Chapter 189: The Ashcroft Prepare

The first Royal Mana Fruit dissolved on Emily’s tongue, releasing a wave of energy that spread throughout her body.

She closed her eyes and circulated the Mana through her core. It was far denser than anything she could gather naturally, and the energy continued pouring into her even as she tried to control its flow. The second fruit rested beside her while Maki monitored several instruments and Yuna stood ready to intervene.

Reinhard watched Emily with excitement and concern. Lily was supposed to be helping, but she was too busy examining the Sword of Chaos.

"Your Mana circulation is stable," Maki reported. "The fruit is supplying the reserves you need, but your core is approaching its limit. You’ll have to establish a structure capable of handling this power if you want to reach S-Rank."

Emily opened her eyes. "I understand."

"Don’t force it. Your old circulation pattern was built around your previous condition. If you try to push the same structure to S-Rank, the Mana could overwhelm it before you stabilize your Domain."

Reinhard frowned. "Can we stop if something goes wrong?"

"Yes, but if Emily loses control after opening her Domain, the energy could tear through this training room."

Lily finally looked up. "Should I move farther away?"

"That would be an excellent idea," Maki replied.

Lily promptly stepped behind Reinhard.

He glanced over his shoulder. "Why are you hiding behind me? You’re holding two legendary swords that could probably cut this building in half."

"Because if the building falls on me, you’ll save me."

"Wonderful. I’ve become a shield, an emergency exit, and an insurance policy."

Emily laughed, easing some of the tension before returning her attention to the Mana inside her. The Royal Mana Fruits could supply the power she needed, but they couldn’t decide what she would become after crossing the boundary.

She swallowed the second fruit.

The additional Mana flooded her core, and Maki’s instruments began producing rapid readings. Emily guided the energy through her circulation, drawing it toward the point where her Gnosis and Mana had always interacted.

Then the structure began to buckle.

Space around Emily compressed, bending the floor inward. Nearby instruments slid toward her until Yuna used her Gnosis to stabilize them.

"Your output is rising faster than your structure can contain it!" Maki warned. "You’re trying to fit the additional power into the same framework you’ve always used!"

Emily gritted her teeth. Her Space-Time Gnosis responded to the growing Mana, but every attempt to tighten her control only worsened the pressure. She was treating the power as something to contain instead of something she needed to understand.

Reinhard took a step forward, but Yuna caught his sleeve.

"She needs to do this herself."

He stopped, forcing himself to remain where he was.

Emily drew a slow breath and stopped forcing the Mana into its old pattern. Instead, she allowed her Gnosis to respond to the space around her. She felt the distance between herself and the walls, the distortions caused by the pressure, and the Mana flowing through the room.

Rather than suppressing each disturbance, she began adjusting the relationships between them.

The buckling floor steadied. The pressure spread outward through the space she had established instead of crushing its center, and Emily guided the excess Mana into a stable circulation.

Then her Mana Domain opened.

Faint silver lines traced distances and connections throughout the training room. A dropped instrument near Maki slowed before hitting the floor, hovering as the distance around it shifted.

Yuna felt the effect touch her position. The environment seemed to respond to Emily’s presence, as though the space through which Yuna moved had become part of Emily’s awareness.

Maki checked her instruments. "The pressure has stabilized. The room is responding to her Mana instead of resisting it."

Emily raised her hand, and the instrument drifted back into place.

[Target Value Increased.]

[Emily Ashcroft: A+ → S]

She had done it.

"Emily, you’re S-Rank!" Reinhard exclaimed.

She turned toward him, pride unmistakable on her face. "I am."

He crossed the room and pulled her into his arms, lifting her slightly before setting her down when she reminded him that she’d only just finished her breakthrough.

"I knew you could do it," he said.

"You looked ready to tear apart the room when my Mana started destabilizing."

"I was considering it. The room was being very disrespectful to my wife."

"How generous of you to defend me against architecture."

Maki lowered her instruments. "Please don’t celebrate by damaging the building. I’d like to finish recording the results before repairing anything."

Emily smiled at Reinhard. Her power had grown, and her Mana Domain gave her a new way to interact with the world, but she still needed to learn its limits. Reaching S-Rank hadn’t erased everything she had endured. It had given her another stage to climb, and this time she had reached it on her own terms.

"All right," Reinhard announced. "Let’s see what the rest of you can do with your rewards."

Lily’s eyes lit up. "Finally!"

...

Lily selected an open section of the training grounds. The Sword of Chaos rested in her right hand, while Heavenly Principal was held in her left.

She supplied Mana to Heavenly Principal, and fire formed around its edge. Wind twisted the flames into a narrow spiral, changing whenever Lily adjusted her intention.

"That’s amazing! I can change the element without changing weapons!"

"Try maintaining it while moving," Maki advised.

Lily dashed forward and swung. Heavenly Principal tore through the reinforced target. She followed with the Sword of Chaos, feeding Mana into its core.

The weapon amplified the energy running through her arm and began drawing on its stored Mana. Her next strike grew substantially stronger, but the increased power disrupted her timing. Lily nearly overbalanced before correcting her footing.

She tried again, wrapping Heavenly Principal’s elemental energy around the amplified strike of the Sword of Chaos. The effects didn’t combine perfectly, but they reinforced each other long enough for her to release a devastating slash.

The target split apart. The force continued past it and struck the far barrier, making the structure shudder.

Lily stared at the destruction before turning toward Reinhard with a brilliant smile.

"Can I keep them?"

"I gave them to you."

"Can I keep them forever?"

"Unless you somehow lose two legendary swords, yes."

She hugged both weapons to her chest. "You’re the best!"

Maki was already inspecting the barrier. "That strike nearly exceeded the safety limit. If you’d released it at a different angle, we might have lost the entire target range."

"But we didn’t!"

"That isn’t the point."

"It feels like the point."

Reinhard watched Lily practice switching the elemental coating between her blades. He’d wanted to give her equipment that matched her fighting style, but he was beginning to regret not including a larger training ground.

...

Maki raised Gun God toward a moving target. The weapon initially resembled an ordinary firearm, but its barrel lengthened and its sights adjusted as the target changed direction.

Maki fired and missed.

"The weapon adapts to the target, but I still have to account for its movement," she said.

"Then try shooting someone who can fight back," Reinhard suggested.

Maki turned toward him. "You’re volunteering?"

"Of course not. Yuna is right there."

Yuna gave him an unimpressed look before stepping into the training area. She wore the Robe of the King and carried the Blade of Jade.

"Don’t complain if I hit you," she warned Maki.

"I’ll record the results accurately."

"That’s not what I meant."

Maki raised Gun God again. Its configuration shifted toward rapid shots that could cover Yuna’s possible approaches. Yuna immediately used Blazing Dawn to alter the friction beneath her feet, accelerating past the first projectile.

Maki adjusted her aim, but Yuna changed direction before the next shot landed. Gun God transformed again, compensating for her movement.

Yuna swung the Blade of Jade, cutting through the incoming magical projectile. She continued forward without losing momentum and reached Maki before the next shot could fire, stopping her blade just short of Maki’s shoulder.

"Point to me," Yuna said.

"One exchange. Don’t celebrate yet."

Yuna pulled back and launched another Gnosis attack. The Cape of Wind shifted around Maki’s shoulders, bending the incoming force away from her.

Maki retreated, and Gun God changed configuration once more. Instead of aiming directly at Yuna, she fired at the ground near her feet.

The shot forced Yuna to adjust her footing, giving Maki enough time to escape her reach.

Yuna clicked her tongue. "You deliberately aimed at the ground."

"The weapon gave me the option. I realized its latest configuration could control your approach rather than simply target you."

"That’s irritating."

"Thank you."

Yuna rushed forward again, allowing Maki to fire before activating the Robe of the King. The projectile struck her, but the robe reduced the damage enough for her to keep moving. She redirected her momentum with Blazing Dawn, slipped past Maki’s next attack, and brought the Blade of Jade toward Gun God.

The blade cut through the magical energy surrounding the firearm, disrupting the attack before it could be released. Yuna stopped short of striking Maki herself.

Maki stepped back, examining her weapon. "Gun God can pressure an opponent into predictable movements, but you can cut through its magical attacks and use your Gnosis to exploit the opening."

"And the robe lets me survive mistakes I couldn’t afford before," Yuna replied. "Though I can’t rely on it constantly. I have to decide when the protection is worth giving up my other options."

"Exactly," Reinhard said. "Neither of you has mastered your equipment, but you’ve already made each other work harder."

Maki lowered Gun God. "Once I understand how its transformations relate to an enemy’s behavior, I can use that adaptability to control the pace of a fight."

"And I need to learn when to use the robe," Yuna added. "The extra protection won’t help if I make the wrong decision."

Reinhard nodded. "The equipment gives you more choices. It doesn’t make those choices for you."

Yuna returned the Blade of Jade to its sheath, looking pleased with the new possibilities. Maki was already considering how to improve their next exercise.

Then she glanced toward the damaged targets and sighed. "We should stop before Lily destroys anything else."

From across the training grounds, Lily called out, "I heard that!"

By the time they finished, the training grounds had several new scars, a partially destroyed target, and a repair list Maki was preparing to send to Reinhard.

He examined it and sighed. "Why does every improvement we make to this family require a larger budget?"

"Because you keep giving Lily weapons," Maki replied.

Lily hugged her swords. "You say that as though it’s a bad thing."

"It is when you test them near my equipment."

Emily laughed, and Yuna joined in. The tension surrounding the breakthrough had disappeared, replaced by familiar arguments over training and damaged property.

Emily had regained S-Rank and established her Mana Domain. Lily had discovered the beginnings of a frightening combination between two exceptional weapons. Maki had an adaptive firearm and a spatial defense, while Yuna could cut through magical attacks and reproduce her Gnosis technique through the Blade of Jade.

They weren’t invincible. Lily still needed control, Maki needed practice, Yuna had to learn when the robe’s restriction was worthwhile, and Emily’s Domain was only the beginning of her S-Rank progression.

But they were stronger than yesterday.

Reinhard folded the repair list and tucked it into his pocket. "All right. Training is over for today."

Lily blinked. "Already?"

"You’ve been swinging two legendary weapons for hours," Maki pointed out.

"I could keep going."

"The rest of us would like to keep the building standing."

Yuna stretched her arms. "I’m not going to argue with a day off."

Reinhard looked around at his family. "Since we’ve finished preparing, how about we do something that doesn’t involve fighting?"

Lily immediately perked up. "Food?"

"That was your first thought?"

"Was I supposed to say shopping?"

"Both are acceptable answers," Reinhard admitted. "Let’s take a trip to Axom City tomorrow. We can eat something good, look around, and enjoy ourselves without worrying about another training session."

Lily nearly dropped her swords. "Axom City? There’s a shopping district I’ve wanted to visit!"

"Of course there is," Maki said. "And I suppose you’ll expect us to carry everything you buy."

"You’re welcome to buy things too!"

"I was thinking of visiting the research district. There are several facilities I’d like to see."

Yuna laughed. "So Lily wants to shop, Maki wants to research, and Reinhard wants to eat. At least we’ll have plenty to do."

Emily slipped her hand into Reinhard’s. "I think it sounds wonderful. We haven’t had much time to enjoy ourselves lately."

"Then it’s settled," Reinhard said. "Tomorrow, we’re going to Axom City as a family. No training, no missions, and no deliberately looking for trouble."

Lily raised a hand. "What if trouble finds us?"

"Then we’ll deal with it after lunch."

"That’s the spirit!"

Maki sighed, though a faint smile betrayed her amusement. "You realize that saying things like that practically invites trouble."

"Then we’ll make sure to have a good lunch before it arrives," Reinhard replied.

Emily laughed as Lily began listing the places she wanted to visit. Yuna offered suggestions of her own, while Maki tried to impose some order on their plans.

Reinhard listened to their overlapping voices and smiled. The Baal Family remained a threat, and there was still much to prepare for, but they didn’t need to spend every waking moment thinking about the next battle.

For now, they could simply be a family planning a day out together.