Acacia took a few minutes to recuperate. She waited for a response from Daemonis but he was quiet, she decided not to press the issue further and got up on her feet after regaining some of her energy back. 'I need to train harder if I'm going to get those poison balls.'

Acacia placed the pocket knife back in her boots and left the bathroom. Wiping the sweat from her forehead with the back of her sleeve. 'What do I know about bat boars? If I'm going to go after one, I need good knowledge.'

Acacia thought and a person popped up in her head, she left the room and knocked on the boy's room door.

"Jahir! I need something." She waited for a response and the door creaked open, revealing Jahir. His white hair stuck out at odd angles, a blanket was clutched around him, and a frown marred his face.

"You have been getting too comfortable." He said in a low tone rough voice.

"What do you know about bat boars?" She ignored his comment and asked.

"Is that why you woke me up? I think that idiot Kel is rubbing off you." Jahir pinched the bride of his nose and sighed. "They have thick skin, their scream is loud enough to render a person deaf if you are too close. They attack by diving from the sky and slamming their heads against their enemies. Their heads are very strong and are their most powerful weapon. Even though they have poor eyesight during the day, their sense of smell is incredible."

"Hm, thanks." Acacia made a mental note about the facts. She would need to plan something against that annoying scream of theirs.

"Is that all or do you need to disturb me some more?" He asked.

"That's all. Have a good rest." Acacia shook her head and left. Jahir groaned and closed the door. Acacia descended down the stairs and sat down next to Edwin while Maximus was seated in the bean bag, reading his book. There was a peaceful silence for a while before Acacia spoke up.

"Do you prefer your old or new life?"

"I have had a rather negative old life before I moved to Encer. It wasn't all that sweet even when moving here, at least I could be myself but do I prefer it? Not really, the monsters are bothersome and ugly. I have to get my hands dirty to survive but I guess I don't know which one is better." Edwin replied and placed his hand on her hair, braiding it in an absent minded manner.

"You don't know? Don't you feel bad about killing? That everything is so upside down?" Acacia asked as she felt her hair being braided but didn't comment on it.

"Feel bad? I guess I did at one point but I had no choice and I don't think anyone does. I just think of it as defense and call it a day, bothering about unnecessary details is not my thing." Edwin replied casually and continued to braid her hair. She stayed still, her body relaxed at the feeling of his fingers on her scalp. She saw Elric and Bella coming inside from the front door, Bella's face burned crimson but Elric still had his nonchalant expression.

"Where were you for three hours?" Edwin raised a brow as he asked.

"We went to the traders market...for some stuff, nothing important." Bella stuttered over her words as she replied.

"Whatever, just don't get pregnant. I'm not in the mood for a crying infant disturbing my beauty sleep." Edwin rolled his eyes and turned his attention to Acacia's hair. Bella's face burned crimson, a deep scowl twisting her features.

"It's not like that!"

"Sure." Edwin scoffed and directed Acacia to turn her back to him so that he could complete the braiding.

"What's with the racket?" Zephyra emerged from the back door, Kel draped across her back, his arms and legs dangling.

"Bella and our dear Elric." Edwin replied in a mocking tone.

"Huh?" Zephyra looked confused as she noticed the blush on Bella's face.

"When did you plan on telling us about your relationship? You guys aren't subtle at all." Kel peeked his head out from Zephyra's head.

"Wait what? Since when?" Zephyra had a shocked expression on her face.

"I'm not sure but it's definitely been a while." Edwin replied with a thoughtful expression.

"I told you, we are not—" Bella replied but stopped when she felt a hand on her waist.

"It's fine, we don't need to pretend anymore." Elric gently pulled her body closer to his. Both Zephyra and Acacia's mouth dropped open at the boldness while Maximus simply flipped the pages of his book without a care of what was happening.

"Stay still." Edwin turned Acacia's head away from the scene to focus on his work.

"When's the wedding?" Kel suddenly asked.

"There is no wedding," Bella averted her gaze and shifted on her feet.

"Well, I guess you both have my blessings." Zephyra set Kel down to the ground and gave them a thumbs up.

"This is embarrassing." Bella pulled away from Elric and practically ran away towards the girl's room and locked the door behind her.

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"She doesn't act like a woman who is twenty-four sometimes." Edwin commented.

"I didn't take you for the romantic guy." Kel walked towards him, raised his finger and poked his side which made Elric shift away from his touch.

"Enough teasing, we should let them be comfortable with their relationship." Zephyra grabbed Kel by the ear and dragged him away from Elric.

"Fine." Kel reluctantly agreed.

"Now go make dinner," Zephyra gestured him towards the kitchen.

"You guys should really learn how to cook." Kel said as he entered the kitchen.

"There!" Edwin exclaimed with joy as he was done braiding her hair. She ran her fingers through her braided hair, impressed by the neat braiding.

"Zephyra, look at my hair." Acacia gestured to her hair. Zephyra walked over and let out a low whistle at the sight.

"It is pretty," She smiled and ruffled his hair. "Good job."

"Watch the hair." Edwin removed his head from her touch and fixed up his disheveled hair.

Zephyra chuckled and sat down on the couch in-between them. Acacia rested her head on her lap while Elric sat next to Maximus.

"Zephyra, can I follow you to your next raid? I want to catch a bat boar." Acacia decided to ask. She took Zephyra's hands and played with her fingers.

"For what?" Zephyra looked down at her.

"There's a new poison Tosic is selling and I need it, plus, I can finally know how strong I am." Acacia explained while playing with Zephyra's fingers.

"Do you want the poison that badly?" Zephyra tilted her head slightly.

"Mhm, I promise I won't put you or anyone else in danger. I will work on getting it myself." Acacia nodded.

"Me? Danger? You're the one I'm worried about." Zephyra raised a brow. "I don't think you are ready to handle that task yet but if you think you can handle it then sure. I'm going for another raid in two weeks, I'll ask Bella to follow you for safety measures while me and the rest hunt the other monsters."

"Thank you." Acacia smiled up at her. She turned her focus back to her fingers.

Acacia and Zephyra engaged in a different topic while Edwin was busy in his own world as he relaxed on the couch

"Dinner is ready!" Kel yelled out as he merged from the kitchen with an apron on, some burnt marks and food stains. He placed the food on the table and set the plates.

Everyone gathered at the table and sat down in their respective seats, served their food and started to eat.

"Hey, go get Jahir and your girlfriend." Kel nudged his shoulder and smirked. Elric sighed and got up from his seat to get the two. Elric soon came back with Bella towards the table while Jahir had a sluggish gait as he descended from the stairs.

"Hurry! Or else Acacia will eat everything up." Kel waved at Jahir.

"Hey!" Acacia glared at Kel while stuffing her mouth with spoonfuls of rice.

"He is not wrong, you have the appetite of a starved country." Edwin commented.

"That's an exaggeration." Acacia replied before she took a gulp of water from her cup.

Jahir simply shook his head without bothering to speed up his pace. He got to the dining table and sat down at the space left for him.

"Bella and Elric are dating." Kel immediately spoke up. Bella almost choked on her food at his words.

"I'm aware." Jahir replied with disinterest as he took a spoonful of his dinner.

"So everyone was aware but me?" Zephyra muttered to herself.

Laughter and chatter filled the dining room for a good half hour. One by one, the family members excused themselves, leaving Kel and Edwin to the quiet task of washing the dishes. Acacia, seeking the solace of sleep, slipped into her mat after a brief shower, the blanket a warm cocoon against the cool night air.

The next morning, Acacia woke up from her sleep and glanced at the window. The sun was slowly rising up, she groaned at the thought of leaving the comfort of her blanket and decided to sleep a little more.

'Do not even think about it.' Daemonis responded in her head.

'Ugh, you are being so unfair.' Acacia reluctantly sat up on the bed and rubbed her face to get rid of the sleep. 'What happened to you yesterday?'

'Nothing important that should bother you. You cannot lag behind in your training.' Daemonis replied.

'Do you have any idea how suspicious that sounds?' Acacia got up from her mat and walked towards the window, she looked out the window, searching for anything. When she found nothing she turned away from the window, she took a pair of bandages and wrapped her hands with it as she left the room.

She saw Maximus awake on the couch and waved her hand at him while yawning. He waved back which made her smile in return. She stretched her arms up to the air and went out the back door. Her body immediately shuddered at the cold air, a tiny snowflake fell down in front of her. She raised her head to look up at the sky and noticed many more tiny snowflakes falling down.

"It's not even the winter season yet." Acacia said in confusion.

'It is the mana in the air. Since everything had mana after the war, animals evolved, trees and humans evolved but the apocalypse has caused a different kind of evolution and affected the mana with the amount of monsters present.' Daemonis said.

'So our world is evolving again? The animals and plants would have to evolve to accommodate the new change.' Acacia thought as she looked at the snowflakes falling down to the ground.

'Do you know why the monsters came in the first place? Many people said it was because of the sins of mankind and the gods gave us another chance by granting us magic.' Acacia asked and walked towards the punching bag. She folded her fists and landed a punch on the bag.

'...I do, it wasn't because of the sins of mankind but of the sin of a man and the foolishness of a goddess.' Daemonis was silent for a moment before he replied.

'That is a bit too vague. Care to explain?' Another punch from Acacia rocked the punching bag. It recoiled and she retreated a step, then, before it could settle, unleashed another powerful punch.

'No, I will explain more when I feel like it. It's not a memory I wish to uncover at the earliest hour but I will say, the reason monsters flooded the earth was because a goddess died and the way she died and the anomaly she left behind was against the laws of the universe which affected earth. Now punch harder, a child could do a better job.' Daemonis explained for a brief moment and had no intention of diving deeper.

Acacia felt her left index finger twitch at his last sentence and all her interest disappeared in an instant as she focused on landing fast and forceful blows against the punching bag, refusing to let it settle down for a good thirty minutes until she felt her muscles start to ache.

She stepped away from the punching bag and rubbed her arms. She felt the cold grow more prominent by the minute and goosebumps rose in her skin.

'I don't think I can train in this weather.'

'You can and you will, a little cold would not harm you.'

'You are being very pushy today.' Acacia sank to the floor, her breath coming in short bursts, and launched into a set of pushups. Ten push-ups later, she rose, her muscles ached in protest, but a welcome warmth spreading through her limbs despite the chill in the air. She stretched, feeling the heat bloom in her body.

She flexed her back, and her wings snapped open, longer and stronger than she remembered. A quick glance confirmed it: they had grown, seemingly overnight.

"When did you grow?" Acacia fluttered her wings and the force caused some leaves to be blown away.

'The stronger you become, the more your body changes.' Daemonis replied in her head.

"I guess that poison and training had an effect, a pleasant one." She said out loud and couldn't stop her lips from turning into a grin at the sight of her wings.