“Why did you not tell me about the side effect of your Nightmare Arrow?” Yuri said in a rather irked, and upset voice. Her face though, was still calm, and solemn, as she looked at him, along with Cecilia, waiting for him to tell them about the rest of his abilities.

“…Other than my Nightmare Arrow, I also have three Aspects—

“Three Aspects?” Cecilia said, exasperating her words with an incredulous expression. “Three Aspects? Three! Poros fangs! Just when I thought that I have finally caught up to you, you are now saying that you have tamed two more Aspects in the time I tamed one?”

“…And I should be gaining another Aspect in three or four days.”

“…Are Aspects something that you can find lying around withs pebbles, and stones?”

“…I cannot find them lying around on the ground, but I do tend to find them quite often within the Origin Sea.”

“…How often is your quite often?”

“…Every seven days or so?”

Cecilia stared at him in silence for a few moments. Moments, which he used to answer Yuri’s question.

“I just learned about the side effects of my Arcana today before master brought me to you.”

“You have been using the Arcana for ten days!”

“I did not even understand what was happening to me at first. I thought that it was just a normal reaction… What was I supposed to tell you? That I was feeling bad for killing the Oren Beasts?”

“…I would not have considered that as weird,” Yuri mumbled in a sour tone. Telepathically, of course. “What did big sis Nyssa say about it?”

“I already told you what she said… It is just a small side effect. As long as I don’t use the Nightmare Arrow too frequently, it would not pose too much of a problem.”

“…Anything else that you have not told me?”

“…The size of my innerwear?”

“Shameless! Pervert!”

Seeing blood rush to Yuri’s face, dyeing it completely red, Alnea almost failed to stop himself from laughing. Sometimes, teasing Yuri could be so much fun, he thought. Not for long though. While he had been teasing Yuri, Cecilia had long regained her composure, and turned towards Yuri.

“Can I punch him?”

“…Too much arrogance is indeed not a good for teamwork, so yes, Cecilia. You may punch him.”

“No, wait! This is—

Before Alnea could say anything else, Cecilia was already upon him, pinning him to the ground. Of course, she also knew the place they were in, so she did not actually punch him. Rather, after the day he had risked his life to save her, she had never actually hit him. And this time was no different either. She just pinned him to the ground, and trapped his arms under her legs, before tickling him.

“Trying to show off your warrior talent in front of a Serpian.”

“No… wait… I…”

“It looks like you have not learned anything yet.”

“Stop… I… speak…”

“How do you like that!”

“Stop… stop… can’t….”

“And this!”

“…anymore…”

It was only after he was almost in tears that Cecilia finally stopped tickling him. She did not immediately get up though, and still kept him pinned her body.

“Will you tease me again?”

“…No,” Alnea said, while taking big gasps of air. Of course, he did not take an Oath on it. And Cecilia did not pursue it either. She still did not get up from his chest though. Instead, she looked deep into his eyes with solemn gaze, and put her hand on his chest, where his Heart was supposed to be.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“…I was the one who killed the Shadow Panther.”

“…Are you trying to show off now?”

“I am saying I am the one who killed the Oren Beast… so you do not have to feel guilty about it…”

“That is not how Arcanas work—

“Do you want me to tickle you again?”

“…No.”

“Then repeat after me. ‘Cecilia Serpia was the one who killed the Shadow Panther, not me. There is nothing that I have to feel guilty about.’”

“…Cecilia Serpia was the one who killed the Shadow Panther, not me. There is nothing that I have to feel guilty about.”

“There, that was not that hard, was it?” Cecilia said, as she got off of his chest. “You do not have to thank me for it.”

The smug grin on her face as she said those words made Alnea wish to reply with a smug grin of his own. Before he could do that though, Yuri coughed, and brought their attention to herself.

“If you have had your fun, can we proceed with the important talks? We do not have much time.”

Recalling where they were, neither Cecilia, nor Alnea could stop their face from flushing. They could, however, quickly get back into normal sitting positions. Alnea even mimicked Yuri’s actions, coughing lightly to draw attention away from his embarrassing position, before continuing where he had left off.

“As I was saying, I have three Aspects right now. One of them can act as both, a sword, and a shield. It pairs well with the sword oriented Martial Styles I am learning currently. The second one… Well, it is related to the lineage of Trickeries—

“Lineage of Trickeries?”

“Not now, Cecilia. We have already wasted too much time.”

“Right… sorry. Continue.”

“…And it is not too suited for direct conflicts. The Third Aspect is related to the lineage of Night, and though it is not related to swords, I can add its powers to my sword when using Martial Styles.”

“Anything else?”

“…No, that about sums it. The rest is just about the Martial Styles, but I have yet to learn them, so I cannot declare them as part of my abilities… yet.”

“…Alright, we have a fair idea about your abilities. Next, it is your turn, Cecilia.”

“…My abilities are fairly simple when compared to Alnea’s. In terms of Aspects, I have only one, which I tamed recently, just a week ago. I am not very proficient in its use yet, but it should not hinder me from using my Martial Styles.”

“Ah, that’s right. You just recently gained your Aspect as well… Congratulations on becoming a Warrior, Cecilia!”

“…Shut up.”

“…Did I say something wrong?” Alnea mumbled, bot got ignored by both the girls.

“Anyways, the Aspect that I have gained is related to the linage of life, but it allows me to reinforce some of the Martial Styles that I have learned which focus on my claws, so there is a plus point there. Coming to the Arcanas, I know quite a few Arcanas of my clan, but of my own creation, I have only one. It is also from the lineage of Night, but mine focusses on frontal attack, rather than illusions.”

“An attacking Arcana… Does it also have some serious side effects?”

“No… But it is not as effective as Alnea’s Arcana.”

“That does not matter,” Yuri said, shaking her head with a smile. “Being less effective, without worrying about its side effects is a better option in my opinion.”

“Hey!” Alnea protested, but got ignored once again.

“…Besides, both of you have just began walking on your paths. In the coming months, you will both quickly accumulate experience, and diversify your abilities. From my perspective, you do not have to worry about your current lack of abilities.”

“…Thank you,” Cecilia said, regaining a bit of her self confidence.

“Alright, it is time for me to introduce my abilities… But, considering how we are going to build up as a team, I think I should hold back on that information.”

“…That does not sound fair,” Alnea said, looking at Yuri with confusion. “We told you about our abilities, you should tell us about yours.”

“Listen to me first,” Yuri said, looking at him with a wry smile. “I am already at the Intermediate Stage, while the two of you are still at the Initial Stage. No matter how we look at it, this is not an ideal team combination.”

“…Don’t be too smug, we will catch up soon enough.”

“Maybe you will,” Yuri said, still smiling at him. “But what will you do till then? Watch me fight all your battles for you?”

“…What do you want to say?”

“I have a proposal, but I will proceed with it only if both of you agree.”

Alnea turned towards Cecilia, and found her looking back at him. And in that moment, they both saw the confidence they had in their eyes for Yuri. Grinning to themselves, and to each other, they turned towards Yuri, and said in unison, “What is it?”

“…For the next few months, the two of you will have to listen to my commands, and switch between the roles of Arcanists, and Warriors depending on the situation. Our main objective will be to practise our teamwork against as many Adolescent Stage Oren Beasts of the initial, and intermediate phase as we can find. Maybe that’s a little exaggerated, but you get what I am trying to say.

“Of course, in all that time, you cannot let your Wanderings fall behind either. And when I feel that our strength, and our cooperation has reached a certain point, I will reveal all my abilities to you, and then we will start challenging Oren Beast in the advanced phase of their Adolescent Stage as a true team. But till then, both of you will have to listen to my arrangements. What do you think?”

“It is a stupid plan,” Alnea said.

“But it is worth a try,” Cecilia added.

“So, do you two agree with it?”

“…You want to use your plan to motivate us into working harder, right?”

“Maybe, maybe not. Who knows?”

“Fine,” Alnea said. “Let’s do this.”

“Let’s do this,” Cecilia chipped in. “We will definitely be fighting intermediate phase Oren Beasts in a month!”