"Where are we?" Ren asked, yawning and rubbing her sleepy eyes as she stood next to her mother.

  A few days after the Fourth Prince's party, Anya and Xendar took their daughter on a trip outside of the Capital, disappearing without alerting anyone one night. It was still before sunrise when they stood at the edge of a rge open-pit mine that spiraled downwards for around four hundred meters.

  "We came for two things." Xendar expined, "One, we will do your Coming of Age ceremony. Two, I'll attempt to advance," he said with a serious face, while Anya looked at him worriedly but decided to say nothing.

  "Why do it here?" Ren asked, looking around, yawning.

  "This is an old Element Shard mine that has been depleted for about... three hundred years, so nobody will come here and disturb us," Xendar answered calmly, expining it to her.

  "Are we… going down? It will be a long walk!" Ren whistled, looking down from the edge into the giant, man-made hole.

  "No. I'll go down after we finish with your ceremony."

  "Anyway, what is this ceremony?" She asked, tilting her head to the left, "You never told me about it. I always just hear of this thing!"

  "Here, hold this," Xendar said as he put a shard into Ren's hands.

  "Wha-" but her words were stuck in her throat because as soon as she touched the shard, it started to vibrate, and the energy it transmitted into her hands was pure, undiluted, and precisely the same as the one behind the Sky.

  She immediately recognized it and sat down to meditate while holding onto the shard. As she guided the energy through her body, the so-called 'bubbling' feeling in her veins grew stronger with every revolution, transforming into a sense of electricity running through her. At first, it was numbing and a little painful, but soon, it eased and became natural, as if it had always been a part of her.

  "I see… so somehow the pure energy from back then crystallized. It stimutes my constitution, awakening the dormant energy I inherited from my parents. No wonder I have the same affinity as Father. This must be hereditary... Then what about my mother's side?" she thought as she tried to feel the energy coursing in her, but the only thing she felt was the increasing strength of the electricity.

  "Did you feel it, too?" Anya said, whispering to Xendar as they watched over their child

  "Yes." Xendar grinned, nodding his head, "She has a robust electric affinity. It shows itself even stronger than mine did..."

  "I wonder how strong she will be when she grows up." Anya wondered, making her husband snort loudly.

  "Stronger than both of us added together. If not, I'll spank her!"

  "You always say that, but you couldn't y a finger on her, ever~" Anya chuckled, hugging her husband's waist.

  "I could spank you; you think I wouldn't spank her?" he whispered into her ear as they waited for Ren to finish.

  "Meanie~"

  Soon, Ren was done meditating, and the shard in her hand crumbled into fine dust, spewing out violet sparks as she stood up, feeling a little dizzy.

  "That was… awesome! I feel stronger already! Dad, do you have another?"

  "Ahaha, easy there, my little champion!" Xendar chortled, flicking her forehead, "Why do you think I could hold it without any reaction? These only work once. Those who have gone through it can never do the same again; that's why this is an essential part of every cultivator's journey. Usually, when you start refining your body, you have your Coming of Age ceremony and make it into an event to show the world your talent… but you are an oddball Ren, doing things backward and ahead of time."

  "Fufufu, I'm just too good! Ouch! Moooom!" Ren moaned while holding her forehead, which received a second hard flick, this time from her mother.

  "You little imp! Keep your ego in check!"

  "Well, we are done with the easy part. Now comes the hard one." Xendar stretched, and from nowhere, Hal showed up, holding bck armor pieces, helping Xendar to put them on.

  "Uncle Hal? When did you get here?" Ren asked, watching them prepare.

  "I have always been here."

  "Hal, I'll leave the defense of the perimeter to you," Xendar said, his voice calm and focused.

  "Just leave it to me, My Lord."

  Before he could go, Anya stood before her husband and gave him a slow, long kiss, not saying anything, only smiling at him before she stepped to the side, holding Ren's hand as they distanced themself from what was about to happen. Nodding at the two, Xendar, dressed in heavy armor and looking more like a giant war machine than a man, jumped into the air. His body was cackling with blue lightning bolts, his cultivation bursting forth in one go.

  In response, the sky began to darken, and as she looked up, Ren's eyes became just as serious, her pupils constricting to the size of needle tips. At that moment, around the abandoned mine, everyone could see a faint scar on the Sky itself… but Ren had a different, more intimate connection to it. To the Tear in the Sky. Even though it was mended, it still looked like a transparent, old fault that had healed poorly... ready to open up at any time.

  Xendar's body suddenly resonated with the Tear as he was suspended above the mine. At the same time, Hal's energy radiated outward, and soon, the earth shifted, erecting a giant wall that shielded Anya and Ren from the energy burst emanating from Xendar's body, which was suspended in the air.

  "Whoa, Uncle Hal is a Harmony-level expert?"

  "Please don't call me an expert, Young Lady." The old man answered with a smile, "I harmonized with my body after only five refinements. I couldn't advance further and risk challenging more than five strikes. That's why I'm still inferior to your Father, even if he has not yet made the st step."

  That was when the first lightning bolt struck down. It carried the air of pure energy with it, bsting Xendar downwards to the mine, while Hal's earth wall diverted the impact that reverberated outwards. Before Anya could scream out, Xendar's figure rose back up, and he roared and punched out, meeting the second lightning bolt, but he was once again sent back down.

  "Don't worry, Mom," Ren spoke up suddenly, holding her mother's hands. "It's my Dad; he's going to be fine! This is nothing!" she giggled to ease her mother's anxiety, but deep inside, she was astonished. The power each bolt brought down from the Tear was filled with tremendous energy that would tear apart an average person's body even before it reached them. But inside... she was indeed shocked. "This tribution reminds me of the old days when someone ascended to the demigod status… what the… how can this be so strong? This could turn out really bad!"

  "Don't worry, My Lady." Hal added, too, "As the Young Lady said, the Lord will be alright. He had finished refining his body for the ninth time and had been stuck there for way too long. This was inevitable, and now that the Young Miss has stepped forward, he can't dey it anymore." Hal said, renewing the earth walls as Xendar's figure flew back up, meeting the next thunderbolt, and the following shockwave tore out chunks of Hal's defense once again...

  By now, Xendar's armor was cracked, and some parts of it had fallen off and remained at the bottom of the mine. But every time he was sent down to hell, he rose back up, roaring at the sky, not yielding. The wind was howling around them, and the scar in the Sky was like a wound that oozed out the lightning bolts, striking Xendar's figure repeatedly, a bit stronger with every subsequent attack. He was gritting his teeth every time he was hammered backward by the force of the bolts, but he knew if he stayed down and did not focus on guiding the energy that entered his body every time a lightning bolt struck, he was going to explode and die on the spot. No matter how much it hurt or how tired he felt, if he even stopped for a second, it meant death.

  When the final, ninth lightning strike fell on him, he didn't fall back but stayed floating above the mine, taking in deep breaths as the sky cleared and the Tear slowly vanished from the morning sky.

  His armor was disintegrating around his body, piece by piece, revealing his slightly burnt hair and injured skin on his naked torso. Yet, he brimmed with energy. After another deep breath, Xendar slowly descended, nding on the precipice of the mine, taking some shaky, small steps. Still, soon, he stabilized his footing, and the burned patches of skin on his body began to heal, becoming visible to the naked eye. The aura radiating off of him was tremendous, and thundering noises followed every flexing of his muscles.

  "Congratutions, My Lord." Hal bowed, sweating all over and looking just as exhausted, having to keep the wall up for so long.

  "I've succeeded!" Xendar shouted, letting out a long sigh, releasing all the leftover anxiety, and that was when Anya nded on him, bursting into tears. "Ahaha, don't cry, don't cry; I told you everything is going to be okay!"

  "Congratutions, Father!" Ren grinned, looking at him with sparkling eyes. "I can't wait to do that too!"

  "Oh, you! Yes, you can!" He giggled, rubbing his daughter's head, making a mess of her hair, "Don't even dream of rushing it!"

  "I won't, I won't!" the little girl promised, and soon, both of them were ughing happily while the sun's first morning rays shone on them... and on the newest powerhouse of the Empire.

  …….…..

  "You need to work harder." The voice of Aerthus IX came from one of the meditation rooms in the pace.

  "Yes, Father," Leinor responded, kneeling before him, half-naked, sweating from exhaustion.

  "Take a little break," his father smiled, easing on his voice, "Wash up and eat breakfast. After that, continue meditating and try to control the energy. You can do it."

  "I'll work hard."

  "You should. Your fiancé is already ahead of you and not by a small amount."

  "I can't compare to her Father," Leinor whispered after Dermitos mentioned Ren. He looked mesmerized by simply remembering the scene where she was ughing and fighting someone much stronger than her.

  "Don't sell yourself short! You are my son. You have the potential to catch up. But until you successfully start cultivating, you can't meet her."

  "But-"

  "No buts!" Dermotis snorted, "I won't let my son be the submissive one. You need to have strength if you wish to stand on equal footing. So work hard!" he said ughingly before leaving Leinor alone.

  "Father is right… I can't be a burden to her!" the young prince murmured and went back to meditating immediately, fired up to succeed even if it killed him.

  …….…..

  Time waited for nobody. Two years fshed by in quick succession, and the news that Xendar reached the Harmony Realm never actually spread far amongst the people. Only key officials and officers were aware of it. What spread around instead was the rumor of his daughter's skills, but most people just rolled their eyes, finding it too wild to believe that a five-year-old could cultivate at all. They took it as spreading false rumors because of what happened with the fourth Prince and because others were not too keen on seeing the affection between the royal and the 'weird' general's family.

  Around a year after the rumors began circuting, the pace announced that the fourth Prince, aged nine, had started his path of cultivation and held his Coming of Age ceremony. It was a celebratory week in the Empire as it was a public event witnessed by half of the Capital. When the young Prince saw Ren again, sitting with her parents on the guest podium, his heart started to flutter again, and he felt even more nervous that she was there, witnessing his ceremony. When their eyes met during the event, it seemed she was smiling at him, which made Leinor even more confident to work harder.

  After the second year, he finally completed the first refinement of his legs, subconsciously following the pattern that Ren had shown two years ago. When he received his Father's praise, he couldn't be happier, feeling proud of his achievement. Finally... he was becoming someone.

  "Congratutions, Leinor!" came a voice from a jade crystal he was holding between his hands, pulsating with every word.

  "Thank you, Eldest Brother! When will you come back? I miss you!"

  "Ahaha, I would like to return, but sadly, I can't." The firstborn son of the Emperor answered, his voice a bit distorted, but Leinor could feel the warmth coming through it. "For the past years, we have had more and more small skirmishes against the demon folk in the northern forests. If this continues, we will have to mobilize the full force of the military to prepare for another invasion. I hope it won't happen, but until then, I won't be able to come back. I have my duty to accomplish here."

  "If I reach the second refinement, I may be sent out to help you. That would be great!" Leinor added, eager to join him.

  "Whoa, Whoa, kid, slow it down. We heard you are a pretty fast learner, but no. Even if you do, you would still be too young!" He rebuked Leinor, not too harshly, but trying to educate him, "Stay home and practice. Your time will come, believe me. You don't want to rush into a battlefield. War is not like in the stories told by bards! It's brutal, messy, and deadly. There is no romance on the battlefield, only misery."

  "Y-yes, brother…" he said with a sheepish voice.

  "Ahaha, don't feel down all of a sudden; I know you want to help. You are a good boy, Leinor. I'm happy to be your elder brother. Anyway! Tell me, are the rumors true about your little fiancé?"

  "Yes! She is so awesome! You should have seen her!" He perked up immediately.

  "Oh? So tell me, how are things between you two?"

  "Ah. Um…”

  "You never even spoke to her yet, I assume." His brother said, pointing out the obvious.

  "Yes…" Leinor whispered in answer.

  "Thought so. You should go out sometimes to py; you're close in age, so it could be fun. Anyway, both of you are still kids, so why not visit the General's family? You should enjoy your childhood while you can!"

  "Oh, that's a good idea, brother!" Leinor excimed, finally having a reason to do something.

  "Don't tell me you never thought of it? Geez… Where are your thoughts?"

  "On improving. Father always makes me train all day..."

  "No wonder. Do what I told you and say hello to General Xendar in my name, okay?"

  "Will do, brother!"

  "Good. Be a good boy now, Leinor. We will speak again."

  "Um! And... Stay safe, Eldest Brother!"

  As soon as they finished, the voice projecting crystal slowly crumbled to dust, making Leinor sigh softly, still missing his sibling. Nevertheless, soon, he shook his head and stood up with a new resolution in his eyes. He hurried out of his room to ask his Father to arrange a carriage for tomorrow as he wished to visit General Xendar's mansion... and for the first time, his Father didn't argue against it.