Rewinding to a point in the past, Amber hung with Ariel, Aiden, and Sariel on the Enlightenment Program's training grounds. The sweat they worked up indicated that they had just finished sparring.

"Is it just me, or is Mr. Altius unnecessarily mean to us?" Amber questioned.

"Hmm? Yeah, it's like he doesn't like training us," Ariel agreed. "That or he's just naturally grumpy."

"Heh, he never goes a lecture without cussing us out for the slightest things," Aiden added. "But I chalked it up to the harsh training an officer gives his soldiers in the military."

"Yeah, but he's a bit too strict," Sariel remarked.

"Is that gossip I hear?" Their training instructor, Trixie, said as she heard their conversation. Her sudden presence surprised the friend group.

"Uh, we are just taking a break, miss!" Amber remarked with a visibly shocked expression.

"Don't worry, I'm not as strict as Mr. Altius!" Trixie stated. "I'm the fun instructor, after all!"

"...Uh huh," Aiden muttered.

"Also, there's a reason why Mr. Altius always seems so unfriendly," Trixie continued, garnering the group's attention even more. "You see, most people find stress and anger exhausting, but Altius is a funny case. Because of his blessing, he gets stronger the angrier and more stress he acquires."

"...Wow, you can be serious for once!" Aiden stated with a surprised expression. "Good job--"

Trixie sprayed water from her flower (attached to her clothing) onto his face in response to his backhanded compliment.

"Ugh, dammit!" Aiden yelled as he desperately tried to wipe it off.

"Wait, is that why Mr. Altius is in a constant mindset of being stressed out and angry in classes?" Sariel asked.

"Yup!"

* * *

"You made me damn angry..." Altius said with a deranged expression. "You don't like me...when I'm angry..."

Staggering from side to side, Altius slowly approached Theodore, Luna, and the mafioso group. With every breath he took, visible air blew through his nose. This menacing look was enhanced by the purple, pulsating veins on Altius.

M-Mr. Altius? Amber pondered with worried eyes as she lay on the ground.

"Tsk, something about this guy changed," Theodore said with furrowed eyebrows. His expression quickly turned to a smile. "But if you think a nearly-finished guy like you can beat me, you're insane!"

I can sense the amount of stress burdening Altius far exceeds the amount it would take to incapacitate my enemies! Luna thought. But he's somehow moving. I don't like this.

Theodore and Altius simultaneously charged at each other. The mafioso group also rushed forward, but due to the gap in speed, they didn't keep up immediately.

Altius performed a roundhouse kick, but Theodore blocked it with his arm. However, he felt his arm shaking slightly.

What!? Theodore thought with a shocked face as he never expected that striking power from a 'nearly finished Altius.'

Altius didn't let up and followed up with consecutive jabs at Theodore. With open palms, Theodore blocked his opponent's attacks. Despite successfully blocking Theodore's attacks, Theodore's increasing flinches and arm shaking showed that he couldn't sustain himself.

Luckily for Theodore, the mafioso group caught up and struck Altius with spiked bat strikes across the head, chest, and abdomen.

"RRRAAAHHHHHH!!!" Altius roared before suddenly grabbing Theodore by the collar and arm.

He didn't even react to all of that- Theodore thought while Altius threw him with serious force into his men. Like a bowling ball knocking down pins, Theodore's body knocked away a large amount of them before he slammed into a car.

The car also moved several meters before crashing into another.

With dropped jaws and widened eyes, Luna and Amber watched that event unfold.

Groans of pain were audible as the men who were caught in the crossfire, which was Theodore's body turned projectile laid on the ground with broken bones and bleeding bodies.

Bloody hell... Theodore thought as he slowly stood back up. This doesn't...make any sense!

Theodore was bleeding profusely from his head and had extensive bruises on other parts of his body.

Confirming that he was not down for the count yet, Altius approached Theodore.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU!?" Theodore yelled. "WHY ARE YOU STILL MOVING!?"

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"Don't lose your confidence, Theodore!" Luna advised. "You won't run out of stamina! If you keep your confidence high, you can win!"

"...You're right, Luna," Theodore agreed as he composed himself and clenched his fists in preparation for another combat engagement. This bastard destroyed my cars. He'll pay for that!

They rushed each other once more, but this time, it was one-sided. Altius executed several right and left hooks. Although Theodore kept his arms up to block, Altius's immense physical strength forced Theodore to give up guarding with just a couple of strikes.

Blood flew from Theodore's mouth after being struck repeatedly in the jaw with hooks that generated wind pressure and sounded like missiles exploding. After finally letting up, Theodore staggered backward several feet, seemingly looking delirious.

Luna could only watch with frustration as her cousin continued to get beaten, aware she couldn't help him much.

Is he finally finished? Altius thought. This assumption was wrong, as Theodore sprung back to life and delivered a powerful and rage-filled haymaker punch to Altius's nose.

Blood sprayed from Altius's nose as his head recoiled backward from the strike.

"JUST F*CKING DIE ALREADY!" Theodore angrily stated as he followed up with a right hook, generating wind pressure with his strike. "WHY THE HELL WON'T YOU DIE!?" He asked while landing two more haymakers. The ground and walls were being painted with the blood that flew from Altius's mouth and nose.

He attempted to land another but couldn't connect as Altius grabbed his arm.

"DAMMIT--" Theodore uttered, but his voice became muffled as Altius also grabbed his face. Remorselessly, Altius slammed Theodore headfirst into the white walls. This damaged the walls significantly, leaving a massive dent in the range of impact.

That affected Theodore so badly that he slinked to the ground, leaving a blood trail from his head on the wall.

"You bastard!" Luna yelled as she charged at him with intent to attack. Altius saw through this and delivered an elbow strike to her gut, sending her into a car and destroying yet another one.

"Cough, Cough, Ouch..." Luna uttered as she clenched her stomach and coughed up blood.

Theodore used the moment Altius was distracted to attack Luna to jump up and deliver one last uppercut to his chin. Much to his chagrin, this proved ineffective as Altius barely even flinched. Theodore's blessing was directly related to his confidence - that ineffective attack could indicate that his spirit was finally broken.

However, Altius's blessing seemed to be kicking in overdrive, as like a wild animal, he began to beat Theodore further. He delivered many jabs, hooks, and uppercuts, causing Theodore to slink back to the ground once more. Altius finally finished his brutal attacks, not before kneeing the finished Theodore in the nose a couple of times.

Altius looked down coldly at the unconscious Theodore, who was bleeding profusely.

"Theodore!" Luna yelled with extreme concern.

Now...let's get rid of the others-- Altius thought before suddenly coughing up a large amount of blood. Simultaneously, the purple pulsating veins quickly disappeared from his body. It seems as though he finally reached his limit. Damn it...so quickly!?

Seeing his wrecked state, Luna wasted no time to avenge her beaten relative. She charged towards him, hopped up, and delivered a spin kick to Altius's neck. This sent him across the room, and he landed on his face.

"Ouch...shit," Altius muttered as he couldn't muster the strength to stand up. Meanwhile, Luna checked on her cousin.

Putting her ear at his nose, she checked to see if he was still breathing. A wave of relief covered her as she heard and felt his breath.

"Aw, thank...god," Luna remarked. With bloodshot eyes, Luna shifted her gaze to Altius. "You...did this to him!"

No...Mr. Altius needs my help, but I've been on the ground this whole time! Amber thought.

"I will...make you pay for putting my cousin in that state!" Luna said as she approached Altius.

Damn...all that talk about cleaning the messes myself and not leaving stuff to the next generation... Altius thought.

First Aiden and now Mr. Altius...While they're risking their lives, I've been useless...But not anymore! Amber internally declared as the brown hue that plagued her aura began to return to its original yellow radiance. I will defeat these evildoers! That's my destiny!

"Y'know, I've been preaching about rationality in the mafia, but this has gone too far," Luna said as she stood in front of Altius's battered body. From her jacket, she took a pistol. "In the mafia, family comes first."

Right before shooting him, she noticed a glowing light from her peripheral vision. With an alarmed expression, she abruptly turned to see Amber standing up. Amber was surrounded by a ball of yellow, sparkling light.

"What!?" Luna uttered. How could she stand up back? Did she recover? But how!?

She looked at Amber more intensely, and Luna's eyes widened even more with surprise.

No way! The stress is gone from her!? Luna thought. Did she somehow neutralize it? Is that even possible!?

In anger, Luna aimed her pistol at Amber.

"You're always getting in our way!" Luna yelled as she fired. Before Luna's vision, Amber disappeared and appeared with the palm of her hand resting on Luna's stomach.

"You bit--" Not letting Luna finish her insult, Amber released a devastating yellow energy blast, which launched Luna straight into the wall. Amber's attack immediately rendered Luna unconscious, with extensive bruises and minor burns.

"You foul-mouthed criminals..." Amber remarked. Did I shoot a blast from my hand? I did that out of instinct, but it worked!

Due to unlocking another skill of her blessing, Amber couldn't help but smile. Her happiness was short-lived as she rushed to Altius's aid.

"M-Mr. Altius! Are you okay!?" Amber inquired with visible distress. She held her instructor in her arms.

"Haha, you kept true...to your ideals and saved me," Altius remarked.

"Don't talk too much! Save your energy!"

"Don't be such a worrywart, I'll be fine..." Altius stated as he sat up. "These injuries weren't the problem...it was the freaking stress."

"W...What?"

"Because of my blessing, I'm resistant to the effects of stress...as those are what fuels my strength," Altius explained. "But I'm not immune to becoming tired. While Luna powered me up unintentionally...I was under a time limit because of her fatigue."

"Oh...I'm glad your life isn't at risk, Mr. Altius..." Amber responded.

"Since you don't have to worry about me...go help the others," Altius suggested.

"W-What?"

"Unlike me, you can still fight. I'm not going to deny it, you're a good soldier. There are not many pure-hearted soldiers like you. You turned out pretty well despite everything," Altius expressed, causing Amber's eyes to widen. "Go take those...evildoers down...while I recover."

"...Thank you!" Amber expressed her gratitude. She followed up by resting Altius against the wall and leaving him to find the rest.

Haha, being nice doesn't suit me after all.