Following the doctor back to the office, Gira noticed Lucas sitting in his chair, anxiously counting the number of lines on his hand over and over again.

“Are you good, Lucas?” Gira asked, eyeing the shaken Lucas.

Lucas snapped his head up, forcing a shaky grin. “Oh me? Yeah, I’m g-good, Lord Gira!” His voice cracked, betraying his unsteady composure.

Lord Gira? Gira mused, a smirk tugging at his lips. I could get used to that.

Dr. Xizu leaned back in her chair, crossing her legs with a sharp flick and raising an eyebrow. "Relax, Lucas. There’s not enough Kyyr around for him to ignite, so as long as the fracture exists, he’s not turning into some glorified vampire.” With a casual gesture, she summoned another tool into her hand. “But,” she continued, her tone turning almost playful as she tinkered with the device, “there’s a high chance he’s stronger than you.”

“Wait, what?” Lucas froze, his eyes widening as shock and indignation collided on his face. "Stronger than me.” The comment seemed to jolt him out of his panic mode. “How is he stronger than me? I don’t feel a hint of Kyyr coming off him!” He shouted, pointing accusingly at Gira, who sat there with a smug smile, clearly enjoying the moment.

Dr. Xizu shot a glance at Lucas, her eyes narrowing with a playful smirk. “So, Lucas, care to explain why you were freaking out earlier?” she teased.

“Er… The historical names kind of scared me.” Lucas mumbled, his own words sounding uncertain. But then he straightened up, narrowing his gaze on Gira. “But wait—how is he stronger than me?”

“I just am,” Gira said with a cocky shrug, a smug grin plastered across his face as if he’d just stated the truest truth to ever be told.

Xizu cut in with a sharp gesture toward Gira. “And the fact you didn’t notice?” She shot Lucas a knowing look. “That’s exactly why he’s stronger.” Her voice carried a hint of challenge as she pointed directly at Gira. “Now, really focus on him.”

Lucas spun to face Gira, his eyes narrowing as he honed in on the smug figure lounging casually, an infuriating grin still plastered across his face. He concentrated, pushing through the unholy levels of arrogance Gira was radiating. “No way!? What!?” He shouted in disbelief, his voice cracking in shock.

“So, what’s the verdict, Blondie?" She asked, her tone dripping with playful sarcasm.

“His Kyyr… It's so—quiet,” Lucas muttered, astonished. “But why? How is he doing that?”

Dr. Xizu's smirk widened. “Beats me. This kid’s full of surprises; isn’t he? ” she said, casually sliding the device she had over to Gira.

“So... what’s that mean? Oh, hey—new gadget?” Gira’s attention shifted in an instant, his attention hijacked by the shiny new device in front of him.

Lucas asked, his voice sharp with urgency as he leaned forward. “Dr. Xizu, is this the result of his calamity gene?”

“Nope,” she replied with a shrug, her tone almost dismissive. “Anyone can learn to hide their presence. But the eerie silence in his Kyyr?” she gave a knowing look. “That’s a whole different level of unsettling.”

Lucas wasn’t satisfied. “So, is it just for stealth, or is there more to it?” his curiosity deepened as he studied the silence of Gira’s Kyyr.

“Mostly, it makes figuring out someone’s strength a real challenge. Unless you’ve got razor-sharp instincts, people like him can slip right under the radar.” Dr. Xizu explained, her amber-red eyes darting to Gira, a smirk forming on her red lips. “But this kid?” She paused, her eyes gleaming with interest.

Her gaze lingered on Gira before she nodded toward the device. “Hey, Gira, put your hand on that device and hit the switch on the side.”

“Like this?” Gira asked, pressing the switch with a clueless grin. Ca-lick The tablet powered on, followed by a cheerful little tune.

“Put your hand on the screen and concentrate.” Xizu instructed.

“Alright!” Gira said enthusiastically, placing his hand on the tablet. The screen grew a little warm before it turned blue. Taking his hand off, Gira looked at the confusing statistics displayed.

“So, what’s the screen saying?" Xizu asked, her tone still composed but laced with curiosity. She leaned in slightly, watching him with sharp eyes, clearly interested in the results.

“It has three letters—MBE? What’s that even mean?”

Xizu and Lucas exchanged wide-eyed glances; the air between them suddenly charged. “That’s your current Kyyr affinity,” Xizu explained, her voice picking up with excitement. “It’s based on the ancient English alphabet, graded A to Z. A is the weakest, and Z is the strongest. The first letter represents Soul, then Mind, and finally Body.”

"So, am I strong?” Gira asked, eyes flicking between the two.

“You’re relatively average overall,” Dr. Xizu explained with a sly grin, “but that M grade for soul? Now that’s impressive.” She reached for the device, her fingers just brushing the screen—but then—

“Mind if I give it a shot?” Lucas cut in, snatching the device before Dr. Xizu could reach it.

Dr. Xizu closed her eyes, letting out a sigh. “Fine, knock yourself out,” she muttered, sounding more amused than annoyed.

Lucas placed his hand on the flat machine, just like Gira had. The silly little tune played again, and the screen turned blue. But as the results appeared, his face flushed red with embarrassment, his bravado fading fast.

“What’d you get?” Gira asked eagerly, his eyes locked on the clearly distraught Lucas.

"Oh, you know,” he said, waving his hand dismissively, trying—and failing—to look nonchalant. “ It’s pretty high; nothing to brag about.” He said trying to clear up the results.

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Dr. Xizu zapped the Affinity Reader off his hand with her teleportation. “Let’s see…”

“WAIT—!” Lucas tried to reach for the device but was met with Dr. Xizu’s foot on his face.

“Well, it’s the same as last time,” she remarked, peeking around her foot to see the defeated Lucas. “ I’m not sure what you were expecting, Lucas? You haven’t been training at all so what did you expect?”

“So, what’s his score?” Gira asked with a curious smile.

Dr. Xizu smirked, her teasing tone returning. “Care to enlighten us, Lucas?”

"Mnnmnmmn,” Lucas mumbled from behind her shoe, his voice muffled and dripping with embarrassment.

“What?” Dr. Xizu and Gira asked at the same time. Xizu casually pulled her leg back and crossed it with a graceful flick.

Lucas, rubbing his now-red nose, sighed in defeat. “I said it’s fine. You were bound to hear about it sooner or later,” he muttered, his pride clearly stinging more than his nose.

With a sly grin, Dr. Xizu flipped the Affinity Reader around, revealing Lucas’s score.

“ADB? Is that bad?” Gira asked, confused.

“IT’S NOT BAD!” Lucas barked, his voice booming directly into Gira’s ear, causing him to flinch, instinctively covering his ear as he shot Lucas an irritated look.

“Ow, don’t yell in my ear.” Gira spoke softly, with his hands still clasping his ears.

Lucas recoiled sheepishly as he put his hand behind his head. “Oh-uh, sorry.”

Dr. Xizu cut in with a cool, matter-of-fact tone. “It’s average,” she said, throwing Lucas a pointed glare. “He’s got a good affinity for mind Kyyr, but he’s stubborn when it comes to training. Kyyr can evolve based on self-awareness, after all,” she added, still glaring at Lucas, who was avoiding her eyes.

“Yes, ma’am…” Lucas mumbled, slumping down in his chair, clearly deflated.

“So our Kyyr can grow?!” Gira asked excitedly.

Dr. Xizu's expression softened into a warm smile. “Of course.” She paused, spinning her chair around before standing up smoothly. With a flick of her wrist, she summoned a small cart from behind her chair. Mounted on top was a flat screen. “This video is a little old,” she said, wheeling the cart forward, “but it gives a good enough explanation.”

"Oh, I love this video!” Lucas perked up, color returning to his face.

Dr. Xizu snapped at Lucas like a disappointed mother. “Then why don’t you train harder?”

Gira turned to Lucas; curiosity piqued. “You don’t like training? Does it hurt?”

Lucas sighed dramatically, his shoulders slumping as he stared off into the distance. "No, it’s not that,” he said, his voice heavy with despair. “It’s just... the people I’m forced to work with make me yearn for the quiet release of death.” He said, looking away from Gira, his gaze one of pure resignation.

“Don’t talk about my daughters like they’re monsters!” Dr. Xizu snapped, hurling a lollipop with precision right at Lucas’s forehead.

“Ugh,” Lucas groaned as the candy smacked him dead-center, bouncing off with a soft thud.

“Daughters?” Gira blinked in surprise, turning to Dr. Xizu. “You’re a mom?”

“Yup, they’re around your age.” She explained as she looked for a place to plug in the screen.

“Oh right! How old am I anyway?" Gira shouted, remembering he hadn’t gotten a good look at his age earlier.

“Yeah, how old is he?” Lucas chipped in.

"Oh, your biological age is estimated to be between 15 and 16 years old.” She blankly said as she bent down to plug the device.

Both Lucas and Gira instantly turned red, glancing at each other awkwardly.

“You can feel shame now?!” Lucas asked, smacking Gira lightly in the back of the head.

“I told you—my brain was warming up!” Gira hissed back.

“Oh right!” Gira exclaimed. “What does ‘biological estimated age’ even mean?” He asked, turning back to face Dr. Xizu, who was busy scrolling through a menu on the screen.

“Oh! That does sound strange, doesn’t it?” She paused, standing upright and resting a thoughtful hand under her chin, tilting her head slightly before addressing them. “Well, your true estimated age keeps fluctuating, so I’m just going by your estimated biological age.”

Lucas interjected, “How can his age keep coming back as different? Have you checked his dentals? What about his bone density?” Lucas inquired.

“The SIDRA Kyyr system checked it all, which is why his estimated biological"—she emphasized that word— “age is around 15 to 16 years of age.” Dr. Xizu explained, while shooting Lucas a withering glare. “I’m a failure as a teacher…” she whispered to herself.

“I thought you were a doctor?” Gira innocently asked.

“I’m a mother, teacher, and doctor!” Dr. Xizu said while puffing her chest and putting her hands on her hips proudly.

“Wow,” Gira said, genuinely impressed, as he started clapping.

Lucas’s eyes flashed with realization. “So what about the true age?”

Dr. Xizu’s proud stance drooped as she pursed her lips and summoned the other tablet she had shown Gira earlier. “ I ran the parameters multiple times but I kept getting wildly different results—ages ranging from 978 years old to as low as 333, and other seemingly random numbers.”

“Why? How is that measured?” Lucas pushed further in his questioning.

“It’s based on Kyyr reflections against his soul’s essence.” She said with her thumbs in her pockets as she looked down at Lucas, her lollipop twirling in her mouth.

“That’s—” Lucas trailed off, his voice dropping to a hushed tone.

“Super weird.” Dr. Xizu finished for him, stretching her arms overhead. "Honestly, this stuff is way beyond my pay grade. Probably best we don’t dwell on it too much.” She flashed a lighthearted smile at Gira, who still looked completely lost in the conversation.

"So, how old am I?” Gira asked again, since he hadn’t followed the conversation at all.

“You’re probably 15.” Dr. Xizu said flatly. Then, with a teasing smirk, she added. “And since Lucas here is your senior, you should treat him with respect.” She ruffled Lucas’s hair playfully, her sarcasm dripping from every word.

“Wow… I’m 15.” He said, staring at his hands.

Dr. Xizu, unfazed, tapped the screen. "Anyway, enough of that. Let’s watch this old ENN.KORR training video.” she said, her finger hitting play with a casual flick.