@3

"WHAT?" Lily screamed, astounded.

"I awakened!" Raymond smirked at Lily's surprised expression. He, too, had been very surprised when he had succeeded in refining his magic pool a few hours ago.

He was excited and exhilarated. A feeling, a belief, coursed through his veins that he would succeed in awakening after he had killed a prime beast all by himself; however, he had never expected it to be on the first try.

Raymond was feeling incredibly proud, elated even, but at the same time, he was also very relieved. He was relieved that he did not have to go through that hellish fight with his aunt and relieved that he was not to be the black sheep of his family anymore. He would no longer have to put on a face of false bravado for his family, but more importantly, he could hold his head high in front of Miranda and not feel unworthy of his larger than life cousin.

This new feeling of worthiness and achievement was alien to him. For as long as he could remember, he had been living in the shadows of his sister and cousins, all of whom were exceptionally talented. It showed on his face, the triumphant jubilation, when he moved towards his sister.

"Fantastic!" Lily wrapped her arms around him and kissed his lips; her whole being radiated of unbridled joy.

"Yeah..."

Raymond found it hard to say anything else. The morning was still a little surreal to him. He felt as if he was on top of the world. He wanted to shout at the top of his lungs, wanted to run around screaming, however, he controlled himself, wary of any prime beasts lurking by in the vicinity of the cave.

A little earlier, Raymond had run inside to tell her, but when he saw the peaceful sleeping face of his lovely twin, he decided to wait. Now, he couldn't hold back his grin seeing the slightly shocked and joyous face of Lily.

It was quite satisfying to see her react in this manner. Lily rarely, if ever, showed such intense reactions of surprise and joy. Though after last night, when she had quite literally rocked his world, he wanted to see more of it, much more.

An eager Lily asked, "attribute?"

"Hah, it would have been nice if it was the fire element, even wind would be fine..." Raymond sighed heavily, "well, whatever, at least I've awakened." His voice was full of regrets. He sighed some more, lamenting the fact that he didn't awaken the fire element. He kept staring at the ground as if he was ashamed to have awakened such a "weak" element. "It's the earth element," he mumbled, barely audible.

"Huh?"

"I- I don't mean that it's bad..." Raymond realized it as soon as he spoke that he was in trouble. He seemed to have insulted the earth element right in the face of Lily, an earth element awakened warrior. "... I just like fire more." He added in a low voice.

"Oh!?" Lily replied to his words in a cold manner. Her earlier elation seemed to have suddenly cooled down considerably.

"Ahh..." Raymond was starting to get scared by the ominous glare on Lily's face. He was used to the one-word answers from his quiet twin, but seldom had she been so cold to him. Thinking that he may have implied something horrible, he tried to justify himself. "...I don't mean I like Rose better than you. I just-"

He suddenly jumped back, his hands covered his mouth. He was terrified by the intense glare of Lily. For a moment, he thought his life was forfeit. Fuck! Just stop talking! He could not believe the words coming out of his mouth. Comparing Lily with Rose, after the events of last night, was just asking for trouble. He cursed at his own stupidity and his habit of putting his foot in his mouth at the most inopportune of times.

"So- Sorry," he muttered in a low voice, wearing an incredibly guilty look on his face. After a few seconds of awkward silence, he apologized again and again, and only stopped when he saw her nod.

"How did you do it?" Lily asked, referring to his awakening.

"It just happened," Raymond blurted out.

...

Lily frowned when she heard his response. She could see the obvious relief on his face as the topic of their conversation shifted to his awakening. Since childhood, she had watched him put his foot in his mouth countless times and knew when to overlook his words to spare him from further embarrassment. She knew him and his habits. Because of this, she decided not to take his gaffe too seriously. And after that wonderful night, she just didn't want to put any additional pressure on him to be or act differently.

"Congrats!" Lily said and dropped it there, unwilling to pursue it at the moment. She was more interested in his awakening and how it had happened. The only reason she could think of was his fight with the prime beast, but she doubted it was enough on its own. Nevertheless, she ignored the reservations in the back of her mind, much too excited to think deeply about them.

She leaned forward and lightly mashed his lips with her own. Raymond was emboldened by this display of sweet affection; he pulled her to him tightly and kissed her deeply with his tongue teasing her lips. He slowly moved his hands down from her waist to her ass.

Lily, though, swiftly pushed him away when he tried to get inside her trousers. "Not... now," she said.

"Oh, yeah!?"

Raymond smiled at Lily's slightly blushing face. He again tried to pull her in for a kiss, unable to suppress his growing arousal. Lily escaped from his grasp, which wasn't a particularly difficult thing. Raymond had just awakened his attribute. He had only evolved his magic pool once. Whereas Lily had awakened her attribute for more than 7 years. There was no comparison in their strength.

"Show me..."

Raymond grinned at her comment. He started to unbutton his pants. Lily was shocked by his shamelessness and silently cursed his lust addled brain. She quickly tripped him before he could actually take them off.

"Focus!"

...

Raymond sighed at her serious expression. He resigned himself to the fact that it wasn't the time for fooling around just yet. He was feeling happy and horny; however, she didn't seem to share his mood. Taking a deep breath, he composed himself and then circulated his mana from his magic pool.

After Raymond was successful in his attempt to evolve his magic pool, he could instinctively tell the difference in strength between his current awakened state and his previously half-awakened self. He had never practiced any spells, so he was still unable to test out his power properly; yet, he was sure his physical strength had skyrocketed. It took his body nearly two hours to assimilate the new power and, during which, he could feel his bones getting strengthened as well as his muscles.

Raymond walked to a nearby boulder. The boulder came up to his knees and looked quite heavy. He steadied himself and punched out with full force. The boulder shattered into little pieces under his strength.

He turned back and smirked at Lily, who was staring at his display with round eyes, "not bad huh?"

...

Lily paused to glance at him and then turned forward. She nonchalantly lifted her hand, and suddenly, a nearby boulder of similar size turned to dust without a single sound. She smiled at him, gloating about her own prowess. Though she had tried earlier to look past his comments about the ability of the earth element, she was a bit dissatisfied, and it was just another way to remind him not to underestimate anyone or anything. There were a lot of different awakened warriors with various abilities, and any one of them could be deadlier than the next.

Raymond's eyes bugged out, and his jaw hung loose. He ran up to her, stared into her eyes and pleaded, "teach me!"

Lily, who was gazing at his stupefied face, broke into a giggle. She felt amused when Raymond repeated the same words she had said to him the previous day but, very obviously, in a whole different context. When she recalled the way she had behaved, a blush crept on her face. She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the shameful memories where she acted like a hussy for her twin brother.

"Alright."

...

Raymond was oblivious to all the thoughts going through Lily's head. He was much more worried about his lack of power and wanted to improve as quickly as he could. He shivered in pleasure as he imagined himself crushing boulders into dust just by lifting his hands. Soon, he thought to himself.

He knew everyone in his family was incredibly powerful and didn't doubt that they had always been hiding the extent of their strength from him so that he wouldn't get depressed from his own lack of ability. It was good that they did that... I don't think I could have held out if I knew the real divide between them and me. Now that I think about it, it's beyond conceited how I thought that I could beat Rose in the spar...

While he was still lost in his own world, he heard Lily giggle. He frowned at her and whined, "Come on!"

He clapped his hands to gain her attention, very much eager to start his spell training. "What are you waiting for?"

"Nothing."

...

Lily got excited when she saw his eagerness to learn. She, too, wanted him to learn spell casting as soon as possible. It would be for the best if he learned to protect himself in the upcoming uncertain times. It was always a concern, his carefree attitude, and her heart had nearly stopped yesterday when she saw him covered in blood from head to toe.

The sooner he gets stronger, the better it will be for all of us...

The war between Zekovia and Kyrgstan worried her much more than she had let on. Different to her clueless brother and Rose, her not so intelligent cousin, she did not fancy the public opinion that the people from the Eastern Continent were just "barbarians". If the war had really been instigated by the Eastern Continent, then there were a lot of reasons to be wary of them.

The why and how of the matter was still an unknown factor, and if there was one thing that she absolutely abhorred in the whole world, it was the unknown. Even Suzanne, her all-powerful aunt, was far more worried than she'd let on. Otherwise, there was no way she would have arrived in such a hurry, already resolved to resort to fight and hurt her 'Sweetie' so as to hasten his awakening.

"Okay, first of all..." Lily's tone was somber as she collected her thoughts. Now wasn't the time for thinking about the war. She had to focus on the task at hand. Raymond, as a half-awakened warrior, knew how to partially manifest mana. However, to completely manifest magic out of one's body was not that easy, and it was only the initial step for casting spells. Though there were cases where many awakened had learned to do it on the first try, she was not expecting the same from Raymond.

Considering how Raymond had trained for combat, the wind element would have been more suitable with his style of fighting. He fought with a long sword while focusing on speed and techniques rather than power or explosiveness. While employing the same style was still an option, it was not the optimum choice for an earth awakened.

"It's difficult, so don't be in a hurry!" Lily warned. She still remembered the countless days spent to both perfect her techniques and optimize them. She had worked extremely hard to figure out how to be efficient with mana use. Her mana pool was a lot smaller, and unlike Rose, she couldn't keep up with the consumption if she tried to solve everything with brute force.

"I know, I know," Raymond waved off. "How hard can it be!?"

Lily heard him scoff as he followed her to the cave. She could tell that his confidence was at an all-time high after succeeding in awakening his attribute, and the euphoria of it would take a while to pass.

***

(Part 2)

Raymond was sprawled out on his back. He was huffing in exhaustion. All his limbs felt devoid of any strength; his magic pool felt drained and shaken.

This... is... so... hard, he thought with frustration.

"Match the chant," Lily instructed in the same tone that she had been maintaining for the last hour.

Raymond had been trying to match the rhythm of his magic with the chant for the past hour with no success. The chant was easy, and he had memorized it in a jiff, but to match his magic rhythm with the chant was proving to be quite the ordeal. He did not expect it would be this difficult. He despaired at the thought of memorizing much longer and harder chants and matching their rhythm.

To cast a spell, an awakened had to circulate their mana through their mana channels in a specific frequency before manifesting it outside of their bodies. The chant was there because it helped and supplemented the process. If an awakened individual matched the rhythm of the chant with their mana, it would be the same as harmonizing it with the frequency. It was a complex process, and the awakened had to learn to make proper use of their mana channels. Mana control, those who were proficient in it, had a much easier time. Practice could help them figure out a lot of things, though there was also a factor of getting a feel for it on their own.

Generally speaking, a more complicated and complex chant indicated a higher-level spell. This, in turn, ensured more power would be obtained by the awakened. Though it was rare, an accomplished awakened could cast a spell without needing to outwardly chant.

"One more time!" Raymond picked himself from off the ground. He got his breathing under control as his magic was circulating through his body towards his hands, in its original frequency, and he muttered the chant.

"Petra Vlastos"

Slowly, Raymond changed the frequency of his mana to match the rhythm of the chant. He was completely focused this time; his narrowed eyes stared at a patch on the ground not more than a few meters away. Suddenly, a large rock shot out of his extended hand and hit the ground with force. The rock, the size of a large melon, made a loud noise as it crashed on the surface. It was embedded on the hard surface, making a very small crater around it, with half of it under the ground and invisible to the eyes.

"Yes!"

"Good," Lily said in an impressed tone.

"What's next? I think I can do this now! What's next? New spell?" Raymond guessed that she was a bit surprised by the size of the rock, but it was to be expected, and he didn't pay much mind to it. His mana pool was larger compared to hers, and as a result, he could channel more of it through his wider magic circuits for the same kind of chants.

...

"You can learn other spells by yourself. I want to teach you something else," Lily commented as she ignored the expectant look on Raymond's face, even though he tried to make it hard for her to turn him down easily.

"You can do it later," she added and walked towards a much rockier surface. Gradually, the ground around her started to change and became plainer, smoother. She stared in his stunned eyes and said resolutely, "this! I want to teach you this!"

Lily was confident that if he could do it one time, he would be able to do it the next time as well. There was nothing especially difficult about learning different spells, just the chants would change which he could memorize and practice by himself. She was much more interested in teaching him how to manipulate the terrain by using his magic.

The earth element, though lacking in destructive power due to the large amount of magic needed to manifest it outside the body, had one major advantage which could be exploited. On the battlefield, if one could affect the terrain, it would lead to a major imbalance in the respective powers of the two sides. Since most battles were fought on land, with only a small portion of those over the seas, the earth element was overwhelming in its effectiveness. The only problem was that, usually, only the awakened with a large mana pool could make use of it.

"The first thing you should remember is never to leave the ground. It affects your mana recovery!" Lily knew that he liked to push off with his feet before his all-out attacks, but that would have to change now that he was an earth attribute awakened warrior.

"What? I don't leave..." Raymond smiled a little guiltily.

"Second, you can't use your sword anymore." There was a mysterious glint in her eyes when she said it, and as usual, it went unnoticed by her twin brother.

"Why?" Raymond hurriedly added, "I am not doubting you or anything... and of course, I will listen to you. It's just that..."

Lily was a little bit surprised by his patient reaction. She expected him to jump up and down in protest when she told him not to use his sword anymore, and that's why she had made a display of power beforehand, a kind of convincing tactic.

She welcomed this change in behavior, as she always thought he was a bit too enthusiastic most of the time. If he was ever to become a king, it would have been a problem.

Nodding, she explained, "you have awakened the earth element. This means you have to be efficient with your magic, and fighting with a sword is not efficient."

...

"So, that's why..."

A look of understanding came upon Raymond's face. Lily only ever used gauntlets and no other weapons. He had always wondered about that. It was hard for him to imagine her fighting, and she made a point to never display it to him, very much different to Rose, who always liked to show off. He was a little miffed about not being able to use his sword anymore, but it was not enough to dampen his mood.

"Is it- I mean, how?" His eyebrows pointed towards the magically manipulated ground.

"Yes. You should be able to do the same."

Raymond's eyes flashed in joy. He was waiting for this. The earlier scene, when Lily crushed a boulder to dust, was still etched in his mind. And now this... this amazing thing she'd just showed him, he couldn't wait to do it himself. Though it was hard, he tried to keep his excitement in check, and patiently listened to her explanation.

"You have to use nature's mana. Remember how you awakened? It's the same." Lily sighed, as she saw his clueless face, and continued, "earlier, when you shot that rock, you used your own mana for it, right? This time, don't. You have to use your mana as a medium to direct nature's mana, and the combination of the two would then alter the terrain.""So do I release my magic or not?"

"If you cast a spell, it will be released."

"So, what's the difference?" Raymond was confused by her explanation.

"There's a difference. In the normal spell, you only use your own magic power or mana. In this case, you use your mana to manipulate nature's mana. That's why you have to be efficient or else you would consume all your mana in a single spell."

Raymond was somehow able to understand it this time. He had to use his mana and make it interact with the natural mana in the environment. And where earlier he used the same process to awaken his attribute, now he would use it to cast a spell.

It shouldn't be hard... He had some confidence that he would be able to do it since he had awakened using a similar process. The trick should be to match the frequency of my mana with the chant...

"What's the chant?"

"Edafos Petra Kano Skoni"

"Okay. Let me try."

Raymond circulated his tranquil mana. He felt it at its peak, about to burst out through his skin. Steadily, he released it when he felt the natural mana around outside his body in flux.

"Edafos Petra Kano Skoni"

The mana around him started to morph in rhythm with his chant. Eager to see the boulder turn to dust, a little too much so, he manipulated his mana. The result was that the boulder only had a few lines of cracks on its surface.

"Shit!" Raymond cursed at his failure, disgruntled that he couldn't complete his chant because of his eagerness.

"Again," he muttered to himself and repeated the process.

This time, the boulder did turn to pieces. It was not the same as Lily, where she had turned it to dust, but it was a substantial progress from his first try.

Raymond was not satisfied, despite his success. "Why isn't it dust!?" He turned to Lily, aghast.

"It's already good for your second try."

"Good? What do you mean good?" He was further dealt a mental blow and thus asked impatiently, "how did you do it?"

Lily glanced at him and turned her head around. She obviously didn't want to further stoke his jealousy. Albeit, there was a barely perceptible smile on her face.

"Don't tell me, Rose, too!?"

"... no," Lily replied after much deliberation. Rose had the fire element and obviously couldn't manipulate the earth around her. She thought about the equivalent for it, and decided that Rose didn't do any better than him on the second try... well, as far as she could remember.

Raymond rejoiced at her answer. It would've been much too great a shock if even Rose also surpassed him. She already had the advantage with her element; if her technique was also better than him, then there would be nothing left to compete over. He suddenly felt much more relaxed and confident and decided to give it another try.

"One more time..."

"Don't!"

"Why?"

"Do you have any mana left?"

Raymond hurriedly felt inside his mana pool. He was taken aback to find that it was nearly empty. He looked at her, his eyes wide. It would be a while before it recovered to the previous state of being completely filled. Since the natural recovery rate of mana for an awakened person was very slow, the best method would be to refine nature's mana into their own. However, it was also not that quick, unless someone was making use of external resources such as magic stones or the like.

Refining was different from natural recovery in the sense that it was more aggressive and direct. Whereas, if an awakened person were to rest and not use mana, their body would naturally convert energy into mana. Magic stones helped to reduce the time and risk of refining - as one didn't have to filter out the useless portion from nature's mana.

Nodding his head, he commented, "So that's what you meant by efficiency..." Casting a single, low-level spell twice had nearly consumed all his mana. He could only give up at this point and come back later to practice some more.

...

Lily spoke behind her as she strolled towards the damp entrance of the cave, "we should get back..."

Raymond ogled Lily as she went inside the cave to retrieve her bag. His gaze was focused on her swaying hips. Her slightly disheveled brown hair reminded him of the crazy night spent in her arms. Her long legs, covered by the tight leather pants, looked a thing of beauty in the dimmed light coming through the mesh of tree leaves above their heads. Her lithe frame made her look the same height as him, and he licked his lips at the numerous positions she could bend her flexible body.

"Hot!"

All thoughts about the training and spell casting vanished from his mind in an instant. His earlier arousal came back with a vengeance. He was intoxicated by her receding presence, and like a moth to a flame, he followed behind.

He was aware that their actions from last night were unusual to most people and downright offensive to some others. He was aware he wasn't supposed to bed his twin sister; aware that their mother would go apoplectic with rage if she ever caught wind of this; aware that he may have blown any small chance he had with Miranda, but he couldn't help himself. He now understood he loved Lily. Still, this was very new to him. It never dawned on him that he had these types of feelings for her.

...

Lily was just about finished packing her stuff when she felt Raymond's breath on the back of her neck. His one hand clutched her towards him, while the other slowly parted her hair to one side. She shivered as he placed a soft kiss on her collarbone.

"Ooh... Ray..." She moaned.

Lily was ecstatic and aroused by his affectionate display. Last night, though he had said he loved her, she wasn't sure if he meant it. This morning too, she assumed he was just excited because he had awakened his attribute. But now, she dared to believe his words.

"Ray... stop... we'll be late..." Lily whispered but didn't make any effort to stop him. She wanted to get away from him, to push him away, but she was swept away by his passion, overwhelmed by his soft kisses to her neck and shoulders.

Raymond pushed her towards the wall where his hand tried to get inside her pants. He pressed his erect dick to her ass, his other hand clutched her breast fiercely.

Lily placed her hands on the wall to balance herself, to brace for the waves of pleasure about to sweep over her very soul. She bent forward to raise her hips and moaned in pleasure when she felt him grinding against her ass.

"Ray!" Lily liked this aggressive version of her hunk of a twin. The way he manhandled her, it brought forth repressed feelings of dependence. It had been a very long time since she last felt like this. She missed these things, where she was simply a pliant sister, followed behind him, and basked under his shadow; she missed these things dearly and wanted to get them back.

"Ooh..." she groaned.

Raymond roughly slid her pants down to her ankles and whipped his dick out. He smeared the drop of precum, which oozed out from the tip, onto her pussy. She heard him jerk his cock a few times, and felt the tip against her exposed pussy lips as he rubbed it slowly over her labia. His rugged hand slid down and held onto her hip. Suddenly, his finger pressed on her clit while he thrust his cock over her gorgeous opening.

"You want it?"

"Uhh!" she exhaled over the wall, the warm air coming back to stroke her face.

"You want it, right?" Raymond huffed by her ear.

She left the tip of his dick on the edge of her engorged lips, just barely peeking her fleshy slit. "Ray! Please..." She moaned when he pinched her nub.

"I want to fuck you so bad! Just say the words..."

Lily was wet, almost dripping. She could barely control her faculties and gleefully pushed her ass to his crotch, inviting him, enticing him.

"Come!" she squealed. She was ready and waiting for him to enter her; to pierce her; to take her like he would take his bride.

"Take it!"

"Yesss... take me..." she whispered, as he flicked her swollen clit with the tip of his dick. He was driving her crazy with his slow tease. Just when she tried to turn around, he entered her in one swift motion.

"Rayyyy..." Lily jerked her head upwards. His thick member was still too much for her to take; yet, the dull ache seemed like a reward to her. It was proof that this was real, that she was really the object of his desire.

"You're so fucking hot!"

The low moan right by her ear shook Lily's body. It was such a thrill to hear Raymond say that. She couldn't remember how long she had waited to hear those words, to have him feel so close.

It is enough... right? Lily thought that she couldn't ask for more than that. She knew going in that Raymond was in love with Miranda, but her heart swooned as he roughly took her against the hard surface of the cave walls.

"Take me, fuck me!" She demanded, pushing forcefully back at him, matching his thrusts with her own.

Raymond increased the force of his thrusts as their moans resounded in the small cave. The wet aroma of Lily did little to quell the beastly feeling overpowering her. With each passing stroke on his tightly enveloped cock and each groan of pleasure from her own lips, she felt him give in, like all his thoughts and worries were getting drowned by her cries.

"Cumming...!" Lily suddenly screamed as a momentous orgasm washed over her. Her breath got caught in her throat as a feeling of pure ecstasy overcame her entire body. She leaned her head on his shoulder and tried to nuzzle his neck. Her eyes glazed over as thoughts of being taken every day like this dominated her mind. The sloshing sounds coming out of her love-box intensified as Raymond mashed her swollen clitty while his cock kept driving in and out of her.

"Yes, cum. Cum for me. Cum for your brother!"

"Oh, God!" Another wave of pleasure rocked Lily's body at the mention of their taboo fucking. It was so difficult to hide her feelings. Bliss overtook her as she realized that now she wouldn't have to do it, at least when they were alone. Before, every time she looked at him with her veil of somberness, there was a part of her just dying to jump in his muscular arms, to rest against his strong chest, to breathe in his scent.

"Fuck me, Ray! Please keep fucking me!"

"Ooh, Lily..."

Raymond pulled out from her and jerked her around to face him instead. His palms took her flushed, oval, face in them as he smacked their lips together. He overbearingly pushed his tongue inside her mouth, almost to her throat. Saliva dripped from Lily's red lips as she struggled to cope with the intensity of his passion.

She jerked his pulsing cock, coated in her juices, and pulled it towards her achingly empty love hole. She wanted to be filled with him, her mouth as well as her pussy. Every little cell on her fair skin just wanted to embrace the man pounding her. When she opened her eyes, the light falling on Raymond's light-bronze skin made him look like a god reincarnate to Lily, and she shuddered at the thoughts of her sinful worship.

"Oh God! It feels so good..." Lily mumbled to herself as Raymond's tongue continued to carry on its assault on her drenched mouth. She was barely hanging by the last threads of sanity, as domineering tides of relentless rapture flooded her soul.

With a sudden forceful jolt, Raymond buried his cock to the hilt inside her. Her feet left the ground as she squirted uncontrollably from the powerful thrusts. The wet juice flowed down her leg and splashed over them. She jerked over his hands, her body trying to break free and fly away with the intense musky smells that assaulted their nose and intoxicated her.

"Ray! Ray!"

Lily's short brown hair, wet from her sweat, stuck to her head and her neck. It made her look exhausted but, at the same time, her whole body even had an unmistakable sheen of an unprecedented gratification.

"Love you-"

"Love you-"

"Love you-"

Lily mewled incoherently again and again as her whole body rested against her twin brother. She had wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, at his mercy to do as he pleased with her. There was a fog of pleasure and contentment which covered her eyes.

"AH! Fuck!"

"I'm cumming, Lily! I'm cumming inside your tight cunt!"

With a bestial roar, Raymond spurted his load in the depths of her canal. His last forceful thrust had pushed her against the wall. Her skin scratched against the hard surface of the cave, and the dull ache of it, along with the jets of her twin's cum striking inside her tight and warm cunny, made her squirt again.

"Uggh... Ray!"

Lily tightened her hold as her body convulsed wildly. Her jaw dropped loose, and her eyes rolled back as she slumped to the ground along with Raymond. The heavy breathing of her twin against her wet hair, as he struggled to catch his breath, felt like the most refreshing wind after a long day of exertion.

"I never knew I could ever... do you like this!" Raymond mused, his tone heavy with love and amazement, in between his breaths.

"Ray! I love you!" Lily felt over the moon and stiffened her hold around him. She bent down and put her head on his strong chest so that she could hide the sweet smile that had bloomed on her face. "Hmmm..." She moaned unintentionally from the comfort of his muscular arms as she nestled comfortably. His masculine smell mixed in with her own musky aroma made her giddy, as well as the reassuring feeling of reliance when he started to stroke her head.

"Let's leave..."

"Just a few minutes," Lily replied dreamily and snuggled him.

***

(Part 3)

The sun had risen high up and the temperature had increased just slightly. Raymond didn't need to hold his cloak close to himself and was observing the calm forest. The usual cold wind was absent and so was the accompanying eerie whistling noise. From time to time, a drop of water would roll down from the top of the tree leaves, which was the only sound in an otherwise silent surrounding.

"Ready?!"

He glimpsed towards the empty cave and then at Lily. She seemed to have steadied her bearings as she smoothed the saddle of her horse.

"It was such a waste..." Raymond sighed and held her waist from behind. The corpse of the beast had been dealt with by Lily but they didn't get anything worthy out of it, which was a shame in his eyes.

"Why didn't you learn to harvest the corpse of the magical beast?"

Lily glared at him, her gaze accusatory. There would always be someone who would do this for them, and they never learned to do it by themselves because they were the royalty of the kingdom. Though living alone and learning everything for themselves, as was the tradition for the awakened in their family, it was not as if they lacked people who wanted to suck up to them in the meanwhile.

"We're very late!" Lily muttered as she used her foot to tap the horse's side, encouraging it to increase its pace.

***

(Part 4)

In a dimly lit corridor, lined with large-sized paintings of flowers on both sides, a tapping sound echoed. An extremely gorgeous woman of hopelessly irresistible proportions strode alone in the long, empty path as she observed the art hung on the walls. Her wavy, light purple hair came down below her shoulders, which bounced against her back with every step she took. There was an air of regality around her, but also hidden underneath, was the fierce and menacing aura of a seasoned warrior.

Her silk blouse, golden in color, was fastened tight and accentuated her heavy, firm bust, which was a marvel in itself with the roundness and bounciness of her bosom. The long sleeves fashionably open at the shoulders served as protection against the cold weather. Her long-golden-skirt, shielded her from the chilly breeze coming through the large door at the end of the corridor. The shoes, which made a clicking noise, had a few inches of heel beneath them and made her already majestic buttocks look even more mesmerizing.

"Impressive..." Suzanne smirked to herself at the only picture which piqued her interest. Conspicuously, among all the floral paintings, it was one of the only two life-sized portraits. Her teeth peeked out of her full red lips as she mused to herself about the implication of hanging Raymond's and Miranda's portraits opposite each other.

"Hehe..." She giggled to herself and shook her head at the actions of her eldest daughter. A thin strand of hair flitted across her face and the contrast of the violet hair against her milky-white skin highlighted the dangerous charm of a mature enchantress.

"I'll have to ask her about it later," muttering that to herself, Suzanne pushed open the door to Miranda's room.

The room was on the top floor of the building and was the biggest in the house. The only other room was on the other side of the corridor and right now Suzanne had occupancy in it.

Suzanne was a little miffed since the morning when Miranda forbade her from going to the forest and checking up on Raymond, but she wasn't one to hold a grudge on such little things. Nevertheless, it was a little disheartening to see the frigid demeanor of her eldest.

Given that Miranda had never been one to show much affection to anyone, except her cousin, she shouldn't have been surprised. As a mother, though, she was a little worried about Miranda's lack of interest towards the women in their family.

...

Miranda gave a cursory glance when Suzanne entered the room and tiptoed beside her.

"Mother," she greeted half-heartedly but kept her gaze on the window and towards the path leading to the eastern gate of the city. She had specially designed the room in such a way that she could look out and observe the whole city of Ryhor from the windows on the walls, but today she stood stuck to only one of them. She had been waiting to catch a glimpse of her cousin and nothing else seemed to be able to hold her attention. The long wait was getting to be a little too worrisome.

...

"Hah..." Suzanne sighed and followed her gaze and took in the view of the city. It had changed a lot from what she remembered. The number of houses had increased drastically, and the roads and pathways looked well planned out.

There was a layer of snow on top of the buildings, but the roads were clean of any. Somehow, the place looked livelier than ever before, even if the weather played a large part in it. Moreover, the wild tribes who earlier made up the majority of the residents now seemed to have come around to be more like the genuine kingdom population.

I guess Miranda did a lot of work for it to be like that...

She glanced at her daughter, who looked a little lost and sad. The mild breeze blew Miranda's gorgeous, silky hair, lending her a melancholic flavor, which was quite fitting in the backdrop of the bleak surroundings around Ryhor. Still, there was the undeniable shine of a ruler on her face, a magnetic aura that could compel subservience from those around her. As was often the case, Miranda had let her long, azure hair flow freely to her back. Of all the five Tygrine women in the family, Miranda had the longest hair, and she never forgot to show it off.

As the wind picked up, a few locks of her hair ran down her forehead and over her big, beautiful eyes. Suzanne lifted her hand to console her daughter, to hug her close and take her sadness away. In the end, the frigid aura, the do-not-come-close air of Miranda, unnerved Suzanne, and she settled for smoothing out the edges of the white garb. It was a beautiful dress that covered Miranda's entire body from her neck to her feet, and without a doubt, it must have been tailored by an expert to catch every tiny, beautiful edge of Miranda and her hourglass figure.

...

"Hmm..." Miranda hummed when Suzanne awkwardly tried to comfort her. She had seen from the corner of her eye when her mother had started to lean in for the hug but then changed her mind at the last moment. Sadly, it wasn't something new or surprising to her. She wasn't close to her mother, not since she was three years old.Suzanne had always been like a whirlwind of sorts; she would come and go, be extremely affectionate for a week or two and then months would go by before Rose and Miranda saw their mother again. Naturally, it left some resentment in the twins, especially in the elder one.

"They're late," Miranda muttered, even as her eyes remained locked on the road towards the east gate. She couldn't bear to watch the troubled display of her mother and decided to break the air of weirdness that permeated between them. Suzanne had been trying; Miranda could see that, but her mind would always take her back to the days spent lying in wait for her mother and all the motherly actions of Suzanne would lose weight.

...

"Yes!" Suzanne exclaimed in relief, glad to be rid of the silence. Suddenly, she turned to her left and asked, "why did you not go with Lily?" When her daughter didn't show any response to her query, she added unhurriedly, "I believed that you would be the first to go to Ray..."

After a few moments of quiet, which felt a lot longer to Suzanne than they actually were, Miranda commented offhandedly, "they're twins as you well know. So..."

"So? Don't tell me-"

Miranda shot a glance at her mother, and Suzanne unwittingly stopped her words midway. She wanted to say that it had never stopped Miranda before, but the uninterested gaze of the azure-haired beauty threw her off, flustered her. And that was that for the topic. Sometimes it felt to Suzanne that maybe Miranda was the adult in their relationship. Communicating with her eldest daughter had always felt stiff to her, as if the both of them were putting on a ruse to exchange information.

Suzanne was having a hard time with it. Why does this feel so fucking weird?! Are we always going to be so stiff with each other?!

Why can't she talk like a normal person?! Inside her mind, Suzanne screamed her lungs out at her daughter. She, a mighty general, a veteran warrior, whose name was enough to make anyone shake in their boots in the whole of surrounding kingdoms, was at a loss of how to deal with her own daughter. Though she had wanted to make up for the times when she should have been there as a mother, it was hard to get rid of the resentment that had been brewing inside Miranda for so many years.

So ironic... Suzanne laughed at her helplessness.

Rose, the younger of the twins, was a lot different than Miranda, and Suzanne never did have any weirdness communicating with her or showing affection as a mother. It was very unlikely, in Suzanne's opinion, that Miranda had been holding a grudge against her.

After all, Miranda was far too refined and wise for something silly like blaming Suzanne for doing her job as the kingdom's marshal. Even so, it wasn't hard for Suzanne to notice that Miranda liked to keep a distance between herself and everyone else, including who should be closest to her: her family members, and especially her twin.

Of course, Raymond is excluded from that... Now that I think about it, she's like an entirely different person in his presence... She's like a perfect being of love and compassion, like there isn't anything that could ever begin to upset her...

Suzanne smirked to herself at the craftiness of her daughter. It felt to her that she could use this knowledge that Miranda wasn't the same caring person when dealing with anyone else other than Raymond at some future time. Leverage this to maybe have fun at the expense of the infallible Miranda.

Amusing! She was still in the midst of picturing her daughter's face, aghast, embarrassed, and blushing, when the sharp voice of Miranda rang by her ears. And it took her a few good seconds to understand what was being said to her.

"So, when are you leaving?"

Huh?! Did she just ask me to leave in a roundabout way? Heartless!

Suzanne didn't let it show that she had been a little rattled by the sudden voice of Miranda. It might be considered rude to ask this to your own mother, but she had known that Miranda was never one for showing much sentiment. Suzanne was a bit miffed that she was essentially told to piss off, but she understood that this was no time for sentiments. A war was coming, and they had to make the best use of what little time they had left to make preparations for it. If they just remained sitting on their laurels, then they could only dream about gaining anything in it.

"Today. I plan to leave today. Yes, after I talk to Raymond... I will leave for Beltran with Ingrid."

Miranda raised an eyebrow at those words. And for the first time since Suzanne had entered the room, Miranda turned to face her. There was a little surprise in her voice as she asked, "aren't you being a bit hasty?"

"Well, maybe..." Suzanne folded her hands beneath her bosom before she continued in a serious tone, "But the thing that I came for, it's been settled and quite miraculously so if I may add..." A contemplating look came upon her face. "It's for the best that it happened naturally," she added in a softer tone.

The thing that Suzanne was referring to was, of course, Raymond's awakening. She had earlier planned to force it out of him, to pressure his mana to condense and awaken his attribute. Just that morning, she learned from Miranda that Raymond had awakened. Relief had washed over her at that instant, and although she did wonder about how Miranda came to know it, she was too over the moon at the time to care about it. The next thing she wanted to do was to hug him close, but when she was about to hurriedly set out and go look for Raymond, a 'wall' had blocked her path.

"Even still, you could stay for a few more days..." Miranda's eyes questioned the reason behind the rash nature of her mother's departure from Ryhor.

Suzanne smiled thinly but kept her lips shut. There were a lot of things, words, and feelings bottled up inside her, but it was hard for her to let them out at this point.

After a few moments of miserable silence, Miranda uttered, "is it that serious?"

"Uh huh." Suzanne had already lost the frivolous, leisurely air of hers by this point. And there was a sharp glint in her eyes as she nodded grimly to her daughter's words.

"Don't you think it's too soon?"

"No. We can't be late! We shouldn't!" Suzanne emphasized the gravity of the circumstances and the necessity for action.

The two women exchanged a look of understanding between them at those words, like it was understood that the situation had gone beyond what could be called a rumor or a deliberate attempt to spread misinformation. A war was coming, a very real one.

Miranda sighed to herself and then turned to once again look outside the window. It felt to Suzanne that her daughter was hiding something. More accurately, Miranda was trying to choose the proper words to articulate in such a way that it would leave Suzanne with no option other than to answer the question.

Miranda gestured towards the city and asked, "what happens to this?" Her brows furrowed as she added pointedly, "what are our plans going to be for this place?"

Suzanne kept her silence as she gazed out through the window. There was no denying the fact that Miranda had put too much work in the place. She hesitated to tell her daughter that her plan was to abandon it after the war intensified.

They, the Tygrines, were always going to go back and claim their rightful place when the chance arose. This, the kingdom of Gelodesh, was built as a stopgap a few hundred years ago. It was established to serve as a foothold when finally, they led their troops in conquest of their birthplace, deep towards the center of the continent, towards Tygrinia.

We have to make those fucking usurpers pay... The fucking empire and those phony fucking traitors posing as emperors...

It was no coincidence that the capital of the empire had a name that sounded so similar to their own; after all, it was named such by their ancestors. However, that was something Miranda didn't know, and neither did her twin or her cousins. Suzanne seethed with rage as she thought about the events of her ancestors.

I think we can't wait any longer... it is their destiny... and also mine...

Miranda was next in line for the throne and all would be revealed to her when she finally did ascend it. After that, it would be her decision to either tell her cousins and sister or pass it to the next generation. But the situation had changed drastically. Suzanne guessed that the time that was prophesied had arrived. The war was the signal of the beginning of the times when they would strike back.

We can't hold back even an ounce of our strength... or else, Suzanne shuddered imagining the consequences of jumping into the war half-heartedly.

"You know, right?" Suzanne posed the question in a soft voice.

"No! I don't!"

"Hah..." a sigh left her mouth when she saw the steely gaze of her daughter. There was no way Suzanne would believe that Miranda couldn't understand the implication.

"We don't have enough-"

"So!" Miranda interrupted before Suzanne could point out that they didn't have enough resources to take care of Gelodesh while still fighting.

"Why do we have to fight? Why can't we just stay?!" There was a passionate plea behind those words. A look of helplessness and dejection flashed on Miranda's face, but somehow her waterfall-like hair made it so that she looked magnificent, in spite of it.

"We-I- listen." Suzanne found it hard to justify her reason without giving Miranda the whole picture, and she wanted to tell her too. But when she saw how much progress Miranda had made with the natives, how much livelier this place had become, the words just wouldn't come out of her mouth.

"I can explain it to you, but that wouldn't change the fact that you are angry, and rightfully so... But I just want you to remember what I told you when you were little... Do you remember that?"

...

It wasn't even a few minutes until a look of realization dawned upon Miranda, and then her expression changed to a worried one, "That thing?"

A slight nod of the head from her mother confirmed Miranda's doubt. She clearly remembered that day; there was no way she could forget it because it was the day that Raymond and Lily were born. It was such an exciting day, and when she first laid eyes on those cute little eyes of Raymond, it was like the world had stopped around them. It was only that night that her mother told her something that made a huge impression on her three-year-old brain. It was cryptic and hard to understand, but throughout the years, she could never forget those words.

"They are the most vulnerable to the curse of short life!"

Suzanne had told her in a grave tone. Miranda had become scared of it. But it had been a weird thing for her because Rose was clueless about it. Suzanne didn't say anything more to the three-year-old Miranda and a lot of times when Miranda had asked Suzanne about the meaning of those words, she was rebuffed and told to wait for the right time.

During Miranda's stay at the capital, she had tried numerous times to search for information about curses. Though when she couldn't find any literature on them, not even a word from the old timers at the palace, it gradually got pushed to the back of her mind. And now, although she did remember it, she didn't pay much mind to it. She always believed it to be something that endangered their lives and devised that the best way would be to fight against it head on rather than trying to cure it.

So Miranda wasn't that scared of it and it didn't bother her as much as it did during her childhood. After all, she was not a weak child any longer and could look after herself and her two cousins. Miranda didn't scare easily, and she had enough self-belief and willpower to not cower in the face of some unknown curse.

...

"The next time you come to Ostorth, I will tell you everything. Even if Samantha doesn't, I will..."

"Humph!" Miranda snorted indifferently.

"Well, it's not like we have to completely abandon it... And it is still in the future-" Suzanne paused and then apologized, "Sorry." The sharp glare from Miranda warned her not to patronize her. The mention of the Capital and Samantha didn't evoke many happy memories in her daughter, Suzanne could tell.

I just wanted to comfort you a little... Suzanne couldn't help but lament once more about the distance in her relationship with her daughter.

"So, what are you going to tell me now? Can you tell me about your visit to Beltran or is it still not time yet?"

The sarcasm was not lost on Suzanne, but she knew that she had earned it. To the east of Gelodesh was Beltran, an ally kingdom. Historically, they had shared good relations and had helped each other in times of need. Ingrid Beltran, the famous healer and the next in line for the throne, was a good friend of Suzanne's.

"We are trying to have a war conference of sorts with all the surrounding kingdoms..."

"I already got that part. And?"

Judging from the sharp tone of Miranda, Suzanne was sure that her daughter was still upset about the matter of Ryhor. But she was helpless to do anything about it and just tried to put up with her rude remarks.

"The real reason is to drum up support for our campaign and judge their reactions. We have to be ready in every step of the way if we're going to do it."

"I suppose so..."

Suzanne sighed to herself, witnessing the lukewarm reaction of the azure-haired girl leaning against the windowsill. She tried to say something more, to tell her about the plans but saw that the girl was not in the mood for it. Her attention was elsewhere, namely peering out the window.

From time to time, Miranda would gaze out the window and back. The rhythmic tapping of her foot signaled that she was getting impatient. Raymond had yet to return and Suzanne was sure it was playing heavily on Miranda's mind.

"About Raymond," Suzanne started. She wasn't surprised when Miranda narrowed her eyes at those words, seemingly at full attention.

"What about him?"

"You can't always keep him in the shadows..." Suzanne remarked.

Miranda stared at her mother, their eyes locked together. There was a glint of stubborn defiance in the young woman's eyes. But after a while of the imaginary tussle, she gave in to the resolute and uncompromising gaze of the mature woman.

"I know," Miranda muttered, almost as if to convince herself.

It was a little hard for Suzanne to see the downcast look of Miranda. She lamented the fact that she had been the cause of it, that she had continuously told her things that made her sad. Even if Miranda was distant to her, and even if she was rude at times, as a mother she forgave them, overlooked them.

"I wish I could tell you something to uplift your mood," Suzanne muttered and bleakly glanced to the snows in the distance.

"Then," the daughter, seeing the dejected look on her beautiful mother's face, decided to extend an olive branch, "Tell me about that time when you went to Badafloat..."

"Hmm, why?" Suzanne cutely tilted her head to the side at the unexpected question, but inside her heart was jumping for joy at the smallest of possibilities that maybe Miranda was beginning to forgive her.

"I want to know."

The even tone of Miranda didn't give away the reason behind her unusual query, and it made Suzanne wonder. It had been a long time since she went that deep into the north. The last time was before Ryhor was a proper city, and her children hadn't even been born yet.

It was seldom that she had to brag about her exploits, since they were well known, even in the surrounding kingdoms, but Suzanne didn't want to let go of this chance to leave an impression on her daughter. The kingdom knew her as the invincible Marshal; the world praised her as a fierce warrior, but all she wanted at that moment was to be a mother, a mother her daughter could be proud of, and maybe that could help lessen the distance between them.

"Well, as you know," she started with a gloating tone with her nose tilted up. "It's very dangerous to go up there that deep inside and even more if you're alone," Suzanne paused to gauge the reaction of Miranda, but the calm face of her daughter told her that she had to do more to impress her audience. Composing herself by taking a deep breath, she continued, "it's extremely cold, and the lake is much farther than you think."

"How much- Sorry, I want to know exactly how much time it takes to get there."

"Maybe six days?" Suzanne shut her eyes and lazily ran her hand through her wavy, violet hair as she tried to recall her 'adventure' in the Northern Forest.

"Yeah, if you travel on foot for ten hours a day, I think it would take you around a week. It's a shame you can't ride a horse there..."

"Oh?"

"Yes the canopy is too thick, and the ground too uneven, the beast gets restless."

"And, what did you see there? Is it as rumored?"

The sudden, enthusiastic reaction of Miranda excited her and thus she resumed her tale animatedly, "Yes! It's just as the rumors say. It's extremely large, and the mysterious thing is all of the water remains unfrozen."

"Really?"

"Yeah, with the cold, you would think that it would be frozen solid but no.

"And tell you what..." Suzanne leaned in close and whispered conspiratorially, "I think there is a huge prime beast under that lake!"

"Are you sure?!"

"Well I don't have definite proof, but I have an intuition that it is the major cause of all the beasts going crazy every once in a while... I think there's a definite relation between the two things."

...

The weariness on Miranda's face became pronounced as she contemplated her mother's musings about the secret of Badafloat lake.

If it can hide from even Mother's senses, then... For all her aloofness in dealing with Suzanne, Miranda had no doubt that her mother was powerful. Since a young age, she had known this as a fact that her mother was the strongest warrior in the kingdom, and apart from her Aunt Samantha, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that nobody could even come close to possessing Suzanne's level of power, even if she fought them in her sleep.

Maybe because she was young back then, but that would be a stretch...

"And after that? What's beyond that?"

"I don't know!"

"You don't know?"

"No! I didn't go any further than that..."

"Hmm," Miranda hummed to herself.

...

"Do you think there would be more powerful beasts if you went deeper?"

Suzanne flinched at her daughter's words, even as her eyes narrowed. She hadn't been paying attention because of the myriad of things that had occupied her mind recently, but Miranda's line of questioning was suspicious, to say the least.

"Why? Why do you want to know?"

"Will you tell me first? Please?"

Suzanne stared at Miranda for a good while longer before she opened her mouth, "There may very well be, those dangerous prime-ones. But I don't think one could easily encounter them, even if one went looking for them."

"Hmmm..."

"Don't tell me you are planning to go there?"

Suzanne was perplexed by the noncommittal way Miranda dodged her question by walking towards the door. It was frustrating how the younger woman kept mum and was about to leave the room after having just glanced at her without giving anything away.

But why? I don't see the point of doing that... unless!

A sudden thought flashed through Suzanne's mind, and it terrified her greatly. There was much that she wanted to know and much she wanted to say, but Miranda was almost out of the door at that point. Suddenly, the reserved and stiff nature of their relationship seemed like a grating thorn to Suzanne. It was as if Miranda didn't trust her enough. So she couldn't hold back the words she had longed to say."It's not like I can stop you, even if I want to, but Miranda... you shouldn't be so skeptical of everyone around you. I advise you, as your mother, to be a little more forthcoming, at least with the ones close to you."

Miranda stopped in her tracks. She remained still, her hand against the door and with only her gorgeously mesmerizing back in the view of Suzanne. As the moments ticked past, the atmosphere cooled down considerably from the warm scene a few minutes ago. And just when it felt like it could not get any worse, Miranda sauntered away.

"Everyone is competition."

The airy voice of Miranda filtered through the gaps of the now closed door.

***

(Part 5)

"What the fuck does that even mean?" Suzanne was at loss to figure out the meaning of the final words left behind by Miranda when she exited the room.

She rolled around the bed as she talked to herself and came up with different theories about what it could mean. And despite being a woman of more than forty-years of age, and a mother of two, she looked gorgeous in her half-disheveled state with her messed up hair and her crumbled clothes. There was a unique air that could be felt out of that languidness which was incredibly seductive.

"Why does she always do this to me?" She whined to herself and softly beat down her fists on the pillow.

It would be wrong to say that she loved one of her daughters more than the other, but it was the truth that she found it easier to get along with Rose.

It can't be helped... Suzanne often told herself that. Still, she sighed in dejection that she couldn't change the fact that one of her daughters would rather not rely on her. Miranda was powerful, very powerful in fact, and maybe that did play a part in shaping this unusual dynamic between them. Nonetheless, Suzanne knew, she knew that she was also at fault.

A suffocating aura covered the room as Suzanne kept on sighing gloomily. As her emotions fluctuated, so did her mana. Little violet arcs of lightning buzzed around her, and the oppressive feeling thickened with each passing second.

*Knock*

The rapping on the door broke her out of her trance, and the stifling atmosphere vanished along with it. Startled, Suzanne sat up straight and turned to gaze at the door. Quickly, she checked on herself and smoothed out her hair and dress. When she was finally certain that she looked the absolute best she could, she went up to the door.

"Miranda?" A loud, heavy voice calling out told her that it was Raymond at the door.

Oh, it's only my Sweetie...Suzanne was relieved that it wasn't Miranda who had come back and caught her in the messy state. She opened the door swiftly.

"Mir- Huh? Aunt Suzy?!"

Raymond looked bewildered when she answered the door to Miranda's room. She watched him with interest as he peeked inside to make sure that he had the right place.

"Why-"

"Oh, my Sweetie, come here!"

Suzanne didn't give him the time to say anything else as she couldn't hold back long enough to go through the whole charade of explanations. She pulled his head to her towering bosom. Tousling his hair, she placed a flurry of kisses on his head.

"I'm so happy for you!"

She found it hard to contain her joy. As she laid eyes on her nephew standing dumbfounded opposite to her, the dam of emotions that had built up during the day burst open uncontrollably.

"You know how worried I was?"

"Now it's all good..."

All the irritation after 'conversing' with her chilly daughter went away like a poof. She couldn't care less about it at the moment.

"I knew you would do it! Hah! My Sweetie! Such a sweet and cute boy!"

...

Raymond felt his head pressed against the soft and fragrant breasts of his aunt. He greedily breathed in the floral scent that greeted his nose. The sweet pecks on his forehead and his cheeks made him swoon with happiness. It was like he was surrounded by the most comforting and soothing feeling in the world. He wanted to drown in it.

Heavenly!

When Suzanne eventually stopped gushing over him, they were already on the bed. Raymond was lying prone with his head on her lap, while she sat at the edge of the bed with her legs hanging down.

"Tell me, Sweetie. Tell me how you did it!"

Raymond smiled at his beautiful aunt who was blinking constantly, trying to rein in her excitement.

"I don't know... it just happened..."

"Come on! Tell me!" Suzanne whined to him, "You don't want to tell your aunt? Sweetie you have changed." She pouted and turned her head away.

Groaning to himself to have to leave the wondrous spot, Raymond sat up by the pouting woman's side and turned her head to face him. They had always been close and playful like that with each other, and it was the umpteenth time that this routine was getting repeated.

"Aw! Don't be like that!" He muttered when Suzanne refused to look at him. "Alright, alright... I will tell you, okay?"

"Humph!" Suzanne snorted as a smile bloomed on her face. "I knew you couldn't hide it from me... Now quickly," she pecked his lips and resumed, "Tell me... I'm dying to know!"

Raymond smacked his lips and warned her, "don't expect much as I also don't know what happened..."

After looking at him skeptically for a moment, Suzanne nodded in understanding.

"Hmm, where should I start...?" Raymond wrapped his arms around her elastic waist as his mind raced through the details he wanted to reveal to his gorgeous aunt.

The matter with Lily is obviously out of the question. Other than that...

He patiently recounted to her how he fought against, or more specifically, slayed the beast on his own. The 'heroic' tale was accompanied by the oohs and aahs from Suzanne and also fretting about his safety. He was only allowed to continue after she did a double take, and a triple take, over his whole body.

"So that's all that happened? Are you sure?" Suzanne furrowed her brows and tilted her head to the side. Her violet hair fell on his face, which made Raymond twist his head around to feel the soft and silky texture of the strands.

"What? Did you say something?" Raymond asked in a dreamy voice.

"I asked if anything else happened..."

When Raymond still didn't seem to pay attention to her and kept on playing with her hair, she smiled to herself and pinched his cheek.

"Sweetie, you can play with my hair later! Now, tell me if anything else happened that could be the trigger for your awakening..."

Raymond sighed helplessly as he watched Suzanne flick her wavy, lustrous hair behind her back and out of his reach. He pretended to think a little deeper before answering that he wouldn't know it if something did happen. Though a part of him felt a little guilty, he didn't want to reveal about the night spent with Lily and certainly not without her permission.

How good it would be if I could tell her about Lily...

A part of him felt that Suzanne would understand and maybe even support them if he told her about last night, but in the end, he decided against it. Everything was new to him, and he could not convince himself that it would be the best thing to do. He was sure that his aunt would not chastise him, though that can't be said about their other family members.

Everything has become so... And then there's Miranda.

Raymond didn't know how his beautiful cousin would react to the new development. And more than that, how he would react after she found out. But through all this, he was clear about one thing. He was more at peace than before.

His heart didn't race at the sight of Suzanne, and he didn't feel the uncomfortable tingling, the awkward rise that he felt just two days ago. It somehow seemed a significant development, although he chided that it was already wrong when he felt that way about his aunt. It was dirty, even if it happened momentarily.

Maybe I've changed...

Raymond still maintained that Suzanne was the most glamorous, the most seductive woman that he had ever seen, he believed that nothing could sway that notion. He appreciated her immense beauty, revered her charismatic style, adored her mind boggling cuteness, enjoyed her flirtiness, and all the countless little gestures of her. Throughout the years, this had shaped his image of an ideal woman. He loved all those things, but somehow the oomph of the past was gone.

He couldn't figure out the exact reason for it, and he was fine with it, it didn't bother him a smidge that he couldn't.

...

Suzanne mused, "hmm, I can't understand how then..."

The mighty marshal of the Gelodesh Kingdom was at a loss to figure out the reason for Raymond's awakening, and it wasn't the first time since the morning that she had felt this way. She was frustrated that she couldn't get to the bottom of it, but it was nothing compared to the massive joy and pride she felt that he had awakened his attribute.

"Well, who cares how it happened... The thing is that I have awakened, right?"

"Yes! Precisely!" A wide grin came upon Suzanne's face at his words. It was the exact thing that she had needed to hear. It could have happened due to the real life and death battle, or it could have happened due to some other reason.

The truth of the matter was that he had awakened, even if the rationale behind it seemed a little weak. Because, ultimately, if that was the only thing needed, he should have awakened a lot earlier or just after his battle with Rose.

However, the jubilation was so surreal that she could overlook it for the time being. It was a little annoying, but that's all it was. There were a lot of ways to overcome any hidden danger, if there were any. Most of all though, she was sure Raymond would be able to figure it out by himself at a later time.

The gorgeous aunt and the ecstatic nephew talked animatedly about a lot of things, some related to his attribute and awakening and some others related to his life in general. Suzanne expressed little surprise that he had awakened to the earth attribute; in her opinion the nature of one's attribute didn't matter that much, and she told as much to him.

...

"So, do you think I could defeat Rose, even when I only have the earth attribute?"

Raymond saw a ray of hope in her words. After a morning of training with Lily, where she had shown him her powers, he was convinced that the earth attribute was strong. Nonetheless, the ingrained majesty of the fire attribute was such that he inwardly bemoaned his luck.

"Oh, Sweetie!" Suzanne sighed exaggeratedly and then proceeded to further quash his hopes, "It isn't so much about the nature of attribute. You can never think like that."

The sympathetic head pat seemed more like a pity to Raymond. He uttered a bit forcefully this time, "why then?"

Seeing that his feelings may have been hurt, Suzanne asked patiently, "What do you know about the awakened and their power distribution?"

He raised an eyebrow at being treated like a little kid by his aunt. However, he answered without showing his displeasure outwardly, albeit in a mechanical way, "Well every time an awakened evolves their mana pool they are said to increase their star level. Like me, I have become a 1-star awakened. When I increase in star level by evolving my mana pool, there will be a corresponding increase in my power... Happy?" Raymond snorted. "Come on, Aunt Suzy, even children know this much!"

Before Suzanne could say anything, Raymond added what seemed like the crux of the matter, and what had been his main query. "Though it may be difficult it is entirely possible that a 1-star awakened can defeat a 4-star awakened." Seeing the questioning look on Suzanne's face, he hurriedly asked, "It's true, isn't it?"

"Hmmm," Suzanne hummed as she tilted her head to the side. "Who told you that?"

"No one... I just came to know about it. It's true though, right?" Raymond was impatient to know the answer. It was important to him that it was true. It had been his only hope to catch up to his sister and cousins. Because, if it wasn't, then he would forever be weaker than them.

"Well, theoretically it is true, but-"

"Yes!" Raymond clenched his fist in glee. He could put up with the fact that he had fallen behind them, but he couldn't take it if he was forever in that same pathetic position.

That arrogant little... he thought about teaching Rose a lesson, and it made him jolt with glee.

Raymond had come straight to meet Miranda after he had returned with Lily from the forest and hadn't had the time to see anyone else. He was dying to show off his newfound powers to his redheaded cousin, and while he was still in the midst of thinking of ways to get back at her for years of torment, he was interrupted by the grave voice of Suzanne.

Suzanne's soft palms took his face, and she stared at him, "Do not ever underestimate your enemies! You were lucky this time that the beast was exhausted and injured. Don't become conceited!"

It was frightening for Raymond to see the fierce air that surrounded Suzanne. He had never seen her being this serious and chilling. He always saw her as the playful and gorgeous aunt, and he was frankly spooked by her current atmosphere.

"Yes, I won't..." he barely whispered.

Suzanne only let go of him after she saw the look of understanding in his eyes.

Fighting against an awakened warrior was not a child's play. After they had both calmed down a few minutes later, she explained. "Listen, it's not that I want to scare you Sweetie, but it's dangerous! I still shudder to think how you had the courage to confront a prime beast..."

Raymond could only smile wryly at this point. He had thought that it was the only choice left for him but looking back now, it was really a dangerous situation.

"Technically, though, you are wrong..."

"Huh?"

Raymond expressed his confusion at the sudden remark of his aunt. He thought that she was just persuading him not to try anything dangerous and had given up on his earlier thoughts. However, her words signaled that there was more to the story.

"Yeah! It's surely nigh impossible for a 1-star to defeat a 4-star in an actual fight, and he may be killed outright."

"Then why-"

"But...! But it is possible for a 1-star to kill a 4-star..." Suzanne stated.

Raymond was speechless. He didn't know what to make of the two confusing and contradicting statements of his aunt.

"How? I don't understand! How is it possible to kill someone if you are supposed to be so weak that you couldn't even fight them?"

"Hehe," Suzanne smirked and then spoke in a passionate tone, "Killing is not the same as fighting. Remember that! Always..." She continued gleefully after seeing that Raymond was entranced by her words, "As you know, our bodies undergo a change with each increase in star level, right?"

"Yes!"

"Yeah, so it's a lot more difficult for a lower star-level awakened to fight against a higher level one. And Sweetie, I want to once again remind you that you shouldn't be overconfident. Don't ever underestimate your enemies, whether human or otherwise..."

Raymond frantically nodded his head to display his obedience. In truth, he just wanted her to get to the next part, the most important part.

...

"Now," Suzanne began. There was a profound look on her face but hidden underneath was a gleeful smile, which she found hard to conceal, even as she imparted her knowledge to her handsome nephew. "The most essential thing is the surprise element because, without it, I don't think jumping star levels to fight and kill could ever be done." Suzanne stated as a matter of fact and then added in a serious tone. "You should just run as fast as you can if you lose the initiative."

"Hmm..."

"But that's not all. You see, what do you think would happen if there was an interference with your mana pool?"

"Um? It would burst?" Raymond replied after much contemplation.

Suzanne remarked enthusiastically, "exactly! It would burst! If a 1-star warrior wants to kill off a 4-star warrior, he has to make the mana pool of his enemy explode, that's the only way!"

"And can you guess what the easiest way is for you to do that?"

Seeing the young man ignorantly shake his head, Suzanne couldn't help but puff her mesmerizing breasts. The sight was so enticing that if it was any other time, Raymond would have been entranced by the hypnotical jiggling of them.

Proudly, and in a sagely voice, she continued, "listen closely! When you launch a sneak attack, it means you have caught the enemy unawares, so that is the best and only chance to interfere with his mana flow. As you well know, it is very difficult to awaken one's attribute and so, in turn, it is also very difficult to interfere with the mana pool unless the person is caught off guard. Since this process is a bit similar to how you awakened your attribute and how you cast a magic spell, it should not be that difficult."

"It's actually easy to interfere?" Raymond was again a little confused. However, Suzanne expected it and tried to explain in simpler terms.

"Alright, imagine how you awakened... you circulated all your mana through your mana channels, right?"

Raymond answered immediately this time. "Yeah!"

"Now tell me why it was so difficult for you? Why did it take you so much time to awaken? After all, you know the theory behind it, right?"

"... I didn't have enough practice? Is that it?"

"No! You had enough practice." Suzanne decided to go through the explanation on her own as she found it hard to control her impulse to just tell him the whole thing already.

"What you lacked was control. Control! Take for example, when you killed that prime beast, it required immense concentration and control, right? In that situation, your body powerfully circulated all the mana in your mana pool. This might have opened up all the remaining possible paths for circulation in your mana channels. It might have that it was the critical factor, giving you a very increased control over your circulation. So, the next time you tried to awaken, you were successful!"

Well, maybe... But there's no need to tell him that. Suzanne was not sure if what she told Raymond was accurate yet it was the best she could come up with at the moment.

"Ooh, so you mean the sense of danger had to be real for my body to do that? And if I knew that someone would come and save me, I wouldn't feel the same pressure?"

"Now you get it! Hah, my Sweetie! You finally see why I was so scared and surprised?" Suzanne pecked all over his face, affectionately.

...

"Yeah..." Raymond sighed at his ignorance. He didn't realize that he was so close to death at that point. He trembled at the thought.

If there was even a tiny bit that had gone wrong, then my mana pool would have exploded by the pressure of the powerful mana circulation and I would have died even before I killed the damn prime beast!

"I was relieved when I thought that you had awakened naturally, but..." Suzanne shook her head frantically, which made her wavy hair become disheveled. She took his face in her hands and then pressed it against her bosom.

"Don't ever take a risk like that again, okay? What would I do if something happened to you?"

Raymond kept his mum about her worries and consoled himself by burying his head in the heavenly flesh peaks. The floral scent was still present and soothed him greatly. It was as if he was in the most peaceful place, the safest place that could be.

This is bliss! He mused about spending the whole afternoon like that.

But there was a constant prickling sensation in his mind that he just couldn't get rid of. The thought of killing someone much more powerful than himself just wouldn't leave his mind, no matter how much he tried to suppress it. Finally, when he couldn't bear to ignore it anymore, he regretfully lifted his face from the heaven that was Suzanne's bosom and asked her in a sheepish voice.

"Aunt Suzy, you never did tell me what to do after the sneak attack though?"

...

Suzanne tutted at him, "I told you all this so I could change your mind, but now I see that it is impossible." Though she portrayed being annoyed, inside her mind, she praised Raymond for his fearlessness and courage.

"Well, I shouldn't be surprised. You have always been like that..."

What Suzanne didn't tell him was that she was the same as him. Courageousness, fearlessness, which sometimes bordered on being reckless, and she had them in abundance. She was never one to back down from a challenge. That was the reason that she was so full of interest when Raymond asked her about it, and why she was so thrilled to share her experience with him.

"Since you are so persistent, I will tell you. But before that, promise me that you won't be reckless. Otherwise..."

"I swear!"

"... okay! Remember that there is only a single chance, and it would all fail if you don't manage to pierce the enemy's body. Pay special attention to the part of the body you are attacking. Eyes are always the most vulnerable target..."

Suzanne carried on when she saw that she had the full attention of Raymond, "It could be either with your weapon, your bare hands or something else. But you shouldn't lose connection with it." Suddenly her tone became nonchalant as if she was talking about the easiest thing in the world, "And after that, you just have to release your mana inside the enemy's body in a frequency that is opposite to his own. It will tear apart his mana channels due to the two conflicting and opposite kind of mana and then boom!"

"... Huh?"

"Simple, right?" Suzanne bragged unashamedly at that point.

"Like hell it is simple! It's so much different to awakening that they aren't even on the same level!"

"Ha-ha! Sweetie, you're so cute when you get angry like that!"

Raymond dodged all of Suzanne's attempts to kiss his face and glared at her furiously.

"And you even said it so- so casually!"

"Aw! Don't be mad!"

"Come on! If it's that difficult just don't attempt it..." Suzanne challenged Raymond while sneakily laughing to herself for getting one over him. It was a win-win in both situations for her. If he never attempted it, that means he didn't need to, and he would be safe. And if he did attempt it, then she would applaud him for his bravery and his courage.

Though it was an immensely dangerous process, it never crossed her mind that he wouldn't be able to learn it or fail while trying it. After all, she had made her name being so proficient in the scary technique, and there was no way she would believe that her own nephew wouldn't be able to do the same as her.

Sweetie can do it! For sure he can! Suzanne reasoned.

The loud ringing of the hour bell interrupted them. Suzanne gazed out the window. The clouds had blocked the light, and it made her sigh as she realized that she had to leave soon. For Suzanne, the time spent with Raymond was always fun, but now she had to get back to her role as the Marshal of the kingdom of Gelodesh.

"Before I leave, I have-"

"Leave!? You're leaving? Why? When?"

A jolt of happiness rocked Suzanne's body as she watched Raymond's flabbergasted reaction after she told him about leaving. That's how it should be! Not like that damn daughter of mine!

"Is it today?" When Suzanne nodded, Raymond questioned with a renewed vigor, "but why? You've only just arrived, and now you're already going back?"

Suzanne explained in a soft voice, "Well, I'm not exactly going back. I'm leaving with Ingrid for Beltran. So that's why..."

"But-Bu-"

...

Raymond sighed wistfully and no longer tried to find reason or convince her otherwise. There was so much more he wanted to talk to her about, like his spell casting or weapon selection and so much more. However, Suzanne was a very busy woman who had a lot of things she had to look out for and because of that, the time spent with her was always short. Raymond felt sad, even when he knew in his heart that it was going to be the same as ever.

"Oh, Sweetie! I will miss you too!"

Suzanne hugged him close to her and patted his head consolingly. The warm embrace in the cold weather felt like a great tonic and only made them want to continue it longer.

"Sweetie, I know that you won't like this but... tomorrow you have to leave for Ostorth..."

Raymond's mood soured in an instant. He tried to hold back but couldn't completely hide the causticity in his tone as he said, "Fine. I will go see her, not like I have a choice in the matter do I?"

"Oh, Sweetie!"

...

Suzanne tightened her hold on him as she felt his body tremble with rage. She expected a reaction similar to this but not to this extent.