Capitulo 76

In the end, Keenan hugged Suzy till she stopped crying. His t-shirt was filled with tears but Keenan kept comforting her. Suzy blushed and realized that she did something embarrassing. She drank a glass of water and calmed herself. 

"That N-cores, I will pay them later on."

"No, you don't have to. I sell them because I want to, you don't have to worry about them. Besides, what kind of brother am I if I can't keep my promise to you?"

Suzy bit her lip and wiped her pale complexion, she took a deep breath and lightly slapped her cheeks. 

"Thank you."

She gave her best smile, she knew that Keenan won't accept any compensation so she decided to give her best smile instead. Keenan tapped her head and he grinned, he sold the N-cores to see her smile, it was worth it. 

………
……
…

"Are you ready to meet her?"

Jeanne and Keenan were walking in the hallway of the private training ground, they were going to meet Fantasia Demi Moore, Keenan's soon-to-be partner. 

"At least give me some briefing so that I won't give a bad impression."

Keenan asked, he was kind of nervous as he rubbed his sweaty palms. Choosing a Handler was important because he had to spend his life together with that person. In a way, choosing a Handler was like getting married, and it was hard to get a divorce. Especially when they already invested all of their lives. 

Jeanne paused and scanned Keenan up and down. 

"What, do I have dirt on my face?"

"You look fine so you don't have to worry, Fanta does not care about appearance. But she greatly cares about talent and potential. I already talked to her about you and she's interested to see you."

"You promise me that you won't speak about my second power."

"No, I never talk about it. But I said to her that you threatened me and you succeeded."

"Eh?"

"Anyway, let's go."

They walked into a private training ground, solely built for Fantasia to use. Keenan could see that Jeanne treated her niece with utmost care. 

'I can say that building a training ground for a single person is quite overkill.'

They reached the training ground and sounds of clashing echoed around. Keenan saw a woman fighting holographic Nightmares. The woman had long black hair, blue ocean eyes, and cold temperament. Her white pale skin represents the snow but the way she moves was that of summer, filled with energy and smooth. She was seriously fighting the monsters using a blade, an ordinary blade. 

Keenan stared at her particularly, he wanted to know if this woman was worthy to use him. Even if Jeanne tried to kill him, Keenan won't agree to partner with someone weak. His future depends on this woman, if she's strong then Keenan would acknowledge her. 

Fantasia was concentrating on the monsters, she was looking around and remembering their positions. The blade in her hands was enough. Without a moment of hesitation, she rushed towards the weakest one and killed it with one swing of her blade. She was fast, but not fast enough to leave Keenan astounded. 

"What do you think? Fantasia was already holding a sword when she became seven. I can say that no one is more dedicated than her."

"Dedication is not enough, I want someone that can make me a God."

"Hoh, quite a high dream you have there."

Fantasia killed all of the holographic monsters, she was panting hard when it was over. Her gorgeous face was covered in sweat and she quietly lay on the ground. The holographic monsters were Class-C and Class-B. Most of them were Zviera and some Veloce. 

Keenan judged that Fantasia still have a chance to become stronger, it was good. However, when in terms of holding a sword, Keenan could say that Fantasia was a genius.

She knew how to adapt to situations and the way she swings her sword was fast, unhesitant, and beautiful. There was no hint of hesitation whenever she moves, it was unfortunate that her physical ability could not keep up with her "way of the sword". 

"Something is keeping her from using her full power, a shackle?"

"I'm surprised that you discern that too. Yes, you're right. Fantasia was shackled and she can't use her true power."

Keenan glanced at Jeanne, waiting for her to speak. It was important for Keenan to know Fantasia's circumstances because they were going to be companions. 

"Fantasia is talented with the sword but her body is too weak, or to be precise, she already reached the limitations of her physical ability."

"But I thought she's your niece, then she has the blood of Cavalieri… Don't tell me-"

"I don't want to lie, what you're thinking is right. Fantasia is one of the defects, a Cavalieri who did not awaken her Aura when she turned 10. This is the reason why she's not under the Clan anymore, the Clan does not want any piece of these defected members. She was thrown and I adopted her…"

Jeanne recalled that moment, Fantasia was still a child, she was crying when her father kicked her out. If not for Fantasia's mother begging Jeanne, she would never take this child. However, as time goes on, she started to see Fantasia as her own child. 

Keenan realized why something was odd with Fantasia. On top of that, he sensed the tremor that Jeanne tried to hide.

"Tell me about her parents."

Keenan asked and Jeanne shrugged.

"As expected, I can't hide something from you. Well, I guess I showed my emotions because it's related to Fantasia."

"She's your weakness."

"I know."

They stared at each other, then Jeanne started talking about Fantasia's parents. 

"Her mother is a talented swordmaster from the branch family, a DemiGod. Sadly, her cultivation became stagnant when her Arma died. She is retired just like me."

"What about her father?"

"You already guessed, her father is the current Patriarch of the Cavalieri Clan, Joseph Cavalieri."

Keenan did not react, when he found that Fantasia was Jeanne's niece, he already had an inkling that Fantasia was connected with the current Patriarch. 

'So my partner is the daughter of the Clan Leader, quite heavy to handle eh.'