It had been a very long time.
If I remembered correctly...
It had all happened around five years ago.
Back then, Lucas had suddenly arrived at our home together with Grandmother.
No one had informed us of their visit beforehand, making their arrival a complete surprise to everyone in the household.
Lucas was nothing like my younger cousin, Dorothea.
If Dorothea was quiet, timid, and preferred to remain close to those she already knew, then Lucas was her complete opposite.
Father once told me that Lucas possessed an extroverted nature.
He could begin a conversation with almost anyone.
It never took him long to blend into a new environment, even among people he had only just met.
His open and approachable personality allowed him to earn the goodwill of others wherever he went.
Their arrival that day had been utterly unexpected.
By pure coincidence, my elder sister and I had been sparring in the open training ground behind our home.
Father and Mother had gone out to attend to some business.
Only Ryan remained at the manor, watching over Karina.
At the time, my little sister was only two years old and still required constant care and attention.
Unable to find Father or Mother inside the house, Ryan directed Grandmother and Lucas toward the backyard.
He had probably assumed our parents were there together with us.
In truth, they were nowhere on the estate.
Following Ryan's directions, Grandmother and Lucas eventually found the training grounds.
However...
The duel between Charlotte and me had already reached its fiercest point.
Our entire focus rested solely upon the opponent standing before us.
Neither of us realized that two unexpected spectators had quietly arrived to witness the battle.
Until...
Without the slightest hesitation, Charlotte unleashed a Ninjutsu that I still remembered with absolute clarity, even to this very day.
Lightning Release.
Kirin.
One of the highest-ranking Ninjutsu, the very technique that had once made Mother believe a great storm was about to descend upon our home.
Dark clouds gathered across the heavens.
Bolts of lightning coiled endlessly within the sea of black clouds, brilliant flashes occasionally tearing across the sky.
Within mere seconds, daylight vanished beneath an ominous darkness.
It was as though the heavens themselves had become enraged.
As though divine judgment had already been prepared to descend upon anyone unfortunate enough to stand beneath that sky.
The sight was utterly awe-inspiring.
To Grandmother...
It was terrifying.
Something she had never imagined she would witness in all her years.
But for Lucas...
There was no fear within his eyes.
Only wonder.
His eyes sparkled with dazzling excitement.
As though the heroic legends he had admired since childhood had suddenly stepped out of old tales and taken shape before him.
From that day onward...
Grandmother finally learned that her grandchildren were far from ordinary.
She called us magicians.
To be honest, I had wanted to correct her.
What we wielded was not magic as most people understood it.
But...
In the end, I decided there was little point in arguing.
The word was far easier to understand than attempting to explain chakra and Ninjutsu, whose true origins were known only to Father.
Unlike Grandmother...
Lucas cared about nothing except satisfying his curiosity.
From that day onward, he nearly drove me to exhaustion.
Question after question poured from his mouth without end.
"How do you perform magic?"
"What kind of magic did Charlotte use?"
"Can I learn it as well?"
The questions continued relentlessly, giving me scarcely enough time to breathe between them.
And eventually...
He confessed a wish that was entirely sincere.
He wanted to become like us.
I had no objections whatsoever.
So I sought Father's permission.
Fortunately...
Father did not refuse.
Unlike Charlotte, my siblings, and myself, who had inherited abundant chakra from Father since birth...
Lucas was different.
He had been born an ordinary human, possessing not even a single drop of chakra within his body.
Rather than turning him away, Father chose to open the gateway into a world that had long remained known only to our family.
He poured his own chakra into Lucas's body.
By force, the chakra pathways that had remained dormant throughout Lucas's life began opening one after another.
His body was compelled to adapt to that unfamiliar energy.
Little by little.
Slowly, yet with unwavering certainty.
Until, at last, his body learned not only to accept chakra, but to generate it naturally on its own.
Compared to us, who had lived with chakra since early childhood, he had undoubtedly begun far too late.
Even so, with Father's guidance, Lucas's progress far exceeded what should have been possible.
Father once remarked that Lucas possessed rather impressive talent.
It was only...
That when compared to my siblings and me, there still remained an enormous gulf separating our abilities.
Even so, I found myself genuinely happy.
At last, I had someone within my own family who could truly understand the world upon which we stood.
Someone capable of wielding the same power.
Someone who would one day possess the strength to protect his own family, just as I wished to protect mine.
As the years quietly passed, I naturally became the one who spent the most time teaching Lucas.
There was a reason for that.
His relationship with Charlotte was forever filled with small arguments.
Whether because their personalities differed too greatly or because Charlotte's methods of instruction were simply too merciless, the two of them rarely managed to find any real harmony during training.
And so...
Whenever Lucas wished to train or learn something new, he almost always sought me out instead.
From that moment onward, without either of us truly noticing, the bond between us slowly began to change.
We were no longer merely cousins.
We had become a teacher and his student, bound together by unwavering trust.
Father even created a spatial portal connecting the Village of Green Pines with the City of Brandenburg.
Thanks to that portal, a journey that had once required several days could now be crossed in no more than a few steps.
Because of it, I was able to guide Lucas whenever he needed me without worrying about the long distance between us.
To be honest...
Becoming someone's teacher brought me countless new experiences.
Whenever I taught Lucas something, I often found myself gaining a deeper understanding in return.
There were times when I discovered ways of thinking that had never occurred to me before.
There were also moments when one of his seemingly simple questions made me view a particular Jutsu from an entirely different perspective.
Teaching, it seemed, was not merely the act of passing on knowledge.
It was also a journey of learning.
Throughout those five years, Lucas's growth had truly surpassed every expectation I had held.
His abilities had now reached the level of a Chunin.
Not bad.
In fact, it was remarkably impressive for someone who had begun learning chakra so much later than we had.
As long as he did not find himself facing an Auror who had already stepped into the realm of an Expert, he should encounter very few opponents capable of overwhelming him.
Besides...
Individuals possessing strength on the level of an Expert were hardly common.
Such people were usually elite mercenaries or veteran knights who had devoted countless years to honing their abilities.
Their numbers were exceedingly small.
Even within the City of Brandenburg, only the highest-ranking members of the Mercenaries' Guild possessed strength comparable to Experts.
The same was true within the Order of Knights.
Once a knight reached that realm, their rank within the Order almost always rose alongside their newfound strength.
Because of that, the number of knights who possessed such power could almost be counted upon one's fingers.
If Lucas continued progressing at his current pace...
Perhaps only a few more years would pass before his raw strength reached the threshold of a Jounin.
Even so...
According to Father, the world of Shinobi had never judged anyone solely by the size of their chakra reserves or the might of their physical strength.
There were many other qualities that determined a Shinobi's true standing.
Their understanding of Ninjutsu.
Their mastery of Taijutsu.
Their command of Genjutsu.
Their ability to read the battlefield.
Their judgment in critical moments.
Their experience in combat.
Their composure beneath overwhelming pressure.
And countless other forms of knowledge that were equally indispensable to a true Shinobi.
Each of those elements complemented the others.
Only after all of them were considered together could one's true rank be determined.
Genin.
Chunin.
Or Jounin.
There was...
One other rank that was often spoken of.
I still remembered what Father had once told me about it.
"A rank beyond Jounin does indeed exist."
"If someone possesses extraordinary talent, even without overwhelming raw power, they may still reach that level. Likewise, one blessed with both exceptional talent and immense natural strength may stand there as well."
"That rank is known as Kage."
Father paused for a moment.
His gaze remained calm and unwavering.
As though every word he spoke had been contemplated countless times before leaving his lips.
"Talent does not mean inheriting a special bloodline or being born into a noble lineage."
"True talent is the ability to use one's mind. To think with reason, while at the same time possessing the imagination to create something the world has never seen before."
"That is why... even someone born into an ordinary family can one day reach the level of a Kage, provided they possess extraordinary intelligence, unwavering determination, and limitless creativity."
A faint smile returned to Father's face.
"As for ranks beyond Kage... forget about them, my son. To be perfectly honest, in Father's eyes, the world of Shinobi truly has only three ranks."
"Genin."
"Chunin."
"And Jounin."
"Kage is merely a title bestowed upon those who have surpassed the level of a Jounin while carrying responsibilities far greater than most could ever bear."
Father's eyes met mine directly.
They were deep.
Gentle.
Filled with quiet conviction.
"So never allow yourself to become intoxicated by rank, nor chase after titles alone."
"Become stronger. Protect the people you love."
"If you do that, people will not remember you because of the rank you attained. They will remember you as the person who chose to use that strength to protect them."
"Do you understand, my son?"
Without the slightest hesitation, I nodded.
Every one of Father's words carried profound meaning.
They did not merely reach my ears.
They engraved themselves upon my heart.
"I understand, Father."