"It is time to get out of the bath." I said regretfully as I got up with Nova in my arms.

"Why aren't you putting me down?"

"Because I don't want to."

"If you don't put me down, I cannot dress myself."

"I'll find a way."

"Put me down!"

"No."

She knew that I wasn't budging, so she just pouted and started ignoring me.

"I may put you down-" I started

"Really!?" she was genially surprised

"Yes, but only if you give me a kiss."

She froze at my words, then started calculating the pros and cons of her future decision. The result of her contemplation was a peck to my cheek, but it was a kiss nonetheless. I became quite happy that I hugged her closer to me and started rubbing her cheeks against mine.

"You're crushing me!" she said between gasps

"Oops." I held back my hug "Daughter of mine, you should become much stronger if you want me to hug you with all my strength."

"I don’t want your hugs." She said as resolute as she could get

"But I want yours… Won't you give a hug?" I brought her closer to me

"No." I became crestfallen at her words

Changing my mentality to "One day, she will give me as many hugs as she can", I put her down so she could dress herself.

"I forgot to clean our clothes..." I said as I looked at the clothes on the hooks.

"It is fine. We already cleaned our bodies."

"Yes, but the clothes are dirty after days of being used. Although I used mine just today."

"I also used mine just today."

"Really? Why are they exactly like the others you used?"

"Because they're similar."

"Does the orphanage not give any different type of clothes?"

"They do, but I prefer to just use a single type. That way I don't have to agonize with choosing which clothes I should wear for the day." 'is she as lazy as me?'

"I understand…" 'that gives a dissatisfied feeling for some reason' "Anyway, let's dress up."

"Right ahead of you." She said as she started wearing her clothes.

I did the same. Then I held my hand to Nova, who reluctantly place hers in mine and I started slowly walking hand in hand with her. I broke the spells for the bath and kept walking.

"Are we not going to fly back?"

"No, I'll do something different later. For now, I just want to walk with you."

"Why?"

"Just because."

She tilted her head but did not rebutted me. I was quite happy with that.

"Is there anything that you want?" I started

"Did you not ask me that question earlier?"

"Yes. But this one is different. I'm just asking if you want anything. I feel like I should make you a gift."

"It is fine, really."

"I can do a lot of stuff, so tell me if want anything."

"… You can do a lot of stuff?"

"So, there is something."

"… Yes."

"I'm all hears."

"… Can you make memories unforgettable?"

I made a bitter smile and told her the truth "There are no spells that can touch the mind. The mirage element is closer to want but, from my knowledge, it cannot do what you wish. Is it because of your parents?"

She nodded and was starting to tearing up "I'm losing their memories… All that I know of their faces now is but a blur…" she was crying at this point

I crouched down to her level and hugged her, she hugged back "Don't worry. We may not be able to make memories last forever but we can make objects that will last for a long time." I patted her back

She looked at me with a face full of tears and snot. 'we just cleaned you'

"I can do something about that but I will need your help, is that okay with you?"

She nodded many times while cleaning her face to her sleeves.

I searched for a more open space. When I found it, I took my inscription gear out of my inventory and made seats out of the earth. I told Nova to seat with me, then I took two gems out of the basket.

"Now, can you tell me who was the one with the storm element?"

"It was mother." 'ah, one day I want you to call me mother…'

I shook my head to get rid of useless thoughts and focused on creating water, fire, air energy and fusing them together. This was not something I did often because I mostly used soul energy in its pure form. I sent the storm energy to one of the gems, grew it and shaped it to have a more effeminate form.

"Your father was the bow user?"

"Yes!"

I used my life energy to grow a new gem and shaped it to be more masculine. 'I'll just assume that he is focused on life energy'

"This is all I can do on my own. Now you'll have to guide me."

She nodded seriously "Mother was from the same race I am, while father was-"

And time flew while we kept working on the gems. Little by little, Nova remembered them how they looked and I kept shaping them how she told me to, breaking parts when they were too much. Finally, we hit the limit in how much we could make the gems resemble them.

"What do you think?" I asked but I did not need an answer by looking at her face

I just gave the gems to her and she held them as if she was holding a priceless treasure 'in a way it is for her'. She fixed her gaze into the gems like she was boring a hole into them before putting them in her inventory.

"Thank you very much."

"No problem. This is only the first gift I will give you."

"Does that mean there will be others?"

"Yes, but only if you deserve them."

"Ok."

"You don't look depressed about the gifts."

"You already gave me the best gift I could possible ask."

I flicked her head.

"Why!?"

"Because you are being too mature. You are a child. It is okay to ask for more."

"I have a feeling if I ask for more from you, I will regret it." 'now you've made me mad'

I grabbed her cheeks and started stretching them.

"OW! OW! OW! OW!"

"Whose mouth said something so hurtful? Hm?"

"SORRY! I'M SORRY!" I let go of her cheeks

"I will just give you gifts, nothing more, nothing else. Ok."

She rubbed her cheeks with teary eyes "Yes. I understand."

"Then let's move. It is almost nightfall."

"Already?" she looked at the sky

"We did spend a quite some time shaping the gems."

"You said that we are not going to fly. Then how are we travelling there?"

"I'll just carry you to our destination."

"By running?"

"Kind of." I spread my arms wide at her direction "So, Nova, come here."

"Nova?"

"You only noticed now? It is your pet name."

"Pet name?"

"It's like an intimate name of sorts. I think?"

"You think?"

"I don't really know, but "Nova" suits you, you know."

She shrugged "If you say so." 'there she is again acting like an adult'

"Now, Nova, can you hug me?"

"Is that necessary?"

"Of course, it is. I wouldn't do this for no reason."

"Right…"

"If you want to go back to town, you'll have to hug me."

"Aren't you threatening me now!?"

"No, I'm just saying it is your choice." 'Huhuhu'

"… Fine"

She slowly got close to me and hugged me while wary of my actions. I embraced her in return and got up while holding her.

"Shall we go?"

"… Yes" she answered with a defeated feeling in her voice

I switched Nova position to a princess style, this time was to make it easier to move and not to mess with her 'maybe just a little'. I jumped, and started jumping from tree to tree making our way to town.

"What are you?" Nova asked while we were moving

"You mean my race? I don't know. I never bothered with remembering the name. Maybe we can talk with someone knowledge about the subject if you are interested."

"Then, you are hominum?"

"Yes. What else would I be?"

"I don't know. It is just that… you can do a lot of stuff that I did not think it was possible."

"That is because you are only a child. You still do not know how the world works."

"And you do?"

"Not at all, but I know more than you."

She pouted.

"Oh, come on, don't be like that. It all comes with time. Be patient."

She continued to pout.

I made a bitter smile "I will teach you what I know to you, ok. And you will eventually learn. Does that make you happy?"

"… A little…"

"That's good enough for now."

"By the way?"

"Yes."

"Why isn't there much wind even though we are moving so fast?"

"Because I am shielding us from it."

"How?"

"Do you know how to do the [Soul Shield] spell?"

"No. I haven't learned it yet."

"Well, you should. It is the most basic and useful spell of the soul energy category."

She pouted. 'Again?'

"Anyway, what I am doing is an application of it. I'm stretching a weak shield just strong enough to deal with the wind pressure around us."

"Really?"

"Yes, rather you should be able to feel it because you are touching it."

"I cannot feel anything different…" she tilted her head

I furrowed my brows at her answer "Why?... Oh, know why. Because you are a child you have yet to train that much with soul energy so you are not sensible enough to it to feel the shield." 'I remember when I first began Obsidian, I had to go through a lot of pain to be able to even use soul energy reliably'

"It will come with practice. In any case, we are almost reaching Dawn Breaker. We should find something to eat."

"I think the inn is closed right now."

"And there are no food stores yet because of the scarcity of food ingredients. Therefore, our only choice are the sandwiches that are in my inventory." I sighed

"We should eat at the orphanage."

"You want to eat the sandwiches there?"

She nodded.

"Ok."

I got on the ground but did not stop running. I finally stopped at the front of the orphanage door. I somehow knocked on the door with Nova in my arms.

"You can put me down now."

I waited for someone to open the door.

"Are you listening to me?"

"Hm? Yes? Are you cold? If so, I can hug you closer to me."

"I did not say that!"

"Did you say anything else?"

"Yes! Put me down!"

Someone finally opened the door. It was the head of the orphanage.

"It is good to see that your relationship is not bad, but could you bring her before nightfall? She technically is one of mine for now."

"Yes, you see-"

"Let me guess. You got focused in something else and forgot the time."

"… You are correct, but it was very important."

"I am sure it was, but this and that are two different things. I swear that you haven't changed a bit… and Lenova, I did not think you would follow on her footsteps."

"I am sorry." Nova sincerely apologized

"But it was very important!"

"Like I said this and that are two different things. Now, get inside. I have some food saved for you."

"Really?"

"Yes. I somehow knew this was going to happen. Therefore, I asked the people from the inn to give some extra food."

"Thank you."

"I will accept your feelings if you can promise me that you can get the girl here on time."

"Then Nova, let's get inside."

"You ignored me, huh…" the head sighed. Nova sent him a pitiful look, but I ignored it all.

I entered the orphanage and went to the eating area. I reluctantly put Nova down and waited for the head to arrive with the food. He came in and took two bowls out of his inventory and put them on the table. Me and Nova took the bowls and started to eat.

"Lenova. Tell me how was your day with Craven?"

Nova swallowed her food and started "I went to meet up Craven in the morning, but because I did not sleep well and was tired, she made me rest. Afterwards we flew to the river and took a bath, I fell asleep in the bath. Then we got out of the bath and she asked me if I wanted something as a gift. In the end, we spent the day growing and shaping gems." 'She withheld some information about the gems, but that is understandable'

The heads eye was twitching "There is a lot I want to comment in how "important" the day was for you" he glanced at me 'Hey! It was a very important mother-daughter day!' "But, can I ask you to show me the gems you shaped?"

Nova nodded and took the gems out. The head did not recognize who the gems resembled to, however he was able to decipher Nova's expression.

"I see. You should keep those safe."

"Yes, uncle Zane." Nova replied seriously 'This guy is Zane?'

A moment of silence fell.

"Anyhow, "uncle" Zane, do you have any news?"

"There is no need to be jealous and what kind of news are you talking about?"

"I'm not jealous. I meant like anything really. I haven't been in touch with the happenings of the town."

He thought while rubbing his bearded chin "They say that the farms will be holding enough crops to finally starting to open food stores. With these stores the economy should restart."

I chuckled "The guys controlling the economy must be panicking right now. They'll have to keep a tight leash on it if they don't want it to collapse when it restarts."

"Yes. I hear that basic commodities prices will have an all-time high."

"Is that so?"

"With most of the Crafters focusing on building the town itself, there aren't that many that will make those commodities. For example, this table and these chairs went through a lot of arguments to finally have them built."

"I did not know about that."

"Yes. Furthermore, once the town's basic infrastructures are built, the Crafters will once again be doing the basic commodities and that will bring their price all the way down."

"Is there anything else?"

"I don't know really… Once the food stores are in place and economy restarts, we may see more varieties of stores opening. Other than that, I think I heard someone say that they would be exploring the mountain to find some ore veins and other useful stuff that can be mined."

"So, a lot has happened and at the same time it has not."

"Was there something you wanted to hear?"

"Yes. I wanted to send Nova to a school to learn and see if the training grounds were done."

"Oh, if you're talking about the school, they are currently building it."

"Is that so?"

"Wait! I am going to school?" Nova interrupted

"Why, yes you are. Is there a problem?" I asked

"No, it is just that I never went to one…"

"Then how did you learn basic cultural knowledge, like language and math?"

"She came from one of the warlords' territory. You know that they did not care about anything other than military strength." Zane commented

"I see, then she started learning from the orphanage."

"Yes, and she is doing some great progress."

"Is that so? Good girl~." I patted her head and she became shy but did not swatted my hand away

"Anyway, the school, they are building it nearby. Just two blocks away from us. They will call it "Palace of learning" or something along those lines."

""Palace of learning"? Is it not just a school? Why does it have to have that kind of name?"

"I hear that they will be making a school, from basic to the highest level, the library and some laboratories for researching in one place."

"And that is why they gave it that name?"

He shrugged.

I sighed "Will the library be student and researcher use only or can anyone can go in?"

"I don't think they will do that. They just put it close to people who may use it more often than your average citizen."

"That's good. I may go to the library to pass some time."

"Shouldn't you be working? Or, if you don't have a job, shouldn't you be searching for one?"

I shrugged "I am quite rich, you know."

"I know from the donations you gave us."

"Speaking of the donations. How were they used? I know that I gave quite a big sum and that I was not the only one, but I've never seen any change."

"Children need a good upbringing. Therefore, other than the basic needs and healthy lifestyle, I did not use most of the donations. I saved them in the bank for bad times or for when a child needed some money for more studies or something like that."

"So, it was all in the bank…"

"Yes, it was…"

We sighed. 'Rest in peace savings'

"How about you?"

"Me?"

"Yes. Shouldn't you have some savings in the bank?"

"No, I did not. I've never trusted the security of that place and felt that the money was safer with me."

His eyebrow twitched "So, you always carried that quantity of money with you at all times?"

"Yes. My inventory is the safest place I could think of."

"Is that not why people are targeting you?"

"Maybe." I shrugged 'There were thieves that did target me for the money but most of them wanted my head'

He sighed "As for the training grounds. I heard that Gerard made a meeting between the instructors to discuss how to build the new training grounds." 'oh, right, I did that…'

"Will the training grounds be in the Palace of learning?"

"No, I don't think so, because it is too loud and dangerous to put it near the school."

"Fair point."

I was eating between the conversation. The bowl was now empty so I gave it back to Zane. I looked at Nova and asked.

"Are you done with yours?"

She shook her head.

"Take your time." I turned back to Zane "So, while the school is being built, I will teach this girl how combat works."

"Is the education she received until now not satisfactory for you?"

'I think he was joking but I will reply seriously' "Not really. I believe I will have to start from the basics."

"Can I ask you what you'll teach her?" he said with his narrowed

"You don't have to be like that. I won't teach her something dangerous. I will start with the basics of the basics, the body. I will start with stretches, endurance, strength and finally meditation."

"What about speed?" Nova asked

"Speed is the strength of your legs and reaction speed, but I will not teach you about reaction speed until you have more stamina." I turned back to Zane "Is that okay with you?"

"As long as you keep within her limits."

"That is fine by me." I turned to Nova "Nova, you should come tomorrow with easy to move clothes, ok?"

She nodded while eating.

No more topics to talk about we just waited for Nova to be done with her food. When she was done she gave the bowl to Zane.

"Goodnight." She said

"Goodnight." I replied

"Don't forget to wash your teeth."

"Yes, uncle Zane!"

I waved at her and watched her going on her way. 'I'm already feeling lonely'

""Nova"?" Zane started

"What is it?"

"I am surprised that you are actually caring for her."

I narrowed my eyes "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means what it means. You were never the one for caring much about others even if they're orphans."

"I do care for others. I just care for this girl more."

He rolled his eyes. I got up from my seat and started walking to the entrance.

"Goodnight." I heard from behind

"Goodnight." I turned to him and said "If you're having problems, don't hesitate to call me."

"We don't your help." He instantly replied

"Don't be too stubborn to ask your children for help when you need."

"Just get out of here."

"I'm going~."

I went outside and made my way to outside of town 'I'm not sleepy yet and I don't want to work on the gems so I guess I can finally work on my new spell'. I went further into the forest and found a small clearing, big enough for me to work. I gathered twigs from the ground and a fruit from a tree. I spread [Candlelight]'s flame sprites around me to give the illumination I needed. I made a seat from the earth and seated on it.

'Last time I think I had found the answer to use both life energy and soul energy together but I do not know the exact ratio. So that is where I will be working on'

I started with a twig. I used a 50/50 ratio with soul energy and life energy. I fused it with the twig and there were no problems, until the soul energy became just a little more than the life energy and caused it to overwhelm the life energy and expelling in a violent way making the twig explode. What was left of the twig crumbled into dust because of the soul energy.

'Welp, I found the ratio faster than expected. The problem is how to maintain it balanced and not become like the twig. Now that I think of, I would not be able to keep any other buff when this one is active or else, it would break the balance. This better be worth it.'

I made a pillar of earth if front on me and put a twig on top. Then I brought my hands together and started gathering life energy in one and soul energy in the other. I met the two in the air and started mixing them 'I won't do this inside my body'. They were like two bickering children that constantly tried to beat the other and were not cooperating at all. I started spinning them and increase the speed with each rotation until they finally cooperated and meshed together becoming something else.

This new thing was rotating at an amazing speed and was dark with a silver-grey glow. It looked like the corruption element without the putrid green glow and that uncanny similarity made me hesitate in continuing to hold it between my hands. That hesitation was enough to bring the new element into chaos. I threw it into the air by using my soul energy and watched it explode.

The explosion was not something you would have expected from a ball of a combination between soul energy and life energy, smaller than a marble. Even though I threw it high enough, the wind force almost managed to push me away but I held myself with [Energy hold] on the ground to keep me steady.

Not long after the boom I felt pulses in the area approaching my position. Soon after Vanguards appeared in the area.

"Craven, what happened?"

"A failed experiment."

"A new technique?"

"Secret."

"That is fine by us, but do not make so much noise in the middle of the night. If you want to keep doing your experiments you need to be 5 times farther from the town."

"Yeah, sorry. I will do that."

They departed as fast as they arrived. 'They're taking the town security very seriously'

I decided to get far away from town seeing the danger of the new element and to keep it hidden from others. Even though I know that there is a big chance that people will no longer attack me, I cannot just shake the habits I created in the recent years 'maybe it will be for the best'.

I may have gone a bit too far than necessary. I set up the fruit I brought with me on top of a pillar I made with earth and readied my heart to make some progress with my experiment. Once again, I started mixing the two energies between my palms, rotating them faster and faster, creating the new element.

For a first experiment, I tried to slow down the speed of the new element to a still. When I did, the new element remained intact for a few minutes and then started collapsing into life and soul energies.

'So, it needs a lot of centrifugal force to mix the energies and it will maintain its existence for a few minutes before collapsing back into the energies it was created from. I also can intentionally make it unstable to create clean explosions without smoke or fire. That makes it somewhat useful but not what I am looking for.'

I remade the new element and started fusing with the fruit. The result, the fruit was destroyed. 'Maybe I should have infused the element while it was not spinning…'

I looked at the surroundings for a new fruit, luckily, I found a tree with fruits nearby so I took one. This time I infused the energy after being slowed to a still. The fruit received the element with no problems. I waited a few minutes but nothing happened. To make certain that there was no problem with the fruit, I slipped it open with a dagger and scanned it. There was nothing that jumped at the eye.

'Nothing to note about the state of the fruit. I can safely say that this new element is not dangerous on biological bodies when just infused into them, without anything done to it. Problem is that I have to make a strong centrifugal force every time I want to use this new element.'

The next experiment was to see if I had to consciously keep rotating the new element. When I tried it, the new element did not stop spinning and did not seemed to stop any time soon. That was a another plus to it, however it did not make the new element any more useful.

Afterwards, I tried to make the new element automatically release its energy from a pole, making the need to consciously stop the element from rotating the sphere no longer necessary. It worked, but by taking energy from the sphere, its speed would slow down until it stopped and could no longer keep its shape.

Seeing that, I tried the same experiment, however I added life energy and soul energy by using energy threads on the rotating sphere. The sphere consumed the energies I fed it and continued to release its own. The sphere did not collapse, when it showed signs of collapsing, I just gave it more energy, keeping its existence longer while continuing its energy release.

I decided to take a break. These experiments have been using my energy pools and my mental facilities. I needed some rest.

'Once the sphere is created, I no longer have to consciously give the same quantity of soul energy and life energy at a time. The sphere itself will do it automatically and it will only take one energy if the other is nearby, it is wise to keep both energies at around the same ratio all the time.

The more soul energy and life energy I give it the more it spins. It seems that this new element, the denser it is, the faster it will spin and its consumption will increase, while the inverse is also true. Does this element follow the same rules as the astral bodies on Earth?

All I tested tonight is its accessibility. I do not know if it is useful or not. The explosion was something that surprised me greatly, so that is one use. I feel like I am forgetting the original purpose of this experiments, but this is something I have never seen before so I am quite curious about it.

It is quite simple to do it, just mix soul and life energy and voilà. Therefore, I may not have been the only one to have found it but since I've never heard about it, it means that was no beneficial use for it over life energy and soul energy. However, this is only assuming that it was actually found.'

Rest done. I decided to do one last experiment with it before wrapping up for tonight and go to sleep.

I created another new element sphere and I kept infusing the new element released by the sphere into the fruit. I watched the energy getting inside it and saw no change. I increased the energy it contained over and over until it reached levels that would be lethal with soul energy or life energy.

I erased the sphere and took a dagger. I tried to cut the fruit once more with the dagger, but the dagger only slipped on the skin. I held the fruit with my hand and tried to stab it with more strength and I was able to do it, however by using much more effort than normally needed.

I waited a couple of minutes for the energy to have dispersed from the fruit. I took it with my hand and jiggled it a little, then I threw it at a tree. The fruit crashed at the tree and splashed into pieces.

'This experiment is a success. I found a way to fortify a body without having it explode or turn to dust. Next time, I have to do this inside my body without destroying it. But for now, I will sleep. Goodnight.'