The frost-crusted clearing behind the camp was filled with the clang of steel, the crack of soundand the unapologetic hollers of soldiers watching from the perimeter.
Obsidian stood like a statue of war, her muscles tight under her black combat vest, feet shoulder-width apart. The massive slab of weapon she called a greatsword rested against her shoulder with one hand, like it weighed nothing. The blade, obsidian-black like her namesake, shimmered with crimson runes.
Across from her stood Shimmer.
Ten years old, golden eyes glowing with wild focus, fists wrapped in layered grip tape, her stance way too large for her body, but she made it work. Her sapphire zweihander was almost as tall as she was. But she wielded it anyway with no fear, no hesitation.
She grinned.
"Begin."
The ground exploded.
Shimmer didn't ease into it. She launched forward, two boot prints scorched into the snow where she took off, her zweihander dragging behind her like a comet's tail. Her Sound Tether pulsed in sync with her movements, vibrating with sonic force. The air popped around her legs as she broke into bursts of speed only a trained body could maintain.
Obsidian didn't move an inch. Not until Shimmer came within five feet. Then, the greatsword swung with zero essence, no flash, no buildup, just pure muscle memory and blade discipline honed through hundreds of wars.
Shimmer blocked with both hands, her zweihander erupting into a screeching shockwave as the sound burst at the point of contact. The snow around them vaporized, kicked into the air as crystal mist. But Obsidian didn't budge. Her boots were planted like anchors, her wrists barely moving despite the impact.
Shimmer grinned wider.
"Heh. You're good."
"You're slow."
Shimmer twisted her grip, kicked off the ground, spun overhead, and brought her blade down like an avalanche.
Obsidian stepped just one step sideways.
The zweihander missed her completely, slamming into the earth with a boom that cracked the ice layer. Soundwaves exploded from the impact, rattling the eardrums of the soldiers in the distance. The shockwave buckled a tree fifty meters away and caused a few poor animals to fall out of it screaming.
Obsidian brought her elbow down. Shimmer caught it with her forearm and winced.
"What the hell is your arm made of?!"
Obsidian replied by headbutting her. Shimmer stumbled back, vision shaking, a tooth slightly loose. Runner flinched from the sidelines.
"Sis?! You okay?!"
"FINE!!" Shimmer yelled, spitting out a wad of blood with a manic grin. "I THINK MY BRAIN IS LEAKING BUT I'M GOOD!!"
And with that, she surged again.
Meanwhile, Runner... wasn't doing fine. She was on her ass. Again.
Kezren, Seyna's husband, watching from the sidelines beside a group of amused soldiers, winced.
"That's the seventh time in five minutes…"
Obsidian's shadow clone—more accurately, an illusion constructed from extremely refined footwork and afterimages—was sparring Runner. It was not the real Obsidian but to a ten-year-old girl who hadn't developed her full Tether yet, it was hell.
"On your feet," Obsidian barked at Runner mid-combo with Shimmer, still somehow fully aware of both battles.
Runner groaned, hands trembling, her training blade clattering across the frost.
"I can't feel my arms anymore—"
Obsidian's afterimage kicked her. She flew a solid five meters and rolled twice in the snow like a thrown cabbage. One of the soldiers coughed.
"...Uhh, Commander, she's ten."
"She's combat-eligible," Obsidian replied coldly. "She's a daughter of Vastarael. Her expectations are higher."
Runner got up again, one eye twitching.
"I didn't ask to be adopted by a person of power and trauma, lady—"
"Then be strong enough to rise above it," Obsidian said, her tone slicing deeper than her sword ever could. "Crying doesn't make the battlefield stop. Blood doesn't make your enemies pause. You have three seconds. Use them."
Runner inhaled sharply and stood shaking, but upright.
Back in the main match, Shimmer went on the offensive again, this time channeling Sound Tether through her arms entirely. Every movement she made emitted a sub-sonic pulse, subtly knocking Obsidian's balance off every few seconds. With each clash, she layered a secondary vibration under the surface of her swings, trying to make Obsidian's muscles contract involuntarily. It was a high-level tactic, one that required control far beyond her years. It was almost impressive.
Until Obsidian grunted, stepped in, and parried the entire zweihander with one hand, twisting her wrist in a way that sent Shimmer flying. The little warrior cartwheeled through the air and landed back-first into a mound of snow, a puff of white bursting skyward.
Shimmer's laugh came muffled through the ice.
"That was awesome!!"
Obsidian cracked her neck.
"You're getting better. That pulse you're using… I almost felt that one in my ankle."
Runner stumbled toward her sister's snow crater and promptly tripped over her own feet again.
A few soldiers clapped politely. One of them whispered,
"That one's a little slow, but the other got guts."
"She's ten," another one said. "And she just took a backflip from the commander and stood up."
Obsidian's voice rang again.
"Good. Shimmer, ten minutes break. Runner, keep going."
Runner rose up. "I can't even lift my—"
"Keep going."
The blade landed in the snow next to Runner with a soft thud. The girl stared at it like it had insulted her entire bloodline.
Shimmer sat down next to a tree, rubbing her shoulders, panting.
"That woman's not even human…"
Runner was back on her feet again, face red with determination.
"I'm not gonna lose like this…"
Obsidian's afterimage lunged again, blades clashing as she dodged.
And in the back of the field, behind the laughter, clapping, groans, and flying kids, Vastarael leaned against a tree, arms folded, watching his daughters with a quiet smile.
The shift in the air was nearly invisible but Vastarael felt it first.
Runner moved but not like a child anymore or like the little ten-year-old who once trailed behind Shimmer with wide eyes and awkward footfalls. Her legs moved in a blur, her fists clenched with a new-found force, her ice blue eyes glowing faintly, flickering with silver fractals as if something within was cracking open. It was subtle, but Vastarael could see it.
Shimmer stopped mid-step, nearly dropping her zweihander in pure shock.
"Runner?" She murmured, blinking, her instincts screaming to dash in and hold her sister.
But she never got the chance.
A breeze flickered beside her and suddenly, Vastarael was there. The moment his feet touched the ground, even the sparring earth bent slightly beneath him. He didn't need to speak loudly.
"Don't interfere."
His tone wasn't sharp but it was final. And so, Shimmer froze.
All eyes turned toward the small girl now charging with unfiltered essence. Her fists glowed. Her muscles surged, her very presence was turning heavier by the second. The snow around her feet melted, and her shadow stretched unnaturally long in the noon light. The soldiers stopped eating. Even Raika lowered her mug. Zarvana stood with brows furrowed. Seyna, Veyn, and Kezren were already backing away.
"She's…" Veyn blinked. "She's breaking."
"She's transcending," Zarvana whispered.
Obsidian, still panting lightly from the earlier bout, took a step back and tilted her head.
"She's entering the Ascender state," she muttered, more to herself than to anyone else. "She's evolving. Master, she's doing it, isn't he?"
Vastarael's hand gripped his glaive but the blade remained sealed. This wasn't a match to win. It was a way to improve her enhancement.
Runner came at him like a feral wolf, barely coordinated but charged with instinctual essence manipulation. Her first punch came too fast for most eyes to track, only to be sidestepped casually by Vastarael. He didn't even shift his feet. His body just… tilted.
She snarled not in fury, but in raw energy release, and turned instantly, launching a high kick at his ribs. Vastarael blocked it with one finger. The impact cracked the ground beneath his feet. And still, he didn't move.
She reeled back, landed on all fours, and let out a choked breath as her essence flared again. A mutation of aura, a sign of her body converting to Aeterium's biological structure.
Vastarael noticed one thing when he bonded anyone under Sapphire Bond. They would eventually turn into an impure Aeterium unless the race is as powerful as that of an Aeterium.
He noticed this with Arletta, Ferris and Peccavi. Apparently, only Ferris could make a complete Sapphire Bond with him. Shimmer had an Aeterium soul when she bonded with Vastarael when she destroyed the city.
And Runner... being a human, it took time. And now, it was happening. Her bones were rebuilding. Her soul was rewriting.
Runner charged again, this time with actual technique behind her movement. There was intent now. The wild flailing was gone. She wasn't fighting with instinct alone. She was learning mid-fight. Vastarael noticed. And he smiled.
The next strike from her right fist was followed up by a sweeping left palm strike, reinforced by a spike of force essence that exploded outward. Vastarael backstepped, letting it pass just an inch in front of him. The explosion flared behind him like a ripple through light.
She came again. And again.
Each time she adjusted, faster than most warriors her age should comprehend. Her body had started moving like someone twice, thrice her age and experience. She wasn't mimicking anymore. She was creating.
Then she lunged again and Vastarael moved. Not to dodge but to push her. His palm brushed her shoulder and slammed her into the ground. The moment her back hit the earth, she gasped as her essence twisted, reshaping itself in response.
Runner coughed then pushed herself up again, bloodied lip and all, her hair matted with snow and sweat. Her arms shimmered with pale blue veins of awakened essence. Her breath was still rough, but her eyes had calmed. Vastarael knelt in front of her. The air around him softened.
"You're converting. That feeling? That rush in your chest? That's your spirit rewriting your limitations. You're stepping into a higher body. Into our body."
She blinked up at him.
"I'm scared."
"I was too. But now you know fear isn't something to run from. It's something to train with. Are you ready for this?"
"Yes."
"Then go all out!"