Incest/Taboo Magic, Love, Family

Rose was surprised by his reaction or lack thereof on hearing his nickname; she decided to ignore it, thinking that he was just eager to know the reason.

She took on the look of a wizened veteran. "Listen, plebe. This involves a total grasp of all the political intricacies and maneuvers going on behind the scenes." She paused to counter any comment that might come out of Raymond's mouth.

However, she suddenly lost interest, when she saw his expectant gaze. "Miranda, you explain it," she said, leaning towards Suzanne and hooking her arms on her mother's shoulders.

"We don't have the time for it now. I'll tell it to you after your fight with Rose."

Rose, who was rubbing her cheeks intimately on her mother's shoulder, jumped out to stand in front of Miranda, she asked in an animated voice, "What? Are we doing that?".

"Yes."

Rose started laughing at the top of her lungs. Miranda's reply had confirmed her suspicion. "So, that's why you were silent." She circled around him once, as if examining her prey. "Don't be scared Little Ray Ray. I'll make sure your bones are left intact," and she started laughing again.

Raymond harrumphed and turned his head away from her.

Raymond rode his horse with Lily to the left of him. Up ahead, Rose rode in the carriage along with Suzanne. They had already left the city through the north gate. At this pace, they would only take about half an hour more to reach the army base.

Raymond had mixed feelings about going to the army base. He would no doubt encounter many familiar faces, which would be something to take pleasure in. But at the same time, this would also serve as a reminder that he, a man already twenty-one-years old, despite being royalty, was still unable to awaken his attribute. Raymond peeked at Lily's aloof face; it brought him a sense of tranquility to see it the same as ever. He chuckled to himself, Come hell or high water, Lily's unfazed.

"How was the hunt?"

"Okay," Lily replied. She seemed to hesitate before answering him. "There's an unusual increase in the number of prime beasts this year."

"Oh." Raymond nonchalantly asked, "any problems?"

"No. Nothing in particular."

They both turned quiet after this exchange. Raymond felt nervous about his upcoming "fight" with Rose. He wondered if it could be even called that. More like, Rose bashing me up.

"Do you think it will work?" Raymond asked, breaking the silence. He was referring to the method they were about to use in order to awaken his attribute.

"No." Lily gave a succinct response.

"No? What do you mean, 'no'? If it won't, why even use it?" He cried out, upset at the prospect of being beaten black and blue without any cause or reason.

"It won't work yet," Lily replied in a composed manner, unfazed by his outburst.

Raymond chuckled at the lack of explanation on her part.; He then chuckled at himself for expecting anything more. How typical! You would think she has to pay taxes on each word she says.

"Lady Lily, ye of the few words, will you please elaborate the reason behind your skeptical answer to this humble brother of yours, for he is still far away from reaching the heights of your profound wisdom and all-encompassing ability? He is feeling quite aggrieved at his cruel and merciless treatment in the hands of his mean aunt and his exceptionally wicked cousin." Raymond dramatically pleaded to his twin.

Lily was unable to stop a hint of smile from creeping up on the corner of her lips. She took a moment before she voiced her thoughts while gazing straight ahead. "She is not strong enough to make it work... This method is based on the prime beasts' ability to burst out with a final splendor in the face of absolute danger. She'll have to simulate this same feeling of danger in your fight."

She paused to catch her breath before continuing her explanation. "This could work if she was actually stronger than she is, or if her control was precise enough. But not at your current level of strength."

Raymond tried to make sense of her words. So it won't work because I'm too strong for it to work, and he grinned at the conclusion. He reproached himself for being so pleased just because of that little praise. I don't know if I should be happy about it or not. It was only a few moments later when Raymond realized what laid waiting for him. If Rose isn't strong enough, that means Miranda and Lily are also out of consideration. Then... Raymond suddenly shouted, "NOOOOOO..." almost falling off his horse.

The riders flanking the two of them nearly stumbled at his loud shout. They were only pacified after Lily signaled for them to continue, that everything was alright. She ordered the riders to quickly inform their commander, who was leading in front, that they would catch up with the others later.

Raymond, finally coming out of his stupor, asked Lily in an urgent tone. "It's Aunt Suzy, isn't it? She will do it in the end, right?" He further despaired when Lily did not say anything in return.

"Just kill me. That's going to hurt like hell. First, I have to contend with Rose who, I'm sure is licking her lips at her chance to bruise me up, then the terrifying Suzanne Tygrine is next in line!? Do you know how much damage a single lightning attribute awakened does by just standing on the field!? Just kill me now. Why bother with the entire charade!?" Raymond muttered dispiritedly.

He was shocked when he glanced at Lily, who had a thin smile on her face. "You are enjoying this, aren't you?" He followed along and chuckled at the absurd situation he found himself in.

"Tell me, why don't more people use this method?"

"There are various reasons," Lily replied. She hadn't seemed intent to continue anymore until Raymond launched in another tirade of her praises. "Okay, okay, I will tell you," she added. "The method itself is very hard. You must have precise control of your mana for it to work. And that's not the problem with you. If someone possessed your level of technique, they would have already evolved their mana pool, awakened their attribute, and progressed even further. I don't think Rose can give you the sense of danger required for it to work."

"So, what you mean to say is, though it is only useful for unfortunate, poor souls like me, it won't even guarantee anything! Fuck! Why don't I find someone better than Rose to help me!" Raymond exclaimed in frustration.

"For common people, it is hard to find even any ordinary awakened to accompany them in their, sometimes very long, quest to awaken by using this method, much less an awakened strong enough to actually be able to help them."

"Hmmm...." Raymond felt quite fortunate that ultimately his own aunt, his Aunt Suzy, the famous and feared Marshal Suzanne Tygrine, would be there to help him awaken. Though it would be quite painful and may take considerable time to recover from the trauma, it's all worth it.

"Uggh... Why can't she directly fight me? Why do I have to fight with Rose first? She's going to take revenge for all the times I made fun of her. I'll be lucky to even survive-"

Lily scolded Raymond before he could complain any more than that. "Whatever you might think, she cares about you deeply." She continued in the same reproachful tone. "If she was not scared that she would really hurt you, you wouldn't even have to fight Aunt Suzanne."

Raymond was surprised by the intense reaction of Lily to his usual ramblings. What's gotten into her all of a sudden? She never reacts like that. He dismissed it as her just being on edge due to the upcoming fight. After all, he will be fighting Rose in a real combat, and it will involve real danger.

Uncomfortable by the now awkward silence between them, Raymond decided to lighten the mood. "So, if you can deduce all this by yourself," he teasingly smiled as he stared into Lily's eyes, "Do you mean to say you know more than Aunt Suzy?" he questioned her, his smile growing to a grin.

"When it comes to you," Lily answered in an even tone, as if stating a fact.

Raymond was dazed by her response. "Stop. You're going to make me blush," he muttered and sped away.

Lily gently smiled as she watched an embarrassed Raymond flee from her.

Raymond walked inside the spacious training grounds of the army base. The entire training grounds were empty, presumably by order from either Suzanne or Rose. It was the first time Raymond had seen the whole grounds empty; usually it was occupied by soldiers either practicing their spells or honing their weapon techniques.

He was shocked by the sheer size of it. Whoa, I never could've guessed it's that big. He could see all types of different weapons lined up along the walls, separated by their types.

Most of the spell and magic training rooms were locked. The ones that were open were simple enough to not pique his interest. There were three grounds for weapons training, two for close combat and one for ranged combat. He picked up a long bow, examining its detail. Nobody uses a bow in our family. Maybe only mother with her wind attribute. He put it back when he heard his aunt calling for him.

He followed the voice to the biggest sparring arena. It was nearly double the size of all the other ones. He rushed towards his Aunt Suzanne, who stood near the entrance with an extremely beautiful blonde woman. Raymond reined in his usual cheekiness and waited for his aunt to make the introductions, guessing the unknown woman, who appeared to be of the same age as his aunt, must be an important character to be able to stand beside her.

"Sweetie, let me introduce you to one of my most favorite people. This is Lady Ingrid Beltran. You must know her as the most famous healer in the whole of Beltran."

Raymond politely greeted her and asked to be excused to prepare for his fight. He found Lily waiting for him by the weapon rack. He quickly moved towards her, shaking her by her shoulders, "Did you see? She even brought along THE Ingrid Beltran with her, the light attribute possessing healer with mythical abilities. She already suspects I'm going to be half dead by the end of all this. Do something."

"I can't do anything."

Raymond gave up. There was nothing else to do other than serve himself up to get slaughtered. He demurely picked up a sword with a blunt edge and replaced it with his own sheathed broadsword, which hung at his waist. He gave Lily one last pitiful look and marched up towards the center of the arena. He stretched his muscles while anxiously waiting for Rose.

Rose entered the arena with a long sword in hand. Raymond lifted his face from his bent down position to gaze upon her. Her red, almost crimson hair, came down to her waist. A black, leather hair band on top of her head held back the bangs from falling on her face. A green sleeveless, crop top, and green trousers were the only pieces of clothing on her tall frame. Her fair skin, a shade darker than her twin, Miranda, was smooth.

There were no visible signs of any cuts or scars that could be found on it. Her ripped stomach and bellybutton were exposed for his eyes to feast upon them. Her slightly wide hips and thick thighs especially suited her long legs covered in leather boots, up to her knees. She took long strides towards the center of the ground with an air of nobility, the pride of an expert

He almost fell into a stupor, gone were all the worries of getting beaten up, gone was all the nervousness about the result, gone was all the anxiousness to awaken his attribute. At that instant, his mind was dominated by a single thought: She is HOT. He, though, quickly snapped out of it, chuckling at himself for being so entranced by a sight he had seen many times before. Apparently, this is who I am now, a deviant. A pervert; one who lusts after his own cousins.

Finished with his routine, Raymond picked up his sword with his right hand. He circulated his mana into his mana circuits and used body strengthening magic. It would raise his physical ability and make him contend with Rose a little better.

Rose didn't seem to have used body strengthening. She appeared confident that her superior ability and natural physical advantage due to being an awakened warrior, rather than a half-awakened warrior like Raymond, would be enough.

Body strengthening magic, it was the only magic spell that could be used by magic warriors and half-awakened warriors. It helped them in fights as it increased the sturdiness and power of their moves. Awakened warriors generally didn't like to use it, as it consumed a lot of mana.

When Raymond realized what she was doing, he was angry to be underestimated yet also happy that he could give her a surprise. He pointed at her and sneered in provocation. "Be careful, I have developed a new killer move."

"Like the last time!?" Rose replied, a smile blossoming on her face. "Or maybe like the time before that!?" she taunted, her smile growing into a full grin.

Before Raymond could get in his own quip, his aunt's shout interrupted them. "Alright, stop it, the both of you. Rose, remember, don't use any spells, only physical attacks. And Raymond, try to maintain the balance for as long as you can."

"Come at me, Little Ray Ray," Rose taunted one last time. Her whole demeanor changed in a matter of seconds, the look of a veteran warrior, ready to battle the opponent, on her face. She steadied herself in a defensive stance.

Raymond gauged the distance between them to be nearly 20 meters; he took his stance, his left leg forward, bent at the knee. His right foot pushed to the ground, his elbows in line with his knees. He tightened his two-handed grip on his sword. Raymond circulated all of his mana into his arms and legs. He dashed forward towards Rose. He reminded himself: The trick is to maintain it at this level without actually releasing the mana.

He covered the distance between them instantly, I can only use it at the rate of my natural recovery. He brought down his broadsword from up behind his shoulders, its full weight carried behind the diagonal slash. His fast move was easily blocked by Rose.

Raymond jumped back, increasing the distance between them. And when the pressure is high enough, I will instinctually try to release all of it. He readied himself to charge in once again. I just have to wait for that moment... Fuck! This should help to produce some impact the next time I try to awaken, or else.... He once again dashed forward, this time bringing his sword from below his waist.

Rose was almost caught off guard by the unusual move; it was difficult to execute, especially for a tall man such as Raymond. She almost lost her stance; her sword almost left her palms...almost. Her physical advantage still proved too much for Raymond to overcome with his low constitution. She easily kicked him away, increasing the distance between them yet again.

"Is that your "new killer move"?" Rose sneered at Raymond.

He was unfazed by her comments and dashed to his right, trying to circle around her. He closed the distance between them and launched his sword with force. He increased his speed behind the sword, using it as a decoy. Just as the sword was about to reach Rose, he shifted to his left and dived towards her exposed back.

The redhead easily parried the rotating sword coming at her but was unable to avoid the elbow strike to her back. Her sword left her hands due to the impact on her shoulders. She swiftly turned around, barely able to defend against the kick to her stomach. She flew off but regained her balance midair, avoiding the fall on her butt.

Ingrid Beltran was shocked at this display; she could hardly believe what was happening in the arena. An awakened was upended by a kick from a normal warrior!? What power! What ingenuity! She turned to her right and said, "Suzanne, your nephew is something else. I don't remember ever witnessing such a scene in my lifetime." Ingrid's surprise was evident in her voice.

Suzanne, who appeared to be immensely proud of her nephew, stated, "He certainly is a special one."

Lily, standing some paces to the left of her aunt, did not share in the same excitement as the two ladies. She watched on, unconcerned, aware of the result of this "fight". She was confident that Rose wasn't strong enough for this method to be a success, and it was made clear by the earlier exchange when he had taken her by surprise and skillfully disarmed her.

"Ha-ha. You've done it now." Rose cackled in anger. She did not bother with the sword in Raymond's hand and charged in unarmed. Her hair dancing behind her, she launched into a flurry of strikes with her elbows and knees, not giving him a moment's rest. Her moves got faster and more powerful with each strike. With a look of madness in her eyes, she roared with laughter.

Raymond was unable to contend with the swiftness of her attack. He couldn't bring down his sword in time to defend against her punches. His sword flew off in a long arc due to the strike on his arm. He could only contend unarmed.

This girl's crazy. Laughing like a madwoman, Raymond thought as another punch came his way, followed by a kick to his thighs. A wave of pain ran through his body. His arms almost lost all their strength. His legs stung.

Another round of elbows and knees later, Raymond couldn't help but accept defeat in his mind. I can't take this anymore, I think most of my bones have cracked. Fuck. I'm barely able to control my mana.

Raymond neared his breaking point, his face bloodied, and his whole body black and blue from the intense beating. He couldn't even lift his hands anymore. All of his energy was focused on standing there and controlling his mana. He felt a sudden impact in his mana pool. Now! He shouted the command in his mind. He tried to release it all... a moment passed, and then he fainted on the spot.

It was late in the afternoon. The sun was about to set. Raymond lay asleep on his bed under a thin blanket. A noise outside his door woke him up. He groggily opened his eyes. Taking note of his surroundings, he concluded that someone must have brought him home. It must've been Lily. He felt dispirited when he gazed at the bandages wrapped around his left leg. His spirits further suffered when he confirmed his failure by checking his mana pool. Well, she predicted as much.

He slowly examined himself and was grateful to find that there was no swelling on his face or anywhere else for that matter. The feeling of nausea and a headache was at a manageable level. He silently thanked the beautiful Ingrid Beltran for doing such a good job of healing his injuries. After making sure all was well, considering, he let out a volley of curses at his fate for not awakening, even after that intense round of beating.

*Knock. Knock*

Rose entered the room before he could react to the noise, and came up to his bed.

"Shift," she demanded and ordered him to make a place for her. Raymond rolled his eyes at her but quietly shifted to one side. She slipped inside his blanket and laid her head on the same pillow as him. Finally settled, she asked, "How are you feeling?"

Raymond was speechless by her actions. It had been years since they had shared the same bed. The last time they did this, he was fourteen-years old. He silently stared at her, waiting for an explanation.

"It must be alright if you are not whining," Rose muttered, not meeting his gaze.

Raymond had half a mind to kick her out. Exasperated, he asked through gritted teeth, "is this some new way of gloating I'm unaware of?"

"Didn't you want to know about the war between Kyrgstan and Zekovia? Miranda is busy. So...."

She isn't busy. She just doesn't want to talk to me. All his anger at Rose and her unreasonable actions vanished in an instant. And here I thought getting injured was an easy way to earn forgiveness from Miranda. He inwardly laughed at his delusions.

Suddenly his eyes widened. He realized from her actions that Rose was actually here to apologize but was too embarrassed to do it. He turned towards her, rested his head on his hand, which was raised at the elbow, and he studied her face from above. There were obvious signs of discomfort. Her lips were puckered; her eyes danced around, stealing quick glances of his face from time to time.

Raymond was amused by her behavior. He thought about letting her stew for a while but couldn't hold himself back from teasing her. "Is this how you apologize?" He grinned at her reddening face.

"Do you want to know or not?" Rose asked, baring her teeth at him.

He continued grinning. "Nah, who cares!?" he said after a little while, finally able to stifle his laughter.

She lifted her brows, looking surprised. "You really don't want to know?"

Raymond just smiled at her. He felt relaxed for the first time in over a day. He realized he enjoyed this tranquil atmosphere, lying in the same bed with Rose doing nothing but gazing at her silently. He loathed to admit the fact that red was his color of choice. Ah, that red hair and those red eyes.

A bit bothered by the bangs covering her eyes, he subconsciously tucked them behind her ears. Satisfied, he stared at her red eyes. "So beautiful," he whispered. He was lost in her eyes, unaware of his own actions as he tenderly caressed the contours of her face. He traced his finger over her lush, red eyebrows, her sharp nose, the edges of her beautiful oval face, her full red lips, and he stopped at her chin.

"Hehe, stop," Rose giggled. "It tickles."

Raymond jerked away in surprise, appalled at his actions. Oh My God. What is happening to me? It's Rose. Rose. The Rose, you despise so much. He peeked at her face and panicked. Oh no. Her face is turning weird. Quick... distract her.

In his panic, he blurted out, "What happened to your boy? What's his name again? Mae? Jay? Sorry, I tend to forget... there have been so many... wait, I remember now. Antonio. What happened to him?" Yes, this ought to distract her. Good job, me. He praised himself for the quick thinking.

"I dumped his ass," Rose answered in an angry tone.

"Really?" He almost yelled in excitement.

She smiled mischievously and stared into his eyes. "Jealous?" she teased.

Raymond turned his head away in embarrassment. He never liked this line of questioning. In fact, being teased about his jealousy towards any of her boyfriends was one thing he wanted to avoid the most. Shit... shit... quickly... distract her again.

"So, who's next? I met that Captain Fjord or whatever his name is today," Raymond said, his head still turned the other way.

"Maybe... I don't know. But I'll tell you one thing, he's definitely dreamy," Rose murmured in a low airy voice.

His mood turned sour in an instant. All his excitement and panic went poof listening to Rose's words about Corey Fjord. He never liked it when she talked about her boyfriends. And he was very grateful that he did not have to deal with this problem when it came to Miranda.

He was sure if she ever brought a boyfriend home or told him about finding someone, he would go apoplectic. And Lily, she was different from the rest. He believed she wasn't even interested in anything other than magic and training. Figures. And just when I thought...

Raymond had realized after their spar that Rose had gone easy on him. She had not used body strengthening magic, and that was the only reason he could take her by surprise. If she had cast it, her reflexes would have drastically improved, and she could have easily parried his strike.

Ha... He sighed, some things never change...

"What's that?" Raymond was interrupted before he could finish his thought. He looked at Rose, who excitedly jumped and fetched a letter from his dresser table. "It's a letter, I think." She quickly opened it without a care for his privacy.

"Sure. You can open it," Raymond said with heavy sarcasm.

"It's from Shania," Rose muttered, almost an afterthought. She started grinning as she read on, growing to a lung bursting laugh by the end of it. "It's a love letter," she barely got out between her fits of laughter.

Raymond snatched the letter from her, confused by her crazy reaction to a simple love letter. His face turned red as he read about their recent tryst written in its full glory. There was a further mention of a repeat performance. By the end, the letter took on a grave tone, as if written by two different people. He read through a brief account of a family emergency and an apology for leaving abruptly. She promised to always keep him in her heart and hoped for the same from him.

"It's a parting letter." Raymond threw the crumpled letter towards the door.

Rose flicked a tiny ball of flame at the piece of parchment. "That fucking bitch... how dare she?!"

"Said there was some family emergency or something," Raymond continued in the same dispassionate tone. He obviously didn't believe a word of it. Most likely she found another opportunity or some other prince. He was not concerned either way.

"Good riddance. I never liked her anyway," Rose huffed. The atmosphere suddenly turned tense. Raymond was once again reminded that, of all the girls in his family, none of them had liked Shania or any of his previous girlfriends for that matter. He always chalked it up to his own poor choices. Now, though, he couldn't help but look back. Hmm, this is interesting. He tried to remember his past girlfriends. Now that I think about it, not all of them were so bad. Hmm. Maybe...he chuckled at the absurdity of it. Yeah, right. Like that would ever happen. He cursed at himself. Not everybody is a deviant like you.

"Then I'm going."

"Huh, why?" Raymond asked.

Rose said while getting up, "Since you don't care about politics..."

"I never said that..."

"So, do you really want to know?" Rose seemed taken aback by his change of mood. Raymond felt smug, as he had long guessed that she hadn't wanted to really explain it. And he just didn't want to give her an easy way out of apologizing.

"It's fine even if you can't tell me... I'm sure it isn't because you don't know the reason." He smirked; he loved it when she squirmed a little.

"Humph." She snorted at his antics. "I can't say for sure, but there is a chance the Eastern Continent is behind this affair," She remarked, her eyes glaring straight at him, daring him to ask any more about it.

Raymond asked, "The Eastern Continent?" His tone was skeptical. They both gazed at each other before guffawing at the same moment. "The fucking barbarians!"

The Eastern Continent, which was the continent to the east of the continent of Paschwes, was commonly referred to as the Barbarian Land by the people of Paschwes. Apart from the folk tales and songs, there wasn't much mention of it in the general populace. There were rumors about a war being fought in the distant past, but nobody took it seriously, and believed it to be a grandma's tale for children.

Raymond had never seen a native of the Eastern Continent, but there was only disdain for them and their barbaric ways, in his mind.

"Just tell me one thing. How do you know so much? Do all of you have secret meetings behind my back?" Raymond impatiently asked the one thing which had bothered him since the afternoon. He always believed himself to be smarter than Rose. He could swallow his defeat at her hands if they used magic, but he could never take being outwitted by her.

Rose turned around, a mysterious smile on her face. She slowly lifted her finger to her lips, "Secret meetings...are secret," she whispered in a throaty voice. Winking at him seductively, she skipped out of the room.

Raymond's heart thumped out of his chest; he couldn't believe how sexy she looked and sounded. I don't think I can survive all these surprise attacks to my heart. He let out a weary sigh. Ha...I should just get some sleep.

"Should I do it or not?"

Raymond was back at his usual cave, the next day. He had already failed twice in his attempts to awaken, and was weighing whether to attempt it for the third time.

"There's a risk to my mana pool if I fail. On the other hand, if it's a success..."

"Hmm...tough to decide." He sulked as he recalled the pain he had felt in and after his fight with Rose the previous day. Then a shiver ran through his body as he thought about his upcoming "fight" with Suzanne. "Yesterday was just an appetizer. Aunt Suzy...she wouldn't hold back either..."

He gritted his teeth and decided to try it anyway. The chances were low, but it may yet happen.

It was mid-afternoon when he regained consciousness. "Fuck, my head's all dizzy. Ugh..."

He decided to wait for some time before leaving the cave. Still lost in his thoughts about the beating he was about to take at the hands of his aunt, he was alarmed by a loud roar. He rushed to the cave's entrance, nearly stumbling on the way. His soul almost left his body by the terrifying scene he witnessed.

His horse lay dead by the tree he had tied him to. A Violet Horned Bear stood over the corpse, its paws and snout dripping with blood. Another Violet Horned Bear, which looked a lot older, was circling around, sizing up the younger one.

"Fuck, what are two prime beasts doing this far out?" Raymond cursed under his breath.

He was out of ideas at the sight of two prime beasts, which were about to fight. He wanted to run for his life but was afraid he would be killed as soon as he stepped out. The only thought going through his mind was that he should've been nowhere near this scene.

"Maybe they'll kill each other by the end." After the immediate shock and fear of the situation lessened a little, Raymond felt much calmer. He slowly and very cautiously returned inside the cave, trying very hard to not make a single bit of noise. Curled up in a corner, he tried to recall every little bit of information he knew about the Violet Horned Bear. He remained completely silent while listening to the growls coming from outside.

"Sounds like its ending." Raymond cautiously peeked outside after the sounds completely stopped. The bigger, older of the two beasts was the victor. The younger one lay in a pool of its own blood. The surviving one wasn't much better off. It had wounds all over its body. One long gash across its neck looked particularly nasty.

"Fuck! Fuck! It's alive." Raymond could only curse at his bad luck. The surviving bear moved towards the corpse of Raymond's horse. It tore apart the corpse with its strong paws. Goosebumps ran over his body as he watched his horse being eaten in such a bloody fashion.

"If only I had awakened my attribute... I wouldn't have to hide here like a fucking rat." Raymond sighed at his pitiful condition. He wanted to dash out, but he didn't. He was aware that he could never out-run a prime beast. He prayed for the bear to turn away from the cave after it had its meal.

He waited anxiously, sweat covered his body and made his clothes wet. His throat became parched due to nervousness, and the cold breeze stroking his skin felt like a thorny, icy, whip. The tension had him on edge, and he felt as if his mana would go berserk, leak out his aura, and alert the beast of his position. He gnashed his teeth in frustration of his lack of strength while trying his best to calm down his nerves and control his mana vibration.

Raymond understood that he wasn't equipped to deal with the situation, and if he waited too long, it could prove fatal. "There's no other way. I have to attack it before it discovers the cave." Steeling his heart, Raymond decided to fight the bear when it was at its most vulnerable. He tightened his armor around his drenched shirt. Pulling his sword out from its sheath, he cautiously approached the bear.

The Violet Horned Bear was busy devouring the flesh of the horse, unaware of the danger approaching behind it. Raymond stopped nearly 10 meters away from it, judging it to be as close as he could get without alerting the bear of his presence.

Raymond channeled all his mana to his right arm. He knew he would get a single chance at this. So he decided to forego any protection and used body strengthening magic only on his sword wielding arm. More! More! Silently, he glared at its back. He had never tried to take his body strengthening to this limit and that too only on a single part of his body.

His arm was vibrating and bulged slightly, looking almost as if it wasn't his own arm but somebody else's. It was a thin line between life and death and required impeccable control and concentration to circulate his mana and sneak in behind the prime beast without its knowledge. He had to pierce his sword through the gash at its neck; the beast's body was too tough for him to aim anywhere else. An immeasurable strength coursed through his arm while he studied the length of the wound, and it made him a tiny bit confident; however, he shuddered at the thought of it still not being enough.

Now, Raymond shouted in his mind. The bear had dived down to tear a chunk of meat and that was the opportunity he had been waiting for. He ran faster than ever before and jumped up to increase the power of his strike.

*Screech*

The beast howled in agony. The sword pierced inside its flesh, and Raymond kept on pushing it deeper, extending the wound. Blood jetted out everywhere as the beast thrashed about desperately and almost crushed Raymond beneath its huge body.

There was a short tussle between them before Raymond twisted his arm, which made another fountain of blood to burst out from the beast's humongous body. "Fucking die!!!" He screamed with his eyes bloodshot. He had put in every ounce of his strength in that strike and didn't let up until the beast stopped struggling.

"Huff..." Raymond panted. "Is it over?" Just when he thought it was dead, that he had done it, that he had successfully killed a prime beast, the beast lifted its paw and prepared to slash at him. It was like the flash of the last ember before the flame died down.

Time slowed down around Raymond; everything was happening at a snail's pace. He thought about dodging the attack; however, he gave up on it quickly. He was very short on stamina and was also stuck in his position. It was impossible for him to dodge its paw in that short duration. He realized at that instant, there was no other option but to double down. He had to kill the beast before the paw could touch him.

"Aggh!" He shouted. The veins on his body swelled and his mana channels shook unstably. Scraping the bottom of his mana pool, he viciously pushed the sword deeper and twisted it around. "Die!!!" He did not stop until the sword finally pierced through the beast's neck on the other side. Hot blood sprayed out, painting Raymond in red.

*Crash*

The Violet Horned Bear was finally dead. It died before it could kill Raymond.

"YES!" Raymond screamed in joy, though, an instant later he suddenly shut his mouth, afraid to have alerted any nearby prime beast with his delirious roar of laughter.

He vigilantly listened for a while, sighing in relief when he didn't hear any noise. That... was stupid. He cursed at himself as he tried to pull his sword out of the beast's body. When the sword didn't budge an inch, he quickly gave up on the idea. Too exhausted to move away, he lay down on the spot. He had overdrawn his mana pool and his mana was dry. It felt to him like he was completely sapped of energy, and at the same time, it was painful. He knew it was stupid to remain out in the open, however, he couldn't move no matter how much he had wanted to. His eyelids turned heavy as an unprecedented spell of drowsiness struck him.

"Maybe this was an opportunity," Raymond mumbled dazedly. "Yes, I've decided... I will try again to awaken when my mana recovers. I refuse to believe I can't awaken, especially after this..."

"RAY..."

"RAY"

He was shaken from his stupor when he heard a loud shout. Someone shouted his name, and he could hear the sound of horse hooves fast approaching his direction. Lily?

Lily leapt down from her horse. She crushed his head to her chest and started to wail loudly. "I was scared..." were the only words coming out of her mouth that Raymond could make sense of. He was overwhelmed by this display. Lily had never been one for showing much affection. She was much quieter than the rest of their boisterous family.

He consoled his sister by gently thumping her back. Gradually, her wails turned to sobs. "I'm fine. This isn't my blood." Raymond chuckled. "I'm fine. I was just exhausted and lying down." Lily finally calmed down after listening to this. She took his face in her hands and tenderly wiped the bloodstains.

"Injuries?"

"I'm just tired and used too much of my mana." Lily nodded her head at his response. She went up to her horse, fetched a few pills from her bag and stuffed them in his mouth. She took a look around herself, seeing the dead horse in between the corpses of the two prime beasts, one which had a sword pierced through its body, she hummed in understanding. "Amazing, extraordinarily amazing," she whispered.

"All in a day's work."

Lily frowned, seeing the smug look on Raymond's face. The more she looked at his annoying smirk, the bigger the frown grew. "I warned you."

"Huh? Warned? Oh, about an increase in their numbers?" Raymond posed; he continued in a carefree tone. "How would I know? This never happened before."

"I warned you!" Lily repeated her previous words in a much louder voice.

"I told you-" unnerved by the scowl on Lily's face, Raymond swallowed back the words he was about to say. He was confused. What's her problem? She should be praising me. Hmmph.

"The other thing," Lily uttered through clenched teeth, her anger barely contained.

"Other thing? What other thing?" Raymond couldn't tell heads from tails. He was totally lost. "What are you talking about-" Yeah, if I hadn't tried it for the third time, I would have not been unconscious. Raymond realized his horse must've alerted him, but he was unconscious at the time. Oh my god, I could've avoided all this. He sheepishly turned his eyes away from her suddenly hurtful stare.

"Get up," Lily ordered. Raymond obediently followed behind her, too ashamed to say anything. She retrieved a fresh set of clothes from her bag along with a bar of soap. She glanced at him and marched on towards the nearby lake. Although artifacts from the prime beasts were valuable, Raymond and Lily, as royalty, had never harvested any magic beast corpses and were in no mood to start then.

"Why are you carrying my clothes?"

"I thought you ran away," Lily replied in a flat tone.

"Hey!" Raymond shouted at her back. "I'm no coward!" A long pause, then "Hey! Say something! Did you really think I ran away!?" Several seconds passed before he spoke again. "Why aren't you saying anything!? Lily!" Raymond kept shouting at Lily's back as he followed her to the lake.

"Strip." Lily, who finally seemed to have calmed down from her fit of rage at his stupidity, turned to face her twin.

"What?" Raymond started. What does she mean "strip"? Then he smiled naughtily. "Are you going to peep?" he teased.​