At first, Kamala''s personality change was somehow hard to deal with.


    She really spoke little, and only in extreme cases where she needed to express something did she talked long sentences.


    But after a week, they were accustomed. In the end, it was not hard to see her true self amidst the quiet demeanor.


    Since Orion, Amelia, and even Karteira didn''t care that much for long heated conversations, the occasional small talk was all they could ask for.


    Kamala had also gotten used to Orion and Karteira''s tough training session. She learned that having Amelia as an opponent would be synonymous with ''easy day''.


    Orion instructed everyone with one order, exhaust Kamala.


    Once her stamina was restored ever so slightly, she had to train once again. The training was simple, she had to fight anyone for more than two hours without fainting.


    He wasn''t a monster. When he said two hours, this was considering one or two breaks.


    Orion explained the past event of invading the underground tunnels. In there, they fought an entire day inside, with so few breaks in between.


    This was the amount of stamina he asked for her to have.


    Other than that, the house had been completely finished. The bathroom, and the toilet as been built.


    The case of the ''magic'' toilet led to a commotion inside the house. When being used, they had no idea where the content went.


    The same happened with the bathroom. Used water definitely flowed somewhere, but where was the question.


    After Orion looked in every nook and cranny of the house, he found the reason for such a thing.


    Let''s just say that Amelia had no idea of her innate ability to purify anything and everything with her water element.


    When Orion looked under the sink, he found a really, really, but really small water orb at the end of the piping.


    That orb drank the water that flowed inside the pipe, without causing any leak.


    After talking with everyone, the case of the ''magic'' toilet was closed, and they once again said that magic was truly convenient.


    But let''s not forget, these two aren''t normal by any means. No one on the continent would ever come close to find so many things about their elements, and their magic.


    Reon, inside the bracelet, was in awe in front of such ingenuity. He thought that only him was interested in the various uses of elemental magic, but seeing Amelia''s work, he really wanted to talk with her.


    Orianne was more... easygoing. Every time Amelia appeared, she cheered for her to make a move on Orion.


    Yes, he had wonderful parents.


    ...


    So, you might ask what Orion did in his free time, or on what abilities Karteira had to work on, or even if Amelia managed to improve her fighting skills instead of her building skills.


    Let us start from the beginning.


    Two weeks in, Orion was in the training area, far from the house. The same place he fought Kamala the first time.


    Not only him, but Karteira, Kamala, and Amelia were all here.


    "So, when are you going to explain what that trump card of yours is?"


    Amelia, daggers in hand, was ready to strike at Orion.


    "I didn''t?"


    She lost her posture, and looked straight at him with a face that said ''No you didn''t!''.


    Karteira took this chance to sneak behind him and slam her tail on his flank.


    "I guess I should."


    Karteira blinked when she realized that Orion was next to Amelia, stroking her hair.


    "Can we even fight you like this?"


    She was shocked. There was no way she could ever react if Orion decided to attack her.


    "You can. It might be difficult at first, but I''ll tell you anyway."


    Kamala, adapting to the training, ran in a boxing pose toward him.


    He looked to his side, and watched carefully for her next move.


    ''She''s going for a right punch... No!''


    Suddenly, she made a faint. She retracted her punch, and instead went for a low kick toward his knees.


    "Not so fast."


    Amelia grabbed Orion''s wrist, and twisted it to make sure he wouldn''t leave.


    ''What a situation.''


    He laughed internally.


    "I''m coming too!"


    Karteira launched herself with her tail like a slingshot. Now that her base was reinforced, she could use it without any lasting injuries or pain.


    ''I''ve dodge Dramia''s bullets before.''


    "Do you think you have what it takes to take me down?"


    He smiled wildly, and activated Calm Analysis.


    Time slowed down, leaving plenty of opportunities for him to counter.


    ''Let''s see, the first one to hit is... Karteira. She''s going way too fast.''


    ''Fool.''


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    Karteira fists approached faster than Kamala''s kick was. To avoid being hit, he moved his head backward, and grabbed her shirt.


    He pulled her down in slow motion. The surprised face of Kamala was hidden by the falling Karteira.


    She was in the middle of a kick, what could she do besides follow the momentum.


    Her leg barely touched Orion, but she got pushed by Karteira when she fell. He stopped Calm Analysis.


    The two women fell to the ground, blinking from not understanding what happened.


    In an instant, they were both defeated.


    Orion followed by crouching, Amelia still holding his wrist. By doing that, she lost her balance and fell forward, on his back.


    When she had completely fallen on his back, he grabbed her arm that wasn''t holding his, and pulled her.


    She did a wheel motion above his back, and fell on the two defeated women.


    "..."


    "I''ve overdone it I think."


    The three were piled up, grunting because of the pain of either catching someone thrown at you, being the person thrown, or being the one under all of the weight.


    "Let''s stop there for today."


    He helped the girls getting back up.


    ~


    "The abilities you used against Karteira, that''s your trump card right?"


    Amelia asked.


    "Right. I still have to explain."


    They were all sat on the ground, except Orion who was making turns to heal the girls, one at a time.


    "That''s kind of unfair. You''re can dodge everything I throw at you."


    Karteira was a bit sour that every attack she made was countered or avoided.


    "I have something on that."


    Orion made his serious face.


    "You idiot. When are you going to learn that launching yourself at enemies creates opening for them to strike you down?"


    Karteira stared at him blankly while he was healing Kamala.


    "Idiot? Me?"


    She pointed at herself. This was the first time he called her that, but it wasn''t the first time that he told her to stop throwing her body at him.


    "Yes. Who else? I know you only uses it against me, but that doesn''t change the fact that you will never strike me down doing that."


    He continued.


    "Use you abilities. You have a lot, and you can grow stronger. Also, when are you two going to work in tandem?"


    "I only see you fighting alone. There should be many things that could help both of you against me."


    He looked at Amelia and Karteira.


    "Look, I''m not trying to discourage you. You are strong, that''s a fact. Think, come up with deadly tactics, and kill you enemy."


    "That''s how I think when I fight you. That''s how I think when I use my abilities, or my magic. Why do you think I never use my elements against you?"


    They remained silent. They simply listened, as this was his way of teaching after training.


    "I don''t have the five natural elements in me. Yes, you can create things, and you can fight using multiple weapon types. But like I said, you don''t support Karteira in her fighting."


    "Amelia, I think that supporting her might help both of you."


    "Karteira, try to lower the level of your battle frenzy. It''s stopping you from finding you fighting style."


    ''Being a beast on the battlefield is like being compared to a corrupted.''


    He finished healing Kamala, who was silently listening to his speech.


    She remembered what he said after he agreed to help her.


    -


    "Show me how ingenious you are. Show me your greatest strategy."


    "Lead us to victory, and I''ll consider you my ally."


    -


    ''I have to take exemple.''


    She agreed to his month of training not only because she knew she was lacking.


    She knew because if she wasn''t, the attack on Hocride wouldn''t have happened like this. Many guards would have kept their lives.


    She wanted to learn from Orion. His way of thinking that is completely different from a human.


    If there was a way to learn from that, it could only help her in the future.


    ''Using our abilities... to kill.''


    She looked at her hands.


    Flashing memories of the past resurfaced.


    ''Bloody hands, mother, a city on fire, and many corpses.''


    ''I had forgotten.''


    The past was always catching up, except this time, it wasn''t bringing her down to the nightmarish feeling of dread she once knew, it was helping her decide.


    Orion moved to Karteira, healing her strained muscles.


    "I can''t believe you called me an idiot."


    She was pretty bitter about that.


    "Sorry, I needed to make you understand how dumb that lunge attack is."


    "Stop saying I''m dumb!"


    She angrily moved her tail.


    "I did not say that. I said ''the attack'' was dumb, not you."


    "And stop moving around."


    Orion caught her tail and tightly secured it between his legs to avoid inadvertently being stung.


    "Hyaa! What are you doing!"


    "I''m healing you, but I can''t if you keep moving. Show me your right arm."


    She did just that, slightly embarrassed. Her tail was pretty sensible to the touch, so she felt all kinds of things.


    "Since when have you decided to hit on him?"


    Amelia was smirking, enjoying the face of pure confusion Karteira was making.


    "Not you too! Ouch!"


    Orion pressed a spot that seemed to have been injured.


    "I knew it."


    She was in pain, so they all stopped joking. Her health was more important.


    "Your legs are fine. You body seems uninjured too."


    He stood up, releasing the tail from between his legs.


    "Amelia, your turn. Show me that arm."


    She dryly laughed.


    "You can''t hide it, I saw you holding your right arm, which means it''s hurting."


    He crouched on her right side, and began to heal her.


    "Now that we''re here, I''ll explain what that ability is."


    ''Finally!''


    Amelia was focused on his words.


    "I called it "Spatial Shifting". It''s an ability that works only on ''me''."


    "On you?"


    Karteira asked.


    "Yes, nothing else but me can move like this. I create two invisible portals in specific places in my field of view, and move between space."


    "..."


    "Huh?"


    "That''s... quite useful."


    No one knew what to say.


    "The problem is, it''s tiring. As much as using the Second Gear and my speed enhancement together."


    "I do not know why, but opening a portal between spaces doesn''t drain energy. It''s actually not draining any at all, because only the creation costs energy."


    "But when the invisible portals are used, my energy drains instantly the more time I let it opened."


    ''Maybe it''s because I''m moving in the same ''space''. That author, N, he called these ''anomalies'', right?''


    "Anyway, I only use it to move between places, and that''s why it''s our trump card."


    "But, the way we use it depends on Kamala."


    He dropped everything on Kamala''s shoulders instantly.


    She stayed silent.


    "Why?"


    Amelia and Karteira were unknowing of the deal they made two weeks ago.


    "I asked her to create the strategy from start to finish, and lead us to victory against Ivan. She also has to save the civilians being killed the moment we arrive."


    "..."


    Amelia glanced at Kamala, who was making a hard face.


    ''This is a lot to place on someone else''s shoulder. The fact that she knows that if it was you, you would succeed only makes it harder for her.''


    ''She''s going to compare herself to you no matter what.''


    Amelia immediately realized stakes at hands.


    ''If she succeeds, she will gain his trust. If not, he''s moving on.''


    "What kind of bullying is that?"


    Amelia wasn''t exactly happy about that.


    "Say what you want. She accepted my offer to train her, which means that she isn''t weak minded. Let her think for herself before saying that it''s too hard for her."


    "The greatest achievements are made with tremendous efforts."


    Every words he spoke echoed in Kamala''s soul.


    "Being a human doesn''t equal to being stupid. I learned that the hard way when we got ambushed by that man, Florian."


    "And remember who our enemy is. Elliot isn''t the stupid kind."


    "In the end, she needs to prove to herself that she is able create her own story before proving me anything."


    ''He''s kinder to her than I expected. Her strength is the real thing, and he likes strong individuals, so I guess it''s normal.''


    Amelia internally shrugged, accepting that face rather easily.


    "Alright, I''m done healing you. Let''s get home for today-"


    Orion stood up abruptly and suddenly turned, looking at a specific spot in the air.


    ''What was that?''


    Something felt strange, as if someone was spying on him. He looked intently and focused on the feeling he felt.


    "Orion? Did something happened?"


    Karteira asked, seeing his face.


    "Someone seemed to have found a way to spy on us. I didn''t feel any malice coming from it though."


    "What?! In this space?"


    He nodded.


    "Anyway, let''s get home. It''s not here anymore."


    His senses were now heightened, and his caution was at maximum capacity, as they returned home.


    ~


    "That was close!"


    "How did he find you?"


    Two women, hidden in the shadows were speaking around a table that had a large pool of water inside.


    In the water, a reflection of Orion and the group was seen.


    "I have no idea. His sense are something else."


    The first woman, who seemed to be the one having created such an artifact, looked at Orion.


    "I didn''t expect your own power to be this easily found out."


    The second woman laughed, poking the first one on the cheek.


    "Stop that. Anyways, with this now we can see what he is doing. It was hard finding his signature magic, since I don''t usually rely on my space ''space'' ability."


    "''Time'' is more important, right?"


    The second woman nodded after stopping her teasing.


    "Well, I need to watch everything unfold. Once again."


    "Right."


    The two women silently returned to looking at the groups daily life.