Having a house changed everything.


    You would have expected a lot of conflicts between the ladies and Orion, but thanks to their trust, and his caution, no accident happened, and will most likely never happen.


    They were currently at their third week inside the void space.


    It was morning, as the starry sky slowly became brighter.


    Orion was drinking coffee inside the dining room while reading one of the books he bought before sealing himself for a month.


    In front on him was Amelia who was grinning while looking at him, and Karteira, who was cleaning her tail.


    Kamala was still asleep, enjoying the peace she hadn''t had time to have until now. Forgetting the tough training she endured each day, life was pretty peaceful.


    While reading, Orion reminisced on the last three weeks.


    ''Kamala had made large improvements, while Amelia and Karteira improved at a slow pace.''


    He was satisfied about the current results, except one thing.


    ''I''m not improving at all.''


    He grasped his cup tighter.


    ''The Second Gear doesn''t improve, and the Arm Overload is still crippling my fighting after a single use.''


    ''And the ''Spatial Shift'' is too hard to use in battle. Everything is consuming my stamina and magic way too fast. What am I supposed to do?''


    Frustration was building inside him.


    "Orion?"


    Amelia seemed to have notice his changing mood, which worried her.


    "Hmm?"


    He stopped looking at the readings inside the book and looked at her.


    "Are you alright? You know you can take a day if ever feel tired, right?"


    She was his voice of reason recently.


    "I think I''ll take your words on that today. I simply don''t feel motivated."


    Amelia opened her mouth wide and slammed both hands on the table, while Karteira dropped the piece of cloth she was using on her tail.


    They both looked at him as if he said the most outrageous thing ever.


    ''Orion, not feeling motivated to train?!''


    ''The world is ending!''


    Amelia left her seat in a hurry and moved next to him, checking is forehead for any signs of sickness.


    "Are you really alright? I can''t believe I heard you say something like that."


    Karteira grabbed the cloth that dropped on top of her tail, and returned to her own business.


    "She''s right. I''ve never heard of an unmotivated Orion before."


    He closed his book, letting Amelia check his body however she wanted.


    "I''m fine, really. I''m stuck currently and I can''t seem to progress in whatever I do, so I''ll just be taking the day off."


    He placed the book on the table and sipped his coffee.


    "If you want to train, go without me. The portal is opened in case you decide to go."


    "As if I''ll go when you''re like this. You could be depressed for everything I know!"


    He chuckled at the thought of being depressed.


    "I''m not depressed, I''m simply disappointed at my poor improvements recently."


    "That''s all."


    He downed the remaining of his coffee, and stood up. He grabbed Amelia''s arm, pivoted her body, and sat her on his chair.


    "I''ll go take a bath. If you see Kamala, tell her that today is self-study."


    He opened the door to the corridor, and walked toward the bathroom that was next to the stairs leading the first floor.


    Amelia was pouting from him handling her like this.


    "He could''ve ask-"


    "No, I''m glad he didn''t."


    "..."


    "What?"


    Karteira had taken the habit to stop Amelia from saying horny sentences. She was receiving a lot of dark gazes from the victim/culprit.


    "If you don''t want me to cut you mid-sentence, don''t bring it up at all, it''s simple isn''t it?"


    She smiled at her.


    *sigh*


    "Fine."


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    "When did you become like this? I miss the gentle and caring Karteira..."


    "Yes, I know. Sorry, she won''t be coming back anymore. At least not when ''Horny Amelia'' is around."


    "I''m not that horny. I''m just trying to strengthen my bond with him."


    "By trying to enter the bathroom with him?"


    Amelia was losing the argument.


    "Fuck. I can''t say anything to that."


    Karteira won. She won absolutely nothing, but she won.


    Well, this was their small talk. They shared many things now, and this situation sometimes happened.


    It was a part of their daily life by now.


    "Wait, he''s coming back. Did he forget something?"


    Amelia heard Orion''s footsteps, and long after, he opened the door.


    "I''m going to be straight, which one of you forget their underwear inside the changing room? It''s black, so I''d say Karteira, but I might be wrong."


    "WHA-"


    Karteira''s face was bright red, her mouth wide open from the shock and embarrassment.


    She stood up and ran, passing Orion in a furry.


    "Who''s horny now?"


    "Shut up!"


    She screamed from the corridor in response to Amelia''s taunt.


    Amelia giggled, before glancing at Orion.


    "That was tactless, you know that? You''re not supposed to say that a lady had forgotten such a thing."


    "Wouldn''t it be more embarrassing if she had found out it was still there after I took my bath?"


    "I mean..."


    She was right, but he was too.


    "There is no good answer for such a situation. If you had found it first, it would have been better, but the moment it was me, I decided to be upfront about it."


    "And it''s not like I haven''t seen her underwear before. She wakes up wearing those, so there''s nothing to hide anymore."


    He heard angry footsteps behind him.


    "I can''t believe it! That hasn''t happened until now."


    Karteira entered the dining room and sat on the chair specifically crafted for her.


    "That was bound to happen at some point isn''t it? I know it is a big deal for you, I''m sorry for embarrassing you."


    Orion apologized, and closed the door behind him, returning inside the bathroom.


    "It''s not yo- Ah!"


    She couldn''t finish her sentence in time.


    "It''s not your fault..."


    She whispered, but loud enough for Amelia to hear her.


    "He knows, don''t worry about that. He said it, these can happen when you live together. In fact, I had it happen during the three years we''ve spent before leaving Auro."


    "Honestly, I don''t really care about that."


    "Wow, meanie. Talk about giving me the cold shoulder all of a sudden."


    The girls kept exchanging blows at each other for a minute, before stopping.


    "You want to train with me later?"


    Karteira asked Amelia. She thought for a second before giving her answer.


    "I''ll come with you. I might be able to progress further working with you."


    "Great. We have to work on our combinations more too."


    Their afternoon was decided. They became like Orion in the end, drawn to improve even if it was by a small margin.


    At the same time, Orion was enjoying a hot bath.


    ''It''s already been three weeks. The day and night cycle is pretty useful in this place.''


    *badum* *badum*


    ''Hmm?''


    *Badum* *Badum*


    ''Why is my heart thumping that hard?''


    He placed his right hand on his chest, and endured as his heart painfully thump.


    *THUMP* THUMP*


    ''Damn it! What''s this pain?''


    The pain began to suddenly be unbearable. For a minute, Orion thought that he was going to die, but the pain subsided in an instant, as if it was all but a dream.


    "What was... that?"


    He was slightly out of breathe. What was strange was the lack of any remaining pain.


    ''I expected Ego to say something, but I guess it had nothing to do with magic.''


    Ego was always there to speak about his newly obtained abilities and how to use them, but this time, he didn''t feel any different, so he threw that thinking aside.


    "Is my heart failing me? It shouldn''t be."


    He healed himself, just in case.


    The reason for his sudden pain was something happening inside his soul.


    Tiohr-nam, now having obtained enough energy to influence Orion''s soul in meaningful ways, found something interesting inside him and decided to push it''s development herself.


    A battle for dominance was happening inside him. Unknowing to this, Orion continued bathing, hoping that his health was not the cause of this sudden pain.


    ~


    After relaxing ever so slightly, Orion left the bath. He changed, and return to the dining room.


    He saw Amelia and Karteira having a conversation about training, but for once, he wasn''t really interested.


    ''Today is one of those days I guess.''


    Really, there was nothing he wanted to do.


    Orion walked inside the kitchen, and prepared himself another coffee.


    He liked it black, with a bit of sugar. Because the taste of pure bitterness was not good, sugar was necessary.


    After a moment, here was his coffee.


    He returned to the table, Amelia still sat on his chair. He placed the cup on the table, and looked at her.


    He pushed his cup in front of her, and sat on the chair next to her, in front of Karteira.


    ''What am I going to do this afternoon.''


    The girls were talking, engrossed in their conversation, while he was pondering.


    Just then the door opened.


    "Good morning."


    Kamala who had woken up a long time ago, was finally out of her room.


    "Can I have a coffee too please?"


    She saw Orion drinking one, so she asked.


    "Of course. Good morning, Kamala."


    Orion, who had nothing else to do, walked to the kitchen.


    The girls noticed Kamala and greeted her too.


    She sat next to Karteira, waiting patiently for her coffee.


    A few minutes later, Orion arrived with a coffee, a piece of sugar and milk.


    He placed everything in front of her, and returned to his seat.


    "Thank you."


    She smiled happily.


    "You''re welcome. I brought you the milk too."


    She nodded, placing the cube of sugar in the cup, and ten drops of milk.


    "There''s no training today, you can do whatever you want this afternoon."


    Kamala''s hands shook slightly, almost spilling some of her coffee that she was about to drink.


    "Why?"


    "I don''t feel like training today."


    He made it simple, which wasn''t a lie.


    "I see."


    She drank her coffee silently after that.


    Orion stared at her while thinking.


    ''Maybe it''s a good time to ask her about her past.''


    He really wanted to know, but there was no good moment to ask.


    "If you have nothing to do like me this afternoon, do you mind coming to my room later?"


    Time froze around the table. The girls stopped talking, mainly Amelia.


    But after looking at Orion weirdly for a few seconds, she returned to talk with Karteira.


    ''This girl, I swear.''


    He shrugged in his mind, before looking at Kamala.


    "I don''t mind."


    "Alright. What are you girls doing this afternoon?"


    He asked Amelia and Karteira.


    The one who answered was Karteira.


    "I wanted to train, so I asked Amelia to come with me, and she agreed to help. So we''re training."


    Amelia nodded at her response.


    "I see. Take care then, and immediately come to me if you get hurt."


    They both nodded and spoke at the same time.


    "Yes."


    ''I hope nothing will happen... I have a bad feeling about today.''


    Orion pushed this thought on the side of his mind and sip his coffee.


    ~


    The afternoon came faster than expected. They ate a good meal, and right after, the girls left to exercise.


    Orion moved to his room to read comfortably, waiting for Kamala.


    After an hour, someone knocked on his door.


    *Knock* *Knock*


    "Enter."


    Kamala opened the door, and closed it behind her.


    "Sit wherever you want."


    There was a table in his room, which made it easy to talk about important things.


    "What I''m going to ask will most likely bother you, so I apologize in advance."


    Kamala silently nodded.


    "Before being stuck in here for a month, I asked your aid, Timothy about your past."


    She twitched.


    "He refused to say anything, saying that only you would accept to speak about it, and I agreed on that."


    He continued.


    "I know it is none of my business to ask you, but I have been curious."


    "What happened to you in the past? Why is there no record of anything happening in Hocride during the past twenty years?"


    "Could you explain it to me? You can refuse obviously, it won''t change my attitude toward. I''m only curious as I said."


    Kamala stayed silent for a minute. She was debating between telling everything, or refusing.


    In the end, she decided to share her past.


    *sigh*


    "Alright, I''ll tell you."


    A unforgettable story, erased from the records was about to resurface.