"All hail!"
"All hail!"
The carriage came to a stop at the center of the garden. The guardian knights who were on duty raised their blades and gave a sword salute in a synchronised manner, not a single one of them clashing against each other despite the close proximity between them.
Standing before them were Jin's 12 siblings and... his parents.
The Runcandel Clan masters and all the potential successors to the throne were gathered in one place. Having every single direct descendant of the Runcandel bloodline together was an extremely rare occasion.
The butler Petro opened the carriage door. Jin gently descended gracefully with Gilly and Murakan slinged over his shoulder, like a corpse. As soon as she got down, Gilly bowed deeply before Cyron and Jin lowered his head.
"It's been a long time, my child." Jin's mother, Rosa Runcandel was the first to speak.
'Hearing 'my child' sure sounds a bit disorienting."
"Yes, mother." Jin replied regardless, maintaining the curtsy demanded by the Runcandel elders. However, despite the loving gesture from his mother, as soon as Murakan turned and opened his eyes, Jin felt an eerie chill up his spine.
The cause was his siblings. All 12 of them, glaring down at their youngest brother who was adored by Cyron---their father, carrying a stray black cat on his shoulders like a medal of honour. There was a palpable air of amusement and sheer ridicule lingering in the air like morning mist.
Jin stepped forward, confident, yet wary. None of his siblings could do anything to him. At least not now, not here. With a few quick steps, he arrived in front of Cyron who was standing with his arms crossed and a stern look on his face. His face wrinkled into a deep frown.
"You seem to be quite fond of cats. Did you pick it up from the streets?" Cyron asked, remembering the incident of when Jin had beaten up his twin brothers for killing his previous cat.
"I collected it, yes." He replied, his tone suggestive and corrective, almost as if finding flaws inside his father's implication.
The fierce creases on Cyron's face relaxed as he looked gently at Jin. "A proper attitude. I like it." He commented before turning his head. "I want to hear your reasoning." Cyron added, narrowing his eyes at the cat.
"For picking up this particular cat?"
"Precisely."
Jin picked Murakan from his shoulder and raised it up to his eye level. "It's quite silly, yet it bares its fangs when necessary. A perfect asset to keep around. Or rather, better than nothing at all."
Cyron's lips curved even more. "Satisfactory. That is the mentality every Runcandel should have. Make good use of your belongings."
"Yes."
Jin wanted to add father ahead of his sentence, but stopped, saying it out loud a bit awkward for him.
Some of his siblings' expressions turned grim. Probably because they had been severely punished by their father before when they picked up a cute pet. Or maybe some of them just didn't like Jin.
The latter was more likely. With a few exceptions of course. The 10-year-old turned his head to observe each of his siblings.
'One of them cursed me. Hmm.'
Who could it be? Ever since the day he saw the curse with his own two eyes inside his cradle nine years ago, Jin asked himself this question on a daily basis. And why did they curse him?
Why curse their 1-year-old sibling who hadn't done anything? Why did they attempt to curse him—a curse that would give him a fate far worse than death as a Runcandel?
'Is it just because I chose Barisada on my Selection Ritual? Or are they trying to get rid of every competitor for the throne, and I just happened to be an easy target?'
Jin wanted to question all his siblings immediately, but this wasn't the right moment.
'Or rather, they know about my contract. That would make sense since the Runcandels never had a contractor ever since the founder, Temar. Contractors greatly boost power as a powerful military asset. But is there even a way to detect and identify contractors? Guess I will have to ask Murakan later on. Right now... these LOVING siblings are a problem.'
None of his 12 siblings were weaker than the current Jin. Even the Tona twins—the idiots he used to boss around at the Storm Castle—had trained their swordsmanship for two years, so they were most likely stronger than Jin.
The days filled with bloodshed were about to begin. As Jin nodded, a malicious aura enveloped him as Jin put Murakan down.
"Meow." The cat leapt into Rosa's arms. Surprisingly, she simply caught it and began calmly stroking its fur.
"Son, what is this child's name?"
'Name? Hmm. I can't say I haven't thought of a name after saying statements like before.'
"Uh, his name is Ruyen. Ruyen Runcandel." Jin blurted out in the spur of the moment. There wasn't much rational thinking behind his thought process. Murakan was a dragon.And the first thing related to dragon that crossed his mind from his old worldwas someone calling Ruyen Dragon-boy. Hence the name of Murakan in his cat form.
"Pfft." Rosa couldn't hold back her laughter, and most of his siblings wore a sinister look. Cyron stared at Jin in silence.
"Father, mother! No matter how young he is, this is unacceptable." Diphus interjected, visibly taken aback.
"How dare he give the Runcandel family name to such a lowly beast! I also agree with Fourth Brother's opinion."
"Gilly! You wench, how on earth did you educate the youngest? How could you let him call a mere cat such a name...!" Ran scolded, ready to pounce at her.
There was a hurl of complaints. But as soon as Cyron opened his mouth, everyone immediately shut up.
"Why did you give it the Runcandel family name?"
Jin made eye contact with Cyron and answered.
"I am a Runcandel. This cat here is my possession. The reasoning is as simple as that." The gaze of the silent siblings was dyed with shock, and Cyron calmly nodded.
"How amusing. But son... Do you truly realize how much weight the Runcandel name actually bears?"
It was a tricky question, but Jin nodded without hesitation.
"I am aware. And just like the tona twins,if someone else were to lay a hand on Ruyen, I would cut it off myself." Jin spoke out loud while looking at the twins with a look that screamed; 'Do not forget the favour you owe me.'
'That sounds way weird out loud than it had in my head.' Jin cringed in his mind.
The curious stares directed by the Tona twins promptly changed into dread. They believed that they wouldn't have to be afraid of Jin anymore, but seeing his current attitude, their trauma from the Storm Castle resurfaced.
"You seem to be gifted at making enemies, son. Your siblings are glaring at you so intensely, don't you think?" Cyron's laughter bloomed like a flower in peak spring, clearly amused by Jin's answer.
'Uhhh, oh yeah, they look mad. Anyways.'
This was a warning.
Not towards Jin—who had caused a ruckus as soon as he arrived at the main house—but towards the others. A warning to them for daring to show killing intent in front of the patriarch. The siblings immediately adjusted their expressions and stances.
"It appears so." Jin replied with a shrug of his shoulder and turned back, his eyes locking with first Luna and then the one standing right beside her. Someone who beside the 3 other siblings had stayed still and quiet until now.
"So? What are you going to do about it?"
Jincontemplated on his words. To get Cyron's favour, he needed to fulfill the voidin his heart. A void left by Luna. "When it comes down to it, the fine line between killing a wild animal and a human---blood related or not would blur away."
"Kuhaha... Then you all should be mindful of that when dealing with your strong-willed little brother." Cyron's children, with the exception of Jin, all lowered their heads in response to their father's statement.
Soon afterwards, every Runcandel gathered today entered the mansion, and the banquet celebrating Jin's arrival began. During the entire meal, most of the siblings stared at their ludicrous youngest brother with complex feelings.
'Cyronseems satisfied. That's enough for now. Although that would place a few expectationsover me, it is nothing to worry about. I have to get strong anyways. Rule ofthe jungle... Eat the weak, worship the strong. Hm, but still...'
His train of thoughts paused as he raised his head and looked at Luna. Taking an elegant slurp from the soup, her lips curved into a small smile.
'...she is too suspicious to trust. For now. Hmmm. Let's start by peeling away the layers of each of them. Oneof my siblings...no, not just one of my siblings. Rosa seems to be involved aswell. Cyron is never home. Almost. Nothing escapes her sight. She must've knownabout this taboo act, yet she acted oblivious.'
As Jin ate away at the foods prepared for him, he took in the faces everyone.2 of the 15 people on the table were going to die by his hands.
An eye for an eye.
Even though he didn't lose anything.
(***)
After the exchange of a few pleasantries and paying his respects to the elders in the basement, Jin slowly walked up the stairs, his shadow receding beneath his feet as he walked past the fire lamps installed at regular intervals. As he reached at the last step, his hair stood on the edge.
Jerking his head to the left, he saw someone leaning against the wall, her eyes closed and her head leaning to the side. She was sleeping. From the way her chest weakly fell up and down to the streamlined inhale and exhale from her nose, as it flared ever so slightly.
Her long bangs fell on her eyes, almost obscuring them.
"Good evening, sister." Jin greeted.
The sister in question, Luntia, opened her right eye and looked down at him. She nodded her head. A firm, stiff nod.
"Evening." She scrutinised the little boy who had significantly grown up from the last time she had seen him.
"You look the same, sister Luntia." Jin commented. In a positive way, of course. He viewed her as a rather beautiful girl.
"You've grown quite a lot though." She yawned and left the support of the wall, standing right in front of him. "But your habit of making audacious remarks hasn't changed."
Jin leaned against the edge of the wall for a moment.
"Sorry if anything I said particularly hurt you."
"No need for apologies. I do not mind such trivial matter. Getting mad over such things is troublesome." She shrugged her shoulders lazily. "Although I do recognise that you were serious about what you said and not just shallow words from a kid."
"Hm. Yeah."
She looked down at him once more and extended her hand forward. "Give it back."
"Pardon?"
"The gift I gave you. Return it." Her crimson eyes looked down at him with a burning intensity.
Jin reached out for the inside of his pocket and took out a rather thick stub of wood. Placing it in her extended hand, he took a step forward, standing closer to her.
"That's all that remained of it."
She looked at the stub. A testament to the living hell her little brother had pushed himself into. A barely perceptible smile appeared on the corner of her lips.
"Satisfactory." She spoke and broke the stub in her palms, letting the crumbled pieces fall down like pixie dust. She patted Jin's head and ruffled his hair. "You were keeping it on you? Were you going to find me after this?"
"I expected you to find me first."
Feeling satisfied, with a gentle grip, she lightly clasped his raven black tresses between her fingers. Her final words lingered like the whisper of a ghost as she disappeared. Jin's eyes were wide as he couldn't even feel when she left. One moment her fingers were tangled rather firmly with his hair and the next moment she was gone.
Even his hair had not dropped back properly.
"Oh well, sheisn't the culprit. Just a disappointed one."
Jin mumbled to himself.
(***)
The summer of 1974 had slowly started to creep in. Four years have passed since Jin returned to the main house.
"Huff, huff...w-we will end the training with this. Good work today, Young Master."
"Hm, ok. Thanks, Garon." Jin replied with a nonchalant look, looking at his instructor who was huffing out loud due to the time spent on training Jin.
Garon Altemiro. This young 7-star knight taught the basics and foundations of swordsmanship at the Garden of Swords.
His pupils include Runcandel children when they first arrive at the main house, and clansmen who are training to become guardian knights. Every Runcandel had to learn the basics under Garon.
Today's training was using the sword when one's aura is in a deficit.
"Haha, you are too humble. Please take a look at the guardian cadets around you, Young Master. They are all on death's door."
Jin took a look around him. There were young boys and girls around his age. Just as Garon stated, they were all sweating profusely, panting and wheezing to catch their breaths.
'I guess the blessed physique does have its merits.'
Two years ago, when Garon was assigned this job, his training regimen quickly gained the reputation of being harsh and intense.
Guardian cadets were young elite trainees who stood out amongst other trainees and were selected to become future guardian knights. The competition to become a guardian cadet was high, and trainees had to undergo difficult training in order to gain that rank.
However, despite their expertise and experience, many guardian cadets dropped out due to being unable to endure Garon's severe training.
"Never mind them. You are still able to go on, right?"
Garon laughed awkwardly. "I certainly can, but young master, this is enough. Moreover, you will have to attend Lady Luna's and Lady Luntia's training session in the afternoon."
These days, Jin trained under Garon as well his eldest sisters, Luna "White Whale" Runcandel and Luntia Runcandel.
Jin shivered. Luna's training wasn't something that made him reluctant. It was Luntia's. She would conduct only one training session per month, but every month, he had to spend a few days in the infirmary afterwards. There was no mercy.
He was beaten up brutally, every time. And every time, she would leave him there, bleeding, with broken bones to fend off for himself. Almost as if Jin was an outlet for something she had been suppressing.
Having noticed Jin's terrifying growth speed, both Luna and Luntia volunteered to teach him themself. Thus, it was an achievement instead of a disgrace. Since a purebred Runcandel being trained by siblings was something that was looked down on. Although the motives behind the two sisters for helping their youngest brother were different.
It brought Jin both the admiration from the guardian cadets and the jealousy from his other siblings.
"That's true. Then I should go get lunch now."
"Will you partake with the other cadets today as well? Dame Rosa appears to be dejected for being unable to eat with you every time..."
"Hm, yeah. My siblings seem displeased about my very existence."
"I understand, Young Master."
Servants began to bring their meals to the training ground. There was an enormous pot with rice, vegetables and meat. It was a simple and crude meal, but the ingredients were top-class.
The guardian cadets stood in line, waiting for the food to be distributed. Jin stood in line as well, patiently waiting for his turn to come. The one standing in front of him glanced back over his shoulder and shuddered, before making way.
"You can go first, Young Master."
"Hm? No, it's ok. You stood here before me, so you can have your share first." Jin replied, eyeing the boy curiously.
"W-Well then, allow me to bring your food for you. Do not tire yourself by standing in the same line as us..."
"Uh, ok. Thanks."
As the brief exchange ended, Jin walked away and sat down. The boy in front of him was named Bellop.
Bellop Schmitz. A 13-year-old commoner boy, one year younger than Jin.
'Dormant potential. He can be somewhat useful.'
Jin thought. The aura thatBellop possessed was ratherpotent, when compared to other cadets. However, the tough regime madeit impossible for his frail frame to keep up with.
As Bellop brought the food, one of the cadets extended their foot and almost tripped him, however he barely managed to keep himself in one piece. Bringing over the food, he placed it beside Jin and smiled nervously before making his way back to the other side.
To cadets like Bellop, Jin was a scary genius. Someone they should avoid. Because he was not only a genius but a purebred Runcandel. Someone like him should stay as far as possible from Jin.
'He's quite timid and has little to no self-confidence. He's as innocent and naive as one can be.' Jin thought to himself. 'That is exactly the kind of people one could make into anything. Just a little push and they'll turn into something entirely else...'
"Eh, Young Master?"
"Hm?"
"It kind of hurts..."
Looking down, Jin saw his own hand clutching at Bellop's arm with a strength that was ready to snap it in half.
"Oh, sorry." He released his arm, apologising a few times in the process. "You can leave now."
"Ah, right, err, thanks Young Master."
"Hm, yeah. Bye."
As Jin watched Bellop timidly walk away, heheaved out a loud sigh. Getting strong alone was not enough. He could not do everything by himself. He needed a few sandbags. Disposable assets at his beck and call.
Yet. In Jin's eyes he was just a timid boy with a rather impressive potent aura. That was all. His selling point was the potency, and even that was something he had not yet manifested. Bellop was not even a 1-Star Knight right now.
However, what kept Jin invested was how Bellop adjusted his strength and purposefully lost to most of the cadets. Despite not being proficient in Aura, yet. But his strength at a glance was rather impressive. A stark contrast to his demeanor.
Contemplating on his next course of action, Jin dug into his food. Once lunch ended, Jin stood up and Garon approached him.
"I shall see you tomorrow, Young Master. Oh, tomorrow we'll be having spars during training."
"Hm, ok. Thanks, Garon."
"I should be the one saying thank you, Young Master. It is an honour to be able to teach you."
'They sure exaggerate a lot. Hm. Whatever.'
Once Jin returned to his room, there stood Gilly with a change of clothes in her arms and a hot bath behind her.
"Good work during training, Young Master. The eldest lady's lesson will begin in three hours."
"Alright. Thanks."
As Jin took the towel away from Gilly, he slung it across his shoulder.
"MEOWWW!!!!"
Jin turned his head and saw Murakan lazily dangling upside down from the sofa. Jin had not confided in Gilly about Murakan's secret. However, he had to do it one day or the other. He had already confirmed Gilly's undying fidelity for him. He was certain that under no circumstances would she betray him.
However, right now the problem was Murakan. He was meowing loudly, its eyes desperate. It was the same side-effect of transformation. Most of Jin's siblings and his parents were home. If Murakan transformed, his presence would be known immediately.
Jin sighed.
"Young Master, is everything okay?"
"Gilly. Lock the doors." Jin spoke up as his eyes started glowing, Shadow Energy leaking out of his body. "And stay silent. No matter what happens in this room."
A plethora of questions invaded her mind but seeing her master's determination, someone who she had raised as her son, she nodded and obliged. She covered the windows with curtains and locked all the doors. Once the room was locked from everywhere, Jin closed his eyes.
His hair started to blow up, despite the lack of wind inside the room. Shadowsconverged inward as the formed a spiral around Jin, completely engulfing him. Jin disappeared inside the small cocoon made of pure, filtered shadows alongside Murakan in his cat form.
The whole room was dyed in an inkyblack darkness. Even Gilly, who was a 7-Star Knight, could not see her own hand, no matter how close she brought it to her face. It was as if her senses had numbed out completely.
After a few seconds that felt like passing flashes of an eternity, light returned back to Gilly's eyes in a painful flash. She blinked her eyes a few times, slowly adjusting to the light, one floating, coloured mote at a time.
However,once she had adjusted, what she saw made her jaw drop on the floor. Beside Jin was a man with spiky black hair, breathing heavily while covered in cold sweat. Jin flicked his eyes towards Gilly.
"Did you feel his presence? His transformation I mean."
Regaining her composure, while maintaining an air of hostility towards Murakan, she answered. "Not a dime...but Young Master...?"
"Hm?"
"Who is this man?"
"Oh, him?" Jin pointed his finger at Murakan casually. "This is Ruyen. Or rather, his real form. He was formerly our family guardian. And now he is my personal guardian dragon. Murakan."
"HOOH. That was close... Oh?" Murakan glanced in her direction as his eyes lit up. "Strawberry Pie!"
"Strawberry...Pie..."
The pieces fell in place for Gilly. The request for an unholy amount of Strawberry Pie every week. He didn't eat it all himself but rather fed it to him.
"I was tending to the Great Black Dragon in my lap all this time...?"
Gilly could faint from the shock.
"Oh, that too. Must I say, it was pretty cosy." Murakan commented with a smirk.
"I'm off to bath. Get along."
"Come back here, you brat. Are you not going to explain her everything?"
"You do it. I have to be with Sister Luntia today. It is that time of the month already."
Jin shivered as he entered the bathroom.
"You make it sound weird." Murakan scoffed before looking at Gilly and taking her hand, holding it in between both of his own. "Dear Strawberry Pie, I have a lot of things to tell you, since that brat is too lazy."
"A-Alright..."
(***)
An hour had passed by the time Jin finished taking a bath and having a small cup of tea. During the two hours until Luna's lesson, Jin hurriedly made his way to the ground where Luntia was waiting for him. As he walked through the hallway, he looked back at his progress.
'3-star in spiritual release, 4-star in mana and 4-star in swordsmanship. I think it is not that bad. Sister Luna and Cyron reached 5-Star at the age of 15. I can match it up to not draw too much attention. Although even this is considered extremely young. Hmmm...'
These were the results of four years of training after leaving the Storm Castle.
His growth speed in spiritual release was far beyond what Murakan was expecting. However, the growth of his mana was far too slow according to Jin's standards. But it wasn't exactly a surprise since he couldn't use magic within the Garden of Swords.
Still, reaching the 4-star stage at the age of fourteen was an incredible achievement that was comparable to the geniuses at the Zipfel Clan.
'I am missing something crucial. Probably I am looking at magic from a strict perspective. Magic is like scientific phenomenon. However, it is not entirely true. Correlating both things exactly as one thing is stagnating my progress.'
There was a missing piece in the mana puzzle. Usually, people born in the world have a "feel" for the mana which is what describes their talent. But Jin was using his knowledge from his life as Kiyotaka Ayanokoji. He did not have the natural "feel" for it. Just a brute force way of performing a chain of scientific reactions forcibly.
His swordsmanship would also reach 5-star by the age of fifteen, which would be the earliest possible range, only achieved by Temar, Cyron and Luna. If he was able to do that, he would become the prime target for every sibling. However, they won't act irrationally as well.
Jin's growth was progressing favourably.
There was Garon's intense training regimen, Jin's notebook which he studied every day, and his spiritual energy he would strengthen whenever he had time.
"Late."
As he reached the middle of the field, Luntia appeared and commented, yawning.
"I thought I'd let you some time to rest. You look tired, sister."
"Too much talk." She glared down at him.
A light brown blur swished past Jin's cheek, drawing a thin streak of blood from his cheek.
"Too grumpy." Jin complained as he side-stepped and the ground where he was standing a while ago caved inward, forming a cobweb of cracks, making debris rise up and spread in every direction.
The after effect of Luntia's strike released a shockwave into the air, blowing Jin away like a paper bag in a sandstorm. He dug his wooden sword into the ground, breaking the backward momentum of his uncontrolled motion.
Without even looking or perceiving the next attack, Jin rolled to the left as another ear-splitting explosion destroyed the ground beneath him. However, this time he was too close, making him fall face first into the ground.
'It is the same pattern. But the speed and power is too much.'
"Not talking now?" Luntia voiced, devoid of any mockery.
"You don't look in a mood to talk."
Coating his sword in aura, he raised it up and blocked the first strike. The bones inside his arm wracked with pain as bones crunched audibly. Luntia smiled.
"Not this is body training. Not the rat chase from before."
The flurry of attacks only intensified as Jin barely survived each attack.
Luntia swung her sword in a simple downward slash. The air around it swooshed, forming swirls of air around it. However, the sword stopped just a few centimeters away from Jin's. Looking down at his fingers bent back, she threw her sword away.
"Are you okay?"
Jin looked at her with a straight face, despite the thin stream of blood leaking from his nose. "Never been better."
"Good. You have a class with Elder Sister Luna, so go on, for now. You need some time to heal."
Saying that she disappeared as soon as she had arrived. However, Jin could perceive how she disappears, or in which direction she went. The disparity was disappearing. However, at a sluggish pace. Even now, she wasn't using even half of her power and it was enough to fracture all the bones in his arms.
'I hope this recovers in time for Sister Luna's training.'
Despite his poor performance, Jin was absorbing everything like a sponge. Luntia's body training made it possible for him to surpass the body constitution of someone 5 years older than him, even by Runcandel standards. He never held a proper conversation with Luntia, since she explained talking in detail as bothersome.
However, she still takes her time out of her busy schedule to teach him something new every time. With a heavy sigh, Jin retreated back into the house, heading straight for the infirmary where the doctors were already waiting for him.
The already knew the Young Master would present his mangled body again. However, today wasn't nearly as bad as usual.
(***)
Luna's training as well was...
...pure drudgery, even for Jin.
"My dearest brother."
"Yes, sister?"
"Today's training will be the same as yesterday."
"I am aware."
"But you will have to change your approach and methods every day during this repetitive training."
"Yes."
Luna walked towards Jin and closed her eyes. Jin copied her and also closed his. Then, the same line he had heard over and over during the past month resounded.
"Brother. The eye of the mind... Use the eye of the mind to observe..."
This was the drudgery in question. Luna's lessons weren't methodical, intuitive and physically painful like Luntia's lessons. It was always about... the eye of the mind! She would just repeat that.
'It seemsinteresting but unless I see it, I can't really put it into action.'
Thecommon conundrum. Due to being a reincarnated person, Jin lacked the intuitive "feel" for the sword and magic. He used common knowledge, as well as his training from the White Room to get this far, but lately he had started to hit a ceiling. Or maybethe ceiling was because he was being taught something out of his league.
For now.
Hecould replicate techniques flawlessly purely from memory. However, when it cameto conducting Mind's Eye, something he had never experienced or seen, he could not connect the dots.
'Idoubt even if I see it, I won't be able to perform it.'
Thisis where the problem lied. He could've asked Luna to show him. Butopening the Mind's Eye is different for every person. It was different from Luna, and it would be rather different forJin who was completely different from her.
And it was not just restricted to opening the Mind's Eye. Jin had often heard the 8-star and above knights mention the 'Mind's Blade' realm.
But normally speaking, one would start training the Mind's Blade after reaching the 7-star stage. And it wouldn't be through silent lessons like this, but... by trying to scatter aura in all directions naturally.
He had never heard of a training like this.
"For people who wield blades to advance in life, gaining the Mind's Eye is the most important thing of all. Never open your physical eyes during our training."
Nevertheless, Jin obeyed his eldest sister's guidance and kept his eyes closed because he knew her personality. Moreover, she was widely known as the strongest among the 13 Runcandel children.
If any other sibling were to teach Jin like Luna was currently doing, he would've thought that they were trying to obstruct Jin's growth with some bullshit. Or maybe that they had become a fanatic of some pseudo-religion.
'I can understand the pretense. Since this is "Mind's" Eye, I have to focus on something other than the physical eyes. Is it the conscious grasp over sixth sense? To be able to use it to an extent that we don't need to see. But how is sixth sense going to help in weaponising and performing Mind's Blade?'
The two of them stood facing each other, eyes closed with Jin lost in his contemplations, until evening came. Once their lesson ended, Luna wore a refreshing smile. She stood behind Jin and slung her arms across him from behind, hugging him tightly.
"You did good today. You can head back now, brother."
She spoke as she slid her face forward, gently touching her cheek with Jin's.
Jin could meekly understand what the training is about.
'Patience and rock-hard concentration. Not sure how is that going to manifest a phenomenon but...hm, if she says so.'
"Hm. Thanks."
As Luna removed him from the hug and Jin stared walking away, Luna pondered as she watched his back.
'The incredible concentration he shows when he closes his eyes, and the tenacity to maintain that posture for several hours... With Jin's potential, he should realize it within a few years. Keep growing like this, Jin.'
Luna wore a satisfied smile and closed her eyes once again. Even as a 9-star knight, she had yet to have the second enlightenment necessary to reach the Mind's Eye realm. However, no amount of happiness could surpass the delight she was feeling from her youngest brother finally getting on track to understand what she was trying to preach to him.