"What happened?"


    Amelia tried to straightened herself, but lacking strength, she fell back on her pillow.


    "Go easy, Orion said that you''ve exhausted your stamina so much you need to rest for the day."


    "I lost right?"


    Bringing her right arm over her head, she hid her eyes.


    "I''ll be honest. You lost."


    The sound of grinding teeth could be heard from Amelia. She was frustrated.


    "I''m not done yet."


    She peeked through a little and looked at her friend.


    "You''ve lost with style."


    "What?"


    Karteira laughed at her reaction.


    "But thank you."


    "For what?"


    "For standing in front of Orion''s attack."


    Amelia turned her face the other way, avoiding Karteira''s gaze.


    "You''re welcome. There was no other choice in my mind."


    "Orion told me, that last attack was purposefully fired to make you either give up, or dodge. He was going to bring both of us out of the trajectory with a portal."


    Amelia dropped her arm and stared blankly at her.


    "..."


    "Were you so into the fight that you forgot about what he said about our safety?"


    "Can I remain silent on that one?"


    "No."


    With a straight refusal, Amelia had no choice but to answer truthfully.


    "I had forgotten. I was so into it that the moment I noticed you behind me, all my focus was on stopping the attack."


    "If you had been somewhere else, I wouldn''t have tried to stop that kind of arrow."


    She received a nod from Karteira.


    "At least it wasn''t that spinning arrow. I think this one is literally unstoppable."


    "I think so too. But I would''ve tried nonetheless."


    "And so you used everything to stop it? That fight was really something else."


    Looking at her hands, the conversation she had with Orion earlier still lingered.


    "I want to be that strong. To one day rival with both of you, even if I can''t use magic."


    "Do you have any idea on how many new abilities you''ve created during that single fight?"


    Amelia shook her head.


    "It took everything I had to focus on Orion and his attacks. His firing speed as greatly improved. I''ve rarely seen him this serious in a training session, so I barely understood the potential he had until now."


    But Karteira thought otherwise.


    "You know it better than me, it''s not only potential. His hard work has shined in this fight. The fact that he can maintain some distance while being constantly pestered by a close ranged opponent is impressive."


    "But because he strives to improves himself, and daily at that, the difference shows in each of his actions. His firing speed, his overall running speed, his stamina, the way he uses his weapons."


    "Have you ever seen him use his dark crossbow that much? I haven''t seen it being used a lot. I''m sure even that was trained thoroughly."


    ''Yes, I know all of that, I was there when he developed his first magic. I was there to see all of his efforts.''


    While clenching the sheets with her hands, she remembered her time before leaving Auro.


    "Do you consider yourself weaker even though you lost?"


    They both exchanged gazes, and Amelia shook her head.


    "It would be a lie to say that I am not disappointed, but I''ve done everything I could against him, and I managed to break his guard multiple times."


    "I''ve lacked the resolve to acknowledge how terrible I''ve been going at training. Before, I could manage with just improving here and there, and then call it a day."


    "But I''ve been pushing the urgency of our situation when I took this space for granted. Peace is a poison for all of us."


    On this point, both were on the same page.


    "That''s why I''ve been training constantly. Taking a day off in a week is acceptable, I''d even say it is a requirement, that''s why Orion has been more relaxed recently, but you''ve focused too much on laying low."


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    "Of course, neither of us are going to say that you are weak. That would be a straight lie. The abilities you have have been shown to be incredibly versatile."


    "But you haven''t been polishing your elements and abilities as much as Orion."


    These words were hurting Amelia greatly, but she had no one else but herself to blame for that. She was the one who refused to train for a long period of time because the pain was sometimes unmanageable.


    And to be honest, compared to the battle freaks Orion and Karteira were, and that they weren''t humans, you could understand why it was so difficult for Amelia.


    "Why haven''t both of you said anything about it before?"


    There was this question floating in her mind, and she needed to know the answer.


    "Because you are human. That''s the most important difference between you and us."


    ''That''s... it? Because I am... human?''


    She stared at her hands in disarray.


    "I''ll tell you why the difference between us exist. I''ll tell you, but this did not come from me. It''s Orion who told me this before laying you on the bed."


    Turning her head to Karteira, she listened.


    "Orion is the successor of two great factions known for their individual strength. He told me that demons and angels were strong the moment their magic developed. He was born to be just as strong."


    "For me, it''s a different matter. I am an irregularity in the fairy realm. Mother called me ''The Fairy''s Savior''. I only know what it meant when Orion explained it to me."


    "I, Karteira, was birthed by the Tree of Life to be the defender of the fairy faction. My whole purpose is to be strong enough to defend my faction. I wondered why I was the only strong individual except the queens, but even them are half-fairies."


    "But you, Amelia, do you have that difference? I don''t think so. He clearly said it, that you are a pure, simple, unnecessarily involved human. That if the circumstances were different, he would have left alone."


    "That''s why he never expected you to surpass his training sessions. Because it would only break your spirit."


    The more Karteira spoke, the more Amelia understood. The difference was really caused by the faction she was birthed in.


    ''Am I a nuisance? Just because I am a human?''


    "But!"


    Karteira forced her to stop thinking nonsense by slapping her hands together..


    "There comes the most important point."


    "Orion said that you broke his expectations. That for a human, what you showed him was beyond what he could have hoped from this fight."


    "At first, he was expecting to simply fight you ''seriously'', but the more you showed him your potential, the more fun he had, and he couldn''t stop fighting someone strong."


    "The new abilities you''ve used, the movements that were clearly not possible without knowing your own capabilities, and the overwhelming amount of variety behind each phase of the fight. Even I began to shiver watching it."


    "So much I also want to fight you with everything I have."


    You could almost see the stars in her eyes, as her excitement was uncontainable.


    "So there is one last thing Orion said to me before leaving."


    -


    "When she wakes up, be sure to tell her that I don''t want her to be bothered by anything."


    "Alright?"


    "Yes, I thought that her improvements were more like me. By instant growth. But she managed to create new abilities on the spot, and use them to the best of her capabilities without even struggling to control them."


    "This is something you can''t do?"


    Orion shook his head.


    "I can''t, that''s why I have to train so much. Light and Dark elements are one thing, but Void is another. I am not able to completely master a single ability just by using it once. Horizon is a prime exemple of that."


    With a hand on her chin, Karteira remembered that only recently did Orion learn about the landscape feature and the tablet.


    "You''re right. Amelia seemed to bring everything like she wanted on the spot."


    "And that''s the reason why she doesn''t need to bother with our boring opinions on why she can''t keep up training. Because she keeps up just fine."


    -


    "He also said that your ability to clearly imagine what you want is a huge boost in training time."


    Amelia blinked a few times. She was a little bothered by all that happened so suddenly.


    First, she opened her eyes to see that she had lost, and the winner was nowhere to be seen. Then, her friend explained to her that because she was human, her training was not efficient. And in the end, she''s told that there''s nothing to be changed, and that she is doing fine?


    ''I''m lost...''


    She couldn''t react at all.


    "Did I say something wrong?"


    "Everything''s wrong!"


    Amelia suddenly grabbed her pillow and threw it to Karteira''s face.


    "OOF!"


    "AGH!"


    One was suddenly stunned, the other suffered from moving too fast.


    The pillow slipped in a comedic fashion across Karteira''s face, until it fell on her lap.


    Exchanging a gaze of both anger and shock, they finally lost it.


    "Pfft-"


    They both heartily laughed.


    "I see, I don''t have to bother then?"


    "No, just ignore what we said. It would have been accurate if it was someone else, though."


    "''Wit is your strongest weapon, and how you use it is what makes a bad situation turn to your advantage''."


    "Orion?"


    Amelia nodded.


    "It''s something he told me before we left Auro."


    After wiping their tears away, Karteira help Amelia to sit on her bed.


    "Where''s Orion?"


    "He''s gone to explain what happened to the sisters."


    "Karteira..."


    She stared at Amelia.


    "He''s gone training again."


    "What?!"


    ~


    *Pant* *Cough*


    Two green haired women where on the ground.


    Dramia was on all four, gasping for air, and Drania was sprawled on the ground, unable to move.


    "Orion! Stop! *Cough* I can''t anymore! You kicks are too powerful!"


    The starfish began to show the white flag of defeat.


    " I... *pant* can''t believe... *pant* this!"


    Dramia was trying to stand up, but her thighs and wings were hurting really bad, stopping her from moving an inch.


    "I thought your speed was your strongest attribute?"


    "It is! You''re just unfair!"


    The first one to stand while wobbling was Drania. She managed to receive less damage than her sister, but she wasn''t in a great shape either.


    "Sis, how did we get our ass kicked so bad?"


    "He just... warped were we went... and literally kicked our butt."


    That''s all Orion did. He wanted to give a little advice to the sisters while they were here. That their speed was not an all powerful weapon.


    So he simply trained them after explaining his fight with Amelia. There was leftover energy to be spent from that fight, and he decided to use it on the sisters.


    "Well, I''m sorry about kicking you. I''ll at least heal you."


    He crouched on the next to Dramia and rubbed her back while avoiding her wings.


    "AaaH-"


    "Sis?!"


    "It''s not my fault I remember that stupid massage when he touches me, alright?"


    The twins blushed right in front of him.


    "Want another one?"


    "No! Just do you thing and get your hands off of me after that. You''re lucky I can''t move!"


    She was suffering physically, and mentally at the moment.


    "Well, fine. Drania, come her."


    Walking like a robot, she showed her back to Orion the instant she was in front of him.


    After a few minutes, they only had their stamina to recover.


    "Sorry for the rough treatment. Did that help a little?"


    "To know that you can counter our speed? Yes. How to resolve that problem? No."


    Dramia crossed her arms in frustration.


    "Don''t be like that sis. Isn''t it good to know that before someone else managed to beat us?"


    Her sour mood slowly disappeared.


    "I know it was to help us. For that I am grateful. We asked for your opinion, I was simply not expecting... so much pain."


    "We''ll simply have to work on how to either improve our speed, or our reaction time."


    "Do both. That''s just a suggestion, don''t do it if you don''t feel capable of doing it."


    They stared at him with a perplexed stare, but quickly shrugged.


    "If he said that, it means we''re definitely capable of doing it, right sis?"


    "I don''t want to..."


    Orion smiled at them.


    "Alright, you''re coming back home with me?"


    "I don''t want to train any more, so yes. Please."


    "Yes!"


    He nodded and opened a portal to Horizon''s main house.


    The moment he opened the door, Amelia and Karteira were both waiting for him.