Growth

September 28th, 1809.

Seven months had passed, since Xavier began training in mastering RealmHeart. And it was now almost the end of the year, closing to his birthday.

In his RealmHeart state, Xavier gradually let it fade. Turning to Alcmena, who had been watching, he said, "I've finally mastered it. Staying in my RealmHeart state now takes much less energy and focus."

"But I still hate the fact it took me this long to finally master this transformation".

Alcmena, still eating, retorted, "Well, it took that long because your body needed time to adjust to absorbing more ethereal energy than it has been receiving for years now."

He then paused before adding with a smirk, "But don't get upset about how long it took to master RealmHeart. Just like metal needs to be folded countless times to forge a mighty blade, you needed time to achieve the perfect balance of strength and resilience."

Xavier sighed, then asked, "Fine. But now that I have mastered RealmHeart, will you finally teach me the other stages you said existed, of it?".

Remembering that he did say that to Xavier, Alcmena responded, "Oh yeah, that!".

"Let's leave achieving the other stages of RealmHeart for now, and focus on you learning my abilities first".

Hearing that, Xavier exclaimed, "Finally! Did it really have to take you this long to finally teach me those abilities of yours?".

A bit embarrassed, Alcmena replied, "Oh shut it kid. The only reason it took me this long to teach you my abilities, was because you first needed to access RealmHeart by command before you could use my powers".

"So quite winning you annoying brat!", Alcmena exclaimed still embarrassed.

Xavier chuckled as he watched Alcmena's puzzled expression, teasing her with another question, "So, are you finally going to teach me how to wield the powers of Excalibur?"

Alcmena looked at him, bewildered. "What do you mean, teach you? You've already used Excalibur's powers?".

Xavier froze, confusion washing over him. "Wait, what do you mean I've already used Excalibur's powers?"

Alcmena replied, "Do you remember your fight against that bandit leader?"

"Yeah?", Xavier answered.

"Well, in those final moments, before you wiped out those bandits like they were nothing, you somehow managed to activate Excalibur's main abilities. That's why it suddenly started glowing so intensely, and you heard that church bell ringing out of nowhere.", Alcmena continued.

"What, really?!", Xavier exclaimed in pure excitement.

"Yes", Alcmena replied. "And to clarify, the ability you used was, if I remember correctly, Heroes Residual".

"Heroes Residual?", Xavier questioned. "What does it do?".

Alcmena responded calmly, "To explain it in simple terms, Heroes Residual grants the wielder of Excalibur, the power to overcome any obstacle in their path. This ability is so potent that it can even alter the course of time, warp fate, and reshape reality itself—all driven by the user's desire to conquer the challenges before them."

"That's so cool!", Xavier exclaimed, jaw dropping to the floor.

"I know right?", Alcmena commented, visually amazed by Excalibur's powers. "Since it was forged by the great Ulfberht, the Father of Blades, using the Boundless powers of the Absolute One. It's only normal that the most powerful ethereal instrument to ever exist would have such a powerful ability".

"However the one downside of Heroes Residual is that it relies heavily on your strong willpower and drive to overcome the challenge before you. So if you can't meet those requirements, you will be unable to use Heroes Residual".

"That's a very heavy drawback", Xavier replied a bit bummed out.

Alcmena, looking intently at Xavier, said, "Don't worry about the challenges ahead. Your willpower is unmatched, far beyond that of others your age."

"I believe in you," he continued, his voice filled with conviction. "Not only will you be able to unlock the near-omnipotent power of Calibourne itself, but you will also harness the Dragon Seed—the source of all my powers within you."

Picking up Alcmena with his two hands, Xavier smiled and said to him, "You have a lot of confidence in me Master".

"Of course I do!", Alcmena retorted. "You are my faithful student after all".

Xavier smirked, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "Do you have anything else your forgetful mind wishes to tell me, gramps?".

Alcmena, flustered by the taunt, snapped back scratching Xavier's face with his flaws, "Gramps?! I'm only 275 million years old! I'm not that old, you annoying brat!"

Xavier burst out laughing, saying, "Relax Master! I'm just joking around".

To which Alcmena irritated, said, "You better be, you punk!".

Regaining his composure, Alcmena stated to Xavier, "Anyways, other than some sub-abilities that Excalibur has, Heroes Residual is the only main power that is of importance to the user".

"Although I can't really do much to teach you how to use Heroes Residual, since it is only empowered by your willpower".

"But as my role as your Master, I will do my best to help you use the mighty powers of Excalibur properly".

Xavier smiled brightly, saying to Alcmena, "I'm counting on your Master!".

After allowing Xavier an hour's rest to regain his stamina, Alcmena abruptly woke him from his deep sleep, insisting they resume training.

Rubbing his eyes slowly, Xavier groaned, "Ugh, Master, my body aches. I don't think I can keep going anymore."

"Stop whining, brat!", Alcmena replied annoyed.

"But why are you so eager to get me to train so much? I haven't even yet gotten passed my green-mastered, expert core stage", Xavier continued.

Taking a deep sigh, Alcmena explained to Xavier, "Kid I'm doing this for your own good".

"My own good?", Xavier questioned.

"Yes! What else would it be for?", Alcmena replied. "First of all, you can barely even use those vector powers of yours, and you haven't yet grasped a fracture of the great powers of Excalibur and your Dragon seed".

"You don't have to be so rude about it, Master", Xavier said a bit hurt. "So what do you want to teach me so badly to wake me up in just a short time?".

"You sure do have a big mouth, huh?", Alcmena retorted. "Anyways, what I want to teach you is one of the most powerful abilities that I possess".

"What is it?", Xavier eagerly said as he awaited for Alcmena to tell him what this power was.

"Why do you look so excited kid?", Alcmena said to an excited Xavier. "Ain't you the one who was complaining about me not having to teach you my powers yet?".

With his excitement fading away, Xavier expressed, "Why are you always so mean to me...".

"Shut it". Alcmena responded coldly.

"Meannie", Xavier retorted puffing up his cheeks like a flamingo.

Returning to her point, Alcmena said to Xavier, "Now, back to what I was saying. Since you have the Dragon Seed and can access all my powers and abilities as my vessel, you've finally met the requirements for me to teach you everything about my powers, especially now that you've recently mastered RealmHeart."

"To begin with, my powers are called Astral Sovereignty. This ability grants me command over all celestial and fundamental forces that exist within the known universe."

"Like space, gravity, quantum forces, cosmic constructs, dark matter and energy, and so on".

"Astral Sovereignty? That's an awesome name, Master!", Xavier exclaimed in amazement.

To which Alcmena smirked proudly, continuing this explanation, "There is a reason why they call me the Grand Herrscher of the Cosmic Realms".

Regaining his composure, Alcmena continued, "Anyways, the ability I wanted you to learn using Astral Sovereignty, is Blackhole or I like to call it, Blackstar Authority".

"You sure love giving your abilities cool name, huh Master?", Xavier joked with a smirk.

Trying his best to ignore Xavier's taunts, Alcmena added, "Just by the name of the ability alone, you know what it does. And the reason I wanted you to learn this first, was because of how versatile it is and how you will first need it to easily learn the other abilities I possess".

Alcmena then instructed Xavier to assume a meditative position. Once Xavier was settled, Alcmena guided him to activate RealmHeart. As Xavier focused, Alcmena urged him to feel the energy flowing around him and to visualize condensing all that energy into a single point in space.

Xavier attempted again and again, but each time he failed miserably. Despite his repeated efforts and refusal to give up, the outcome remained unchanged: space would begin to warp slightly, only for a faint spark to appear, abruptly ending the entire process.

"Why can't I do it?", Xavier wondered to himself a bit discouraged.

While sitting on Xavier's head, Alcmena gently slapped Xavier's face with his paw, deconstructing him, and advised, "Don't push over thing it kid".

"It's normal to struggle when you're starting something new," Alcmena reassured him. "Take it slow, okay?"

"Okay," Xavier replied, his voice a bit subdued.

Suddenly, out of the blue, Violet entered the training grounds, her happiness radiating as her smile lit up the entire space.

Without hesitation, she ran straight to Xavier, wrapping him in a tight embrace, her face beaming with joy like an excited puppy.

"What's up... Sis?", Xavier greeted, as he struggled to breathe. "Is everything alright?".

"Everything's all great!", Violet responded, squicing Xavier tighter. "I was just looking for you, and heard from Miss Anastasia, that you were training in the training grounds".

"Ah, I see", Xavier said as he wiggled his way out of Violet's abnormal strength.

Spotting Alcmena, Violet scooped him up and hugged him tightly, squealing, "Ark, you're so adorable!"

Trying to avoid suspicion, Alcmena nervously pretended to be an ordinary cat, letting out a hesitant meow. This only made Violet adore him even more, her affection growing by the second.

"I always wondered where you wound him, Xavier", Violet asked, Alcmena being in her absurd grip.

To which Xavier answered, hesitantly lying, "I found him during my visit around the city of Moscow".

Violet quickly saw through Xavier's lie; she knew her little brother too well. Being someone who dislikes lying, Xavier only did so when he had a good reason. Sensing this, she chose not to press him further and quietly moved on from the question.

Slowly and gently rubbing Alcmena's fur, which he greatly adored as a cat, Violet calmly said to Xavier, with a voice hidden with a bit of worry, "You sure like training a lot like your brother, huh?".

"Of course!", Xavier replied. "How else will I achieve my dream of becoming a strong and powerful paladin-knight, like the Great Hero, Saint Sebastien?".

Knowing that her worries would only hinder Xavier from achieving the goal he desired, Violet took a deep sigh, gently petting Xavier's hair and saying, "In that case little brother, I hope you do become a paladin-knight".

"Because I know and trust in you, that you can achieve that goal of yours".

Blushing a bit from the sudden encouragement from his elder sister, Xavier smiled brightly, beaming with joy, and replied, "Thank you very much, Big Sis".

With a sudden burst of inspiration, Violet proposed an idea to Xavier. She suggested they have a little sparring match, so she could grasp just how much he had progressed in strength and skill.

Xavier reluctantly accepted the idea, even though he knew just how absurdly strong his older sister, Violet, was.

After a few minutes of preparation, Violet got dressed in a more appropriate outfit for her sparring against Xavier. And wielding her two powerful weapons, The shield of Achilles and Mighty Lancelot, a long and mighty lance.

"What are those?", Xavier questioned, noticing the weapons Violet wielded.

"Oh, these?" Violet replied with a smile. "They're my ethereal instruments, a gift from Grandpa. These weapons once belonged to our grandmother, Svetlana Ivanovich."

"That's awesome!", Xavier said utterly captivated by them.

With Excalibur in hand, Xavier slowly unsheathed it, releasing a powerful and immense divine aura, that covered the whole training ground.

"That's a powerful weapon you've got there, little brother", Violet jokingly commented, as she sensed the absurd divine force terminating from Excalibur.

Xavier laughed awkwardly, and replied, lying yet again, "Haha, yeah! I bought it from an auction that was held not too long ago".

"Wait really?", Violet exclaimed baffled, even though she knew it was a lie. "I never thought you were the type to attend auctions, little brother".

Smiling nervously, Xavier responded, "I was just curious as to what they had in the auction".

Taking up her weapon, Mighty Lancelot, Violet advised Xavier to prepare himself, as they were about to begin their sparing.

As the room plunged into a tense silence, Xavier and Violet locked eyes, each anticipating the other's first move.

Thinking to himself, Xavier pondered, "I'm unable to properly use my vector shield to protect myself from big Sis's attacks, nor can I use RealmHeart, which could cause my sister to bombard me with endless questions. So my best bet is to try and not get hit...".

As Xavier pondered over his thoughts, Violet suddenly and instantaneously appeared behind him. The swift appearance caught Xavier off guard, and before he could fully react, she delivered a powerful strike with her lance. Xavier barely managed to block the blow, but the force sent him hurtling across the training ground.

Dazed, Xavier staggered to his feet, wiping the blood trickling from his nose. Violet smirked and remarked, "Quick reflexes, little brother. I'm impressed."

With a nervous laugh, Xavier clutched his throbbing left arm, the pain shooting through him like electricity. "That was a low blow, Sis," he muttered.

"Distractions can be deadly Xavier. Even in a sparring match," Violet replied, her tone firm.

Xavier steadied himself, raising Excalibur with a determined grin. "Ready when you are," he declared confidently.

"That's the sounds, little brother!", Violet replied enthusiastically.

Violet and Xavier immediately dashed toward each other, their weapons clashing with such force that a powerful shockwave erupted, blasting everything away.

Meanwhile, Alcmena calmly observed from the sidelines, wearing shades and lounging on a lavish chair, casually eating grapes as if the intense battle before him was mere entertainment.