The sun was almost past the horizon, and the day was coming to an end.


    Two weeks after Orion returned to his usual life, three people were moving frantically all around the village''s training arena.


    Sounds of clashing could be heard from there.


    Orion, Amelia, and Karteira were fighting. To be precise, it was a two-versus-one fight.


    Orion against Amelia and Karteira.


    For Orion, it was a ridiculous handicap, but he was still overwhelmingly stronger than both of them combined. He even gave them a speed enhancement to make it fair.


    His movements were sharper than ever, and he easily blocked the attacks coming at him. If there was something hindering his movements, it would only be the exhaustion caused by using his magic.


    But even that was under his control. During those two weeks, he learned to use his energy more efficiently. There were countless leaks of energy when he used his magic.


    Slowly, he was beginning to get the hang of it.


    "Not enough. Come at me as if you wanted to kill me!"


    Orion was training them to strengthen them.


    "As if we could do that!"


    Amelia was clashing blades with Orion using Ceres, her earth dagger. It has gone through some changes since then.


    After using it over and over during the past two weeks, she found out two new uses for that specific weapon.


    A layer of metal could be used to form a sharp edge to the dirt dagger, and sand could be used as a projectile.


    Those were the two things she saw when she observed the earth sphere in her soul before.


    "That''s what I''ve been doing!"


    Karteira was using a fraction of her ''Cerulean Aegis''. There was no need to protect her whole body when training, so only her gauntlets in smashing form were used.


    She tried to punch Orion, but he deflected the punch toward Amelia.


    "Wa-"


    Amelia crouched to avoid the punch while she tried to attack Orion''s legs.


    "Not so fast!"


    Karteira used her tail to slap Orion. He was now in a difficult position, being attacked below and above.


    Orion surprised both of them by stopping both attacks. Stepping on Ceres, he stuck it in the ground while grabbing Karteira''s scorpion tail with both hands after letting go of his daggers.


    "Impossible!"


    "You will have to do better than that if you want to win against me."


    He pushed Karteira away and moved further away from Amelia after picking up the iron daggers.


    "Amelia, you''re not going to use your new dagger? If you don''t use it, you''re lowering your chances against me."


    "You can taunt me all you want, but I won''t fall for it. I should still try using it, though."


    "I haven''t fallen for your taunt, you understand?"


    Orion laughed and made a signal with his hand to come and fight him.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "Leima!"


    A spherical purple lightning sphere the size of a medium-sized rock appeared in her palm. It cracked loudly and began to change form. The dagger took shape almost instantly, showing her achievement in mastering her lightning element.


    Orion already knew about it since he was there when she managed to create it, though he didn''t know its name until now.


    He looked at Amelia as she took her usual stance, and the moment her two daggers crossed, lightning bolts touched the metal blade of Ceres, giving it more power.


    "Nice, nice. And you, Karteira, that''s all you''re going to do? Don''t you have a way to go faster than that?"


    He turned to Karteira and began to taunt her too.


    "How do you even know about that?"


    She dropped her stance and looked at him with bewilderment.


    "A feeling. I haven''t seen you train recently, but I can feel it. You''ve discovered a way to be way faster."


    His keen senses picked up on that easily. Karteira was starting to get used to him by now, so she shrugged.


    "I can''t hide anything from you, it seems. Fine, it''s the perfect opportunity to show you anyway."


    The small plates around her ankles began to expand and cover her legs. It continued until it reached her lower back, and then stopped.


    "Give me a minute to prepare; I can''t use it without preparation."


    "It''s fine. I''ll entertain Amelia while I wait for you. When you''re ready, come at me."


    He turned to Amelia after seeing Karteira run left and right as a warm-up.


    ''It''s bothersome if there is a condition to use it. Once I see it, I''ll have to find a way to help with that. Having to prepare for it is a waste of time during a fight.''


    As always, the most important thing for Orion was how efficient it was in battle.


    ''Wait, what were those two protruding plates on her back-''


    *Cling*


    ''Crap, I was focusing too much on Karteira!''


    Swiftly, Amelia closed in on Orion while he was thinking. She managed to take him by surprise, creating a shallow cut on his arm, before he countered her.


    Amelia began to move faster with each strike. From what Orion was observing, the lightning element was stimulating her muscles to move her arms faster.


    He laughed again, completely satisfied with the current situation.


    ''Truly great, she''s once again thinking about how to use her elements to her advantage. She was already using water to slide freely around and her wind to protect her, but I never thought she could go this far.''


    They crossed blades again and again, with no one having the upper hand.


    ''Wait, why does it feel so hot suddenly?''


    Orion thought about looking around, but he had to get some distance from Amelia before that. He jumped and kicked Amelia, who defended with both blades. He used that push to create some distance.


    In midair, he looked at the source of the hot air and saw Karteira emitting a terrible amount of steam from her legs.


    ''What is she doing?''


    Just as he questioned the situation, Karteira placed her right leg in front of her and prepared herself to move forward. Seeing this, Amelia slowly walked away while watching Orion.


    "I''m ready. I can''t control the power yet, so I''m sorry if I hurt you."


    The plates on her lower back moved upward, and steam gushed from them, creating a waist cape of scorching steam.


    Each time Orion saw this ability to create such heat, he wondered if this was a specificity of the fairies or only to Karteira.


    In reality, her body was creating heat as a byproduct of her ''Cerulean Aegis'' ability.


    The more she moved around in armor, the more her body created heat, and the only way to avoid burning her skin was to send it out by sliding a few plates.


    After thinking of what was best for her ability, she began thinking like Orion. Whatever was made by her could be used. Steam was one of the many weapons at her disposal.


    Until now, it was simply a part of the ability that she needed to get rid of to continue fighting. After thinking and trying many things, she found a way to use that steam to her advantage.


    "Steam Surge!"


    The two plates that Orion noticed earlier moved on each side of her waist and curved differently than her other plates did. A burst of steam exploded behind her as she flew straight toward Orion at a speed even he was unable to attain.


    "Sh-"


    *Crash*


    The impact was so strong that it made him fly a few meters away. His body rolled on the ground a few times, but he managed to recover by pushing one of his arms down. He slid into a crouch position for a few more meters and checked his daggers.


    ''They''re broken. What in the world was that attack? I can still feel its strength in my arms.''


    A mixture of confusion and excitement appeared on his face.


    "Orion, are you alright?"


    Amelia and Karteira ran to him to check if he wasn''t injured.


    "I''m sorry, I can''t control how much steam I use yet. I shouldn''t have used all of it now that I think of it."


    Scratching the back of her head, she smiled dryly.


    "No, it''s fine. It''s a good thing you used it on me. That was a splendid way of using what you have."


    "Amelia, too; you''ve managed to cut me a few times during our exchanges. Both of you have been improving."


    Still worried about him, each of them grabbed an arm and helped him stand up.


    "Karteira, that attack is deadly. How did you even think of it? Look at the daggers; they cracked the moment you impacted them."


    During the clash, Karteira only protected her upper body with her gauntlets.


    When Orion saw her coming at high speed, in the split second he had to react, he protected with his daggers, but they couldn''t endure the raw power behind her attack.


    "They''re warped... Are you sure you are alright?"


    "I am. Just so you don''t worry, I''ll heal my arms."


    With a worried look, both of them looked over as he healed his body.


    "Alright, let''s stop our training there. Now that I''ve seen what both of you are capable of, I''m satisfied. The sun has set too, so there is no point in continuing."


    Orion turned around in the direction of the mansion.


    "You''re eating with us tonight, Karteira?"


    Both girls looked at each other before nodding. Then, they walked to his side.


    "Yes, I am. It''s been a while since I''ve eaten Amelia''s cooking."


    "Well, you''re going to like it because tonight it''s-"


    The group continued talking even after returning to the mansion, and they enjoyed another great dinner made by Amelia. Thereafter, Karteira returned to her house, while Orion and Amelia prepared themselves to go to sleep.


    Just before falling asleep, Orion thought about that last hit.


    ''That was one nasty attack she did on me. I need to find a way to negate the power behind it, or she will always overpower me. There''s no way to move faster than her, either. Though, I don''t have a clue on how to do it.''


    While thinking of ways to stop Karteira''s impactful attack, Orion slowly fell into the dream world.