Dante gently caressed Vexion's outer thighs, earning an even brighter smile from her. She instinctively shifted a little on his lap, settling into his embrace with obvious comfort.
Dante could only sigh inwardly as the familiar consequence of having his beautiful fox sitting comfortably on him made itself known. At this point, he had long accepted that this was simply one of life's inconveniences.
His thoughts wandered elsewhere. Every now and then, whenever he met another beautiful woman, his mind unconsciously compared them to Vexion.
Every single time, Vexion won — not by a small margin either. There wasn't even a competition.
Amber and Elric, meanwhile, slowly came to a realization. The two of them genuinely didn't understand what was wrong with what they were doing. Neither Dante nor Vexion looked embarrassed. Neither looked like they were trying to show off. To them, this simply seemed normal.
The pair exchanged a helpless glance before silently deciding to ignore it. Fortunately, they had witnessed Lexa's overwhelming strength only yesterday, and more importantly, they knew the person who had trained Lexa — and Vexion — was the shameless young man currently lounging on the sofa.
Whether they liked his personality or not, they couldn't deny his ability. That alone earned him a certain level of respect. Even if the scene before them wasn't particularly worthy of it.
Once everyone settled down, Dante lazily looked toward Lexa.
"Coffee."
Lexa nodded before turning to leave.
"And bring snacks."
She paused before looking back at him with a faint frown.
"Master, we only have your favourite meals stocked. We have coffee, but I never bought any snacks."
Dante waved his hand dismissively.
"Coffee is fine."
Lexa disappeared into the kitchen. A few minutes later she returned carrying several cups before quietly taking a seat opposite Amber and Elric. Well, not directly opposite — she intentionally chose a seat with a comfortable amount of distance between herself and Dante and Vexion.
She had no desire whatsoever to sit inside whatever atmosphere those two naturally created simply by existing together.
Dante took a sip of his coffee before looking at Amber.
"So." He placed the cup down. "Tell me everything. What exactly did your family try? What methods did your instructors use? Don't leave anything out."
Amber nodded.
She closed her eyes, recalling every attempt made throughout her childhood. From as early as she could remember, her family had believed her skill possessed incredible potential. Every generation had produced talented individuals.
Surely a Mythical Skill couldn't simply be useless. Yet no matter what they attempted, the conclusion always remained the same.
"I can absorb ambient mana. I can continue storing it almost indefinitely." She paused. "But I can't cast anything with it. I can't release it. I can't convert it into attacks. I can't strengthen my body with it. I can't even transfer it to someone else."
She sighed.
"My family eventually came to the conclusion that I was nothing more than a battery. A battery that endlessly stores mana. A battery that no one can even use."
Dante quietly listened. He already understood the fundamental problem.
It wasn't Amber's skill. It was everyone's imagination.
Or rather, their understanding of mana itself.
From everything he had learned inside the Academy's library, he knew they had approached her ability from entirely the wrong direction.
They viewed mana as nothing more than energy. Could it strengthen the body? Could it create destructive attacks? Could it produce barriers? Could it enhance weapons? If the answer was no, then the mana itself was considered practically useless.
That line of thinking was fundamentally flawed.
From Skill Theory, Dante had learned something far more important — mana wasn't simply energy. Mana carried structure.
Every spell, every technique, every enchantment, every formation, every barrier, every curse — every single one of them was woven together through incredibly intricate mana threads. Those threads formed the very foundation of a skill.
Dante himself couldn't naturally perceive those structures. However, he knew someone who could.
Before he could continue, Lexa spoke first. She had quietly followed his train of thought.
"Master—" She looked toward Amber. "—are you saying she can actually see those structures?"
Dante smiled.
"Exactly."
Amber and Elric exchanged puzzled looks. Neither understood what the two were talking about. Dante didn't immediately explain. Instead, he looked toward Lexa.
"Summon a single drop of blood."
She nodded.
"Keep it small. Actually, make it around five percent output."
Lexa raised a finger. A tiny crimson droplet floated quietly above it. Even something this simple required remarkable precision — controlling output this accurately wasn't something an ordinary person could accomplish.
Dante turned back toward Amber.
"What do you see?"
Amber observed the blood drop for a moment.
"I can see the mana surrounding the skill."
Dante shook his head.
"Closer."
She frowned. "...Closer?"
"Look deeper."
Amber focused again, this time ignoring the blood itself, her attention shifting entirely toward the mana composing it. Several moments passed. Then her pupils narrowed.
"I—" She stared without blinking. "—there are threads."
Countless strands of mana intertwined with one another. They crossed, folded, looped around each other, each thread occupying an exact position, together forming the tiny blood droplet suspended in the air.
The structure was so intricate that she almost missed it — she had never consciously observed it before.
Dante smiled.
"There. Now try touching them."
Amber hesitated before extending her senses. Surprisingly, it wasn't difficult. Her consciousness gently brushed against one of the threads, then another. Soon, she instinctively separated several of them without even understanding how she knew what to do.
Dante's smile widened.
"Good. Now — can you absorb the mana making up the skill itself?"
Amber nodded. She reached toward the woven mana. The threads unraveled, the mana flowing into her body, and the floating blood droplet instantly collapsed, dispersing into nothing.
Lexa watched calmly. She could have resisted — the skill belonged to her, after all — but since she knew her Master was demonstrating something, she allowed the blood construct to dissipate.
Dante then looked at Amber once more.
"Now. Look inside yourself. Tell me exactly what you see."
Lexa, Vexion, and Elric all leaned forward slightly. For the first time, they too wanted to know what Amber's eyes were truly seeing.