Incest/Taboo Magic, Love, Family

Suzanne had always been like a whirlwind of sorts; she would come and go, be extremely affectionate for a week or two and then months would go by before Rose and Miranda saw their mother again. Naturally, it left some resentment in the twins, especially in the elder one.

"They're late," Miranda muttered, even as her eyes remained locked on the road towards the east gate. She couldn't bear to watch the troubled display of her mother and decided to break the air of weirdness that permeated between them. Suzanne had been trying; Miranda could see that, but her mind would always take her back to the days spent lying in wait for her mother and all the motherly actions of Suzanne would lose weight.

"Yes!" Suzanne exclaimed in relief, glad to be rid of the silence. Suddenly, she turned to her left and asked, "why did you not go with Lily?" When her daughter didn't show any response to her query, she added unhurriedly, "I believed that you would be the first to go to Ray..."

After a few moments of quiet, which felt a lot longer to Suzanne than they actually were, Miranda commented offhandedly, "they're twins as you well know. So..."

"So? Don't tell me-"

Miranda shot a glance at her mother, and Suzanne unwittingly stopped her words midway. She wanted to say that it had never stopped Miranda before, but the uninterested gaze of the azure-haired beauty threw her off, flustered her. And that was that for the topic. Sometimes it felt to Suzanne that maybe Miranda was the adult in their relationship. Communicating with her eldest daughter had always felt stiff to her, as if the both of them were putting on a ruse to exchange information.

Suzanne was having a hard time with it. Why does this feel so fucking weird?! Are we always going to be so stiff with each other?!

Why can't she talk like a normal person?! Inside her mind, Suzanne screamed her lungs out at her daughter. She, a mighty general, a veteran warrior, whose name was enough to make anyone shake in their boots in the whole of surrounding kingdoms, was at a loss of how to deal with her own daughter. Though she had wanted to make up for the times when she should have been there as a mother, it was hard to get rid of the resentment that had been brewing inside Miranda for so many years.

So ironic... Suzanne laughed at her helplessness.

Rose, the younger of the twins, was a lot different than Miranda, and Suzanne never did have any weirdness communicating with her or showing affection as a mother. It was very unlikely, in Suzanne's opinion, that Miranda had been holding a grudge against her.

After all, Miranda was far too refined and wise for something silly like blaming Suzanne for doing her job as the kingdom's marshal. Even so, it wasn't hard for Suzanne to notice that Miranda liked to keep a distance between herself and everyone else, including who should be closest to her: her family members, and especially her twin.

Of course, Raymond is excluded from that... Now that I think about it, she's like an entirely different person in his presence... She's like a perfect being of love and compassion, like there isn't anything that could ever begin to upset her...

Suzanne smirked to herself at the craftiness of her daughter. It felt to her that she could use this knowledge that Miranda wasn't the same caring person when dealing with anyone else other than Raymond at some future time. Leverage this to maybe have fun at the expense of the infallible Miranda.

Amusing! She was still in the midst of picturing her daughter's face, aghast, embarrassed, and blushing, when the sharp voice of Miranda rang by her ears. And it took her a few good seconds to understand what was being said to her.

"So, when are you leaving?"

Huh?! Did she just ask me to leave in a roundabout way? Heartless!

Suzanne didn't let it show that she had been a little rattled by the sudden voice of Miranda. It might be considered rude to ask this to your own mother, but she had known that Miranda was never one for showing much sentiment. Suzanne was a bit miffed that she was essentially told to piss off, but she understood that this was no time for sentiments. A war was coming, and they had to make the best use of what little time they had left to make preparations for it. If they just remained sitting on their laurels, then they could only dream about gaining anything in it.

"Today. I plan to leave today. Yes, after I talk to Raymond... I will leave for Beltran with Ingrid."

Miranda raised an eyebrow at those words. And for the first time since Suzanne had entered the room, Miranda turned to face her. There was a little surprise in her voice as she asked, "aren't you being a bit hasty?"

"Well, maybe..." Suzanne folded her hands beneath her bosom before she continued in a serious tone, "But the thing that I came for, it's been settled and quite miraculously so if I may add..." A contemplating look came upon her face. "It's for the best that it happened naturally," she added in a softer tone.

The thing that Suzanne was referring to was, of course, Raymond's awakening. She had earlier planned to force it out of him, to pressure his mana to condense and awaken his attribute. Just that morning, she learned from Miranda that Raymond had awakened. Relief had washed over her at that instant, and although she did wonder about how Miranda came to know it, she was too over the moon at the time to care about it. The next thing she wanted to do was to hug him close, but when she was about to hurriedly set out and go look for Raymond, a 'wall' had blocked her path.

"Even still, you could stay for a few more days..." Miranda's eyes questioned the reason behind the rash nature of her mother's departure from Ryhor.

Suzanne smiled thinly but kept her lips shut. There were a lot of things, words, and feelings bottled up inside her, but it was hard for her to let them out at this point.

After a few moments of miserable silence, Miranda uttered, "is it that serious?"

"Uh huh." Suzanne had already lost the frivolous, leisurely air of hers by this point. And there was a sharp glint in her eyes as she nodded grimly to her daughter's words.

"Don't you think it's too soon?"

"No. We can't be late! We shouldn't!" Suzanne emphasized the gravity of the circumstances and the necessity for action.

The two women exchanged a look of understanding between them at those words, like it was understood that the situation had gone beyond what could be called a rumor or a deliberate attempt to spread misinformation. A war was coming, a very real one.

Miranda sighed to herself and then turned to once again look outside the window. It felt to Suzanne that her daughter was hiding something. More accurately, Miranda was trying to choose the proper words to articulate in such a way that it would leave Suzanne with no option other than to answer the question.

Miranda gestured towards the city and asked, "what happens to this?" Her brows furrowed as she added pointedly, "what are our plans going to be for this place?"

Suzanne kept her silence as she gazed out through the window. There was no denying the fact that Miranda had put too much work in the place. She hesitated to tell her daughter that her plan was to abandon it after the war intensified.

They, the Tygrines, were always going to go back and claim their rightful place when the chance arose. This, the kingdom of Gelodesh, was built as a stopgap a few hundred years ago. It was established to serve as a foothold when finally, they led their troops in conquest of their birthplace, deep towards the center of the continent, towards Tygrinia.

We have to make those fucking usurpers pay... The fucking empire and those phony fucking traitors posing as emperors...

It was no coincidence that the capital of the empire had a name that sounded so similar to their own; after all, it was named such by their ancestors. However, that was something Miranda didn't know, and neither did her twin or her cousins. Suzanne seethed with rage as she thought about the events of her ancestors.

I think we can't wait any longer... it is their destiny... and also mine...

Miranda was next in line for the throne and all would be revealed to her when she finally did ascend it. After that, it would be her decision to either tell her cousins and sister or pass it to the next generation. But the situation had changed drastically. Suzanne guessed that the time that was prophesied had arrived. The war was the signal of the beginning of the times when they would strike back.

We can't hold back even an ounce of our strength... or else, Suzanne shuddered imagining the consequences of jumping into the war half-heartedly.

"You know, right?" Suzanne posed the question in a soft voice.

"No! I don't!"

"Hah..." a sigh left her mouth when she saw the steely gaze of her daughter. There was no way Suzanne would believe that Miranda couldn't understand the implication.

"We don't have enough-"

"So!" Miranda interrupted before Suzanne could point out that they didn't have enough resources to take care of Gelodesh while still fighting.

"Why do we have to fight? Why can't we just stay?!" There was a passionate plea behind those words. A look of helplessness and dejection flashed on Miranda's face, but somehow her waterfall-like hair made it so that she looked magnificent, in spite of it.

"We-I- listen." Suzanne found it hard to justify her reason without giving Miranda the whole picture, and she wanted to tell her too. But when she saw how much progress Miranda had made with the natives, how much livelier this place had become, the words just wouldn't come out of her mouth.

"I can explain it to you, but that wouldn't change the fact that you are angry, and rightfully so... But I just want you to remember what I told you when you were little... Do you remember that?"

It wasn't even a few minutes until a look of realization dawned upon Miranda, and then her expression changed to a worried one, "That thing?"

A slight nod of the head from her mother confirmed Miranda's doubt. She clearly remembered that day; there was no way she could forget it because it was the day that Raymond and Lily were born. It was such an exciting day, and when she first laid eyes on those cute little eyes of Raymond, it was like the world had stopped around them. It was only that night that her mother told her something that made a huge impression on her three-year-old brain. It was cryptic and hard to understand, but throughout the years, she could never forget those words.

"They are the most vulnerable to the curse of short life!"

Suzanne had told her in a grave tone. Miranda had become scared of it. But it had been a weird thing for her because Rose was clueless about it. Suzanne didn't say anything more to the three-year-old Miranda and a lot of times when Miranda had asked Suzanne about the meaning of those words, she was rebuffed and told to wait for the right time.

During Miranda's stay at the capital, she had tried numerous times to search for information about curses. Though when she couldn't find any literature on them, not even a word from the old timers at the palace, it gradually got pushed to the back of her mind. And now, although she did remember it, she didn't pay much mind to it. She always believed it to be something that endangered their lives and devised that the best way would be to fight against it head on rather than trying to cure it.

So Miranda wasn't that scared of it and it didn't bother her as much as it did during her childhood. After all, she was not a weak child any longer and could look after herself and her two cousins. Miranda didn't scare easily, and she had enough self-belief and willpower to not cower in the face of some unknown curse.

"The next time you come to Ostorth, I will tell you everything. Even if Samantha doesn't, I will..."

"Humph!" Miranda snorted indifferently.

"Well, it's not like we have to completely abandon it... And it is still in the future-" Suzanne paused and then apologized, "Sorry." The sharp glare from Miranda warned her not to patronize her. The mention of the Capital and Samantha didn't evoke many happy memories in her daughter, Suzanne could tell.

I just wanted to comfort you a little... Suzanne couldn't help but lament once more about the distance in her relationship with her daughter.

"So, what are you going to tell me now? Can you tell me about your visit to Beltran or is it still not time yet?"

The sarcasm was not lost on Suzanne, but she knew that she had earned it. To the east of Gelodesh was Beltran, an ally kingdom. Historically, they had shared good relations and had helped each other in times of need. Ingrid Beltran, the famous healer and the next in line for the throne, was a good friend of Suzanne's.

"We are trying to have a war conference of sorts with all the surrounding kingdoms..."

"I already got that part. And?"

Judging from the sharp tone of Miranda, Suzanne was sure that her daughter was still upset about the matter of Ryhor. But she was helpless to do anything about it and just tried to put up with her rude remarks.

"The real reason is to drum up support for our campaign and judge their reactions. We have to be ready in every step of the way if we're going to do it."

"I suppose so..."

Suzanne sighed to herself, witnessing the lukewarm reaction of the azure-haired girl leaning against the windowsill. She tried to say something more, to tell her about the plans but saw that the girl was not in the mood for it. Her attention was elsewhere, namely peering out the window.

From time to time, Miranda would gaze out the window and back. The rhythmic tapping of her foot signaled that she was getting impatient. Raymond had yet to return and Suzanne was sure it was playing heavily on Miranda's mind.

"About Raymond," Suzanne started. She wasn't surprised when Miranda narrowed her eyes at those words, seemingly at full attention.

"What about him?"

"You can't always keep him in the shadows..." Suzanne remarked.

Miranda stared at her mother, their eyes locked together. There was a glint of stubborn defiance in the young woman's eyes. But after a while of the imaginary tussle, she gave in to the resolute and uncompromising gaze of the mature woman.

"I know," Miranda muttered, almost as if to convince herself.

It was a little hard for Suzanne to see the downcast look of Miranda. She lamented the fact that she had been the cause of it, that she had continuously told her things that made her sad. Even if Miranda was distant to her, and even if she was rude at times, as a mother she forgave them, overlooked them.

"I wish I could tell you something to uplift your mood," Suzanne muttered and bleakly glanced to the snows in the distance.

"Then," the daughter, seeing the dejected look on her beautiful mother's face, decided to extend an olive branch, "Tell me about that time when you went to Badafloat..."

"Hmm, why?" Suzanne cutely tilted her head to the side at the unexpected question, but inside her heart was jumping for joy at the smallest of possibilities that maybe Miranda was beginning to forgive her.

"I want to know."

The even tone of Miranda didn't give away the reason behind her unusual query, and it made Suzanne wonder. It had been a long time since she went that deep into the north. The last time was before Ryhor was a proper city, and her children hadn't even been born yet.

It was seldom that she had to brag about her exploits, since they were well known, even in the surrounding kingdoms, but Suzanne didn't want to let go of this chance to leave an impression on her daughter. The kingdom knew her as the invincible Marshal; the world praised her as a fierce warrior, but all she wanted at that moment was to be a mother, a mother her daughter could be proud of, and maybe that could help lessen the distance between them.

"Well, as you know," she started with a gloating tone with her nose tilted up. "It's very dangerous to go up there that deep inside and even more if you're alone," Suzanne paused to gauge the reaction of Miranda, but the calm face of her daughter told her that she had to do more to impress her audience. Composing herself by taking a deep breath, she continued, "it's extremely cold, and the lake is much farther than you think."

"How much- Sorry, I want to know exactly how much time it takes to get there."

"Maybe six days?" Suzanne shut her eyes and lazily ran her hand through her wavy, violet hair as she tried to recall her 'adventure' in the Northern Forest.

"Yeah, if you travel on foot for ten hours a day, I think it would take you around a week. It's a shame you can't ride a horse there..."

"Oh?"

"Yes the canopy is too thick, and the ground too uneven, the beast gets restless."

"And, what did you see there? Is it as rumored?"

The sudden, enthusiastic reaction of Miranda excited her and thus she resumed her tale animatedly, "Yes! It's just as the rumors say. It's extremely large, and the mysterious thing is all of the water remains unfrozen."

"Really?"

"Yeah, with the cold, you would think that it would be frozen solid but no.

"And tell you what..." Suzanne leaned in close and whispered conspiratorially, "I think there is a huge prime beast under that lake!"

"Are you sure?!"

"Well I don't have definite proof, but I have an intuition that it is the major cause of all the beasts going crazy every once in a while... I think there's a definite relation between the two things."

The weariness on Miranda's face became pronounced as she contemplated her mother's musings about the secret of Badafloat lake.

If it can hide from even Mother's senses, then... For all her aloofness in dealing with Suzanne, Miranda had no doubt that her mother was powerful. Since a young age, she had known this as a fact that her mother was the strongest warrior in the kingdom, and apart from her Aunt Samantha, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that nobody could even come close to possessing Suzanne's level of power, even if she fought them in her sleep.

Maybe because she was young back then, but that would be a stretch...

"And after that? What's beyond that?"

"I don't know!"

"You don't know?"

"No! I didn't go any further than that..."

"Hmm," Miranda hummed to herself.

"Do you think there would be more powerful beasts if you went deeper?"

Suzanne flinched at her daughter's words, even as her eyes narrowed. She hadn't been paying attention because of the myriad of things that had occupied her mind recently, but Miranda's line of questioning was suspicious, to say the least.

"Why? Why do you want to know?"

"Will you tell me first? Please?"

Suzanne stared at Miranda for a good while longer before she opened her mouth, "There may very well be, those dangerous prime-ones. But I don't think one could easily encounter them, even if one went looking for them."

"Hmmm..."

"Don't tell me you are planning to go there?"

Suzanne was perplexed by the noncommittal way Miranda dodged her question by walking towards the door. It was frustrating how the younger woman kept mum and was about to leave the room after having just glanced at her without giving anything away.

But why? I don't see the point of doing that... unless!

A sudden thought flashed through Suzanne's mind, and it terrified her greatly. There was much that she wanted to know and much she wanted to say, but Miranda was almost out of the door at that point. Suddenly, the reserved and stiff nature of their relationship seemed like a grating thorn to Suzanne. It was as if Miranda didn't trust her enough. So she couldn't hold back the words she had longed to say.

"It's not like I can stop you, even if I want to, but Miranda... you shouldn't be so skeptical of everyone around you. I advise you, as your mother, to be a little more forthcoming, at least with the ones close to you."

Miranda stopped in her tracks. She remained still, her hand against the door and with only her gorgeously mesmerizing back in the view of Suzanne. As the moments ticked past, the atmosphere cooled down considerably from the warm scene a few minutes ago. And just when it felt like it could not get any worse, Miranda sauntered away.

"Everyone is competition."

The airy voice of Miranda filtered through the gaps of the now closed door.

"What the fuck does that even mean?" Suzanne was at loss to figure out the meaning of the final words left behind by Miranda when she exited the room.

She rolled around the bed as she talked to herself and came up with different theories about what it could mean. And despite being a woman of more than forty-years of age, and a mother of two, she looked gorgeous in her half-disheveled state with her messed up hair and her crumbled clothes. There was a unique air that could be felt out of that languidness which was incredibly seductive.

"Why does she always do this to me?" She whined to herself and softly beat down her fists on the pillow.

It would be wrong to say that she loved one of her daughters more than the other, but it was the truth that she found it easier to get along with Rose.

It can't be helped... Suzanne often told herself that. Still, she sighed in dejection that she couldn't change the fact that one of her daughters would rather not rely on her. Miranda was powerful, very powerful in fact, and maybe that did play a part in shaping this unusual dynamic between them. Nonetheless, Suzanne knew, she knew that she was also at fault.

A suffocating aura covered the room as Suzanne kept on sighing gloomily. As her emotions fluctuated, so did her mana. Little violet arcs of lightning buzzed around her, and the oppressive feeling thickened with each passing second.

*Knock*

The rapping on the door broke her out of her trance, and the stifling atmosphere vanished along with it. Startled, Suzanne sat up straight and turned to gaze at the door. Quickly, she checked on herself and smoothed out her hair and dress. When she was finally certain that she looked the absolute best she could, she went up to the door.

"Miranda?" A loud, heavy voice calling out told her that it was Raymond at the door.

Oh, it's only my Sweetie...Suzanne was relieved that it wasn't Miranda who had come back and caught her in the messy state. She opened the door swiftly.

"Mir- Huh? Aunt Suzy?!"

Raymond looked bewildered when she answered the door to Miranda's room. She watched him with interest as he peeked inside to make sure that he had the right place.

"Why-"

"Oh, my Sweetie, come here!"

Suzanne didn't give him the time to say anything else as she couldn't hold back long enough to go through the whole charade of explanations. She pulled his head to her towering bosom. Tousling his hair, she placed a flurry of kisses on his head.

"I'm so happy for you!"

She found it hard to contain her joy. As she laid eyes on her nephew standing dumbfounded opposite to her, the dam of emotions that had built up during the day burst open uncontrollably.

"You know how worried I was?"

"Now it's all good..."

All the irritation after 'conversing' with her chilly daughter went away like a poof. She couldn't care less about it at the moment.

"I knew you would do it! Hah! My Sweetie! Such a sweet and cute boy!"

Raymond felt his head pressed against the soft and fragrant breasts of his aunt. He greedily breathed in the floral scent that greeted his nose. The sweet pecks on his forehead and his cheeks made him swoon with happiness. It was like he was surrounded by the most comforting and soothing feeling in the world. He wanted to drown in it.

Heavenly!

When Suzanne eventually stopped gushing over him, they were already on the bed. Raymond was lying prone with his head on her lap, while she sat at the edge of the bed with her legs hanging down.

"Tell me, Sweetie. Tell me how you did it!"

Raymond smiled at his beautiful aunt who was blinking constantly, trying to rein in her excitement.

"I don't know... it just happened..."

"Come on! Tell me!" Suzanne whined to him, "You don't want to tell your aunt? Sweetie you have changed." She pouted and turned her head away.

Groaning to himself to have to leave the wondrous spot, Raymond sat up by the pouting woman's side and turned her head to face him. They had always been close and playful like that with each other, and it was the umpteenth time that this routine was getting repeated.

"Aw! Don't be like that!" He muttered when Suzanne refused to look at him. "Alright, alright... I will tell you, okay?"

"Humph!" Suzanne snorted as a smile bloomed on her face. "I knew you couldn't hide it from me... Now quickly," she pecked his lips and resumed, "Tell me... I'm dying to know!"

Raymond smacked his lips and warned her, "don't expect much as I also don't know what happened..."

After looking at him skeptically for a moment, Suzanne nodded in understanding.

"Hmm, where should I start...?" Raymond wrapped his arms around her elastic waist as his mind raced through the details he wanted to reveal to his gorgeous aunt.

The matter with Lily is obviously out of the question. Other than that...

He patiently recounted to her how he fought against, or more specifically, slayed the beast on his own. The 'heroic' tale was accompanied by the oohs and aahs from Suzanne and also fretting about his safety. He was only allowed to continue after she did a double take, and a triple take, over his whole body.

"So that's all that happened? Are you sure?" Suzanne furrowed her brows and tilted her head to the side. Her violet hair fell on his face, which made Raymond twist his head around to feel the soft and silky texture of the strands.

"What? Did you say something?" Raymond asked in a dreamy voice.

"I asked if anything else happened..."

When Raymond still didn't seem to pay attention to her and kept on playing with her hair, she smiled to herself and pinched his cheek.

"Sweetie, you can play with my hair later! Now, tell me if anything else happened that could be the trigger for your awakening..."

Raymond sighed helplessly as he watched Suzanne flick her wavy, lustrous hair behind her back and out of his reach. He pretended to think a little deeper before answering that he wouldn't know it if something did happen. Though a part of him felt a little guilty, he didn't want to reveal about the night spent with Lily and certainly not without her permission.

How good it would be if I could tell her about Lily...

A part of him felt that Suzanne would understand and maybe even support them if he told her about last night, but in the end, he decided against it. Everything was new to him, and he could not convince himself that it would be the best thing to do. He was sure that his aunt would not chastise him, though that can't be said about their other family members.

Everything has become so... And then there's Miranda.

Raymond didn't know how his beautiful cousin would react to the new development. And more than that, how he would react after she found out. But through all this, he was clear about one thing. He was more at peace than before.

His heart didn't race at the sight of Suzanne, and he didn't feel the uncomfortable tingling, the awkward rise that he felt just two days ago. It somehow seemed a significant development, although he chided that it was already wrong when he felt that way about his aunt. It was dirty, even if it happened momentarily.

Maybe I've changed...

Raymond still maintained that Suzanne was the most glamorous, the most seductive woman that he had ever seen, he believed that nothing could sway that notion. He appreciated her immense beauty, revered her charismatic style, adored her mind boggling cuteness, enjoyed her flirtiness, and all the countless little gestures of her. Throughout the years, this had shaped his image of an ideal woman. He loved all those things, but somehow the oomph of the past was gone.

He couldn't figure out the exact reason for it, and he was fine with it, it didn't bother him a smidge that he couldn't.

Suzanne mused, "hmm, I can't understand how then..."

The mighty marshal of the Gelodesh Kingdom was at a loss to figure out the reason for Raymond's awakening, and it wasn't the first time since the morning that she had felt this way. She was frustrated that she couldn't get to the bottom of it, but it was nothing compared to the massive joy and pride she felt that he had awakened his attribute.

"Well, who cares how it happened... The thing is that I have awakened, right?"

"Yes! Precisely!" A wide grin came upon Suzanne's face at his words. It was the exact thing that she had needed to hear. It could have happened due to the real life and death battle, or it could have happened due to some other reason.

The truth of the matter was that he had awakened, even if the rationale behind it seemed a little weak. Because, ultimately, if that was the only thing needed, he should have awakened a lot earlier or just after his battle with Rose.

However, the jubilation was so surreal that she could overlook it for the time being. It was a little annoying, but that's all it was. There were a lot of ways to overcome any hidden danger, if there were any. Most of all though, she was sure Raymond would be able to figure it out by himself at a later time.

The gorgeous aunt and the ecstatic nephew talked animatedly about a lot of things, some related to his attribute and awakening and some others related to his life in general. Suzanne expressed little surprise that he had awakened to the earth attribute; in her opinion the nature of one's attribute didn't matter that much, and she told as much to him.

"So, do you think I could defeat Rose, even when I only have the earth attribute?"

Raymond saw a ray of hope in her words. After a morning of training with Lily, where she had shown him her powers, he was convinced that the earth attribute was strong. Nonetheless, the ingrained majesty of the fire attribute was such that he inwardly bemoaned his luck.

"Oh, Sweetie!" Suzanne sighed exaggeratedly and then proceeded to further quash his hopes, "It isn't so much about the nature of attribute. You can never think like that."

The sympathetic head pat seemed more like a pity to Raymond. He uttered a bit forcefully this time, "why then?"

Seeing that his feelings may have been hurt, Suzanne asked patiently, "What do you know about the awakened and their power distribution?"

He raised an eyebrow at being treated like a little kid by his aunt. However, he answered without showing his displeasure outwardly, albeit in a mechanical way, "Well every time an awakened evolves their mana pool they are said to increase their star level. Like me, I have become a 1-star awakened. When I increase in star level by evolving my mana pool, there will be a corresponding increase in my power... Happy?" Raymond snorted. "Come on, Aunt Suzy, even children know this much!"

Before Suzanne could say anything, Raymond added what seemed like the crux of the matter, and what had been his main query. "Though it may be difficult it is entirely possible that a 1-star awakened can defeat a 4-star awakened." Seeing the questioning look on Suzanne's face, he hurriedly asked, "It's true, isn't it?"

"Hmmm," Suzanne hummed as she tilted her head to the side. "Who told you that?"

"No one... I just came to know about it. It's true though, right?" Raymond was impatient to know the answer. It was important to him that it was true. It had been his only hope to catch up to his sister and cousins. Because, if it wasn't, then he would forever be weaker than them.

"Well, theoretically it is true, but-"

"Yes!" Raymond clenched his fist in glee. He could put up with the fact that he had fallen behind them, but he couldn't take it if he was forever in that same pathetic position.

That arrogant little... he thought about teaching Rose a lesson, and it made him jolt with glee.

Raymond had come straight to meet Miranda after he had returned with Lily from the forest and hadn't had the time to see anyone else. He was dying to show off his newfound powers to his redheaded cousin, and while he was still in the midst of thinking of ways to get back at her for years of torment, he was interrupted by the grave voice of Suzanne.

Suzanne's soft palms took his face, and she stared at him, "Do not ever underestimate your enemies! You were lucky this time that the beast was exhausted and injured. Don't become conceited!"

It was frightening for Raymond to see the fierce air that surrounded Suzanne. He had never seen her being this serious and chilling. He always saw her as the playful and gorgeous aunt, and he was frankly spooked by her current atmosphere.

"Yes, I won't..." he barely whispered.

Suzanne only let go of him after she saw the look of understanding in his eyes.

Fighting against an awakened warrior was not a child's play. After they had both calmed down a few minutes later, she explained. "Listen, it's not that I want to scare you Sweetie, but it's dangerous! I still shudder to think how you had the courage to confront a prime beast..."

Raymond could only smile wryly at this point. He had thought that it was the only choice left for him but looking back now, it was really a dangerous situation.

"Technically, though, you are wrong..."

"Huh?"

Raymond expressed his confusion at the sudden remark of his aunt. He thought that she was just persuading him not to try anything dangerous and had given up on his earlier thoughts. However, her words signaled that there was more to the story.

"Yeah! It's surely nigh impossible for a 1-star to defeat a 4-star in an actual fight, and he may be killed outright."

"Then why-"

"But...! But it is possible for a 1-star to kill a 4-star..." Suzanne stated.

Raymond was speechless. He didn't know what to make of the two confusing and contradicting statements of his aunt.

"How? I don't understand! How is it possible to kill someone if you are supposed to be so weak that you couldn't even fight them?"

"Hehe," Suzanne smirked and then spoke in a passionate tone, "Killing is not the same as fighting. Remember that! Always..." She continued gleefully after seeing that Raymond was entranced by her words, "As you know, our bodies undergo a change with each increase in star level, right?"

"Yes!"

"Yeah, so it's a lot more difficult for a lower star-level awakened to fight against a higher level one. And Sweetie, I want to once again remind you that you shouldn't be overconfident. Don't ever underestimate your enemies, whether human or otherwise..."

Raymond frantically nodded his head to display his obedience. In truth, he just wanted her to get to the next part, the most important part.

"Now," Suzanne began. There was a profound look on her face but hidden underneath was a gleeful smile, which she found hard to conceal, even as she imparted her knowledge to her handsome nephew. "The most essential thing is the surprise element because, without it, I don't think jumping star levels to fight and kill could ever be done." Suzanne stated as a matter of fact and then added in a serious tone. "You should just run as fast as you can if you lose the initiative."

"Hmm..."

"But that's not all. You see, what do you think would happen if there was an interference with your mana pool?"

"Um? It would burst?" Raymond replied after much contemplation.

Suzanne remarked enthusiastically, "exactly! It would burst! If a 1-star warrior wants to kill off a 4-star warrior, he has to make the mana pool of his enemy explode, that's the only way!"

"And can you guess what the easiest way is for you to do that?"

Seeing the young man ignorantly shake his head, Suzanne couldn't help but puff her mesmerizing breasts. The sight was so enticing that if it was any other time, Raymond would have been entranced by the hypnotical jiggling of them.

Proudly, and in a sagely voice, she continued, "listen closely! When you launch a sneak attack, it means you have caught the enemy unawares, so that is the best and only chance to interfere with his mana flow. As you well know, it is very difficult to awaken one's attribute and so, in turn, it is also very difficult to interfere with the mana pool unless the person is caught off guard. Since this process is a bit similar to how you awakened your attribute and how you cast a magic spell, it should not be that difficult."

"It's actually easy to interfere?" Raymond was again a little confused. However, Suzanne expected it and tried to explain in simpler terms.

"Alright, imagine how you awakened... you circulated all your mana through your mana channels, right?"

Raymond answered immediately this time. "Yeah!"

"Now tell me why it was so difficult for you? Why did it take you so much time to awaken? After all, you know the theory behind it, right?"

"... I didn't have enough practice? Is that it?"

"No! You had enough practice." Suzanne decided to go through the explanation on her own as she found it hard to control her impulse to just tell him the whole thing already.

"What you lacked was control. Control! Take for example, when you killed that prime beast, it required immense concentration and control, right? In that situation, your body powerfully circulated all the mana in your mana pool. This might have opened up all the remaining possible paths for circulation in your mana channels. It might have that it was the critical factor, giving you a very increased control over your circulation. So, the next time you tried to awaken, you were successful!"

Well, maybe... But there's no need to tell him that. Suzanne was not sure if what she told Raymond was accurate yet it was the best she could come up with at the moment.

"Ooh, so you mean the sense of danger had to be real for my body to do that? And if I knew that someone would come and save me, I wouldn't feel the same pressure?"

"Now you get it! Hah, my Sweetie! You finally see why I was so scared and surprised?" Suzanne pecked all over his face, affectionately.

"Yeah..." Raymond sighed at his ignorance. He didn't realize that he was so close to death at that point. He trembled at the thought.

If there was even a tiny bit that had gone wrong, then my mana pool would have exploded by the pressure of the powerful mana circulation and I would have died even before I killed the damn prime beast!

"I was relieved when I thought that you had awakened naturally, but..." Suzanne shook her head frantically, which made her wavy hair become disheveled. She took his face in her hands and then pressed it against her bosom.

"Don't ever take a risk like that again, okay? What would I do if something happened to you?"

Raymond kept his mum about her worries and consoled himself by burying his head in the heavenly flesh peaks. The floral scent was still present and soothed him greatly. It was as if he was in the most peaceful place, the safest place that could be.

This is bliss! He mused about spending the whole afternoon like that.

But there was a constant prickling sensation in his mind that he just couldn't get rid of. The thought of killing someone much more powerful than himself just wouldn't leave his mind, no matter how much he tried to suppress it. Finally, when he couldn't bear to ignore it anymore, he regretfully lifted his face from the heaven that was Suzanne's bosom and asked her in a sheepish voice.​