"I DON'T think it's working," Tilly said in frustration. "I can't produce fire."

She did what Kiho told her to do. But even though she found the hole in her heart thanks to Winter, she still couldn't produce fire within her body. The only thing she could do was what she was already capable of: making her body temperature hot.

[Well, it feels like my body is hotter than usual. But my goal is to produce fire.]

"Tilly, don't be too impatient," Kiho slightly scolded her. "The fact that you found the hole at your first try was already a huge feat. I found mine after a week of training."

"But our baby helped me find it," she said with a pout. "Plus, you were a child then. You were still better than I am."

"Honey, don't underestimate yourself," he said patiently. "A small progress is still progress. Great things don't happen overnight."

She wanted to be powerful as soon as possible so her slow progress irritated her. But Kiho was right. Just because she awakened as a Fire Mage didn't mean that she would wake up powerful. It was kind of similar to working out.

[You'll get hurt if you start exercising without warm up.]

"You're right, hon," she said while nodding. "Great things take time."

He nodded, then he caressed her face with the back of his hand.

But all of a sudden, he hissed as if he was hurt. Then, he pulled away his hand from her face as if he was burnt. He looked at her with a shocked look on his face.

Also,

"Tilly, your body is unnaturally hotter than usual," her husband said in surprise. "I think if it weren't for my Mana, you would have burnt me to ashes."

She laughed it off. "Don't exaggerate hon."

Maybe Kiho only said that to uplift her spirits.

She picked up the face towel next to her and was shocked by what happened next: the face towel suddenly lit up with red flame. In just a few seconds, it completely turned into ashes.

[OMG!]

"Tilly, I think it worked," Kiho said in amazement while looking at the ashes of the towel that she just touched. Then, he looked at her face. "Your power is incredible."

Tilly gulped, then she looked at her hands. "I'm a little scared of my power, Kiho."

***

"KIHO is the Black Serpent itself?" Captain Sherwood asked in disbelief. "How did that happen, Your Majesty?"

"Right now, the Four Ancient Beasts are seen only as the emperor's weapon," Aku said. "But the truth is, the Four Ancient Beasts are gods. Before the Moonchester Empire was built, the kingdom where the empire started was called a different name. The ruler of that land was King Aleo who had two sons: Auro and Kalel Moonchester."

"I know that King Auro Moonchester was the first emperor of the Moonchester Empire," the captain said in confusion. "But it wasn't written in any history book that the first emperor had a sibling."

"King Aleo hid Kalel's existence because the first son was special."

"Kalel Moonchester was the first born?" he asked in surprise. "Then, he should have been the heir apparent."

"Like I said, King Aleo hid Kalel's existence," he told the captain. "Kalel was the reincarnation of the Black Serpent."

"Reincarnation?"

"The Four Beasts all used to be humans," he revealed that shocked Captain Sherwood. "The most powerful humans in the world, I suppose. They were too powerful that their fellow humans started to hunt them down. Because of that, the Four Beasts decided to ascend to heavens. They had to sacrifice their human forms though. Before they were allowed to enter the gates of heavens, the gods made them choose what kind of forms they wished to take. The one who could control the fire chose the phoenix. The master of the wind chose the blue dragon. The strongest man on earth chose the golden tiger. And finally, the one who could control both water and ice, he chose the black serpent at first. But just when he reached the heavens, he changed his mind. He gave up his chance to be a god and chose to be reborn as human instead."

"What a stupid choice," Captain Sherwood commented. "Why would he give up on the chance to be a god and choose to be reborn as a human instead?"

"Apparently, the black serpent loved the human clan too much. He wanted to use his power to protect humans," Aku explained while shaking his head. He agreed with the captain: the black serpent was a fool for wasting the chance to be a god. "Anyway, the black serpent was reincarnated as Kalel Moonchester. Even though he was still human, he still possessed his ability from his past life. But not only was he born with the ability to control ice and water. Every time he would use his Mana, the scales of the Black Serpent would appear all over his body. Because of his strange ability, the king locked him up in the castle."

The captain smirked. "See? The humans he loved so much treated him badly just because he was different."

"I know, right?" he agreed with a soft laugh. "Anyway, unlike the king, Auro Moonchester was actually kind. He secretly freed Kalel and gave him enough money to survive on his own. But before they went separate ways, Kalel gave Auro a bracelet that would apparently summon him and the Beast Gods."

"The "Beast Gods?""

"Yes, the Ancients Beasts were used to be called "Beast Gods,"" he explained. "When Kalel was born, the Beast Gods descended the earth as well. They chose special humans that they would lend their strength to. To give you an example, the Red Phoenix chose the Supreme Fire Mage as its Priestess. And so, the Red Phoenix had become the Fire Mage Clan's Guardian."

"That was definitely not in the history books," Captain Sherwood commented in an amused voice. "My family prides itself as the empire's "history keeper." But the story you're telling me isn't kept in our books, Your Majesty."

"Of course not. The story I'm telling you is something only the emperors know," he said, then he gave him a menacing smile. "And I'm telling you all of this because I know that I can easily kill you once you open your mouth."

"I won't do that, Your Majesty," the captain promised her. "As a Sherwood, my only interest is to discover the truth behind the Ancient Beasts, especially the one about the Black Serpent because my family doesn't know much about it. And as you know, the Sherwoods are curious people. We would die if our curiosity wasn't satisfied."

He knew that Captain Sherwood wasn't lying.

To be honest, the Sherwoods that he had met so far were all bookworms. Only Noel Sherwood entered the knighthood and even became a captain. But now, he realized that he only became a captain to dig deeper in the history of the empire– specifically, the history of the Ancient Beasts.

[The Sherwoods aren't called "History Bookkeeper" for nothing. They will do anything just to satisfy their excessive hunger for knowledge.]

"That's good to know," Aku said, then he continued with his story. "Naturally, Kalel the Black Serpent chose to protect Auro Moonchester and the Moonchester Empire that he built after King Aleo died. Also, during that time, Kalel had already changed his name and started his own family. Do you know what name did he choose?"

Captain Sherwood's eyes widened. "Nystrom?"

"Yes."

"Oh, shit," Captain Sherwood cursed in obvious excitement. "Your Majesty, even though Kalel changed his name, he was still a Moonchester. That means the Nystroms were also of royal blood, weren't they?"

"They weren't just of royal blood," he corrected him. "The Nystroms had purer blood than the Moonchesters because Kalel was a god."

"And you're saying that Captain Kiho is the reincarnation of that god, Your Majesty?"

"Yes," he confirmed. "Kalel wasn't reincarnated in every generation. Sometimes it would take many, many years before he would be reborn again. And it became harder for him to be reborn eventually when my ancestors started to hunt down the Nystroms."

"Why did the Moonchesters decided to hunt down the Nystroms?"

"The generations that came after Auro Moonchester were all greedy," he explained. "They wanted the power of the Four Ancient Beasts. They eliminated the clans or the tribes that the Four Ancients Beasts chose to serve."

"Was that the reason why the Fire Mages were purged?" Captain Sherwood smirked. "My family never believed that the Fire Mages betrayed the royal family, Your Majesty."

"Think whatever you want to think," he said seriously. "For the royal family, the Fire Mages would always be traitors."

The captain's forehead knotted in confusion.

"Stop asking about the Fire Mages," he said. "I have already fulfilled my end of the bargain."

Captain Sherwood nodded. "Just one last question, Your Majesty. You said that the Black Serpent could use ice and water. How come Captain Kiho can only use ice? We've fought in wars together several times. I never saw him control water."

"I sealed Kiho's power when he was a little boy," Aku confessed. "I can't let Kiho become more powerful than I am."

***

TILLY frowned when she felt a strange coldness in her chest. The next thing she knew, her body's temperature was starting to get cooler. She was sure that it wasn't her Mana. "Kiho, I think my body is starting to cool down."

Kiho, even though he was burnt a while ago, didn't hesitate to touch her again. He gently cupped her face between his hands. He looked relieved when he realized that her body temperature went back to normal. "How did you do it, Tillu?"

She shook her head. "I'm not sure," she said. Then, she placed a hand over her chest. "But the coolness started here. I think it's Winter's Mana. His heart is already fully-developed, and that means his Mana already exists inside my body."

"Our baby is taking care of you, honey," he said softly. "Maybe our Winter knows that you need to cool down your temperature."

She smiled and nodded. "Our Winter is protecting me."

"I have to do a better job," her husband said. "I should ask help from someone who knows how to train Fire Mages."

Tilly gasped when she realized what Kiho was trying to say. "Are you sure, Kiho?"

"I hate if but I don't have a choice," Kiho said while shaking his head. "We need to ask Captain Denver to teach us how to properly train you."

***

"BROTHER Mikhail, when will you bring Big Sister Tilly in our guild?"

"That's 'Captain Denver' to you, brat," Mikhail scolded Flint. Then, he gently flicked the child's forehead with his fingers. "Bringing Lady Prescott in our guild wouldn't be easy."

They could talk freely because right now, they were in one of the training room in the Fire Wielder Guild's tower. He was personally training Flint and thus, only the two of them were in that room.

Currently, they were taking a break.

"I want to train with Big Sister as soon as possible," Flint said excitedly. Then, he raised his arm and made it burn without using any weapon. Now, his frail arm was engulfed in orange flame. "I can't wait to show this to Big Sister."

"Like I said, it wouldn't be easy."

The child pouted. "Isn't there a way to bring Big Sister here without the royal family knowing about it?"

"It's not the royal family that I'm worried about, brat."

"Then, what's the matter?" Flint asked curiously. "Why can't you bring Big Sister here if the royal family isn't the problem?"

"Her husband, Captain Kiho, is really scary," Mikhail told the child. "If we want Lady Prescott here, we have to get through the captain first.

***

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***

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