O star of the woods, with eyes of silver dew, Your smile lights up the shadows of twilight. In the eternal forest, where the ancients whisper, I offer you my song, born from the roots of the world.
Prince Adrien drew closer to Larra as her soft singing filled the night. Their small convoy moved slowly—fifty people with heavy magical equipment could hardly travel quickly. They stopped frequently. Larra took advantage of this quiet moment under the stars to offer her gentle serenade.
"Beautiful melody… A gift from your late mother?"
Larra lowered her voice and stopped calmly.
"No. It's a song Liora made up herself when we were still together. I helped her polish it. It's our creation—one of the threads that still binds us. Magic works that way… You humans can't truly grasp it, but memories and emotions are what guide the mana inside us. When I sing, I'm not just remembering—I'm reaching for her position, feeling if she's still alive. As long as I never forget her, she can never truly vanish."
The prince sat on a portable chair a soldier had quietly placed behind him.
"And if she dies?"
A heavy silence settled. Then Larra's lips curved into a smile that was equal parts bitter and cold.
"Death is merely another state, like life. In the end she would become a queen among the spirits—and at that point, claiming her would be even simpler. But that's the final option. Because if it comes to that… we would have to eliminate everyone who has formed a true bond with her."
She paused, then shifted topics abruptly.
"Anyway, enough about me. What about him? I thought he was a robot. Why does he look so… human?"
Adrien glanced toward Zero with clear pride.
"He is a robot—but more precisely, an android. Robot-android, call it what you will. Special materials, decades of development… he represents the absolute peak of our technology. Right now his outer armor is in repair. Even that armor—the shell that makes him look like a simple machine—cost a fortune in rare alloys. That's why we can't just destroy Unit 001. We have to disable him and recover the chassis intact."
Larra stepped closer to Zero and sighed as she studied his face.
"I'm not even surprised he looks like some grizzled old soldier. Ah, humans really do love stamping their own faces on everything."
The prince joined her. Zero stared at his synthetic hand.
"Human? This hunt is also personal fulfillment for me. Eishen may carry the number after Zero, but he was activated before I was. During our earliest tests, he tore this arm off… So I will tear his off. Eye for an eye."
Larra gave a short, dry laugh.
"The longer they run, the more these machines surrender to desire… Fascinating."
The night passed.
The next day, in the City of the Alliance, Liora stood on an open training field the city hall had authorized—a wide space commonly used by races that needed to release pent-up energy.
O star of the woods, with eyes of silver dew, Your smile lights up the shadows of twilight. In the eternal forest, where the ancients whisper, I offer you my song, born from the roots of the world.
Maven arrived carrying a sack full of food.
"Lovely song, hehe. I've got the provisions, so we can start your training."
Liora bounced with excitement.
"What do we start with?! Fireballs?!"
Maven crossed her arms and shook her head firmly.
"No, no. First I need to tell you that what you did yesterday was incredibly reckless. You saved me—thank you—but if you hadn't had so much raw power, you could have died on the spot. Unleashing that much flame with zero control is dangerous. Start by sitting cross-legged. Feel the tingling in your fingertips… then slowly guide it up your arm, then gradually through your whole body."
Liora sat obediently. As before, the tingling came. She tried to draw it up her arm—and instantly pain stabbed through like thousands of needles.
"Ow! Ow! Why?!"
Maven remained calm.
"It's normal. Emotions and feelings govern mana flow. How to explain… You're new to this, so you're afraid of the unknown. Without meaning to, you're scared of what you don't yet understand about magic. Picture two versions of yourself: one locking the door, the other trying to smash it open with a sword. Basically, you forced it too hard. Try again—but this time, only the tiniest trickle of mana."
Time slipped away. The sun climbed high, then dipped low. When Eishen came to collect Liora, he found her sitting there, drenched in sweat, exhausted but glowing.
"Maven? How is she doing?"
Maven rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
"She's struggling more than average, but that's to be expected. Someone with that much mana can't circulate it through their whole body easily. It's like trying to pour the entire ocean into an infinitely expandable bottle."
Eishen gave her an odd look at the comparison.
"She was supposed to take a week just to manage basic flow… I didn't know elves before meeting you two, but she must be exceptional even among her kind. She's very close to mastering mana manipulation."
He remembered their first meeting.
"Her own people treated her like an outcast and left her to fend for herself… I suppose they were terrified of that kind of power. Now that I think about it, she once mentioned a sister."
Liora finally succeeded. She collapsed forward, starving, and attacked the food with both hands after a full day of effort.
"Yes… I don't talk about her much, but it's Larra. She's super beautiful and way stronger than me! My big sister—she could make red lightning and everyone went woooaaah!"
Maven and Eishen exchanged glances. Maven let out a small, sad chuckle.
"I suspect that was more a scream of fear than admiration… but anyway. Shall we head home? Tonight it's my turn to cook! My mother had this incredible curry recipe—you'll love it."
As they walked away, three hidden bounty hunters pointed toward Maven from the shadows.
"There she is, boss… Hehe, I swear we didn't take this bounty behind your back, we just—"
Her boss silenced him with a single raised finger. He wore an eyepatch, light armor, a saber at his hip, black hair, dark skin embedded with curved black crystals that looked almost like natural armor.
"Tyr-A-Nyk… The only thing you're truly good at is sniffing out the right bounties. The dragon king's daughter who murdered her own sister… That reward is going to make me rich. Well done, boys."
He drew his blade. Dark, shadowy energy writhed along the edge.
"The hunt is open."
End of chapter.