...
Alexander's Training Ground
Inside a basement that looked as if a monster stampede had ravaged through it, two youths were stretching and doing some warm-ups. Both were wearing training uniforms and chatting peacefully, while on the sidelines, a dryad scratched a fauner behind her ears.
"Man, you really want to fight?"
"Yeah, do you have something else to do?"
"Nah, I just, and I mean really no offense, fear that I go overboard since I don't know how to control my magic."
Lorient raised an eyebrow, finding him become quite arrogant, but remembered the rumors of how Alexander had injured their Grandmother, which was, even for her, very hard to do.
But she mostly ignored it since, with Ipe here, he could heal fatal wounds in moments, "Don't worry. I need to adjust, too."
Alexander chuckled while doing a split, "No shit. I will die the moment you go full out."
Lorient smiled softly. She knew that her brother liked complimenting her too much, so she didn't take it too seriously. When he became well again in the last weeks, they sparred quite a lot, and she won nine out of ten times.
Yet, she knew he was holding back, letting her mostly win. The moment he would start to throw out spells meant she lost immediately. They were fast, could penetrate her energy, and hone on her, so she could barely avoid them. He was a living, breathing catastrophe whose nickname, the Archmage Puppy, was becoming more fitting by the day.
While such actions hurt her ego, she found it quite cute and understood why he did it. She was too sensitive and quickly became irritated should she lose. However, his caring side slowly annoyed her, as it was belittling.
She craved a real fight with stakes. However, she couldn't do it with Alexander, who would probably just let himself beat up short of death before taking her seriously.
It was not because he found her unworthy, but because he feared injuring her extensely. He trusted and was sensitive to her as if she was his little sister, a demeaning but warm feeling.
Lorient also saw this side of him when he crawled to her to cuddle every night. He would talk about all that happened over the day, and while it was cute, and she appreciated that her little brother had so much trust in her, to the point where he even showed her freely his system window, it was also always a moment when she broke a little.
His days were productive, and she was in awe of how much he grew every day while she stagnated because of her past mistakes. He would amass gold, build up the fief, and become immensely powerful without stopping.
Lorient shook those thoughts away, trying to ignore her jealousy and tuck her inferiority complex away, "Enough warming up. Let's start."
Both began to take their stance and like clockwork, she felt the annoying homing spell on six different places on her body, 'Urgh, he got even faster.'
However, she immediately dashed at him, and as she was halfway there, she saw his face. It looked like he was testing something and not taking her seriously, 'I... can't...'
She suddenly stopped, which made her brother fumble his spell. A giant firewall appeared beside the onlookers, who became surprised and fell over.
He looked at them, apologizing, and then at her, "What the fuck?!"
Lorient sighed and walked past him while patting his head, "Sorry, I am not in the mood today."
Alexander only nodded and smiled at her, "It's fine. I've been there. Can I help you somehow?"
She shook her head, "No, it's fine. I just... don't feel right, sorry."
Like that, she left the training area and walked straight to her Mother, 'I can't anymore.'
She couldn't hide her emotions anymore, as it was getting to her that everyone became more powerful. She saw how the chasm increased daily, and her ego became increasingly bruised. It wasn't her sibling's fault but hers alone. They helped her immensely, from Alexander, who gave her skills that would be considered a treasure, to Sarah, who trained with her physical prowess and mental resistance, and Narsiz, who helped her in intellectual fields.
She felt inadequate and wanted to change it. She needed to leave and just fight by herself and grow. From her mistake in almost killing her brother and sister to her going haywire at the mating season, she became increasingly frustrated with herself, almost hating the fact that she was so much weaker.
Worst, her siblings knew she had become jealous and had a weak ego, yet they catered to her. They let her win and complimented her a lot. It was so apparent, especially with Alexander, who often provoked her and then lost, on purpose, when she had a bad day only to cheer her up.
She blushed slightly thinking about it but immediately felt despair. It was something she appreciated but also needed to change. Fortunately, she knew what steps she must take to begin her transformation into a person with whom she could be at peace and not be constantly uncomfortable when looking in the mirror.
...
Tea room, 10 minutes later
"Mom! Please! I want to go with Dad!"
"No, you will not, and this is my final word!"
"Damn it! I am strong enough to control my energy! I don't go crazy anymore!"
Lorient stood before her Mother and Father, who were sitting comfortably in the tea room, enjoying themselves. Such scenes had happened frequently in the last few days, as her Father was about to leave for the East again soon.
He wanted to stay longer, but there was apparently a surge of demons coming, which Cross, who was in her Father's stead there, wouldn't be able to handle. For some reason, the demon run became much more dangerous than predicted, and it was time for him to leave again. He would even take Sarusos with him, leaving Narsiz's training to Lili.
However, Lorient wanted to be selfish now. She ignored her parents' rare intimate moments when they could enjoy themselves and tried to make it clear to them that she wouldn't leave them alone until she got the okay to go to the East, too.
Even though she made many mistakes, she always listened to her parents and never argued back. Yet, she wanted to join the campaign and was ready to stay stubborn till her wish was fulfilled.
She knew that she was a little too young and that her mental fortitude was weak years ago, but between then and now, she was mostly training her mind to immense degrees, as her system window also showed:
[https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kiruschka/kiruschka.github.io/b04c1332e7eba66ce27ade5f9f6baa70487f2e9a/Chapter_108_to_112/Chapter_110/Lorient_Systemwindow_110.svg]
She leveled up immensely, thanks to her siblings, who trained with her, especially for the last months, to insane degrees where her [Spirit] attributes soared.
While it was sad, it was primarily thanks to Alexander. Through Sarah, Lorient could not only feel his pain but also the mental distress he experienced. This she used to increase various skills.
Now, she wanted nothing more than to leave the estate and train again seriously. Her training with her Grandmother showed her that she wanted to fight, as it let her feel alive and far from the worries she experienced inside the estate.
There was also the jealousy she felt all the time toward her siblings, and she couldn't do anything against it but suck it up. Not only were they more talented, but they received the training she wanted, especially Alexander.
Lorient knew he wasn't trying to go through such dangerous training on purpose, which almost broke him multiple times, but she felt helpless when she saw the results.
If she wanted to get stronger and eventually help her family, she needed to train her [Divinity Line], which was a special one that only grew by killing wild demons, as some literature explained.
She turned to her Father and almost cried as she couldn't endure living at the estate anymore. She was weak. No, the correct wordage would be that she felt weak. She lived among monsters who refined their strengths while she could only watch them. It was frustrating and made her despair, worsening her already evident inferiority complex even more.
Her Father sighed while standing up, staring her down, "Do you truly think you are ready?"
However, she didn't back away and stared back at him, feeling the first shimmer of hope after a long time, "Yes."
He shrugged, looking at his wife, "Well, Mari. I think I can control her if something happens, and she is not too far off from the age you set up for her, but you know best if she is ready or not."
Marisia sighed, "Lori, you don't know what it means to control your energy in combat. The only reason I could control mine while young on a battlefield and overloading myself with it was because I had an outlet. Would there be no enemy? I would've probably suffered and harmed your Father."
Lorient straightened up more, "I am ready! I promise! My skills, attributes, and everything else are over the top, and just as I promised, I mostly trained my mind..." She almost teared up and stepped toward her Mother, "...Let me go! I beg you!"
It was silent. No one spoke a word for minutes while looking at each other until her Mother broke the silence, "Fine, but before you go, I need to make preparations."
Like that, she felt a happiness and elation she hadn't felt for a long time. She could fight, be free, and get stronger much faster.
However, she didn't understand one thing, "Preparations?"
Her Mother nodded, "Come later to the art room."
...
Hours later, the Art Room
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When Lorient entered the room, she saw two chairs in the middle, with her Mother already sitting on one. She also changed her clothes from her usual summer dress to her casual training clothing, which was just some casual ballet shoes, linen pants, and a basic shirt.
Usually, training clothes were much more robust, like leather, with some metal plates here and there, but because of her [Divinity Line], they would corrode the moment she touched them. As such, Lorient and her Mother only wore cheap linen for training purposes. Her Father had the same problem: the moment he turned into a giant animal, all the leather would rip apart.
However, what was weird was what she held in her hand: a metal feather. She recognized the metal: It was the same as the material used for their sigils and ceremonial armor. However, it didn't give out the usual amount of demonic aura but much more without showing it. All of Lorient's instincts warned her not to touch it.
"Take off your shirt."
She immediately came out of her thoughts, hearing that, "Pardon?!"
Her Mother sighed, staying up, and without hesitation, took hers off. Lorient remembered her body very well from bathing together, 'Beautiful.'
She had finely defined muscles that looked like they were made of steel. Scars from the battlefield made her look like she was not a Lady but a mercenary who endured unnumerable life and death situations, with her skin roughed out. It was like a painting where one wanted to fuse elegance with the horror of the battlefield together.
However, when her Mother turned around, showing her back, only now did she notice that it was somewhat discolored in a particular way. She didn't know why, but now that she looked at it more closely, it didn't look like an old injury but eerily familiar, "Isn't that..."
Her Mother's energy surged slightly, making her discoloration light up with back-reddish energy, which stretched over her whole back, "Everyone who inherits the demonic energy [Divinity Line] will get a tattoo."
The demonic energy subsided slightly and left was their crest. It was a wolf biting into the neck of a horned demon. The tattoo was finely made, even more detailed than some drawings, stretching from shoulder to shoulder, even to her lower back, to the beginning of her tail.
"I..." Lorient was confused and heard of it for the first time that they had such a tradition. However, before she could ask why it was necessary, her Mother suddenly moved her hand toward the upper part of her tail, making Lorient gasp.
Her hand grabbed slightly inside as if it was something magical, pulling out a small but well-made dagger. Lorient was flabbergasted, "Uhhhh..."
Her Mother turned around and looked at her proudly while she was playing with the dagger, "You see, this tattoo was a present from Merlin after we helped him fight what we now call a demon god inside the high demon territory. It was one of the strongest demons in existence, and our most honorable ancestors, Cerberus, Fenrir, and Huxia, fought on his side to defeat the god. To express his gratitude, he gifted them a present, this tattoo enchantment."
Lorient looked baffled, "Enchantment?!"
While she placed her dagger back into her enchantment and put her shirt back on, she explained, "This enchantment is extraordinary, like our specific energy. I don't know the specifics, but it can create a space inside your own demonic energy."
Lorient didn't know what to say, but her Mother knew what to say before she could think more about it, "I am obviously also asking you not to tell Alex. The last thing I need is him trying to rip my clothes away to see how the enchantment works."
She chuckled slightly and nodded, imagining Alexander trying to ambush her or their Mother to only rip their dresses off and study their back.
Her imagination ended when her Mother pointed at the chair, "Sit..." which Lorient did while she kept explaining, "...there are three tattoo motives, which were gifted to our ancestors and became our crests. However, over time, more households emerged from the original ones who made their own crests, but the tattoo motives stayed the same. The Could-Snouts have our motive, while the Silver-Tail and Feather-Paw have the Nine-Fire motive, and everyone left has the Heart-Fire one..."
Lorient sat down with her front to the chair's back. While undressing, her Mother kept explaining, "This tattoo also has another function. Do you want to guess?"
Lorient shook her head, "Sorry, Mom, but I am a little baffled that you have a space pouch in your body."
Her Mother chuckled, brought the other chair close to her, and sat down, "This is an anti-slave enchantment. It can only be destroyed by strong magicians on the level of an archmage, and of course, I don't mean Alex..." She chuckled again, "...even if you tattoed a slave enchantment over it, it would never work while our enchantment will stay faded. However, this also means that the moment you push your energy into it, it will also immediately destroy every other enchantment or buff on our body."
Lorient raised an eyebrow, "Wait, I learned a spell with which I can strengthen myself, so it will..." Her Mother interrupted her, "...yes, it will also destroy anything positive. It also doesn't matter where you put it on your body."
She became a little annoyed, "Isn't it unfair?! Why do I want this tattoo, then?"
She smirked, "Do you think you could hold onto your strengthening spells without the tattoo?"
Lorient became confused, "Yes?"
She shook her head, "Our [Divinity Line] is the epitome of destruction, ruin, and corruption. When our demonic energy accumulates and becomes more potent, it will disintegrate Mythril armor like paper and let other energies fade away, including buffs. We are not only called a one-man army because we are dangerous for our allies but also because we stay alone on the battlefield as no one can truly aid us."
Lorient frowned. It wasn't ideal, and she became frustrated as to why she had learned those spells in the first place. However, at least she would now have a space pouch inside her body, which she thought was insane.
Such thoughts brought more questions, "Mom, how big is your space pouch?"
She chuckled, "Stop calling it like that, but it is around the size of five cubic meters (6.54 yrd^3)? I never truly measured it, but it is enough, trust me."
Yet, she also remembered something else, "Why did you not tattoo me when I was out the first time? Why now?"
Her Mother brought the metal feather out and pushed her energy slowly but surely into it while talking, "You see, even though you don't notice it, you accumulate demonic energy inside you at all times from the miasma around you. You and I collect much more because of the [Divinity Line] we have, which by itself, even without the miasma around us, will store it around your body. Normally, one needs decades to amass enough for the tattoo, but with it, you will have enough in years. Regardless of how fast it is, you hadn't enough back then. It was just too early for you."
"I see..."
She felt suddenly uneasy as her Mother's demonic energy escaped into the room, and she remembered the feeling it gave off. Her Mother's [Divinity Line] felt like she was about to be eaten from the inside out, as if a beast with unsaturated hunger watched her and drooled with anticipation for the next meal.
Lorient's energy gave off the feeling of tyranny and destruction, resembling her Grandmother's. It was like a beast pushed everyone into the ground, instilling devoteness and fear.
Her Mother leaned forward and touched her back, which made her feel slightly uncomfortable, "Good. You have rough skin."
"Good?"
"You will know in a moment why it's good. Now, don't bite your tongue."
The pain she felt the next moment was unimaginable but, fortunately, not even close to what her brother felt. For some reason, experiencing Alexander's pain made her see everything in contrast as less bad.
However, it felt weird, as if parts of her were pulled away from all around her body to her back and especially her spine, "Don't move. The last thing I want is to damage your body."
Lorient felt it. Her Mother's energy only directed her accumulated demonic energy into the back. It wasn't the energy that came from her energy veins or core, but the one that deposited as residue all around her body.
It was clear to Lorient that her Mother had no real idea how this enchantment worked or what principles it followed. Since it was a present from Merlin, it probably followed some weird laws, which Alexander also often talked about, but when she tried to remember all the information, there were only bits and pieces left. The same probably happened here, too.
She was sure Merlin told them all about it in detail since it was a present of gratitude, but such knowledge would quickly be lost as they had no real experience with enchantments besides how to destroy or use them.
It was kind of sad, but they didn't really need to know more than how to tattoo it, which her Mother was now doing and probably would teach her later on how to do it with her puppies.
As it went on, her Mother suddenly started talking, sounding apologetic and sad, "I always wanted the best for you. I love you, and the moment you attacked your siblings, I felt that you could become like your aunt."
"Eli..." Her Mother interrupted her, "...no talking. Just concentrate so your energy doesn't go haywire."
This was actually harder said than done. As her Mother pulled the deposits from her body, for some reason, her emotions flared up, and she needed to use all her skills not to go crazy.
However, while she fought against it, her Mother's soothing voice helped her a little not to lose herself, "Eli was such a good girl, and I always saw her as a role model, not because of her almost endless talent or her mesmerizing intelligence. I respected her because she was different. She had a big heart and wasn't like all the others while fighting."
Her Mother's mood suddenly changed. She became cheerful when talking about her aunt, "She hated fighting even though she could overwhelm Tier 1 and 2 soldiers with pure skills and clever tactics when she was eight..."
Her joy audibly increased, "...it was indeed a spectacle watching her fight. There was no coldness in her movement or bloodlust. She was a saint in the sea of bloodlust. She never wanted to kill or hurt anyone."
Her Mother's voice became sadder, "However, when she went through her demonic baptism, she broke. She couldn't sleep anymore without me and was having nightmares. Yet, she slowly and surely worked through it and became better while surviving the ridiculous training of your Grandmother..."
Suddenly, Lorient heard her Mother's voice tear slightly up, "Regardless of all her work, the moment she got our [Divinity Line], she was done. Anxiety and depression became normal to her, as she couldn't handle the anger. Her mental state slowly deteriorated even though she tried everything to fight against it..." She suddenly stopped.
Lorient turned slowly around, seeing her Mother cry, "Heuk... I don't want this to happen to you or any other of my puppies..." She looked at Lorient, who also teared slightly up, "...I love you all, and I am sorry if I was so selfish to imprison you."
It was silent as both women cried barely audibly as the paintings of their ancestors watched them, from their first, Fenrir, to the last one, her Grandmother.
Her Mother continued to speak, looking Lorient into her eyes. Lorient saw pure despair in them, recognizing it immediately as she went through the same with her [Divinity Line], "Our power is not a blessing, Lori. It is a curse and a cruel one at that. Never forget it. We can never build something with it, and it will destroy our loved ones. All we can do with it is to corrupt others..." She clenched the feather in her hand, "...many are jealous of us, but they don't understand what sacrifices we need to make for this power."
Lorient nodded. There were no words needed as silence was enough to bond and understand each other. They were two generations, cursed with a [Divinity Line] which was dangerous not only to themself but also their family.
She knew it too well as she almost killed Narsiz, something she couldn't get over with to this day. A burden made to only corrupt others and destroy. It was a nightmare for her and her Mother.
Even now, after all her training, something inside her silently screamed at her to destroy even though she did everything to suppress the voice. It was like the demonic energy was alive and nagging at her greed, trying to overinflate the natural kernel everyone had to massive degrees.
A feeling she needed to suppress with everything she had, "Truly a curse."
...
The following days, Lorient's room
"Wow, I know why I only visit you at night."
"Whose maids are the ones in the mansion?"
"Excuse me? How about you pay yours with... oh wait? You are a fucking bro..." Lorient interrupted him, "...end the sentence, and I will show you a really good time."
Alexander smirked at her, "Bring it on."
Narsiz pushed himself between them, "Enough of this stupid quarrel..." He looked at her and asked, a little confused, "...so, why did you bring us into your room?"
Sarah also came forward, looking around her room as if someone was slaughtered inside. However, she turned toward Narsiz, "Why so suspicious? Do you have..." She smiled dirtily, "...something with Lin?"
Before Narsiz could answer, Janina became immediately interested as it was about love, "Oh! Tell me, what are they doing?"
Alexander was the first to answer, "Puppies. A lot of them, like..." He stretched his arms, "...a loooo... Ow!?"
Narsiz snapped him on his forehead, "Stop being dumb, giving Nina weird thoughts."
Janina, though, became more interested, "What weird thought?!"
Lorient looked at them with a satisfying smile and felt at peace. She loved them, and there were no other people besides her family whom she trusted and loved as much, 'I will miss you.'
She knew it couldn't stay forever like this, as they would all go their separate ways. Narsiz would travel with Sarah and Linuel to his first internship while Alexander would... nobody knew what he would do, but probably nothing good as he would have no oversight, 'I just hope we will meet each other as often as possible again.'
Lorient wasn't the emotional type, but for some reason, she started to cry when she looked at them and thought about the future. They immediately started their schtick, calming her down, which made her even sadder as she suddenly didn't want to leave anymore and stay with them forever like this. However, she made a decision, and after calming down slightly, she told them she would leave in a couple of days.
The evening turned into the night and then into a morning, where nobody slept. All they did was talk while trying to calm Lorient down, 'I love you so much, I can't even bring it into words.'
However, as she wasn't also the wordy type, she would instead train to protect them as well as possible. So nobody could steal such rare moments in the future from her.