"Why are you up so early… Snow White?" G6 asked, her face a mask of indifference as Prince Dio fell into step beside her.
"I had a feeling you would be sneaking out again."
Again? Has this creep been tracking my behavior these past few days? What a pain.
His voice remained calm as he matched her pace along the paved garden path leading away from the West Villa. G6 observed him from the corner of her eye, her expression unreadable.
"And need I remind you," Prince Dio added, lowering his voice to a near whisper, "that sword comes at a price. Our agreement stands."
"Then, by all means, satisfy yourself."
She quickened her stride, but Prince Dio easily kept pace.
For several moments, they walked without speaking, the palace grounds still caught in the dim blue-grey light before sunrise.
This piece of cement. What is his game?
G6 kept her gaze forward while Prince Dio glanced at her again.
She is remarkably at ease, Prince Dio thought.
There was no nervousness in her posture, no attempt to begin a conversation, and certainly no coy hesitation over walking alone beside him before dawn. She seemed entirely indifferent to the circumstance.
Is she always this distant and silent? She does not even care that she is alone with a man at this hour.
Reise of three years ago would have manufactured an entire romantic fantasy from such a circumstance before they had reached the end of the garden.
This Reise barely acknowledged that he existed.
Neither spoke again until the shimmering protection surrounding the Royal Collegium passed over them.
The Bastion of Phalanx stood quiet beneath the fading pre-dawn darkness. Prince Dio pushed open the heavy entrance door, and the deep groan of its hinges echoed through the enormous main hall.
"Does no one pull an all-nighter here?" G6's voice cut through the silence. "This place is always a tomb."
"On rare occasions," Prince Dio replied as he led her across the main hall toward one of the corridors branching deeper into the Bastion. "The Bastion is hardly inactive, Reise. Officers, administrative personnel, and knights work here throughout the day, and certain operations continue at irregular hours. Most routine work simply has not begun yet."
G6 glanced toward the empty corridor.
"Ah. Company slaves," she muttered under her breath as they turned down the hallway.
Prince Dio looked at her. He had no idea what that meant and elected not to ask.
They passed several closed offices and meeting rooms before reaching the internal stairwell descending toward the Training Arena. Cool morning air met them before they reached the bottom, where the enormous sunken arena opened beneath the paling sky.
Packed pale sand stretched across the wide training floor, surrounded by tier upon tier of stone seating. At this hour, the entire place was empty except for the two of them.
G6 shrugged off her black coat, and a chill immediately crawled over her skin.
Fuck, it is cold.
She tossed the coat onto one of the lower stone seats.
The movement gave Prince Dio an unobstructed view of the clothing beneath it, and his gaze traveled over the unfamiliar construction with open curiosity: a fitted, long-sleeved black top with a high collar, flexible black trousers reinforced for movement and fitted with several practical pockets, sturdy lace-up boots, and a dark harness-style belt secured low around her waist.
There was nothing ornamental about any of it and nothing remotely resembling what a noblewoman ordinarily wore. The clothing had clearly been chosen for movement rather than appearance.
More interestingly, Reise moved naturally in it. She did not tug at the fabric or hesitate over where to place her feet, nor did she make any self-conscious effort to appear graceful.
"Careful. You might strain your eyes."
G6 did not even look at him. She was already beginning to stretch.
Prince Dio cleared his throat.
"My apologies. I was merely… assessing your gear. It is unconventional."
"It is functional. That is all that matters."
Her tone left no room for discussion.
Prince Dio's gaze dropped briefly toward the harness and the pockets built into her trousers. The clothing reminded him less of noble fashion and more of specialized field wear, though its construction was unlike anything issued to the Royal Knights.
"I don't care what you do," G6 said. "Just stay out of my way."
She turned away from him and marked out a smaller running circuit across the lower training floor rather than attempting the full circumference of the enormous arena.
Prince Dio settled onto the lowest stone tier, crossed his arms, and watched.
Her pace caught his attention almost immediately. It was neither a sprint nor a casual jog, but something measured and controlled. Her feet landed beneath her center of balance with minimal wasted motion, while her upper body remained stable through every turn.
Her rhythm is familiar, Prince Dio thought.
He had performed similar conditioning drills during his own combat education. The route itself was different, but the principle was unmistakable: endurance pacing, controlled breathing, and the elimination of unnecessary movement.
His eyes tracked her as she completed another circuit.
The Royal Knights train with the same objective. I ran drills like this throughout my schooling.
By the sixth circuit, her breathing had deepened but had not become erratic. More importantly, her technique remained remarkably clean despite the obvious difference between what her body knew physically and what the person controlling it seemed to understand.
Prince Dio leaned back slightly.
Her form is too practiced.
Across the sand, G6 caught him staring again.
Hmm, that freak.
She continued running.
He is just sitting there like a statue. If anyone saw him, they would think he was a mournful white lady haunting the place.
She passed him again, yet Prince Dio's expression remained maddeningly composed.
What the fuck is he even here for? He is getting on my nerves.
The irritation continued buzzing at the back of her mind until G6's eyes sharpened.
Ah, let's use that.
<
Her pace did not change, but the sound of her movement did.
The next footfall produced almost nothing, and within another stride, even the faint scrape of her boots over the packed sand disappeared beneath the suppression wrapped around her.
On her next pass near the lower stone tier, G6 turned her head toward Prince Dio and gave him a sharp, mocking smirk.
"You look stupidly arrogant, like you bathed in a sack of flour."
The insult vanished into the same unnatural suppression swallowing the audible trace of her movement before it could properly carry toward him.
She never broke stride.
That is right. This is quite fun for insulting purposes.
Prince Dio's composed observation finally broke.
His brows pulled together as he leaned forward, confused first by the unexplained smirk and then by something far more significant.
He could no longer hear her footsteps.
He could still see every movement. Each stride disturbed the sand beneath her boots, and her body was physically crossing the arena exactly as before, yet the expected sound had disappeared.
I can no longer track her by sound.
His attention sharpened considerably.
G6 continued through the remaining portion of her planned circuit, apparently enjoying herself far more than she had any right to.
By the time she finished her twelfth lap, sweat had gathered along her brow and temples. Her breathing remained controlled, but the body beneath her training clothes had begun accumulating fatigue.
Okay, I need to wipe my eyes. This sweat is stinging.
She slowed to a walk and headed toward the lower tier where she had left her coat and handkerchief.
Prince Dio was still watching her.
G6 ignored him.
Five steps from the stone seating, her body reached its limit.
She had forgotten one critical thing.
The skill was still active.
<
The forced shutdown struck without warning.
Cold flooded through her body—not the chill of the morning air, but something deeper. Her muscles seemed to lose their strength simultaneously, exhaustion dropping through her limbs with enough force to buckle her knees.
"Fuck."
The word escaped before her legs gave way.
Her hands moved instinctively to catch herself, but there was not enough strength left in her arms.
The sand rushed toward her face.
This is fucking embarrassing.
Prince Dio was already moving.
"Reise!"
He pushed off the stone tier and crossed the short distance at a run.
G6's knees struck the sand first, followed by her upper body. Before her face could hit the packed surface with full force, Prince Dio dropped beside her and caught beneath one shoulder, slowing the worst of the fall.
Even then, her cheek brushed through the sand, grit scraping against her skin.
For half a second, G6 remained there in humiliated, furious weakness.
Then she heard Prince Dio shift beside her. He slid one arm beneath her shoulders and raised her upper body away from the ground.
"Get your hands off me."
The command would have been considerably more intimidating if her voice had not been shaking.
"This is not the time for obstinance."
His tone left no room for argument.
G6 tried to move.
Nothing useful happened.
Prince Dio adjusted his grip and lifted her completely into his arms.
This is so annoying. I swear, I have never been manhandled like this in my entire life.
Her jaw tightened.
He carried her only as far as the nearest lower stone tier before carefully lowering her onto the broad step. G6 leaned back against the tier behind her, breathing through the residual cold.
"Do not push yourself. Just breathe."
Prince Dio crouched in front of her and reached toward her trembling hands.
G6 attempted to pull them away, but once again, Reise's body betrayed her.
"Don't… move me."
Prince Dio ignored the warning.
The silver signet ring on his finger began glowing with the same cool blue light G6 had seen from Lord Earl's ring the day before.
Her eyes dropped immediately.
Huh? I don't recall him wearing it yesterday. Interesting.
The strange energy spread through her hands, soothing the sharp nerve fatigue until the tremor gradually began to subside.
After several moments, the glow faded.
"It will only calm the nerve fatigue," Prince Dio said. "The physical exhaustion remains. You must rest."
He released her.
G6 flexed her fingers experimentally.
Steady again. Still weak, but steady.
"Fine."
Prince Dio did not react to her coldness. He studied her for another moment, then returned to the stone tier beside her, granting the distance she had demanded while remaining near enough to intervene if her condition worsened again.
「06:35 A.M」
Sunrise had finally reached the Training Arena, spreading warm golden light over the pale sand and upper stone seating.
Fifteen minutes had passed.
G6 remained seated on the lower tier with one knee raised, recovering while Prince Dio said very little.
She preferred him that way.
His gaze eventually drifted toward her again. Fine grains of sand still dusted one side of her cheek and temple where she had nearly planted her face into the arena floor.
Prince Dio frowned at the lingering evidence of the fall and reached into the inner pocket of his coat for a clean handkerchief.
G6 noticed the movement immediately.
Her eyes narrowed as he rose, approached, and lowered himself onto one knee in front of her.
What is he trying to pull now?
His hand approached her face.
Her body nearly reacted on instinct, but stopped when the soft linen touched the sand near her cheek.
Confusion crossed G6's expression as Prince Dio carefully wiped the grit away.
There was nothing flirtatious about the action. He seemed to be doing nothing more complicated than removing the sand she had failed to notice, which only made the gesture harder for G6 to categorize.
She had already constructed a fairly consistent assessment of him: arrogant, royal, observant, and frequently irritating.
This did not fit anywhere useful.
"What are you doing?"
Her voice came out quieter than usual.
Prince Dio paused.
"Removing sand from your face."
As though that explained anything.
G6 stared while he brushed away the last remaining grains near her temple.
Why? Mockery? No. Manipulation? Possibly. Some ridiculous court custom? Highly likely in this place.
Before she could settle on an answer, Lilia's cheerful voice rang through the arena entrance.
"Oh! His Highness is already here!"
Prince Dio stopped.
G6's senses snapped back into focus.
Tina, Edmund, and Lilia were descending from the internal access toward the lower arena seating with breakfast baskets and supplies in hand.
G6 looked at Prince Dio, then at the handkerchief, and immediately shoved his hand away.
"Don't touch me."
She forced herself upright with a sudden burst of irritation and adrenaline.
Prince Dio stood as well. Realizing the arriving group had caught him in an awkwardly unnecessary position, he tucked the handkerchief back into his pocket and recovered his composure.
Tina, Edmund, and Lilia approached.
All three had clearly seen enough of the scene to develop opinions, though none were foolish enough to voice them immediately. From their angle, Prince Dio had been kneeling before Lady Reise with one hand raised to her face.
Lilia's eyes practically sparkled until a single warning glance from Tina extinguished at least half of her enthusiasm.
"Good morning, Your Highness. Good morning, Lady Reise."
Tina and Edmund bowed.
Lilia quickly followed.
"We brought your breakfast, Lady Reise!"
She hurried forward and gently took G6's arm.
"You must be hungry after all that running!"
"It is too early to eat," G6 muttered, her voice once again carrying its usual flat quality.
Prince Dio retook his seat at the opposite end of the lower stone tier while Lilia settled firmly between them.
Edmund unfolded a portable table as Tina began removing food from the baskets.
"Then, please drink this first."
She presented the familiar bottle of murky green liquid.
"Alistair insists he has improved the taste."
Prince Dio looked toward the bottle.
"Ah."
Unexpected recognition entered his voice.
"I remember that. He gave it to me during my own combat training as a boy."
G6 looked at him.
You are just twenty, for god's sake. You speak like you are already retired.
"Indeed, Your Highness," Edmund replied as he set a porcelain teapot and cups on the table. "Remarkably effective for muscular fatigue and mana depletion."
He poured steaming amber tea first for Prince Dio, then G6.
"Please. It should help restore your energy."
G6 downed the tea in one practiced gulp.
Ah. The heat is actually refreshing.
She placed the cup down.
"Listen, I am doing one set of three exercises, then I will eat."
Tina opened her mouth, but G6 was already standing.
She returned to the arena floor and began stretching.
Prince Dio lifted his cup, only to stop halfway to his lips when G6 lowered herself into a push-up position.
Her back was straight, her hands correctly positioned, and her core locked before she began.
The movement was precise enough that Prince Dio immediately recognized the disciplined technique behind it.
The body performing it, however, was still Reise's.
By the fifteenth repetition, her arms were visibly working harder.
At twenty, she stopped.
Prince Dio watched closely.
Twenty with that form after already collapsing this morning? The technique is practiced. Her endurance is not.
That distinction mattered.
Without wasting much time, G6 rolled onto her back and began rapid bicycle crunches. Once again, the mechanics were excellent, but her body tired far sooner than her technique suggested it should.
She completed the set, breathing harder now, and transitioned into sit-ups.
"What manner of physical training is this?" Prince Dio asked, genuine curiosity entering his tone.
"We are not entirely certain, Your Highness," Edmund admitted. "It appears to be a foreign regimen. It is… profoundly difficult for a novice without muscles."
"But Lady Reise does it like an expert!" Lilia chirped.
Prince Dio said nothing.
That was precisely what bothered him.
Reise's body behaved like a novice.
Her technique did not.
G6 finished the sit-ups and remained seated on the sand with her hands resting against her knees while she caught her breath.
This is getting better. The body is starting to accept the strain.
Her chest rose and fell steadily as she wiped the sweat from beneath her chin.
Hardware syncing with software.
Once her breathing stabilized, G6 stood and returned to the group.
"Lady Reise!" Lilia called happily.
G6 sank onto the stone tier and grabbed the towel Tina had prepared.
"Let us eat."
Tina handed her a sandwich.
Edmund inspected the teapot.
"Ah, the tea has gone cold."
"Give it to me," Prince Dio said.
Edmund passed the pot.
Prince Dio held one hand near the ceramic and quietly murmured the name of a minor heating spell beneath his breath.
G6 could not make out the word.
Mana answered, gathering as gentle heat rather than open flame and spreading through the ceramic until a thin curl of steam once again emerged from the spout.
Prince Dio stopped the instant the tea reached the desired temperature.
"Oh, look at that. You are a walking furnace." G6's voice carried characteristic mocking amusement. "Convenient."
Prince Dio ignored the jab.
"Thank you, Your Highness."
Edmund poured fresh cups.
G6 took another bite of her sandwich before looking around.
"Why are you not guys eating?"
Tina and Edmund went still.
Lilia looked toward Prince Dio.
G6 followed the glance and understood immediately.
Ah. Protocol.
She reached into the basket and pulled out three more sandwiches, placing one in front of Tina, another before Edmund, and one before Lilia.
Then she slid the final sandwich toward Prince Dio.
"Hey, Snow White. My personal staff always eats with me. If you are going to loiter here, you should be fine with it."
G6 took another large bite.
Silence followed.
Prince Dio looked from the food toward Tina, Edmund, and Lilia, who appeared almost as uncertain as he was.
Then his gaze returned to G6.
There was no ceremony in the offer, no attempt at courtship, and no hidden plea for attention. She had apparently distributed breakfast because everyone was present and therefore everyone might as well eat.
It was that simple.
Prince Dio reached for the sandwich.
"Let us eat, then. Please, do not stand on ceremony."
Lilia immediately picked hers up. Tina hesitated only briefly before doing the same, and Edmund followed.
Prince Dio observed them quietly as they ate.
The three servants remained respectful, yet the rigid barrier separating noble and servant seemed strangely thinner around Reise than it should have been. There was caution, certainly—her personality made caution unavoidable—but he could detect very little actual fear.
Lilia practically radiated affection. Tina behaved more like an exhausted older relative than a distant maid whenever Reise irritated her, while even Edmund's formal service carried an ease that would have been unthinkable with the old Reise.
It is odd, Prince Dio thought as he took another bite. Profoundly undignified by conventional standards, and yet strangely peaceful.
His eyes moved toward Reise.
She was eating without caring whether anyone approved.
Around her servants, hierarchy had not disappeared.
It simply seemed to stop controlling every breath.
"REISE! WHY ARE YOU SITTING WITH DIO!"
The peaceful atmosphere died instantly as Lord Keith's voice echoed through the Training Arena.
G6 closed her eyes.
Lord Keith and Lord Earl were descending toward them.
"Good morning, Lord Keith. Lord Earl."
Tina, Edmund, and Lilia greeted them politely.
"Good morning," Lord Earl replied with a curt nod, his gaze moving immediately across the unusual breakfast arrangement.
Lord Keith, meanwhile, had already focused entirely on Prince Dio.
"Hey, Dio! What are you doing here so early?"
He strode toward the lower seating before his eyes widened.
"And you are eating! You always refuse to eat in public!"
"Must you be so incessantly loud?"
Prince Dio did not even look at him and instead took another deliberate bite.
"How could I possibly refuse a meal offered directly by my fiancée?"
The superiority in his voice existed almost entirely to irritate Lord Keith.
It worked.
Lord Keith circled the table and stopped beside G6.
"Get away, or I will introduce your face to my boots."
G6 never looked up.
Lord Keith leaned closer and attempted his most pathetic expression.
"Give me one, too!"
"This is not a cafeteria. Get your own."
Edmund quietly surrendered his seat to Lord Earl.
"Thank you, Edmund."
Lord Earl sat and accepted a fresh cup of tea.
"Reise! Please, just a little—"
G6 shoved the remainder of her sandwich directly into Lord Keith's open mouth.
"Shut. Up. You are annoying me."
Lord Keith froze before his entire face brightened.
"Thank you, Reise!"
The words came out muffled through the mouthful.
Prince Dio gave him a sharp look.
Lord Keith answered with a triumphant grin while chewing.
Lord Earl sighed.
"Speaking of which, Reise."
He placed his cup down.
"I was unable to locate a single-jewel mana-restraining artifact suitable for what we require. The only piece currently available uses a twin-piercing configuration—two closely positioned holes in one ear."
"So? What is the issue?"
Lord Earl stared at her.
"I believe I was clear. Two piercings in one ear."
He said it as though explaining something obvious to a child.
G6's brow furrowed.
Ah. Are women not allowed to have more than one piercing per ear here? When the men look like pincushions? Tsk.
"Show it to me."
Lord Earl retrieved a small velvet box and handed it over.
Inside rested an elegant silver earring designed around two slender fastening posts positioned close together.
G6 examined it and rotated the piece once between her fingers.
Hmm. Okay. This body is going to learn pain tolerance today, too.
"Hey, Snow White. Heat the tips of this."
She tossed the earring toward Prince Dio.
Prince Dio caught it and looked from the jewelry to her.
"What exactly are you planning?"
G6 simply waited.
Apparently deciding that the answer would arrive soon enough, Prince Dio quietly murmured the same minor heating spell he had used for the teapot.
Heat gathered along the metal posts. He controlled it carefully, sterilizing the fine tips without allowing the entire earring to become dangerously hot.
A faint reddish glow appeared at the very ends.
Prince Dio stopped the spell, waited until the excessive heat had left the metal, then passed it back by the safer decorative edge.
G6 checked the remaining warmth against the back of her hand.
Acceptable.
"Tina. Mirror."
Tina stared before slowly reaching into the etiquette kit and producing a hand mirror.
G6 took a clean cloth from the breakfast supplies, wiped the upper cartilage of her ear, and positioned the first sharpened post.
Tina's expression changed.
"Lady Reise—"
"Stop moving."
Tina froze with the mirror raised.
G6 used its reflection to align the angle and pushed.
Fast.
Precise.
The first post passed through, leaving only a tiny bead of blood behind.
Before anyone could react properly, G6 repositioned the second and drove it through with another sharp movement.
Done.
Tina's face had gone pale.
"LADY REISE!"
G6 secured the backing and checked the alignment.
"Ah, there. It is attached."
She took another clean section of cloth and dabbed away the two small beads of blood.
Lilia stared with huge eyes.
"Lady Reise… does it not hurt?"
G6 looked toward her, a small, grim smile touching her mouth.
"This does not hurt a bit compared to being stabbed."
Silence settled over the group.
Lord Earl's expression changed first as his eyes narrowed. Prince Dio's hand stopped halfway toward his cup, while Lord Keith slowly lowered the sandwich he had finally finished chewing.
None of them asked immediately.
The same word had caught all three.
Stabbed.
Lord Keith recovered first.
"Whoa."
He stared at G6 with renewed admiration.
"Now I am in love with you, Reise. You are really something else."
He gestured toward the new piercing.
"When I got mine, I nearly punched Earl in the face."
"That is because you are a whiny little snot."
Lord Keith clutched his chest.
Prince Dio looked at G6.
"That was… rather savage, Reise. And here I thought I had already witnessed the full extent of your oddities."
Lord Earl reached into another pocket and produced a ring of sleek black metal marked with subtle geometric etching.
He offered it to her.
G6 accepted it.
"Are you proposing to me?"
Lord Earl's mouth lifted faintly.
"I shall await your answer with bated breath."
"I am still here," Prince Dio interjected dryly.
G6 glanced toward him.
"Oh. I thought you were a particularly statuesque sack of flour."
Lord Keith burst out laughing.
"Dio is a pretty boy! He needs delicate handling!"
"Silence, you waterlogged fool."
G6 slid the black ring onto her finger.
A faint pulse of cooling energy traveled through her hand, making her brows rise.
"This feels different."
"I told you I would locate something better suited to you," Lord Earl replied, adjusting his glasses. "Besides, the design Prince Dio acquired last night is rather common."
Prince Dio's gaze moved toward him.
The insult had been delivered far too casually to be accidental.
G6 looked at Prince Dio's hand.
Ah. So that explains its sudden appearance.
Lord Earl rose.
"Shall we begin with your mana control? I cleared my schedule."
"Right. I will be spending the rest of my morning with you, then."
Lord Keith looked horrified.
"What about me?"
He pointed at himself.
"This is precisely why I did not want Earl here! He is stealing Reise!"
"You are unbearably noisy. Be silent."
"Yes," Lord Earl added. "His voice is giving me a headache."
"You are both so mean!"
Lord Keith turned toward G6.
"Reise, you promised you would spar with me for sword practice!"
"Calm down. I am not letting my first get away."
Lord Keith stopped.
Lord Earl looked over.
Prince Dio's attention shifted immediately.
"First?" Lord Earl and Prince Dio repeated.
G6 merely gave them a smug smirk.
"My first pet."
Silence followed.
Lord Keith blinked while Lord Earl slowly looked toward Prince Dio, who returned the glance.
The implication was impossible to miss. If Lord Keith was the first, then apparently the rest of them were being categorized as well.
Lord Keith lowered his voice.
"She has become infinitely more wicked than she ever was before."
There was equal accusation and admiration in the statement.
G6 stood.
"Shall we begin, Earl?"
Lord Earl paused, apparently appreciating the fact that she had deliberately used his name rather than geek.
"Very well."
He rose and followed her toward the center of the arena, leaving Prince Dio, Lord Keith, Tina, Edmund, and Lilia near the lower stone tier.
Several paces from G6, Lord Earl stopped.
"First, activate the mana restraint."
He indicated the twin-post earring.
"Channel a minuscule amount of mana toward it."
G6 focused.
A narrow stream of mana traveled from her core through the pathways of her body and toward the artifact.
The two silver posts glowed faintly.
Immediately, she felt resistance. It was not painful; it felt more like trying to open a valve that would only move halfway.
"Good," Lord Earl said. "The artifact is active. It will limit how much mana you can release at once, effectively acting as an output controller."
His expression sharpened.
"But remember that it is a crutch. You must not become dependent upon it. I expect the device returned once you have learned to regulate yourself."
He is right.
G6 flexed her fingers.
I can't operate with a permanent handicap. Training wheels.
"Okay, Sir."
The mocking deference made Lord Earl's eye twitch, but he ignored it.
"Let us begin again with a simple Wind Blade."
He pointed toward the designated target line and the reinforced backstop beyond it.
"This time, focus. Do not imagine your mana as a flood simply because you know there is power available. Visualize a controlled current from your core and feed only what the spell requires."
G6 faced the target.
Fine.
She raised one hand.
I should probably chant it this time. Prince Dio and Earl are both here. Keith as well. Keep the dogs from getting too suspicious.
G6 inhaled.
"Wind Blade."
Mana moved.
This time, she consciously followed the restricted flow created by the earring rather than forcing against it.
The spell formed cleanly.
A compressed edge of air shot forward and struck the remaining practice targets. Wooden material split and fragments scattered, but the reinforced backstop beyond them remained untouched.
Lord Earl studied the damage before looking at G6.
"Hmm."
A trace of approval entered his expression.
"Acceptable. The dampener is functioning."
G6 lowered her hand.
"Now, please attempt the Tornado Wind."
Her expression went blank.
Tornado? What is that?
"Ha?"
Lord Earl stared.
"The Tornado Wind."
He adjusted his glasses.
"A foundational defensive spell of your House. It creates a controlled rotating current around the caster, primarily to deflect projectiles and destabilize an approaching opponent."
His tone suggested she had forgotten the alphabet.
G6 considered the explanation.
A tornado is a tornado, right? How hard can it be?
She turned back toward the open arena floor.
Unfortunately, the image her mind selected was not a neat defensive vortex wrapped around a noble mage.
It was violence.
She remembered towering black columns from old disaster footage and films, vehicles lifted from roads, buildings stripped apart, and trees bent until they broke.
The monstrous funnel from Twister.
Right.
G6 raised one hand without gesturing dramatically.
"Tornado Wind."
Mana flowed from her core.
The restraint engaged immediately, throttling the amount leaving her body instead of allowing an explosive release.
For the first second, nothing appeared wrong.
Air began rotating around her in a controlled circular current.
Lord Earl watched.
"Maintain the structure."
G6 did.
That was the problem.
The artifact could limit her immediate output, but it could not correct the structure she was visualizing, nor could it decide when she had supplied enough power.
G6 continued feeding mana through the restricted channel.
The vortex widened, carrying sand first around her boots and then several feet beyond them.
Lord Earl's brows furrowed.
"Reise."
The wind continued expanding.
More mana flowed—not from the gardens or surrounding atmosphere, but from G6 herself.
Edmund recognized the difference almost immediately.
His attention had already sharpened when the spell began, but unlike the previous day's mistake, the ambient mana around the arena was not converging upon her.
Her own core was supplying the spell.
The restraint was doing exactly what Lord Earl had designed it to do.
The problem lay elsewhere.
The vortex reached the nearest target stand and caught the wooden frame hard enough to make it rattle violently.
Lord Earl stepped forward.
"That is sufficient."
G6 barely heard him.
Her concentration remained fixed on the image in her mind.
The rotating wind climbed, and as the structure widened, it demanded more sustained power. G6 continued supplying that power through the restricted channel.
The earring limited the rate at which mana could leave her.
It did nothing to prevent accumulation.
The neat defensive vortex transformed.
Wind screamed across the lower arena as loose sand rose in spiraling sheets and the breakfast cloths near the lower seating snapped violently in the growing current.
Lilia grabbed the edge of the portable table while Tina seized the baskets before they could overturn. Prince Dio stood, and Lord Keith caught a loose training cloth as it flew past him.
At the center of the arena, the vortex grew into a roaring column.
It was not the impossible instantaneous catastrophe of the previous day. In another way, it was worse because it kept growing slowly enough for everyone to watch it become a problem.
"REISE! WHAT IS THAT? THAT IS NOT THE SPELL!"
Lord Earl's voice nearly disappeared beneath the wind.
G6 narrowed her eyes against the sand whipping through the air.
What is he yelling about? This is exactly what I imagined.
Another current slammed into the nearby target frames.
A classic F5. Tsk.
"By the gods, what is happening?" Prince Dio demanded.
He moved down from the stone tier but stopped before entering the worst of the rotating wind.
Lord Keith braced one hand against the seating.
"It is going to tear the arena apart!"
Several target stands broke loose and skidded through the sand.
Lord Earl struggled toward G6.
"Reise, this is a defensive spell, not an apocalyptic event! Contain it!"
G6 finally looked around and took in the scene properly.
Sand whipped through the air as loose equipment flew across the arena. Lord Earl was fighting his way toward her while Prince Dio and Lord Keith braced themselves near the lower tier. Behind them, Tina practically shielded Lilia with her body as Edmund anchored the portable table with one hand.
Oh. Alright, maybe that was a bit much.
The problem had become obvious.
The solution had not.
But how the hell do I cancel it?
Her thoughts raced through every ridiculous fantasy phrase she could remember.
'Back to the sky'? 'Return to the wind'?
Nothing happened.
Shit.
She had learned how to cast the spell approximately ten seconds ago, and nobody had mentioned emergency cancellation.
This must be a spell that has not been invented yet.
Not the tornado itself.
The convenient command she desperately wanted.
Earl is going to have a full-blown academic meltdown.
Another blast of wind tore through the sand.
Lord Earl ducked behind her position, finding the narrowest area of relative shelter near the center.
"Make it stop before you destroy half the training arena!"
G6 glared sideways.
Tsk. What's with the rush? This annoying, panicking geek.
Something inside her snapped into the same cold operational focus she had used a thousand times under fire.
Not panic. Command. Control the source.
The spell existed because she was still feeding it.
Then stop feeding it. Simple.
Her jaw tightened.
At the exact moment her focus hardened, something deeper responded.
<
G6 did not see the activation.
She only felt her irritation crystallize into absolute intent.
"Settle. Down."
The words were low and cold rather than shouted, yet the pressure that followed had nothing to do with Wind.
An oppressive killing presence flooded outward from G6's position.
Lord Earl stopped breathing for half a second.
Lord Keith's expression vanished.
Prince Dio's hand instinctively moved toward the place where a sword would normally rest.
Even Tina stiffened, while Lilia froze beneath her arm.
Edmund's eyes narrowed sharply.
At the center of it all, G6 turned that command inward.
She seized control of her own mana flow and cut the feed.
The restraint earring tightened immediately against the remaining current.
Without its supply, the tornado shuddered. For one violent second, the towering structure continued spinning on accumulated momentum before the outer wall of air finally collapsed inward.
Wind scattered across the arena in a final explosive rush.
Sand rained down as loose cloth fluttered back toward the ground and the broken target frames struck the floor one after another.
Then the arena became abruptly quiet, the silence arriving so suddenly that everyone could hear their own breathing.
G6 remained standing at the center of the disturbed arena with her rose-gold hair partially escaped from its training knot and sand clinging to her black clothing.
Her expression remained flat and apparently unbothered, as though she had not nearly transformed a defensive exercise into a localized natural disaster.
Lord Earl stared at her, then at the destroyed training equipment, and finally back at her.
What disturbed him most was not merely the oversized spell.
It was the sensation that had filled the arena at the exact moment she spoke. For one heartbeat, that cold, lethal certainty had triggered every instinct in his body as though something dangerous had turned its attention directly toward him.
Prince Dio remained equally still.
He had felt it too.
So had Lord Keith.
G6 looked around at them while the last grains of sand continued falling softly through the morning air.
No one spoke.
With every passing second, the silence became stranger, because the same question now sat behind several pairs of eyes:
What, exactly, had they just witnessed?
—To Be Continued…—