Only a few minutes had passed since their arrival at the lake but—
A sudden rustle cut through the sound of the waterfall. It wasn't loud, but sharp enough to break the calm. Both Sophia and Iris turned toward the treeline, where the mist hung thick and unmoving.
"Did you hear that?" Sophia asked, her voice low.
Iris nodded, scanning the forest. The sound came again — branches snapping, deliberate this time, not the random creak of wind. The air felt different now, heavier, as though the forest itself was holding its breath.
From somewhere beyond the trees came a low, guttural growl — distant, but unmistakable. The kind of sound that didn't belong to any bird or deer.
Iris straightened slowly, her pulse quickening. "We should head back to camp."
Sophia didn't move. Her eyes stayed fixed on the shadows shifting between the trunks. "Wait," she whispered. "Something's out there."
A minute passed—
—and with it came a faint sound, distant but deliberate, as if something—or someone—had finally decided to move.
A small shadow darted right out of the bushes, it had red eyes, white fur and two teeth sticking out of its mouth. It was chewing on something held within its sharp nails.
"It's a rabbit !!" Sophia shouted as she ran towards the rabbit, scaring it as it darted towards the thicket. Following it quickly Sophia ran towards the thicket but arriving there, she saw nothing, as the rabbit had vanished.
"Young miss!!" Iris shouted and followed after Sophia. "You shouldn't be doing that. What would have happened if it was some monster." Iris reprimanded the dejected Sophia. She wanted to say more, but her fallen face was enough for her to stop.
"Let's head back to the camp, we can come here later on. You still have your magic lesson to attend." Iris said.
Sophia who was acting saddened was now back to her happy go lucky smile, having deflected Iris's words.
"Let's go." Sophia said. Even though she wanted to stay a bit longer and enjoy the scenery here. She had a magic lesson to attend to. She had all the time in the world to admire such places all over the world, but first was training.
-Afternoon-
Sophia sitting in the lotus position was gathering the mana, refining it and releasing the purified mana outwards through one of her palms. The released mana was being channelled through a magic circle that she was simultaneously creating.
This process wasn't as simple as it looked to an observer. The gathered mana traveling through the body towards the Mana Core, being refined into purified mana and being released to create a magic circle, while also channelling the same mana through that magic circle was an impossible feat for a five year old to do. Sophia's inner talent as Juan had said was beyond anything ever observed through history.
"Creating the 2nd Magic Circle this early might be too much for you, take a rest and cast the other spells." Juan said as he stopped Sophia, breaking her trance-like state.
"This here is Aegis Ward, a barrier that absorbs limited damage from various sources, it can take in and neutralize moderate elemental and physical attacks, then disperse the energy harmlessly." Juan created a Tier 4 magic barrier that surrounded both of them, covering all sides of the room.
"You need to be proficient in casting all types of spells of the four basic elements. Once you are able to master the Tier 1 spells, I'll teach you the advanced ones, the derivations of them, illusion spells, barriers spells, shield spells and the healing spells."
"Alright, let's get to it then." Sophia was now progressing towards becoming stronger than she ever was in her previous life. She had already become a 1st Circle Mage, she was surely going to advance fast. Her skills in swordsmanship may not be as good as her talent in magic but her determination to master the blade was unquestionable.
-Evening-
Like everyday had been since Sophia started her training. Isabelle would come to Sophia's room every evening, listening to her daughter's experience. Sometimes it would just be a repeat of yesterday but, to Isabelle everything she heard from her daughter would always be new.
Seeing the determination and courage Sophia had taken to become a Swordswoman and a Mage, Isabelle wanted to support her and stand by her side through thick and thin.
She wanted to become a pillar that Sophia could learn on in hard times.
Hearing about Sophia's experience at the lake today, she was happy that her daughter finally did something appropriate for her age, admiring the beauty of nature.
But despite all that, there was the fear of uncertainty in her heart and it just refused to go away. She knew that the path of a Swordswoman and a Mage would be filled with thorns, danger would always be there where her daughter was present. Her daughter had an adventurous heart that wouldn't like being caged and Isabelle herself didn't want that for her daughter.
"And then— we saw a rabbit, I ran towards it but it disappeared into the forest." Sophia said, the smile on her face making Isabelle genuinely happy. She wanted Sophia to experience the joys of her childhood, not just practice Swordsmanship and Magic.
If one asked her what she would do in her free time, her answer would be to admire her daughter's beauty.
Being the noblewoman Isabelle was, she was busy managing the Verdant Estate alongside her husband. Aside from that, she was also a painter and most of her drawings were of her husband during the time that he had left for the War. But after giving birth, her painting room was filled with Sophia's paintings.
Each painting captured her daughter in moments so tender they seemed to breathe.
"That's great sweetie." Kissing Sophia on her cheek, Isabelle picked the little girl in her arms as they strode towards the dining room.
"How about I tell you a story today before you sleep?" Isabelle asked Sophia, her gentle and caring voice, calming Sophia's heart. Sophia always felt the care and love that Isabelle had towards her. She hadn't felt it in her previous life, but in this one, she was showered with it.
"Okay. Mommy!" Answering in her childish voice, Sophia cuddled in her mother's arms.
The figure of the mother-daughter pair became a blur as they walked towards the dining room.
-One Year Later-
The training ground rang with the sharp clash of wood against wood.
A small figure—no taller than the other's shoulder—stood with her wooden sword raised high. Sophia's stance was solid, her knees bent and feet grounded in the dirt. Her eyes, bright and unblinking, tracked every motion before her. Though her sword trembled slightly from the weight, her gaze never wavered.
Across from her stood Iris, calm and composed. The Sword Master held her blade lightly, as though it weighed nothing, the tip glinting faintly in the light. Every movement she made was deliberate, measured—a quiet confidence that came only from years of mastery.
Sophia was the first to move. She lunged forward, small feet kicking up dust, and swung with all her strength, a wide, determined arc. Iris parried effortlessly, her wrist barely shifting. The clash sent a shudder through Sophia's arms, but she gritted her teeth and struck again, faster, fiercer.
"Good," Iris murmured between the soft ring of blades. "But don't chase strength. Find rhythm."
Sophia exhaled, steadying herself. This time, her swing was tighter, her form more controlled. Iris's lips curved into a faint smile—then, with a subtle twist of her wrist, she disarmed the girl in one fluid motion. The wooden sword clattered to the ground, and Sophia stumbled back, panting.
But her eyes burned with determination. She bent down, picked up her sword, and straightened her stance again.
Iris nodded approvingly, lowering her own blade. "I think that we should now move on to combining your attacks."
"Since you have reached the Steady Flame, your Aura is now able to enhance your weapon. Using it will increase the strength behind your attacks." Iris said. Just recently, Sophia had advanced from the Awakening Stage of Aura to the Steady Flame stage, becoming an Apprentice Swordswoman.
Just like when she had felt the mana, she was able to distinguish the dim flicker of a flame near her solar plexus.
Through sheer will and determination to master the blade, she was able to grow that light into a Steady Flame. Her sparring with Iris, learning new techniques and mastering them had made the light burn brighter and brighter until it was big enough to become a Flame, glowing steadily near her solar plexus. But refining this flame required a technique, which Iris had taught her. This technique was similar to how mana was gathered, refined and released.
But instead of gathering mana, the life energy that is intertwined with the surrounding mana is breathed into the lungs. This life energy, although appearing to be intertwined with mana, was the world's energy. The surrounding was filled with this life energy, each living being had a life energy inside them.
Breathing the ambient life energy surrounding us into the lungs and Sword Core. It awakens the Aura, inside one's body, releasing this Aura throughout the meridians, removes the impurities residing in the Aura. Refining it into pure Aura, that is then condensed and absorbed inside Sword Core. The Aura absorbed by the Sword Core is then stabilized through holding breath and syncing the heartbeat with each count of breath.
"What I'll be showing you now is the Celestial Descent."
The first technique, Rising Moon, arcs upward like silver light breaking the horizon. Iris's blade catches the faintest glimmer of Aura, its edge singing as it tears through the air. The strike lifts with precision, not brute force—an elegant upward slash meant to unseat an opponent's guard, to open a path through their defense.
"Slash!"
Without pause, she turned the flow upon itself. The sword descends—Falling Star. The motion reverses with uncanny speed, gravity lending weight to the strike. It falls from above like a meteor, unpredictable, a sudden inversion of rhythm that leaves the opponent reeling.
"Slash!"
Then, with almost no warning, comes the final motion—Whispering Edge. Iris steps in close, her blade tracing a subtle line through the air, almost soundless. The stab lands with ghostlike precision, quiet and certain, as if the steel itself whispered the end of her demonstration.
"Stab!"
"Starting with the Rising Moon, an upward slash, used to break the guard of the opponent. Going against the flow and using Falling Star, an overhead strike, surprising the opponent with the sudden change in the weapons trajectory and finally finishing with Whispering Edge, a silent stab." Sophia said, breaking down the way the three attacks were combined to defeat the opponent with certainty.
"Right. But don't forget that using the Aura unleashes even more power. Each strike would be lethal and as I have said many times, taking a life is not easy at all. If you face a monster, you might think of it as something that is incapable of thought and communication. It is easier to kill a monster than to kill a human being." Iris said, repeating for the nth time that killing was not as simple as performing the right technique.
Iris knew that telling a six year old about killing was ridiculous. She knew that one day Sophia would be forced to take a life and it would haunt her if she was unable to accept the reality of the situation.
Because she had been too observant and her relationship with Sophia was not just of a master-knight. Through the training session and crossing blades with each other, they were able to understand each other's feelings and had become close enough for Iris to directly call her by name in private. Iris cared for Sophia's well being and she wanted to protect her innocence. She had made a silent vow to do the dirty work that Sophia would hesitate to even think about. She would kill those that stood in her way, those that tried to harm her or even had the slightest of bad intention towards her.
It had been more than a year since Sophia started her training in Swordsmanship and Magic.
What had started as clumsy swings and casting spells had slowly turned into something more refined, more deliberate. Her mornings were spent under the blazing sun, her small frame moving tirelessly across the training ground as she repeated drills and sparring with Iris until her arms ached. The afternoons belonged to magic—hours of gathering, refinement and casting spells, creating magic circles.
In the beginning, her sword had felt heavy, her steps unsteady. She would often stumble during the sparring, her strikes lacking both precision and power. But she never once complained. Every mistake became a lesson, every bruise a badge of progress.
Iris had watched her grow with quiet pride. The once little noble girl who struggled to stand after sparring, now stood with her back straight and eyes sharp, her movements guided by instinct more than instruction. Sophia still had far to go—her body was young—but the spark within her had become something undeniable.
Now, when she swung her sword, the air hummed faintly with focus.. And though she was only six, there were moments—brief but unmistakable—when Iris could see the shadow of the warrior Sophia would one day become.
Her progress in Magic had been a major part towards becoming strong enough to protect her freedom.
Breaking through to the 2nd Circle was by no means an easy feat for her, she had been going through the refinement process and casting of spells day after day.
But being not able to advance was a bit disappointing for her until one day, her efforts finally bore fruit. Her hard work had paid off and she was able to place the 2nd Circle right beside her 1st Circle, officially becoming a 2nd Circle Mage.
"Let's continue then, try to combine the three Techniques as I've shown." Iris said, as she took The Rooted Stance.
"Here I come!" Saying that Sophia lunged forward.