On the ground, Orion's posture was a study in deceptive calm as he retracted the spear. A single, gleaming bead of sweat, a lone testament to the immense strain he was under, traced a deliberate path down his temple.
To the observers, Lyra was the one sent hurtling through the air, a broken kite in a hurricane, yet he knew the truth.
This was no casual spar.
Suppressing his sister required every ounce of his focus, a state of absolute peak performance where a single moment of laxity would see him instantly overwhelmed and put on the back foot.
A significant part of his advantage was not his own, but a silent, ever-present gift from the Progenitor's Legacy.
The System's passive enhancement, a staggering 400% increase to his Aether Core's growth and recovery rate, was a river of energy constantly replenishing what he spent. Layered on top of that, the symbiotic bonds he shared with Elysia and Lisanna had transformed his reserves from a deep lake into a vast, seemingly bottomless ocean. It allowed him to maintain an explosive output of Aether that would leave any other C-Rank Hero a dried-up husk in mere seconds.
Across the ruined field, Lyra landed with a controlled crash, her boots digging deep trenches into the earth. A thin trickle of crimson escaped the corner of her lips, a stark contrast to her pale face. Her chest heaved, each breath a conscious effort, and sweat matted her dark hair to her forehead as she grimaced.
Her own brutal training regimen had expanded her Aether reserves far beyond the norm, but she lacked the cheat-like boons that made Orion's power so relentless. That single, explosive exchange had been a catastrophic drain on her stamina.
In that heart-pounding moment of recovery, she knew. A prolonged battle of attrition was a losing proposition. Both her raw energy reserves and the sheer conceptual weight of her striking power were below Orion's.
But a cornered beast is always the most dangerous.
She had been honing a technique for just this occasion, a trump card forged in the fires of their last defeat.
A wild, exhilarating, and utterly insane grin split her face. It was the expression of a gambler pushing all their chips to the center of the table. A harrowing roar tore from her throat, a sound not of anger, but of pure, unadulterated battle ecstasy.
"Hah!"
With a resounding crash, she slammed both of her vibrating short swords point-first into the ground. They pulsed with a blinding, golden brilliance, unleashing wave after wave of hyper-concentrated vibrating Aether particles that surged deep into the earth.
The entire grassy plain began to tremble, then to quake violently. The vibrations expanded with lightning speed, turning the very ground into a weapon.
The earth began to shatter and burst upwards as if from a thousand subterranean explosions.
From the rumbling soil, a tsunami of razor-sharp, sword-like streaks of pure, solidified vibrating Aether erupted, a rising tide of golden death aimed directly at Orion.
Hundreds of meters away, Elysia and Lisanna gasped in unison, the sheer scale of the attack stealing the air from their lungs.
Elysia's voice became as sharp and cold as her own ice. "This… this is going too far! He's her brother!"
Lisanna's usual playful bounce had vanished, replaced by a grim frown, her hands clenched into tight fists at her sides. "This is...a bit much. That's not a sparring move; that's just death."
Both of them could feel it. The sheer, unadulterated power rumbling beneath the ground was a cataclysmic force almost beyond the scope of their senses. It was a pressure cooker of pure destruction, a world-ending bomb that they knew, with absolute, terrifying certainty, was potent enough to not just kill, but utterly obliterate any peak C-Rank Hero caught within its blast radius.
Orion watched the incoming tsunami of annihilation and merely smiled, a casual, almost lazy expression on his face.
This was it.
The perfect opportunity to test the true potential of his evolving fusion.
His shimmering ice spear began to thrum, a low hum that resonated with the very fabric of the dimension. Greater and brighter patches of golden light Aether surged across its crystalline surface, not as mere decoration, but as a conquering force. They bled into the ice, swirling and merging with impossible harmony until, in the space of a single breath, the weapon was transformed.
It was no longer an ice spear with light particles. It was a dazzling, unified spear of pure ice-light, a divine artifact radiating an aura of impossible contradictions. The very air around it seemed to both flash-freeze and incinerate simultaneously.
This aura alone was a weapon of devastating effect. The thousands of vibrating, sword-like streaks that composed Lyra's ultimate attack, upon entering the spear's domain, met an instant, unceremonious end. They were either flash-frozen into brittle, inert statues that shattered into dust or were instantly vaporized into nothingness.
Then, in a single, sublime moment of absolute control, Orion thrust his ice-light spear forward.
He did not launch a projectile, nor did he fire a beam. He unleashed a concept. An overpowering, utterly silent wave of pure light-ice Aether energy erupted from the tip of the spear, the very principle of annihilation made manifest.
The effect was instantaneous and absolute. The violent rumbling of the world ceased. The thousands of vibrating blades that formed the golden tide were erased without a trace. An overwhelming pressure, a paradoxical fusion of absolute zero and stellar heat, descended upon Lyra, locking her movements down completely.
She couldn't twitch a single muscle, her eyes wide with unfathomable shock at the raw, elemental power that had so effortlessly dismantled her desperation gambit.
Just as the silent wave of oblivion was about to crest over her, it dissolved. In a display of masterful control, the apocalyptic force dispersed into millions of tiny, harmless wisps of ice and light that danced in the air like ethereal fireflies.
Lyra blinked, her mind struggling to process the abrupt shift from certain death to serene beauty.
In that instant of stillness, Orion appeared directly before her, his form a phantom that had crossed the battlefield in a blink. Two of his fingers were held casually before her face.
"Wha—"
Flick.
The small, almost gentle impact on her forehead felt like a hammer blow. The last of her energy reserves shattered, and the exhausted Lyra was sent tumbling backward onto the soft grass.
Orion stood over her, a smug, victorious smile playing on his lips.
"Not bad, little firecracker," he said, his tone infuriatingly calm and patronizing. "You almost had me on the ropes there for a second."
He wasn't even trying to be gracious. That last, overwhelming attack had instantly consumed a staggering 50% of his Aether reserves. The power was divine, but its cost was immense. He needed far more practice before he could wield such a concept casually.
"Tch," Lyra clicked her tongue, rubbing her forehead as she pushed herself into a sitting position, her pride stinging far more than the flick. "Annoying. That ridiculous fusion power of yours is just too broken to deal with."
Orion's smile softened, losing its mocking edge and becoming something gentler. "It's only annoying because its two components are sourced from women who are amazingly powerful and dazzling."
Lyra made a theatrical gagging motion. "Spare me. I think I'd rather you just hit me again than listen to your cringe-worthy flirting."
At that moment, Elysia and Lisanna began to walk over, their expressions a potent cocktail of lingering horror and pure, unadulterated awe. Their gazes were fixed on Orion as if seeing a god who had just reshaped the world.
As she drew closer, Lisanna's signature bounce returned to her step. She clapped her hands together in rapid succession, her eyes sparkling. "That was incredible, Orion! You were like an unstoppable thunderstorm, a whole natural disaster all by yourself!"
Elysia, walking beside her with a more reserved, noble gait, gave a deep, solemn nod. "It is a terrifying reminder of just how vast the chasm in our power has become," she admitted, her voice laced with respect.
Her silver-blue eyes then flicked to the seated Lyra, narrowing with unconcealed annoyance. "And you. Was that a spar, or an assassination attempt? Does every single one of your matches have to be a fight to the death?"
Lyra snorted, waving a dismissive hand, completely unrepentant. "If you've got a complaint, feel free to try and take one of my fists. You—"
"Now, now," Lisanna interjected with a wry, placating smile, physically stepping between their glaring contest. "We should all be thrilled that everyone's power is growing so quickly. This is a good thing!"
Orion just sighed, a weary but fond expression settling on his face. He truly wondered if he would ever manage to get his sister and his girlfriend to a point where they weren't constantly at each other's throats. He knew Lyra's provocations were mostly talk, but he would much rather they find some semblance of tolerance.
As if sensing his thoughts, Lyra rolled her eyes at Elysia. "Look, you nobles really need to learn to unclench. Besides, how else are we supposed to grow if we don't put our lives on the line? The threat of death is what makes a spar exhilarating. It adds that extra pressure to perform, to transcend your limits."
Before Elysia could unleash the scathing retort forming on her lips, Orion's calm voice cut through the tension. "We all have different methods for growth, but she's not entirely wrong. Pressure is what forges the sharpest blades."
As he spoke, he placed a reassuring hand on both Elysia's and Lisanna's shoulders, sending a current of comforting warmth through them that melted their tension.
Elysia crossed her arms and scoffed, though she subtly leaned into his touch, her defiance melting away. "Whatever. I can't be expected to reason with someone as stubborn as a mule."
Lisanna giggled, leaning her entire body against Orion's side. "Hey, let's call it a day! We got plenty of training in, so it's time to relax, Orion!"
Looking down at Lisanna's irresistibly adorable and expectant face, Orion smiled and nodded. "Relaxing after a hard session is essential. It helps the mind and body absorb the lessons learned. You too, Lyra."
"Yeah, yeah," Lyra waved her hand dismissively, pushing herself to her feet and stalking off towards a secluded corner of the facility, presumably to meditate on the insights gained from her defeat.
Orion, meanwhile, gently pulled Elysia and Lisanna closer, content for the moment to simply relax in the quiet aftermath and bask in their warmth.
A couple of hours passed in comfortable quietude.
Lyra sat in a state of deep meditation, her brow furrowed as she replayed the final moments of the spar, chasing a flash of insight she'd gained just as oblivion was about to claim her.
Nearby, Orion's low laughter echoed as he recounted a story to Lisanna, while Elysia listened with a soft, content expression, her head resting peacefully on his shoulder.
"No way! I can't believe a notorious mob lord from the Sump had such an embarrassing hobby," Lisanna was saying, giggling into her hand. "Hehe, just picturing some huge, scarred man meticulously arranging a dollhouse is just too funny!"
Elysia scoffed lightly. "It's not funny, it's profoundly disgusting."
Orion shrugged, a nostalgic look in his eyes. "When you're not working, fighting, or killing to survive in the Sump, you have to find some way to pass the endless hours. You'd be surprised what people turn to."
It was at that moment that the heavy, reinforced doors to the training facility hissed open with a release of pressure. Every head turned in unison to see Theron and Kaelen entering the chamber. Their expressions were stern, their posture rigid, and their eyes unreadable masks of political steel.
Elysia tensed instinctively, a conditioned reflex born from a lifetime of paternal pressure and expectation. But the steady, comforting warmth of Orion's arm still wrapped around her waist anchored her, allowing her to relax with a faint, wry smile.
Lisanna, on the other hand, fully leaned her weight against Orion, giggling as she called out with cheerful familiarity.
"Father! You finally decided to grace us with a visit, huh?"
Theron and Kaelen took a single, sweeping glance at their daughters' intimate positions with the young man, their gazes lingering for a fraction of a second too long. Internally, they both released a synchronized sigh of resignation. Some realities, they were learning, were simply harder to accept than others. But neither of them dared voice a single word of protest.
Despite their internal turmoil, Theron and Kaelen were seasoned veterans of political theater; their composure was a fortress built over decades of intrigue.
Theron's face, a mask of calm nobility, settled as he spoke, his voice a low baritone that commanded the attention of the room. "It seems our timing is fortuitous. Your recent training will prove invaluable. Another… problem…a massive one has arisen with the Valerians."