Lina grunted as she pushed the covers away from her face. She rolled out of her bed, crashing on the floor with a groan.

'Milady, please behave respectably,' Tiamanes demanded to her from within her mind. She sighed and stood up against her best wishes. The aches from the previous day's training were like weights pinning her to the floor, but after her declaration in response to Sahro's test, she couldn't just stay there and keep on sleeping like a lazy oaf.

"You are a lazy oaf though, Milady, why fight it?" Tiamanes asked aloud with an innocent tone. Lina waved her hand dismissively and grabbed the potion on the side of the bed with trembling fingers, emptying down her throat. The pain was relieved slightly, just enough to enable her to go on with her day.

"Lazy oaf or not, I do want to grow stronger and eventually catch up to my brother," She grumbled as she picked random clothes from a pile she abandoned in the corner of the room. The Mansion on Longhorn Street had everything but servants to keep it clean. As such, all of its inhabitants were in charge of the cleanliness of their rooms. Sadly, Lina still hadn't lost her bad habit from Earth of leaving her room in a comfortable mess.

"Today, I will learn how to manipulate Aura!" She exclaimed to motivate herself, wincing as she accidentally touched a particularly heavy bruise on her waist. Sahro really didn't pull any punches.

"I believe Sir. Sahro's words are correct, Milady. You should concentrate on getting perfect control over your body before attempting to reinforce it," Tiamanes warned, calming her down slightly. She sighed and left her room, not even bothering to address her messed-up haircut or the bruises on her face. It didn't matter, they would end up in the same state an hour or so later anyway.

She glanced at a large clock on the way. Nine and a half in the morning. She wasn't late, but she wasn't exactly early either. Janica and Liam's voices reached her ears from the kitchen, the two lovebirds bickering with each other.

"No, I'm telling you, power is the one thing we need to focus on!" Liam exclaimed as Lina stealthily entered the kitchen, "One shot, one kill! That's the manly way!"

Janica shook her head as she bit off a particularly tasty-looking apple, "And what happens if you miss that shot, hmm?"

Liam shrugged, "That's a skill issue, not a weapon issue."

"And that's exactly the problem," Janica stabbed her finger in Liam's chest, "Guns are meant to be used by anyone. Of course, being proficient with handling them is for the best, but the point of a gun is to allow a peasant to shoot a monster with the same power a Magi or a Knight would have."

She licked her fingers and brushed her hair back, "Putting everything in a single shot is the exact mistake we need to avoid, even more so considering we're creating this for Glenn's little sister. She probably never held a gun before, so we need to make something beginner-friendly."

"But the manly way—"

Janica rolled her eyes and groaned, "She's not even a man, why do you keep bothering me with this?"

Liam turned away sheepishly, only to discover Lina trying to sneak away with a jar of cookies.

"Ah..." He gasped, his cheeks flushing red. Janica also turned her head and froze, realizing that their whole discussion had been heard by the person they wanted to surprise.

Lina smiled awkwardly and hurriedly stepped out of the kitchen, "Sorry, just act as if I didn't hear anything!"

Janica turned to Liam with her jaw hanging slightly, before punching his arm, "You were supposed to watch the door!"

"Aouch!"

Lina chuckled as she hurried down the secret passage leading to the training rooms. These two were always entertaining to watch.

'I wonder why they were so adamant on making me a gun though...' She thought as she entered the training room while shoving one cookie after the other in her mouth. It was Liara instead of Sahro who welcomed her.

"I hope you rested well, Lina," The Black Heiress smiled gently, her beauty blinding Lina. The latter had to take a second to force herself to swallow down her cookies, a hair's breadth from choking down on the biscuits.

"Cough, I'm aching all over, but besides that, I slept—Meditated well!" She hurriedly corrected herself, but it was already too late. Liara's face hardened and she slowly walked up to her. Lina gulped heavily and turned her head shamefully.

"I...I'm sorry, I wanted to Meditate, but the second I touched my bed I—"

Liara suddenly ruffled her hair while chuckling, startling her.

"Glenn isn't here to police you, Lina, so don't worry too much. Right now, you have to concentrate on your Aura training and make the most of our teachings. You'll have more than enough time to entertain Glenn's nonsensical training later."

Lina nodded slowly, secretly exhaling a relieved sigh. Liara watched her with her lips curved upward, a sword hanging down her belt and a spear wrapped to her back. Her long white hair was flowing freely down her shoulders, contrasting with her olive skin and golden eyes. The more Lina looked at her, the more entranced she felt.

'Staring at someone's face for too long is disrespectful, Milady,' Tiamanes warned. Lina flinched and hurriedly averted her gaze. She took the same rapier she used the previous day and tried her best to adopt a correct fencing position, despite the aches and pain in her body.

Liara looked at her and chuckled slightly, "Don't worry, we're not sparring just yet."

Lina looked at Liara like she was a god-sent angel.

"You should have started to get a hang of using your muscles with Sahro's training," Liara extended her hand out, and a sharp, white light covered it, "I'll be showing you the Lúthalen's Aura control technique. It's an ancient way that has been worked on for generations, so trust me when I say it's the best to start with."

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Lina nodded hurriedly. She had no intention of contradicting the pretty Heiress' words.

"Your Core is only at the first rank, so you are limited in your usage of Aura," Liara explained, "You can only strengthen your body. Using it to create an Aura blade or something similar will be too difficult for you, and not efficient whatsoever. It's better to wait at least for the second rank before shaping an Aura blade."

Liara drew a short breath and the white Aura covering her hand faded away.

"You're unable to see it, but currently, every fiber of my beings is pulsing with Aura, which makes thing such as this—" She suddenly jumped and touched the ceiling with her hand before landing back with the grace of a flower petal, "—Possible. Even your brother, with his incredible control of Mana, is unable to replicate such a feat with the same efficiency as I do."

Lina watched with her mouth wide open, awed. Liara smiled and nodded at her.

"Now, listen to me. Get hold of your Aura, and instead of letting it flow freely as you did during your training with Sahro—Yes, he did tell me how the training went—direct the Aura to permeate your muscles." The Black Heiress instructed, watching with her arms crossed.

Lina tensely complied, letting her Aura flow out of her Core, but controlling it was akin to trying and control a flooded dam. Her Aura burst out powerfully, surrounding her in glowing pink.

"Redirect it. Instead of outward, send it inward. Aura is like water: it flows freely but can be blocked or redirected," Liara's voice reached her through the pink Aura, guiding her. Lina concentrated and little by little, she stopped shining like some sort of neon sign. She opened her eyes, her lips curving upward in amazement as she clenched her fist. This was different than when she awoke her Aura. It felt like she held the strength to pierce through boulders, yet she could control said strength like her own. She still felt the desire to fight and wreak destruction, but it wasn't nearly as strong as during her Awakening.

"You are talented..." Liara muttered too low for Lina to hear. She clapped her hands loudly, redirecting Lina's focus on herself, "Excellent. Now that your muscles are reinforced with Aura, try stimulating them. I'm not sure as to how to explain it, but if you do it correctly, you should be able to accelerate your healing rate. You'll be able to free yourself from your aches much faster this way."

Lina's eyes lit up in interest.

'A way to heal faster? Give me!' She redoubled her efforts, sweat beading down her face. Liara watched silently, satisfied.

Thankfully, Lina was an excellent student.

***

Sahro was bored.

His life could be described in a few words: training, fighting, and more training.

And Liara kicked him out of the training room.

'What the hell am I supposed to do...?' He wondered as he looked at the cloudless sky. It seemed like it would be a peaceful day again. Glenn was probably off on his adventures, causing trouble as his habitude. Just the thought of him angered Sahro.

"How the hell did this bastard break through this damned wall...?" The Black Heir questioned with a sigh. He had been putting in twice, no, thrice the effort to try and catch up to Glenn's Fourth Circle. But no matter how hard he trained, he still couldn't feel himself progress. He was stuck.

The Princess had the same problem, but she appeared much more relaxed than him about it.

'I can't understand it. No, I can't accept it!' Sahro angrily kicked away a pebble in his path, before sighing heavily once more. The mansion's garden was well kept, despite the lack of maintenance from any of its inhabitants. He grabbed his left, mechanical arm and grunted. At least he had both of his limbs back now, but still...

It felt like he was missing something. But he couldn't tell what.

"Glenn broke through when he bottomed out on Mana and realized his actual Mana capacity was absurdly large. This can't work with me..." Sahro rubbed his forehead as he sat on a bench in the garden. He was equally clueless, be it to break through the wall to the Fourth Circle or the Fourth Rank of Aura. Glenn was the kind to just naturally grow stronger as he struggled, and Sahro too. And it wasn't like he wasn't struggling with his damned training.

So what was missing?

Sahro's consciousness slipped into Meditation and he looked at his Mana Heart, wondering. He had never shown it to anyone aside from Giselle and Redan, and the two then both complimented his potential. But the more he looked at it, the less he believed them. It was just a ball of lightning, crackling with power as it touched the edges of his three Circles. He turned around and glanced at his Aura Core, also stuck at the third rank.

Similarly to his Mana Heart, his Aura Core appeared as a sphere, pulsing with crimson energy. Sahro felt his blood boil as he looked at it, his battle-lust activated. Maybe if he fought against more powerful opponents he would be able to break through his damned limits.

'A battle to the death!' He exclaimed excitedly, before turning away and recovering his calm. No, he already had that with Baron Howard, and besides getting hypnotized into an endless battle, it didn't bring anything to him.

No, there had to be something more. One detail that he missed, was something that would allow him to soar like a lightning bolt and finally go back to being first in the race for power. He couldn't allow the other idiot to remain more powerful than him.

That was unacceptable!

Sahro's Aura angrily burst out of his body as his thunder-affinity Mana similarly exploded through his left arm, canalized into the mechanical contraption.

"What's the damned key, damn it!?!" He roared as he punched into the sky, relieving his anger through a bolt of crimson lightning. The attack disappeared harmlessly, like dust in the wind. Sahro sighed heavily and collapsed back on his bench, his head clasped his hands.

...Was this the end of his talents? Stuck at the third rank? Sahro clenched his fists tightly and pressed them against his forehead.

No. He still couldn't accept it. Sahro slipped back into Meditation and angrily entered the sanctity of his Mana Heart and his Aura Core.

"I don't give a shit anymore," He hissed through his gritted teeth, "I refuse to be stuck at this stage for the rest of my life!"

He manipulated his Aura and Mana at the same time, forcefully connecting the Core and the Heart.

"If I can't break through neither," Sahro spat, "Maybe I should smash them together until it eventually works!"

The crimson Aura and the lightning violently repelled each other, refusing to coexist. It was one thing to combine them outside of his body to power his attacks, but it was another to try and connect his Core and his Heart.

Sahro coughed and spat out a lump of blood, his body suffering from inner damage as the two energies conflicted with each other. But Sahro's resolve didn't decrease, for he was feeling it. The Wall. It was right there, trembling as the two energies collided again and again, threatening to crumble down like a house of cards.

The Black Heir roared and smashed the two sources of power together, creating a powerful, blinding explosion of red and blue. Sahro felt his head ring as lightning crackles all around him, his mechanical arm charred, and the bench he was sitting on obliterated.

He grinned widely as he extended his hand out and felt a power a hundred times greater than the one he was used to. His Mana and Aura had seamlessly combined, creating a power unique to him. A Crimson Lightning that would pierce through the skies.

Only, there was something a little weird. Sahro glanced down at the fox sitting on his legs, confused. The fox was the same color as his Crimson Lightning, only it just...looked cute? His beady eyes were looking back at the Black Heir mischievously. There wasn't even a single doubt that this fox was connected to him somehow, a product of the combination of his powers. But then...

Sahro felt a shiver crawl down his back.

Did he just...create a living being?

Did he become...a father?