Karteira stood up from the ground after a few minutes.


    With her strength recovered, she stretched and walked toward Orion, who was still sprawled on the ground, looking at the sky.


    "Aaaah! That felt so good! Thank you for the fight; I never had this much fun before."


    Orion saw a hand extend near his face as he thought about his current condition.


    ''The heat has diminished; I should be able to walk.''


    He grabbed the hand with a firm grasp and felt a tugging force pulling him.


    "Likewise, it seemed to have been a great experience for Amelia, too. She progressed way faster fighting you than when she fought me."


    They smiled at each other as Orion straightened.


    "I could see that; her eyes were so focused on me that I had to give it my all. Otherwise, I would have betrayed her expectations."


    "I apologize for the last hit. I didn''t expect to fall over too, but I was out of strength at that point."


    She scratched her cheek in embarrassment, looking prettier than ever with her hair disheveled from the fight.


    "You got one on me. I saw your second swipe too late to react."


    "I acknowledged it when you threw the first punch, but you are considerably faster than any of us. Amelia was struggling to counter most of your hits."


    The two began to exchange their thoughts on the fight now that it was over.


    Amelia was on the right side of Orion, not feeling like interrupting them. The sisters were behind them, listening to everything they were saying.


    Many things were happening at once inside Amelia. She exhausted her body and her magic storage.


    But, as a result, in her soul, two elements were pulsing violently, trying to break a threshold they were currently stuck at.


    ''It hurts. My heart is pounding, and my mind is blurry.''


    *Thump* *Thump*


    She placed her hands on her chest, plunging her consciousness into her soul, similar to when she linked with the dragons, Monolavir and Ruminona.


    While Orion and Karteira were having a long chat, Amelia was struggling.


    ~


    "What''s happening in there?"


    With great struggle, she walked in the darkness toward the ''Key'', floating in the void that was her soul.


    The voice echoed inside the confined space and began to explain the situation to her.


    "These two entered their new stages faster than expected during the fights, leading to this situation."


    "What do you mean? Weren''t they in need of more stimulation before they could progress further?"


    Amelia looked at her two elements that were pulsing brightly.


    "Your water and wind elements, with the help of the dragon scales, grew in strength with each strike you exchanged with Karteira."


    Understanding the reason, Amelia nodded. Still, she was confused.


    "What was the difference for such an increase? I always train and fight with Orion, so why doesn''t it progress that way?"


    She knew the answer but didn''t want to acknowledge it, so the voice did it for her.


    "You have certainly realized, but that man is never serious when fighting you. He never forced you into your last resort or pushed you to the limits where a single mistake could lead to injuries."


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    The hard truth made Amelia agree with the voice as it continued explaining.


    "He is indeed strong, but he is also far too overprotective over you. That woman you exchanged blows with never stopped walking toward her victory, and you refused to give it to her, which gave this incredible result."


    A bit dejected to know Orion wasn''t able to make her magic improve, she quickly continued discussing the matter.


    "But that doesn''t explain why the elements improved, does it? It just tells me I''m a stubborn woman who refused to lose."


    "Not that it''s wrong, but still!"


    Frustration took over when she realized her inner nature. The ''Key'' took over from there.


    "Your elements are now a part of you. They are akin to children. Nurture them, and they will grow stronger, but ignore them, and they will weaken, refusing to give you their strength."


    "You''ve cared for those two, and they grew accordingly. They even worked way harder than anyone would have expected. They have supported you fully and wish to continue doing so. Likewise, they are not the only ones, either."


    Amelia looked at the orbs floating around the ''Key''. They were floating faster than the first time she saw them a month ago.


    The two strongest orbs were frantically glowing their respective colors, blue and green.


    The water orb was full to the brim of water. There was an opening at the top spewing the excess water, making another layer of water around the orb, doubling its size.


    As the blue scale inside was shimmering, it created many ice particles that immediately thawed inside the water.


    On the other side, the wind orb was irregularly forming strong wind gusts inside, with the green scale as its center. This orb had two openings on both the top and the bottom.


    The wind from the top was joining the wind at the bottom in stripes around the orb.


    Next to the wind orb was the lightning orb, which was in a state close to being released from its orb. Purple lightning was striking the orb rhythmically, and most of the hits were toward the wind orb.


    The next one was the fire orb, the weakest of her elements.


    She felt sorry about it because she had neglected it until now. The decent-sized flame was now a bright orange, different from the small and flickering dark red spark it had before.


    The last one was the earth orb. It grew during the fight so much that a new part of the element was formed inside the sphere.


    It was full of dirt and rocks, but on some occasions, she could see a tiny sparkle mixed in all the aggregate.


    Amelia could see what it was, but she knew it wasn''t in Ceres before, so this matter was obviously new. The orb appeared to crack on all sides from the amount of packed dirt and rocks inside.


    "You gave names to three of them, and the last two are expecting one in the future. The ones who received a name pushed themselves to be of use to you, and they are now in this state."


    "If not for the dragons, they would have never progressed this much."


    The voice made sure Amelia understood why she was progressing so rapidly.


    "Do you mean that the other ones will stay in the previous state these two were in before?"


    Curious, Amelia asked.


    "It does seem like it. Nothing can be done to break through a threshold; only a slight push can hasten the process."


    "So what needs to be done to make water and wind progress to the next stage?"


    The next answer was more shocking than expected.


    "You need to avoid using them for some time. A month seems necessary as they''ve accumulated too much energy."


    With a shocked expression, Amelia looked up.


    "A month?!"


    "Yes, a month. You will feel it immediately when both have progressed past their limits. You must let them absorb the experience that brought them to this state."


    "Instead, it might be a good idea to start using your two lacking elements. They want to be of use in battle, too."


    This wasn''t necessarily a bad thing, but losing two of her strongest weapons was not good news to hear.


    "It doesn''t look like I have a choice, so I''ll try. I also aim to use them more, so let''s do it!"


    "I''ll make them quieter so as not to bother your daily life. Having your heart hurt every second is not pleasant, isn''t it?"


    "It is not. Thank you."


    With a grateful nod, Amelia thanked the ''Key''.


    "I have another piece of information to tell you before you get back. Orion is close to unveiling his magic''s nature. It might even happen in the days coming."


    "What do you mean by that? Did he once again find something and haven''t told me?"


    Anger took over Amelia; she didn''t like being left out on important matters.


    "Not this time. He hasn''t realized himself yet, but it will most likely happen."


    She calmed down and continued gazing at the ''Key'' with a neutral look.


    "Everything that happens is for him to unravel. I am only here to watch the result, as I did before. You won''t get anything more from me."


    Hearing the voice speak more fluently, she smiled at it.


    "You''re speaking more now; is it really because you''ve released more seals?"


    Amelia turned around and began to walk toward the white light on the floor. She stepped on it and looked once again at the ''Key''.


    "I''m going back. If you need to talk, just do it, alright?"


    "I will. Be careful out there. Tomorrow will be a dangerous day for everyone."


    "I''ll keep that in mind. I don''t want to lose him, either."


    She closed her eyes, the white light engulfing her on the spot. The ''Key'' was now once again inside the empty void of Amelia''s soul.


    "Neither do I. I simply wish that Orion would avoid the same fate as Noah. If only I..."


    A brief silence replaced her voice as the ''Key'' hesitated to speak further.


    "Never mind. I know what to do, and I will do it in due time, even if I have to suffer for it."


    "Another tragedy needs to be avoided."


    The ''Key'' stopped responding, and only the sound of the orbs remained in Amelia''s soul.


    ~


    "Well, I had a good time anyway. Let''s go back home."


    Karteira started to remove the dust from her clothes.


    "Amelia, let''s go."


    Orion called out to her, but she wasn''t responding, a blank look in her eyes.


    "Hey, are you alright?"


    He moved closer and waved in front of her eyes. She blinked a few times and looked at him seriously.


    What she said left him speechless.


    "Orion, I won''t be able to use my water and wind elements for a month."


    "..."