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  The morning in Viola’s backyard was noisy. Sounds of dirt flying through the air and gusts of wind sending the leaves of the trees flying backward.

  Viola was sitting in an armchair, eating what looked like chocolate cookies while watching the red-haired boy fight the spirit.

  Burst and Merlin exchanged blows; regardless of their speed and strength, neither of them seemed to be getting hurt.

  The barrier around them had been conjured by Don, but without Logy there to synchronize his mana with Viola’s, its strength was far weaker than the ones he used to create.

  Logy had decided to spend some time with his family while Viola recovered. After everything he went through in Cirgo, everyone was convinced he deserved a break.

  Because of that, Burst and Merlin were being careful. Merlin possessed 100,000 Mna, while Burst had 95,000. As both were Class (A), even this small display of strength would normally be too much for an entire city block to withstand.

  Merlin unleashed a sequence of punches far too fast for ordinary eyes to follow, but Burst dodged and deflected them with his hands without much difficulty.

  Merlin was very good at long-range attacks. Thanks to her continuous use of them, the extra skill [Energy Manipulation] had been acquired, which became great support for her already impressive defense. By combining this skill with her barriers, Merlin could easily deflect or nullify attacks based on any kind of energy.

  In other words, long-range magical attacks, spells, and other similar things would be ineffective against her anyway.

  However, that alone would not be enough for her to fight efficiently. She wanted to improve her close-quarters combat abilities, which was why Burst was there.

  Space-based skills or physical attacks with that attribute could still hit her. Even with her damage reduced by 50% through [Total Guard], she would still have trouble against an extremely skilled opponent, which would eventually result in her defeat.

  Nowadays, spatial skills were not so rare, though their classes varied. Still, any form of spatial manipulation could serve as an attack attribute capable of harming spirits.

  Telos’s spatial manipulation after being monstrified was at least Class (A).

  Burst, on the other hand, possessed the passive skill [Rupture], which allowed any of his attacks to open a breach in the opponent—even barriers or nullification—making him capable of injuring anything.

  “Hey, Merlin. You’re already very strong. I don’t understand why you want to train so much for this exam,” said Burst.

  “I want to be prepared for anything. I don’t know what kind of opponent I’ll face. I’d like to have at least a decent level of hand-to-hand combat, so keep going like this for a little longer.”

  Burst gave a slight smile and continued the training.

  Outside the barrier, Jane approached. Surprised by this, Don and Viola greeted her.

  “Jane, I didn’t expect to see you here so early.”

  “Did something happen?”

  Jane sighed, crossing her arms.

  “Nothing serious. I was just nearby when I felt a familiar mana.”

  She was referring to Burst. Even with that barrier, traces of his mana were leaking out.

  “What are they doing?”

  “Today is the day of Merlin’s Class A admission test. She asked Burst to spar with her for a bit.”

  “Is that so?”

  Jane thought it had been a long time since she had seen her brother fight. But Merlin didn’t seem like an amateur in Jane’s eyes either; she could imagine her breaking through difficult barriers in combat.

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  “You could help too. Want to try?” Viola asked.

  Jane seemed to consider it, but soon shook her head, refusing the offer.

  “No. In physical combat even I’m not on Burst’s level. Between the two of us, he’s the best for that.”

  Jane could see that Burst was holding back his blows. Burst hated weapons, so he would never use a sword, which made him a monster in unarmed combat. He rarely used his offensive skills either.

  “Speaking of that, Victor apparently has an interest in learning from you. He would probably ask you another time, but since you’re hard to find…” Viola ate a cookie. “What do you think?”

  “I don’t mind teaching. The more people grow strong enough to defend themselves, the better.”

  Don had a question on the tip of his tongue, so he decided to ask it now. Viola also didn’t know the answer.

  “Jane, if you don’t mind me asking,” she nodded. “Burst was supposedly the hero of this generation in the Ignaris family, right? So how did you become it?”

  Viola looked at Jane, also curious about the answer.

  “It’s a simple story. I stole it.”

  Silence.

  It was an answer as simple as the story itself. Soon after, she explained it in detail.

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  Everything began when Jane was born, the first daughter of the former human hero, Ignaris.

  This hero summoned from another world would finally pass his sword on to the next one. As it should be, his lineage received his own name as their surname.

  The name “Jane” was given by her mother, its meaning being “gift of God” or “blessed by God.” It represented exactly how both of them saw their daughter.

  However, that was forbidden. Because of a very old law among the bearers of the relic Ignarya. The hero who wielded that weapon could only be male.

  Because of that, three years after Jane’s birth, Burst was conceived.

  He was named by his father, his name tied to the meaning of “rupture,” carrying the expectation that he would surpass his predecessor. However, their mother did not survive Burst’s birth.

  But that didn’t matter to Ignaris that much. Now the lineage would continue as it should.

  Both children grew up loved by the people around them, that was a fact. But there was an obvious, glaring difference between them.

  Jane grew up studying ordinary things, while Burst was placed under rigorous training with Ignarya from the moment he turned four years old.

  His hands bled, his body was cut and wounded. He cried, but he couldn’t stop. He was destined to become the next great hero of humanity.

  That made him grow up hating weapons. He no longer wanted that sword. Because of it, he was forced to injure himself until his bones gave in, day after day.

  Jane, on the other hand, was always placed as someone incapable of becoming what Burst was destined to be. Unconsciously, that grew inside her—the desire to prove that destiny was wrong.

  And so she did.

  Burst was nine years old at the time, and Jane was twelve. On a sunny day, Jane visited her brother when his trainer had to leave temporarily.

  Jane loved her brother—probably more than anyone else. He had always been a gentle boy, but he didn’t want to carry that burden.

  It may have been love, envy, selfishness, or a mixture of all of them, but when Burst was sitting down resting, Jane extended her hand.

  “If you want, I can be the hero for you.”

  “Really?!”

  Ignarya had been said to be destined to be wielded only by men. But there was something about it that no one knew, something that became very clear that day.

  It was a lie.

  It had always been that way. No one would dare doubt what had been declared destiny for centuries. Except for children foolish enough to dream.

  Ignarya functioned through a bearer system. In other words, once entrusted to another person, it could never return to the previous wielder.

  Ignarya would work with anyone, as long as the current bearer had complete trust in that person—something Ignaris could never have in Jane because of that ancient tradition.

  But Burst had absolute trust in his older sister.

  The moment Jane held Ignarya, it was done. Jane was recognized as the new bearer.

  And on that day, Jane not only proved that destiny was wrong. She realized she had desperately tried to prove something wrong that had never even existed.

  In other words, Jane placed a rope around her own neck.

  From that moment on, what remained for her was no longer her dreams or her desires. It was only a hell she would have to walk through until the end of her life.

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  “That’s basically it. I think… Burst might feel a little resentment toward me,” Jane concluded.

  Viola and Don remained silent, absorbing the information that had been thrown at them.

  They hadn’t expected Jane to answer with such honesty, but perhaps she was simply tired.

  “I don’t think he’s angry at you…” Viola said. “When did the two of you drift apart?”

  Jane looked at her right arm.

  “When I lost my right arm.”

  Viola nodded.

  “Hmm. Burst is a good boy. He probably thinks you’re like this because he was a coward. So I think he hates himself for that and refuses to stay close to you.”

  “…I see.”

  The barrier faded, and Burst and Merlin walked out, leaning on each other even though neither of them was truly injured.

  “Seriously, what was that? You almost shot me.”

  “It was reflex, sorry.”

  “Reflex my ass!” he exclaimed, pulling Merlin’s cheek.

  Jane gave a faint smile, but soon returned to her neutral expression.

  When Burst saw his sister, he immediately stiffened.

  “Jane. You’re here, huh?”

  “Yes.”

  The others made a face at the interaction, but let it pass. Viola stood up and handed the tray of cookies to Jane.

  “Well! Now that it’s over, how about a snack before the fight?” Viola asked.

  “We still have a few hours,” Don added.

  “Let’s go!!” Merlin raised her arms.

  And so Merlin’s morning training came to an end. Jane stayed with them for a while, but soon said her goodbyes. Because of work, she wouldn’t be able to watch the fight.

  After that, Burst, Merlin, Don, and Viola went to the guild. Since there was still a little more than a week before Viola could return to active duty, Don let it slide this time and allowed her to go watch the matches.

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