"Dad! Mom! My second personality is taking over! Help me!"
Her voice echoed through the hall before she even came into view.
The bedroom door flew open and Aurora burst into the room like a pink bolt of lightning, skidding to a dramatic halt between Leon, Rossweise, and the still-transformed Noah.
She threw her arms out in a protective stance, crouching low as her entire body trembled with theatrical flair. Even the tip of her tail quivered in perfect synchronization with her performance.
"Ahh! No, no! Hikari... it's not time to take over my body yet—"
"Big Sis! Go to our room and find my meaningful item! You need to awaken me before I lose control completely!"
"No... no... it's too late! She's emerging!"
Hikari has appeared!
"Mom, I'll miss you... in my next life, I'll still be your daughter!"
"Dad, I love you. I'll never punch you again, sniffle-sniffle."
"Big Sis..."
After delivering her dramatic soliloquy, Aurora paused, noticing the complete lack of reaction from her audience.
She peeked through her fingers, her large pink eyes cautiously scanning their unimpressed faces.
Leon & Rossweise: →→
Noah: ←←
Aurora: 😦
Sensing the awkward silence thickening around her, Aurora swallowed nervously and forced a smile. "A-actually... I was just practicing lines for next semester's school play..."
"Pink-haired brat, thanks for the attempted cover, but it's no longer necessary."
The voice made Aurora freeze solid. Her mind quickly pieced together the situation—her sister's "resident old ghost" was already speaking to their parents. Her performance had been for nothing.
Aurora's brain shifted into overdrive, this time not seeking amusement but desperately looking for an escape route.
Plan: Full Blame Deflection.
"Mom! Dad! It's all the ghost's fault!" Aurora declared, pointing dramatically toward Noah. "She threatened me and Muen! She said we had to keep this a secret or she'd spank us!"
With Noah and the ancestor having already revealed themselves, Aurora saw her chance to emerge from this situation unscathed. Her only priority now was to redirect any potential punishment.
Her bright eyes sparkled with fabricated conviction as she spun her tale, ready to make a clean exit without facing any consequences.
Leon and Rossweise, however, were far from fooled. They exchanged a single, knowing glance at their mischievous daughter's transparent attempt.
"Noah has already explained everything to us, Aurora," Leon said, his voice even and calm.
"Phew!" Aurora sighed with exaggerated relief. "Well, in that case, my work here is done! I'll leave you to it. See you all at dinner!"
Before anyone could respond, the pink blur vanished from the room, leaving only the faint echo of her final word trailing behind her.
Noah chuckled softly, shaking her head. "She's always been remarkably quick on her feet."
Turning serious again, Noah continued, "That was everything I needed to say. It's time I returned this body to its rightful owner."
The faint white glow surrounding her began to dim. The intricate markings around her eyes dissolved into nothing, and the overwhelming regal aura faded away.
As the ancient power receded, Noah's body swayed slightly, but Rossweise was immediately there to catch her, gently pulling their daughter into a secure embrace.
Noah's own eyes fluttered open, her voice soft and weary. "Mom..."
Rossweise pressed her cool cheek against Noah's forehead, whispering softly, "You've done wonderfully, Noah. Rest now. We'll wake you for dinner."
"Mm... okay..."
Leon stepped forward, his large, warm hand gently ruffling Noah's hair. Feeling the familiar, reassuring touch of her father, Noah finally allowed herself to fully relax, slipping into a deep and peaceful sleep.
Leon watched her, his heart filled with a complex mix of pride and sorrow.
"Noah always carries so much on her own shoulders," he murmured. "She's truly incredible... but a burden this heavy should never have been hers to bear."
Rossweise nodded silently, her gaze infinitely tender as she looked down at their sleeping daughter.
Their firstborn, despite her youth, had already faced trials no child should ever experience: the brutal battles against dimensional rifts, the chaos of the Far North ruins, the desperate skirmish in the Moonlit Forest against Adam.
And now, she carried the soul of the Primordial Dragon King within her consciousness. Noah's path was destined to be extraordinary—perhaps one day even surpassing her father's own legendary status.
But Leon knew that an extraordinary destiny was not always a blessing.
He wasn't certain if such a path was worth the immense cost it demanded.
What he was certain of, however, was that he and Rossweise would stand by her side, unconditionally and forever, no matter what challenges the future held.
A few days later – Silver Dragon Sanctuary, training grounds.
The morning sun shone brightly overhead, its warm light illuminating the scattered remnants of shattered training dummies that littered the yard. The cheerful songs of birds punctuated the quiet air, a stark contrast to the evidence of rigorous, destructive practice.
Leon stood with his hands braced on his knees, sweat pouring from his forehead and dripping onto the packed earth below. His damp hair clung to his skin as he wiped his face with the back of his arm, his breathing still heavy.
Just as he prepared to push himself again, a cool, familiar voice interrupted his focus.
"You've been at this since dawn. You need to rest."
Leon turned to see Rossweise approaching, the sunlight glinting off her silver robes and creating a soft, ethereal halo around her figure. In her hands, she carried a silver tray bearing a single, frosted cup of a revitalizing drink.
"Here," she said, offering it to him. "This will help restore your energy."
Leon accepted it gratefully, drinking the cool liquid in several deep swallows before setting the empty cup aside.
Rossweise studied him, an amused tilt to her head. "Still no progress on developing that new technique?"
Leon sighed, shaking his head in frustration. "None. That ancient dragon said my current style is too brutish, that it lacks refinement. She told me to 'internalize' my power to break through my current limits."
"I thought about using 'Chidori' as a foundation," Leon continued, gesturing with his hand as if holding the lightning. "It's already a focused, high-intensity piercing attack. But it's so efficient in its design... I can't see how to compress it any further without losing its essence."
Rossweise gestured for him to sit, and the couple settled together on the soft grass.
After a comfortable moment of quiet, she spoke thoughtfully. "I don't believe what Noah meant by 'internalize' was simply about creating more compact, high-burst attacks."
Leon tilted his head, his interest genuinely piqued.
"If that were all she intended," Rossweise continued, "it wouldn't have been worth emphasizing. I think she was guiding you toward something more fundamental—a shift in your very approach to power."
Leon's eyes widened slightly in realization. "Are you saying I've been misunderstanding her advice this entire time?"
Rossweise offered a gentle, knowing smile. "It's a distinct possibility. You've been hyper-focused on perfecting your offensive techniques, but perhaps the true breakthrough lies not in sharper offense, but in perfect balance. Your raw power is immense, Leon, but strength without perfect control will always leave vulnerabilities."
Leon frowned, seriously contemplating her words. He mentally revisited his recent battles—the epic duel against Odin, the near-disaster in the Flaming Valley, even his fight against the Warhammer Dragon King, Adam.
In every single encounter, his strategy had been overwhelmingly, relentlessly aggressive. He left himself little room for defense, for adaptation, for anything but overwhelming force.
"You're right," he admitted, a note of self-awareness in his voice. "I've become complacent. My sheer strength allows me to bulldoze through most opponents, so I've neglected the finer, more nuanced aspects of combat."
Rossweise leaned forward and plucked a few single blades of grass, holding them delicately between her fingers.
"Think of these individual strands as your strength," she said. "When you possessed only a modest amount, you could control each thread with perfect precision. But as your power grew exponentially..."
She then gathered a thick handful of grass, letting it scatter and fall uncontrolled through her fingers.
"...you lost the ability to manage each strand individually. True mastery isn't about having more grass, Leon. It's about being able to command the entire handful with the same precision you once held over a single blade."
Leon stared at her, struck by the elegant simplicity of her metaphor.
"Internalizing your power means achieving that perfect balance and control," she said, her gaze meeting his with unwavering support. "The path won't be easy, but I will be here with you, every step of the way, my Leon."