Time soon passed. And with the rising of the new sun, the festivities soon ended.

All around the empire, elves lay drunk, arm in arm with smiles and tears in their eyes.

Drinking away the loss of their comrades, drinking in hopes for a better tomorrow.

It was truly a night to remember as everyone let out their inner hearts.

And now, standing in front of an all-green carriage, pulled by two white horses, Damien, Aelinor, Lyra, and Leona stood in a circle.

The only difference now was that, different from her former appearance, over the course of the night, Lyra's skin and hair had turned a faint grey color.

Yes, the night had ended. After waking up, Lyra noticed with surprise that not only had her ability awakened, but her skin color had changed as well.

Everyone was surprised by the situation, but, understanding what had happened, each person remained silent and did not ask questions.

Only Leona, who had never experienced the contract gem, was confused.

"Young lord, what happened to sister Lyra? How did her skin turn grey overnight?"

"Also, why do you smell a bit like her?"

"Before you smelled like sister isabelle only, now you have a hint of sister Lyra too!"Sniffing over Damien's shoulder, Leona's lion ears twitched in confusion as she could not understand what was going on

As a beast man, especially a lion kin, she was familiar with the smells of people she met; however, this was the first time she was experiencing someone's smell change.

Not only change, but smell similar to another person.

Lost in thought, her golden eyes darted between the two, trying to figure out what was going on.

Unfortunately, Damien, who was suddenly asked this question, was at a loss for what to say.

After all, despite being close to Aelinor and Alfred, he wasn't sure if letting them know the changes in his abilities was a good idea.

Considering it was a power that could potentially get an unlimited amount of abilities and powerful subordinates, it was enough to make even the closest brothers turn blades against each other.

"Damn! What do I say?" cursing inwardly, Damien realised he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

And Aelinor, seeing this, couldn't help but let out a light chuckle.

"Haha, Leona, your young lord has some secrets, so don't ask too much."

"I'm sure he'll tell you when he's ready."

Ruffling her hair, Aelinor's smile remained wide, for some reason, seeing this monster kid in front of her put her in an awkward position, which made her happy.

So much so that while ruffling Leona's hair, she gave both him and Lyra a wink as if to say

"It's fine, I'll keep you secret for you."

Instantly, seeing this, Damien just sighed.

"Indeed, doing such a thing in the presence of two seventh-order powerhouses without wanting to be discovered was simply child's play."

"Thinking of this, it won't surprise me if Alfred also knew."

Muttering in his mind, Damien turned his eyes to Alfred's position, and sure enough, the old steward was looking at him with an equally sly smile.

It seemed his guess was correct; yesterday night's events were completely seen by both of them.

"I should have guessed as much, if anything, that flower bed we woke up on should have been the easiest clue that Aelinor was there."

"Anywho, it's not a big deal either way, after all, at least for now, none of them are my enemies," he thought.

However, Lyra, behind him, was currently in shock as she listened to Aelinor and Loena's words.

Unknowingly, her face had turned a shade of red, and her elf ears perked up to the sky.

"W-W-W-What are you talking about!"

"What kind of secret could I and this kid keep?"

Waving her hands in exclamation, Lyra tried to defend herself; however, her actions just made her more unbelievable.

Even Isabelle, behind her, who had been silent all this while, couldn't help but roll her eyes at Lyra.

"Come on, don't you know you're making things worse?"

" It's obvious you got contracted to the young master, you're lucky Leona isn't that smart, otherwise she would have seen right through you."

Muttering slightly, Isabelle turned to look at Damien.

Although she didn't know why, knowing her young master had contracted someone else apart from her, for some reason, she felt uncomfortable.

Even if she knew it was inevitable, she felt she was not special anymore.

A situation which Damien would have corrected and reassured her about if he knew, unfortunately, he was currently in the middle of a discussion with Aelinor.

"Do you remember when we first started training? I added the condition that the only way I would allow you to go is if you tell me what mana is."

"So now I ask again, what is mana?"

Instantly, everyone fell silent when they heard this question, as they knew if he couldn't answer it, their journey could not begin.

However, none of the girls worried as they believed their young master would not let them down.

Personally experiencing Damien's growth, they knew his understanding of mana would not be any less.

And sure enough, hearing this question, Damien just laughed.

"Haha, mana?"

"I remember last time I referred to the energy that exists everywhere, capable of leveraging the world's laws."

"However, while correct, that is too narrow to call the final answer."

Raising a ball of shadow mana, Damien imitated Aelinor's move in the past.

"Mana is that and more; it's the extension of our desires and the reflection of our hearts."

"It's why some people's fire magic can hurt, while others can heal better."

It's also why you could easily predict and counter my attacks before; you could sense the intent behind each attack and know where they were going to land."

"Someone who attacks without understanding mana is no different from informing the opponent behind where their attack is going to land."

"In simple terms, mana is the culmination of energy, intent and imagination to change reality!"

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