Ash swept the arc of a glowing blue sword.

Within the courtyard, where once a gazebo stood, Rapture stepped forward.

He struck first, his every motion was practiced from his footsteps to his swing.

Surrounding him now were the Gold District’s female warriors, all of whom stood a good deal taller than him.

The boots they wore crunched under the press of their feet.

One of them advanced, her blue blade's shine swallowed all other colours in the world.

Rapture caught that glow in the corner of his eye. He turned, raised his sword and repelled her attack.

He stepped back and turned his focus elsewhere, another woman stepped forward.

He deflected her blade too, but the burning shine of the crimson red sun shone dimly from behind her to blind his eye. That interval allowed a third attacker to slip in, she swung from the side and struck him in the chest.

The boy hit the dirt hard, he struggled to recover, and recover he did.

His steps were light, their clash continued, he focused on avoiding the force behind his foe’s attacks more often than confronting it. This was natural, because due to his Mutation, or lack thereof, his body was not remotely strong compared to the superhumans of this world.

The women sympathised, and then they taught him to fight as they fought, they taught him to use his foe's strength against them rather than confront them head on.

Indeed how could they not sympathise with him? They, out of all the peoples of Centurous, knew best his present plight, it was a plight they shared with him, albeit in a differing form.

There was a reason why as a typical rule in this world, a woman would not even try to compete with a man who was her equal in Class. The man would win, and probably quite easily.

That was the reason why the Women of Venus, who had no choice but to try and compete, came up with the fighting style that Rapture now employed.

There was no one who could say whether this favourable development was by fate's design, fortune's favour or simply his mother's forward-thinking, no one really cared.

There was one issue however, and that was that Rapture was physically weaker even than the weakest of their women, such was the state of his own body, which, without the merit of Mutation, was no better than a normal human boy his age.

Naturally, they noticed, and then he noticed it too.

Thus, for this reason, Rapture’s mastery of Manifestation had reached a new height in place of his shoddy Mutation.

His blade was solid to the point of refinement. He could not yet form a suit of armour, but he had mastered the power to a level even they would envy at his age.

Sadly though, they were not his age, they were older, not a one of them was not already proficient in Advanced Manifestation, each and every one of them was for that matter.

The fourth woman advanced, and behind her five more stood waiting.

The boy turned his tired brow to face his new foe, but the first three did not relent even so.

He parried one blade, avoided another, but as a result there was nothing left he could do about the third sword, much less the fourth, which swung swiftly towards his exposed left side.

The sword clashed with his body, the woman’s build, which for what might be the first time in her life was of superior stature, won out and sent the youth flying.

Rapture clenched his teeth through the pain and regained his footing as the woman stepped back, her face a mix of apology and guilt.

Several more moved in to surround him. Training, there was no mercy to be shown to he who falls behind.

“You think you’ll survive out there with only this much?” Amelia called out to him from the field a few paces away.

The youth clenched his teeth, he held his blade to face his foes.

They looked upon him with worry, two of them even faced Amelia as if imploring her to put a stop to this session, but Rapture did not back down and so they were powerless to stop the match itself.

The lad stepped forward, the first amongst the girls sighed as she advanced upon him. The boy tumbled forward, avoiding her swing, and then he swept his blade towards her legs.

The woman was in no way a fool, however.

With flighty footsteps she avoided his strike and turned her body to return it with an uppercut that would decisively end the fight.

Rapture panicked, he raised his blade before his body like a shield.

Once more he was sent flying, this time with a level of force that shattered his blade like glass.

That sight surprised him, but only him alone, for despite how firm and strong his blade might have appeared to his eye, despite how impressive is may be for one his age, it still seemed flimsy to the eyes of these seasoned ladies of war.

They could shatter it, should they wish, as easily as this.

The woman before him had chosen the most direct way to end the battle before anyone got hurt, she’d gone and put some actual effort into her swing, that and nothing more.

“You’re not bad when it comes to wielding your powers,” She said as she relinquished her blade and let it scatter to the wind, as Ash always does. “However, your body is weak, plain and simple, you’d die over ten times before managing to kill me even once.” She turned to face Amelia, who insisted on this training, and did so without fear of her status or reputation. “The fault lies with you too, for encouraging him in spite of this.”

Amelia bit her lip. Inside she was furious, truly, beyond words in fact, but the fact that nothing the woman before her had said was even close to being wrong kept her from speaking out in anger.

“He will awaken to Advanced Mutation in time, when that happens-” She began to explain, but the woman before her merely scoffed at her words.

“Advanced Mutation, the same power that can turn you into a puddle of melted, broken flesh if you slip up in using it? The same power that you yourself could barely master? The same power that some say ruined your womb for one minor blunder? That is what you’d gamble on?” Silence fell, for her words were far too harsh, like knives, rusty ones. However, she did not stop, not even now.

After all, she had seen it all before. This accursed "power", this dangerous form, it was another contributing factor to the rarity of the Platinum Class, and a good reason why those same Platinum Class should always look for an experienced mentor besides.

Half of them ended up killing themselves just practicing their power, the power of a shape changer, nevermind those who ended up maimed, crippled, or even worse; turning into a monster.

She wasn't wrong for saying it, but she'd said too much. Even she felt that perhaps she'd gone a step too far when it ended, not that she was of a mind to take it back however.

Looks of unease spread to everyone’s faces, even, no, especially, Amelia’s.

The woman turned away from them, her heels clapped against the stone plated ground as they carried her away.

“Return to your duties,” She said to them, and all of them, with not one exception, complied with her command. One or two sent a worried glance Rapture’s way, but the boy just sat there, his hair left to cover his eyes.

With a troubled heart, Amelia walked to the boy's side. She looked down upon him, the child whose expression she could not perceive. His Ash, still blue, contained now a hint of muddy black.

“What she said...those things won't necessarily happen to you,” She said to comfort him, but the boy could sense her doubt. He raised his head, the muddy blackness began to fade from his Ash as he shook his mind clear. He stood up, faced the heavens, then Amelia, with his hands to his sides.

“Yeah...it will not happen to me,” He said firmly, no doubt in his voice. Whatever doubts he did, however, have nagging inside the back of his mind were suppressed by this feigned show of confidence.

No, was it feigned confidence? Or was it self assurance? Even Amelia had to wonder, was he being bold out of arrogance, fear, or a need? Did he need to succeed? Did he want it so certainly that he would not allow himself to fail?

“Master,” He said as he cast a glance towards her through the corner of his eye. “If, and only if, I were to ask you to come with me when I leave this place, when I go searching for the place where my mother’s people are, would you want to come with me?” Amelia was taken aback for a moment, ultimately, she found herself laughing a quiet laugh.

“What are you thinking, boy? I’m twice your age, and your master besides,” She replied. Rapture raised his brow at her, it took him a moment to realise what she was getting at. He replied, somewhat in panic, to strike down the misunderstanding.

“I didn’t mean anything of that sort!”

“Sure you didn’t,” Amelia said with a shrug. She knew the boy had no such feelings for her, for that matter, it seemed he didn’t feel swayed even in a city full to bursting with beautiful women. Other young men would be having their fill every night. She’d honestly been a bit worried that he might swing the other way from time to time.

“You clearly know what I meant,” Rapture said with a frown. Amelia laughed, but only for a little while. She found herself thinking back on it, on that woman's harsh words, and then his charmingly innocent little question no longer seemed so silly.

Her brother and her sister in law were growing older, Rusalka didn’t really seem to need guidance any longer, and furthermore she had a husband to look after her.

The times had changed before she even knew it. She’d trained as many as fifteen possible successors, and this kid, Rapture, clearly needed her guidance more than any one of them.

Perhaps it really was about time to retire from her hateful role as Venus’ Enforcer? She could not help but wonder as she faced the lad and pondered his offer.

The boy then turned his head towards another, towards Melany’s fast approaching figure. Amelia’s answer never came, for she could see the unease in her comrade’s eye told of a more pressing concern. Within seconds Melany arrived, and she got straight to the point without a moment’s delay.

“Princess Lucretia of Jupiter is here.” Those six words sent a chill down Amelia’s spine. She jumped to her feet and faced Rapture with a stern expression. The boy nodded with understanding before any more words needed to be spoken. He could see the unease in her eyes.

Jupiter, this name that he’d heard many, many times, had now encroached upon this place, he was curious, but not enough to leave good sense behind.

“Where is Lady Ru?” Melany asked next, and then Amelia took pause. She turned to face the open sea, and a single boat far out in the distance. Melany frowned, what was that girl doing in the middle of the day? Did she not have duties to carry out?

“Let her have her fun,” Amelia said with a shrug, and then Melany swallowed her criticism. There was nothing wrong with letting Rusalka relax a bit, at least on a normal day. Sadly, however, today was not normal, and this she couldn't deny.

“Another day, perhaps,” She said as she stepped towards the waiting water.

Rapture watched in silence, awestruck as the woman’s boots crunched the earth and grass. Ash enveloped them, silver white in colour. She stepped upon the waiting water and then walked across it. With casual ease, she did something that should not be possible.

Amelia treated it as normal, however, and commanded him to move into the manor, and his room that waited therein.

After all, what Melany did was indeed normal to her eye, to the eye of everyone living in Venus City for that matter.

Their girls, at least the Silver and Gold Class ones, had practiced since young this method to navigate the water using Ash's power, it was simply a product of their environment. This, she told Rapture, and also something more.

“Including even Basic Mutation, there are countless ways the four powers granted by Ash can be honed and used, one’s environment, and imagination, are the only limitations. Always remember this.”