, you can blend in anywhere. Even I would have a hard time finding you when you use Veil.” Val said.

“Although it has a few perks, the drawbacks are bigger. My energy has no element, no branch element, nothing. Every weapon I create will be as simple as it can get. Although my Veil is much better, my fights are pretty predictable. On the other hand a person with superpower can learn at least 2 or 3 different kinds of elemental attributes.” Miles shook his head.

“That is true too. But still, your energy is in every part of your body. Maybe it is a blessing in disguise.” Val said and jumped on her feet.

“I have to go and meet with Uncle Roland now. Let’s meet again tomorrow.” Val said and waved her hand. Miles stayed where he was sitting and looked at the valley.

“You okay, Miles?” Coin asked.

“Yeah, yeah. I am just surprised.” Miles answered with a smile. “No need to think about bad things. I am just glad she is okay.” He smiled and rose to his feet again. He took one last look at the endless horizon and with newfound ambition he walked to the stairs.

“Let’s spend these merits.” Miles grinned and left the hill. He earned big this time, and was going to recreate his forge. Standing up in the academy was hard, so he had to have a stable income.