Aftermath

Iono explained to his parents what exactly happened in the dungeon. He didn't reveal the techniques he used nor the actual power of the boss, in order to not arouse suspicion nor scare his parents.

Yusef had a good idea of what happened by simply watching the aftermath of the battle. But hearing it from Iono's mouth left, even him, startled.

Iono told them that the Boss was barely at the Energy Gathering realm, but it still made both of them tremble.

Yusef saw all of the corpses that littered the scene and even inspected the precisely-slashed corpse of the boss, but given that the core collapses with death, he had no way to confirm its actual strength.

Listening to Iono explain how he defeated an Energy Gathering Dungeon Boss, while in Cell Reverberation, made his boots shake.

This was the might of Prana!

After listening to his story, Anna and Yusef exchanged a meaningful glance, and both sighed with emotion.

Their kid was simply too reckless!

After Anna inspected Iono for any hidden wounds once again, they moved to the dining room to enjoy their breakfast.

The meal was eaten in silence.

Both parents were in deep thought about what the future of their child would be, when suddenly there was a knock on the door.

Anna wiped her hands on her white apron and got up to open it.

The moment the door opened, a very cheerful and giddy Clarissa run inside the room, yelling,

"Gooooood morninggggg!", as an innocent smile hung on her childish face.

She was wearing a simple brown dress, that was torn in many places, and two worn-out shoes covered her tiny feet.

But when she turned around and saw the mood of the family, the smile disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

"Clarissa! What have I told you about being quiet in the morning!?", her mother reprimanded.

And then she also sensed the heavy atmosphere of the room and shut up.

Anna forced a smiled and said,

"Welcome Clarissa, Rosette. We were just enjoying breakfast. Please, join us."

"Thank you, Anna ...", Rosette replied, a bit reluctantly.

This past few days the two families have gotten familiar with one another, they have been eating meals together, doing housework and even spending quality time together. Coming over for breakfast was a common occurrence.

Then, both mother and daughter noticed Iono quietly eating, deep in thought.

"Young master! You're awake! Thank the heavens!", Rosette exclaimed.

"Iono! Thank god; you're okay...", Clarissa said sighing in relief.

This puzzled Iono, as he thought that he didn't sleep for that long.

His father noticed his confusion and explained,

"Monkey, you were out for three days..."

Iono's eyes went wide in disbelief.

"Three days!? Is that how much of a toll God-Class Arts have on my body!? I should refrain from using them unless in critical situations...I'm too weak... But now my mother's worry makes much more sense...", he said and turned to look at his mother, and noticed that she was also looking at him. She realized he didn't know he slept for so long.

"Yes, I am okay. Thank you for worrying. I just pushed myself to the limits again.", he replied with a smile.

Seeing Iono, Rosette got a basic understanding of the situation and guessed the reason the room was so gloomy.

Clarissa on other hand was utterly ignorant, and rushed to Iono's side, sitting to the chair next to him.

"How are you feeling? Does it hurt anywhere?", she asked him with the innocence of a child.

Iono looked at the cheerful, little brunette and smiled.

"No I feel fine, don't worry about me. What about you? What have you been up to these days?", he asked, trying to take some of the gloominess away.

"I have so much to tell you! The other day, me and mom-....", and Clarissa went on to speak about her adventures in the last couple of days.

Everyone else was silent, listening to the little girl, and slowly forgetting about the incident.

They enjoyed their breakfast in peace ...

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In the afternoon, Iono and Yusef put the final details on the house they were making for Clarissa and Rosette.

It was a simple stone cottage, with wooden floors and windows. It was painted white and the colour of the wood was a dark brown. It was wood that Iono had cut down deep in the forest. It came from Dark Oak trees, but because they were so deep in the forest, they had absorbed energy, making them more sturdy and less prone to rot. Flowers decorated the windows and front porch.

When mother and daughter saw the house, they were left speechless.

"I really have no way to express my gratitude for this, Yusef. If me and my daughter can be of any help, please do not hesitate to ask for anything.", Rosette said sincerely.

"It really wasn't that much work, especially for us Brawlers. Do not worry and live happily, I owe that to Richard...", he said with a sigh.

Although a cold-blooded Goblin Lord, that rose from the bottom through countless hardships, Yusef was surprisingly kind and thoughtful. Of course, Anna played a big role, but it also said a lot about his character and spirit.

Mother and Daughter spend the rest of the day moving into the house. They gathered the little money they had and bought some furniture and utilities that they needed. After realising that they were still dirt poor, Rosette decided that with the Rosenbloods watching Clarissa she could actually work, and make some money. Therefore, the next morning she headed into the village to find a job.

Clarissa on the other hand, spend the day with Anna and Iono. Iono was forbidden any training until his injuries truly healed and Anna put any work aside to make sure he recovers. With Clarissa's help, they gathered herbs and prepared some medical concoctions for Iono to drink.

"Hey, Iono... When you feel better, do you think we can start training like you promised?", Clarissa said, a bit reluctantly.

This fell on Anna's ears and she turned to stare at her child. Was he really going to train Clarissa?

Iono noticed his mother's stare and smiled ruefully.

"Sure, why not? Come see me tomorrow in the morning. We'll have breakfast and then head to the fields.", he said with a smile. The snotty brat that he had found so annoying, was starting to grow on him.

Clarissa eyes glistened like stars and her smiled reached her ears.

"Hooray! Thank you, Iono!", she said and run to hug him.

This startled him, and he almost pushed her away. But before he could, he felt a chill running down his spine; he turned around he saw his mother glaring at him. Unable to complain, he just let it happen.

Clarissa then left the Rosenblood residence as her mother was coming home any minute now.

Anna watched the little girl leave and turned to stare at her son.

"So... Are you, really, going to train her?", she asked.

Iono heard her and stiffened a bit. "Yes, she asked me a while back and I promised I would. Honestly, I have no time to train her, but her eyes were too earnest for me to say no.", he replied.

"Plus, I was afraid of what you would do to me if I said no...", he said turning his head away and mumbling the words so his mother couldn't hear.

Too bad for him, she was a High-Class Sorcerer.

Her glare darkened,

"Excuse me, my dear boy, are you dissatisfied with the way I do things?", she said calmly. Well, at least her voice was calm because her eyes were saying otherwise.

Iono twitched and shook his head,

"No, ma'am!".

"That's what I thought...", her face now returned to the loving expression she always held looking at her son.

"Make sure you take care of that girl. She is one of the few people that accept you for who you are, even if it's childlike innocence. Honey, I would love to tell you that people will love you no matter what you are, but this world is very cruel, and my duty as your mother is to protect you from that cruelty. Therefore, when you encounter people that embrace the fact that you are different, make sure to hold on to them as much as you can, because they are rare.", she said brushing his hair, and holding his cheek.

"Yes, mom. Don't worry, I will.", he said hugging his mother tightly.

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-Next morning

-Grassland outside the village.

The sun was just rising from the east, illuminating the valley. The remainder of the coldness of night swiped through the grass, making it dance to its music.

In the middle of the field, an adolescent green boy, and a small brunette girl were standing opposite of one another.

The boy wore simple, red, buggy trousers, and a white top, that revealed his still-unrefined muscles. His hair was long, tied in a bun, with only a few strands gracefully falling on his face, like ivory vines.

The girl, who was almost a head shorter than the boy, wore a simple brown dress, torn in many places. Her face was filled with childhood innocence, and her eyes screamed excitement.

"Alright Clarissa, let's start with the basics of the basics. First of all, do you know what energy is?", Iono asked.

"Mm...", she said placing her index finger on her chin, seemingly in thought.

"I think so, it's that thing that makes you strong right!?", she said, full of excitement.

"Well... You're not wrong, but no. See, energy is-...", and Iono went on to explain everything about Aura, Mana, Ether, cores, arts and so on.

She gave her a basic understanding of what she needs to do to become stronger.

"Now that you have a basic understanding, I want to check whether or not your channels have opened. This usually happens around the age of six, and it happens naturally. Therefore, relax your body, close your eyes, and listen to my instructions.", Iono said.

Clarissa nodded, and closed her eyes.

Iono walked behind her, and placed his hand on her back.

He closed his eyes. Slowly and gently, he introduced small amounts of energy into her body.

It was important to do it gently. If a body that hasn't even entered Foundation were to be introduced to energy without constraint, it would, literally, blow up. Untrained bodies were unable to withstand pure energy.

As the energy entered her body, it disappeared without a trace. This gave Iono hope, because it meant that the energy was absorbed somewhere.

Slowly and steadily, energy entered her body. Clarissa had a very comfortable feeling wash through it. A peaceful smile hang on her face.

Suddenly, the energy Iono was introducing, became unsettled. The rate of absorption increased by a large margin. Iono opened his eyes, and what he saw in front of him left him wide-eyed.

"What the-..."