Nil

I was keeping my eye on my grandparents; they kept staring at me as we walked to the one study. Not sure how to feel about you two yet. I don’t overly like my hair being ruffled. I sat down in the one chair, just looking at my grandparents. I have yet to meet these ones. I wonder what they are like?

“So Senna, what do you mean his is not ?” this grandmother asked.

“He possesses an that is ; it is called . We are still trying to figure out what all it can do, but it has been confirmed to be correct numerous times.” Mom answered. Just a dozen or so times. Wasn’t annoying after the fifth time. Not at all.

“Who verified it?” my grandfather asked.

“Nez and Grand Archmagus Solomon, several times each.” Mom explained. Several. Yes. Only several.

“That is interesting. Can he demonstrate a unique to it?” my grandmother requested innocently. Now we’re talking.

“NO!” my mom snapped quickly while glaring at me. I looked at her with my best puppy dog eyes acting hurt. Come on!

“I didn't mean it like that dear. I just don’t want you to hurt yourself with your again.” Mom explained. It’s been, a while since I’ve done that; between you and Luna it’s hard to find the time to test new because they are ‘mildly problematic’ as you both say.

“Is that a frequent occurrence?” my grandfather inquired, giving me a concerned stare.

“He has no idea how to hold back enough, so he keeps taking too much . We have been working on his and so it is not as problematic.” my mom replied. And it upsets Luna if I push it too much. She makes sure her displeasure is known.

“Are you worried about finding someone he can marry with his level?” my grandmother asked.

Marriage? I am seven right now you crazy demon. I thought to myself.

“He’s seven, Mom! And I am sure he will find someone one day. Arranged marriages are not that common of a practice anymore.” Mom retorted. I was worried there for a second.

“He is the Crown Prince. Finding someone with a high for strong heirs will take time.” my grandmother replied. Currently, I was not a fan of her.

What are they talking about? Falling in love is a fantasy. I thought to myself.

“Mom, the Imperial Family of Speranza does not select marriage partners by . When he finds someone, he finds someone.” Mom retorted in an annoyed tone.

“I am just saying, finding someone suitable takes time.” My grandmother defended herself.

Love is a delusion. is forever. I thought to myself.

My mom just sighed in response; this was clearly a pointless effort. The two of them bickered back and forth about several other topics. What kind of demon gets engaged as a child? Luna might be able to give me insight; she’s knowledgeable on this sort of thing. I was zoning out, debating whether I should fight Lux. Then something that did catch my attention was mentioned.

“So, when is he meeting Crown Prince Ekard?” my grandmother asked. Who is that?

“Crown Prince Ekard will be coming to attend the birthday celebration and will arrive a few days early.” Mom answered. I was getting to meet someone new?

“Who is Crown Prince Ekard?” I inquired. Is he my age?

“He is the Crown Prince of the Entente Kingdoms. He is a dragon Beastkin.” Mom explained. THAT SOUNDS AWESOME!

“How old is he?” I asked. Interesting.

“About four weeks older than you.” Mom informed me. I might actually get a new friend!

“Neat.” I replied. I wonder what Beastkin are like? I know Orga, but she’s generally not happy at Lux and I for our fun. ‘That’s not what I taught you for!’ as she likes to say.

“Are you going to give him some formal fighting lessons beforehand?” my grandmother asked. Now my interest is piqued again. Uncle Nox has shown me some , and how to use my sword.

“No. He fights Lux regularly.” Mom replied. So, there are other lessons. I wonder what the difference is.

“Why would I need fighting lessons?” I checked. Am I expected to duel with him?

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“Usually, the two Crown Princes spar with each other.” my grandmother answered, and my mom glared at her. Why hide that?

“That sounds fun!” I cheered. My mom started rubbing the bridge of her nose. That’s her irritated face.

“We did not want to tell him that fact.” Mom snapped at my grandmother.

“Why not?” I asked. Don’t I need to be ready? Or are they that confident I’ll win?

“Because you and Lux already fight and spar enough as it is. We do not want you escalating it further.” Mom explained.

You removed the hiatus on that last year, but we do like sparring. Why would she think I would fight more knowing a fight was coming up? I thought to myself.

“Do those two fight that much?” my grandfather asked. Depends on who you ask. And Mom is definitely going to say yes.

“A lot. At least once a day.” Mom answered. Called it.

“We don’t fight that much.” I replied, maintaining my innocent face.

“You are correct, you two spar at least once a day. It is not fighting.” Mom corrected herself with a dry voice, slightly glaring at me. It was the stare that said now is not the time.

“Senna, out of curiosity, can I spar with Nil? I am curious.” my grandfather requested. Yes!

Do you want to Nil? Mom checked. Oh yes! I might get to use my fun !

Can I try my fun ? I inquired. Please say yes. Please say yes.

If I say yes, will you avoid causing severe damage to yourself? Mom pressed. Yes, Luna gets annoyed when I hurt myself.

Yes. I promised. I also don’t like being hurt.

“That will be fine, but there is one condition. It will be in one of the underground training areas.” Mom replied. Fair enough.

My grandparents looked confused. Good, good. The element of surprise works for me. Do I try and mess with time? Do I try and practice my ? Why not both? MWAHAHAHAHA. This was going to be fun. Maybe cool it on the time portion, that does cause a massive strain. We went down to the underground training areas. I took a spot across from my grandfather, who seemed amused by my giddiness. My mom signaled for us to begin. I immediately cast . Under normal circumstances, I was strictly forbidden from using this . Of course I am starting with it. My grandfather’s eyes went wide as he dodged the attack. . . Two more . I love being able to . The area was shaking from the impacts. My still feels good. My grandfather was sick of being on the defensive, so started to attack me. Time to try this out. I activated my , and tried slowing down time, instead of trying to stop it. I could feel I had the correct this time and could easily see my grandfather’s movement. From what I could tell, I did not need my to use this, but it certainly made it easier.

I dodged to the side and aimed a directly into his ribcage. My is being consumed way too fast. I might have gotten overzealous with the . I was maintaining like I did against Orga, so I could sense what was coming, but it just was not coming together. I need to practice this more; my body still can’t fully move to what I see. After dodging a few more attacks, my was screaming for me to stop using this. It was pretty difficult to slow time and use a different at the same time. I could feel the strain on my body and mind. It’s so intensive to maintain. I had maybe one or two more left in me. Or just . My grandfather tried kicking me again, which I easily dodged. He is clearly holding back enough to make this fair; too bad I am not exactly caring about fair.

was a fun , as it was the name of two that had been developed separately with similar effects. The first was a pocket dimension to put yourself and another person in. That was beyond what my could currently sustain. I want to make my own version. Or just be able to cast it without nearly dying to the . The other was to tear a hole in space and weaponize the energy it unleashed. With glee, I used and launched the energy into him. Grandfather’s eyes went wide in surprise as he barely dodged out of the way, putting up a protective barrier to stop it from connecting. After that, I was done. I immediately cut all my and about collapsed. My mom quickly caught me and checked. I did not horrifically injure myself. This is progress. Just went overzealous with my . My grandfather was staring at me with an expression I did not recognize.

“He is seven?” my grandfather inquired, looking like he didn’t believe it.

“Yes.” Mom answered, content that I did indeed, not hurt myself.

“What have you all been teaching him?” my grandfather asked, giving Mom a bit of a dirty look. A part of me wanted to answer , but I stopped myself.

“, , , and controlling his . Other than that, he just torments Helga and spars Lux.” Mom answered with a shrug.

“What a monster.” my grandmother observed. Hey.

“Do not call him a monster. He is precocious.” Mom snapped at her.

“I see the lack of concern about the upcoming spar.” my grandfather told my mom.

“I am gonna win.” I told my mom. Slightly delirious from the lack of .

“I believe in you dear.” Mom comforted me, making sure I did not collapse.

“Lux is next.” I slurred. Note to self, lack of makes you delirious. What happens if I exert a large amount at once that doesn’t almost kill me?

“Of course, dear. I am just glad you stopped before you caused severe harm to yourself.” Mom praised me. You are the best mother I have ever had.

“I think I have a solution to the problem of his immense talent.” my grandfather chimed in.

“What?” Mom asked. That’s the tone reserved for my Uncle Nox.

“How long are the lessons he has right now?” my grandfather checked. What’s he getting at?

“About three hours.” Mom answered, not following.

“I think if you used eight-hour lessons, alternating between theory and practical.” my grandfather explained. No! Why?!

“That is a bit long for a child.” Mom replied, sighing a bit. Thank you.

“How else are you going to focus and hone that much talent? I am assuming you did not want him to go to school because of what he would accidentally do to his classmates.” my grandfather retorted. That might have been brought up before.

“I will consider it. He is still a child.” Mom conceded.

I was brought to my room and laid down on my bed to take a nap. I gladly obliged. I was still on the fence about this set of grandparents. It was fun being able to use my more seriously. I still need to make my body stronger. It can barely handle the strain at this point. It was fine, as I still had plenty of time to work on it.