Elianna ran at a steady pace, trying to keep herself from getting too tired. She focused on her breathing, using what her father called combat breathing to keep her breathing rate low during high-physical-stress encounters. The grassy area at the garrison was flat, making running much easier and putting less strain on her adolescent body.

Elianna pushed her hair out of her sweaty face as she neared the headquarters building. She knew she was coming to the end and needed to stay focused. She didn't know how much time had passed since she started, but she hoped she was right on track to meet her goal. Running along the side of the headquarters building, she noticed she was nearing the front and decided to put all her energy into this last stretch.

Elianna sprinted, moving as fast as her little legs would allow, and turned the corner. Her eyes fell on her father, who was casually standing outside the building. Instead of the usual formal attire he usually wore at the garrison, he was currently adorned in the combat uniform, which he wore while he trained his daughter.

Lucian's brows furrowed as he stared at the pocket watch in his hand. He looked up at the sound of running, seeing his daughter running toward him. His lips curved slightly in a proud smirk before he turned to face her fully as she approached and he looked back at the pocket watch.

Elianna was so close now, and her breathing rate increased as she pushed her body harder. She closed in on her father and immediately slowed down after she ran past him. She came to a stop and whirled around to face her father, breathing hard.

"Did I," Elianna gulped hard, trying to regain her breath. "Did I make it?"

Lucian chuckled as he stored his pocket watch in his spatial ring. He turned to face Elianna, giving her a proud smile, "Not only did you make it, but you ran that in ten minutes."

Elianne beamed, smiling wide, "I was thirty seconds faster this time?"

Lucian nodded, "You were. Nice job, munchkin."

Elianna let out a victory yell, throwing her arms into the air before she let herself fall back onto the grassy floor. She heard her father laugh a little as she lay there, trying to regain her breath, as she stared at the beautiful clear blue sky.

"Laying down while training?"

Elianna looked toward the voice and smiled wide, seeing Hector walking down the front steps of the headquarters building. He was dressed in formal military attire and held a stack of papers in his hand.

Elianna quickly sat up, looking at Hector with excitement, "Uncle Hector, guess what?!"

Hector chuckled, "What is it, little one?"

"I beat my run time! I completed the run in ten minutes!"

Hector's brows raised with genuine surprise, and they looked at Lucian, "Did she run the full mile?"

Lucian nodded proudly, "She did indeed."

Hector looked back at Elianna with a smirk, "Not bad. Not bad at all. Especially for a seven-year-old."

Lucian crossed his arms, smiling at his daughter, "She's been training hard these past two years."

Elianna held her chin high, "Yes, I have."

Lucian and Hector laughed lightheartedly before Lucian looked at Hector curiously. "Where are you off to?"

Hector raised the papers he was holding, "I'm going to the third battalion. Today, they're conducting an inspection of their troops and assembly area. I thought I'd go over and join them."

Lucian nodded, "Gotcha. Let me know how it goes and what corrections need to be made."

"Will do," Hector said. He looked at Elianna again and smiled. "Good work, little Elle." He approached her and gave her a high five. "Keep it up."

"I will!" Elianna chirped, giving Hector a wave as he walked off.

"Alright, now," Lucian began, and Elianna looked at him. He gestured to her, "You can stay in your running clothes or get cleaned up and dressed in your training clothes. Which do you want to do?"

Elianna stood up from the ground and stretched her arms high. "I'll get cleaned up first." She walked toward her father and pulled at her shirt. "These clothes stink."

Lucian playfully waved his hand in front of his nose, "I wasn't going to say anything."

Elianna jestfully narrowed her eyes on her father and went to kick him. Lucian laughed as he jumped back and began to approach the headquarters building. Elianna followed her father up the front steps and through the front door.

The inside of the headquarters building was large, neat, and well-put together. The dark gray wooden flooring contrasted nicely with the eggshell-colored walls. Bookshelves full of magical items and books lined the walls. Several offices were built along the right and left walls. The offices on the right belonged to the knight leaders, while the left belonged to the mage leaders. In front of the offices were desks where their assistants sat. At the end of the building was another room, which led into the common meeting room for when the leaders of both factions convened. In the middle of the room was a large rectangular table with a map.

The map was of the continent of Zaraemar, showing the elven kingdom of Thearyah in the northeast, the human kingdom of Gavaria in the northwest, and the dwarven kingdom of Duridie in the southeast. Lush green trees surrounded the elven kingdom, while the human kingdom was vast in the grasslands, and the dwarven kingdom was deep in the mountain ranges.

In the middle of the map was a city more significant than the others, Tri-Union City, where Elianna lived. However, the most notable part of the map was the blackened area in the southwest. Elianna's father told her it was the home of the orcs, the kingdom of Calignar. She once asked her father why it looked like that, and he simply told her it was because it wasn't a good place.

Two white banners with gold trim hung from the ceiling. The banner on the right showed the knight's ranks: private, private second class, private first class, corporal, sergeant, lieutenant, captain, lieutenant commander, and commander. The banner on the left showed the mage ranks: inductus, initiate, novice, apprentice, adeptus, experitor, master, high-mage, and arch-mage. While the knight ranks consisted of golden squares, discs, triangles, and stars, the mage ranks consisted of golden leaves and olive branches.

Elianna followed her father as they walked toward his office, which was the far-right one. Several of the assistants looked up as Elianna and Lucain walked past, giving them respectful nods. When they approached Lucian's office, Elianna's eyes fell on her father's assistant. He looked to be about in his early twenties, and he was dressed in formal military attire. A gold square on his collar indicated he was a private second class.

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"Good morning, Lewis," Lucian greeted his assistant as they approached.

Lewis looked up from the paperwork, seeing the commander and his daughter. He swiftly stood from his chair, giving Lucian a respectful nod, "Good morning, Commander." His eyes fell on Elianna and gave her a friendly smile, "Good morning, Lady Elle."

"Good morning," Elianna greeted back.

"Any new messages?" Lucian asked.

Lewis shook his head, "No, sir." He gestured to his desk, "I'm also just about done organizing the paperwork you gave me."

"Good," Lucian said as he opened the door to his office. "Once that's done, just place it on my desk."

Lewis nodded, sat back down, and continued to organize the paperwork.

Elianna followed her father into his office, which was spacious and elegant. The ceiling and floor were the same as the rest of the building. File cabinets lined the left side of his wall, and a large gray wooden desk was situated in the back of the room. Three black leather chairs were situated at the desk, two on one side and one on the other, where Elianna's father usually sat. A black leather couch was placed against the wall opposite the desk, which had a white and gray coffee table in front of it that sat on top of an elegant black and gold rug. On the right side of the room was another door, which Elianna knew led to Lucian's private bathroom.

Lucian closed the office door behind them and took Elianna's neatly folded training clothes from his spatial ring. The training clothes were simple and similar in color to the Tri-Union knight colors. They consisted of a short-sleeve black and gold shirt, black pants, and black running shoes.

Lucian handed his daughter her clothes and gestured to the bathroom, "Go get cleaned up." He walked over to his desk and pulled out his chair. "I'm going to try and catch up on some work in the meantime."

Elianna nodded and went to the bathroom. It was clean and well-organized. The floor was gray tile, and the walls were eggshell white. The bathroom had a dual sink counter made of white wood and marble. The bathtub and shower were separate, with the bathtub being made out of marble like the sinks.

Not wanting to waste time and continue with her training, Elianna quickly took a shower, got dressed, combed her hair, and walked back into her father's office.

Lucian was sitting at his desk, writing on a paper with a pencil, when he looked up. Lucian smiled and stood up from his desk, "Ready?"

Elianna nodded, excited to see what kind of training her father had in store for her today, "Ready."

"Good," Lucian said as he walked around his desk, giving Elianna a loving pat on the head as he passed her and approached the door. "Then let's go."

Elianna followed her father as he left his office, walked through the building, and walked outside. They made a right turn once they descended the headquarters steps and approached the first battalion building. Elianna watched as the soldiers outside the building trained together, with the mages casting their spells, and the knights ran around, practicing their strikes and defensive skills.

"Alright," Lucian began and turned to face his daughter fully. "Now, give me a quick recap on mana."

Elianna nodded and began, "Mana is the raw power that is the root substance of magical energy that exists in the atmosphere. The mana in the atmosphere is split between nature mana and the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water. Our bodies are able to absorb the atmospheric mana, refining it into pure mana."

Lucian smiled, "Correct. It is how our bodies naturally form mana cores. Now, over these past two years, you've been doing two kinds of training: mana core training and physical exercise. The physical training was to help strengthen your body, while the mana core training was to help develop your mana core." Lucian sat on the ground cross-legged and gestured to Elianna to follow his lead, which she did. "What I want you to do is close your eyes and focus on your mana core."

Elianna nodded and did as her father asked. Closing her eyes, she focused on the feeling of mana inside her. With her training, it had become much easier to feel her mana and see her mana core over these past two years. A brilliant burning white light soon came into view, and she could feel the mana from her mana core coursing through her.

"Do you see your mana core?" Lucian asked, and Elianna nodded. "Good. Do you notice something different about it?"

Elianna's brows furrowed, and she shook her head, "I don't think so."

"What about its brightness," Lucian said. "Have you noticed how your mana core has gotten brighter the more you trained and developed your core?"

Elianna's brows raised, realizing he was right. When her core first formed, it was merely a small white light. Now, it was large and blazing. "Is it because my mana core is stronger?"

"No," Lucian said, and Elianna felt a little disappointed. "It's because your core can now hold more mana. The more you focus on absorbing the atmospheric mana and refining it, the more you will develop your mana core and be able to hold more mana. Mana cores have three stages: shimmering, bright, and radiant. Your mana core is in the radiant stage. As you continue to develop your mana core, it will naturally split, going from one radiant star to two shimmering stars. When your core splits, your two stars work together, increasing your strength exponentially and the amount of mana your body can hold."

Elianna nodded, "So, I'm close to getting two stars then?"

"Precisely. However, before we continue, you will need to make a decision."

"What decision?"

"Open your eyes."

Elianna curiously opened her eyes, seeing her father still sitting in front of her. He smiled at her and gestured to the soldiers to the side of them.

"Beside us are mages and knights," Lucian began. He held up two fingers, "There are two types of mana cores: stars and circles." He put his hand down. "Also known as an internal and external core. Knights have stars, or internal cores, which allow them to push mana through their body and augment themselves. It's why we knights are also called augmenters."

Lucian looked at the mages, and Elianna followed his gaze. Several different colors of mana swirled around the mages as they cast spells and controlled the elements. Elianna watched one particular mage disappear and reappear a few feet away in a flash of green light.

Lucian gestured to the mages, "Mages have circles, or external cores, which allow them to project their mana and control the ambient elemental and nature mana around them. While mages tend to be physically weaker than knights since they can't augment themselves, they have access to great power."

Elianna looked at her father curiously, "Can augmenters control the elemental and nature mana as well?"

"Yes and no," Lucian said. "I'll explain once you get stronger. For now, I need you to focus on your mana core." Elianna understood and nodded. "The decision I need you to make is if you want to be a mage or augmenter."

Elianna looked at her father, surprised, "I can choose?"

Lucian smiled and nodded, "Yes, but not for much longer. You see, everyone is born with an internal core or star. To become a mage, you must be able to manipulate and alter your core, expanding it past your heart and forming it into a circle or external core. The reason I say you won't be able to choose for much longer is because this must be done while you only have one star. It is nearly impossible to manipulate two stars at once."

"That's so cool!" Elianna expressed.

Lucian looked at his daughter seriously, "However, doing this is dangerous. Not everyone can alter their core, which is why mages are so rare. If someone continues to try and alter their core without success, they can end up putting too much strain on themselves and their mana core, resulting in their heart bursting."

Elianna paled, "B-Bursting..."

Lucian nodded gravely, "Yes. I'm not trying to scare you or influence your decision. I just need you to know the risks before you choose. If you do want to be a mage, I can ask Arch-Mage Matilda to assist you in altering your core."

Elianna fell silent, contemplating. She looked toward the first battalion soldiers, watching the mages and knights train. She watched the mages again, seeing a red-haired female holding her hand up. Ruby-colored mana swirled above her hand as she conjured a fireball the size of a grapefruit. The female wiggled her fingers, and the fireball broke apart, with the flames now circling her hand like a ring of fire. In front of her was another female with red hair, but she looked younger and similar to the one wielding the fire magic, and she wasn't in a mage outfit. The younger female's eyes were wide as she watched the flames with a look of astonishment.

Elianna then looked toward the knights, seeing the translucent light around them like a second skin as they dashed around swiftly, coating their swords in elemental or pure mana, and struck each other or training dummies. She watched as one particular knight, a stocky dwarf with short yellow hair, coated his sword in lightning magic. The dwarf swung his sword horizontally, with the lightning extending like a whip, and slashed the training dummy before him across its torso with the lightning whip before quickly dashing to the side and striking the dummy again.

Elianna smiled, always thinking the knights were impressive every time she witnessed them in action. While Elianna always felt the displays of magic from the mages were beautiful, she always felt admiration toward the knights.

Coming to a decision, Elianna looked at her father confidently, "I want to be an augmentor."

Lucian smiled proudly, "Good. Now, let's begin."