It shouldn't be like this...

"Those factions and the 'prospective heirs' they support, I am going to destroy them all," Vaan spoke, determination burning in his eyes.

"Hahaha~"

This time, Astra couldn't contain her smile and laughed out loud.

"I will look forward to what you have to show to me, Son." She spoke.

"I assure you it will be worth your time," Vaan replied with a confident smile on his face.

"Alright then, this instant spell you discover, since you now know that I don't need it,

Use it to increase your contribution points to the Family and enter the Succession Battle."

"Please keep it as a present, Mother." Vaan, however, shook his head. Then, he looked into his mother's eyes and,

"Keep it as a proof that your son is changing.

Trust me, this won't be the last spell I will be improving. I will improve countless spells to increase my contribution points.

I plan to make a grander entrance later."

A small smile appeared on Astra's face. She then grabbed the Elemental Stones Vaan was passing to her, the Stones which were bright red earlier had now turned dull. Astra filled the Stones with her Mana and they regained their color.

Then, she injected her Mana to activate the Instant Spell, but…

"…"

Nothing happened.

"What…?"

Astra frowned.

"What happened?" Vaan questioned.

"It isn't working," Astra replied.

"Huh?" Vaan took the Stones, then he injected his Mana, and just as Astra said, the Spell wasn't working.

"Was it just one-time use?" Vaan was doubtful.

If that was the case, then it was much worse that the normal Ignispike Pursuit, however, then,

"Krrii~"

Flamey flew in front of Vaan's face.

Flamey used her flames to draw an 'X' in front of the two Elemental Stones.

"Are you saying that I can't use them?" Vaan questioned. Flamey nodded her head.

"So… these Stones are useless now…?"

"Krrii Krrii!"

Flamey shook her head. Then, she pointed at Astra and formed an 'X' with her hand as she shook her head.

"Krri Krriii Krii!"

"What…?" This time, Vaan couldn't understand what Flamey was talking about.

"Krri Krri Krriiii!"

Flamey flew around Astra and circled around her head, then, she formed 2 stones that had similar shapes to the Elemental Shapes and 'placed' them on Astra's hands, then, the Flames got brighter and she brought those Fire Stones to Vaan and,

"Krrri Kriiiii!"

She shook her head again and formed a cross using her flames.

"The Spell isn't working because mother was the one who refill the Elemental Stones…? Am I the only one who can refill them?"

"Krrii!" Flamey nodded her head.

Vaan frowned.

That was not how Instant Spells worked…

"…"

On the other hand, seeing her child talking in the air and making different expressions, Astra didn't know how to react.

Was his injury acting up?

But didn't they use Heal on him?

She even called those followers of God of Light just because she wanted to be sure nothing is wrong with her child, did they fool her?

Astra narrowed her eyes.

Honestly, it was highly unlikely for the followers of God of Light to fool others.

God of Light represented Kindness, Happiness, Love, Compassion, Forgiveness, and all other positive values. The more these 'values' a person has, the more affinity he has with God of Light's blessings and the higher his position gets in the Church of Light.

So the higher the position, the 'kinder' the person was.

The 3 people she called were the Bishops, people like them couldn't 'cheat' others since that would not be a 'positive' value and would affect their affinity with the God of Light, which would later harm their position.

Honestly, Astra didn't really believe all this bullshit.

After all, when the Tower of Magic was being attacked by other forces 5000 years ago, the Church of Light was one of those forces as well.

Let alone Bishops, even the Pope had come to attack them.

Attacking someone who was already at their worse, was it not something that would have affected their affinity with the God of Light?

Then why did they actively participate and even destroyed most of the Towers of Magic?

Did the God of Light not stop them that time?

Honestly, Astra and the Vesta Family didn't really believe the Church of Light, in their eyes, they were just a bunch of hypocrites, however, aside from the Vesta City, every other place looked at the Church of Light differently.

Their image was just too good.

Never was a high-level member of the Church of Light caught doing something indecent. Rather, they always went out of their way to help others. Even hearing them curse was extremely rare, some hadn't even cursed their entire life.

People even believe that the God of Light is the only fair God in the world.

The Church of Light's influence was so strong, that even the Dragons, who only followed the Dragon God, trusted the high-level members of the Church of Light and only communicated with them.

Yes, other humans were too vile and scheming in their eyes. They didn't interact with anyone other than the people of the Church of Light.

"Mother, can you remove Mana from these Stones?"

While Astra was thinking all this, Vaan questioned. Astra came out of his reverie, then, she glanced at Vaan and,

"Who were you talking to?" She questioned.

"It's a secret," Vaan replied, he tried to flick her mother's forehead like he did to her, however, his body simply moved on its own and backed away.

"Trying to be your mother's equal huh?"

"I wouldn't dare." Vaan laughed.

Astra shook her head.

"Anyways, you want me to remove Mana from these Stones?"

"Yes."

Astra then used Mana Drain, something a 1st Circle Mage like Vaan couldn't do. The Elemental Stones became dull, and Astra passed the Stones to Vaan.

Vaan then filled the Stones with his own Mana, the Stones became bright again. Vaan passed the stones to Astra and, "Try again." He spoke.

Astra frowned, however, she did as Vaan tone, she injected her Mana into the stones to activate it and,

*Flicker*

The Fire Spike was formed.

"Just as I thought, it would only work if I am the one filling the Elemental Stone," Vaan muttered, Flamey was right.

"Krriii Krriiii!" Flamey exclaimed with a proud look on her face.

It was as if she was saying, 'How can I be wrong?'

Vaan just chuckled. His little friend was really too adorable.

"This is strange… It shouldn't be like this..."

Suddenly, Astra spoke up with a strange expression on her face.