KIHO found himself in a familiar cave that made his head ache.

For some reason, he felt like he was forgetting something important that happened in that cave. But his mind couldn't remember anything significant.

This is different from the snake cave that I found in the forest…

His thoughts were only cut-off when a glimmering thing caught his eyes.

What is that?

With furrowed brows, he walked toward the huge rock in the middle of the cave.

When he got closer, he saw a glowing ice spear stuck in the rock.

Am I supposed to pull it out or something?

The ice spear looked strange. In fact, it was the first time he saw something like that. The staff was made of ice, obviously. But instead of a sharp blade, a globe was attached at the end of the rod.

It's like a staff that the mages use.

"I'm not a mage though," Kiho said, then he turned his back on the strange staff. "I'm not interested in that kind of weapon."

He was seriously about to walk away but all of a sudden, the strange staff appeared right in front of him as if it was begging him to pick it up.

"Sorry, Mr. Staff," he said coldly. "I'm a swordsman. If you have a brother that is a sword, you might want to introduce it to me. I destroyed my main sword so I need a new one."

After saying that, he walked away from the staff again.

But much to his annoyance, the staff followed him.

"Stop," he warned the staff with a glare. "Are you a sasaeng fan or what?"

The staff didn't have a face but for some reason, he could tell that it was sad.

In the past, he didn't care about the feelings of other people that weren't connected to him. But ever since he met Tilly, he grew a heart. The days where he could easily and mercilessly kill people were long gone.

Well, he still wouldn't hesitate to kill if it was for his family. But he was no longer the mercenary or the "shadow beast" that he used to be.

Ridiculous as it may sound, he even felt sympathetic toward the staff.

Tilly, look at what you've done to me.

Not that he was complaining. He just wanted his wife to be proud of the person that he had become, thanks to her good influence.

"Listen, buddy," he said calmly, then he squatted in front of the staff. "I'm sorry but I don't really need a staff. I'm a knowledgeable about different types of weapon except for a staff since as far as I know, only mages could wield them."

All of a sudden, the staff shook until the globe attached at one end disappeared…

… only for it to be replaced by a sharp blade.

"Oh, you've transformed into a spear," he said. "I can use a spear but I still prefer swords, buddy. And I don't have time for this. I'm in the middle of an important training. I need to concentrate to produce water– hey."

He was surprised when the staff suddenly floated in the air, forcing him to look up and watch its next movement.

Then, much to his amazement, it started spinning on its own.

He was confused at first. But the staff's strange action suddenly made sense when it began to rain inside the cave.

"Oh," Kiho said when he finally realized why the ice staff kept following him around. "You can produce water."

***

"LADY Nystrom, are you already awake?"

Tilly blinked several times to make sure that she was really "awake" now. "Yeah, I am," she said to Sentinel who stood in front of him. "Am I back?"

Sentinel nodded. "Yes…" He looked at her hand. "And you brought an interesting weapon with you, Your Grace."

She looked at the small iron crab mallet that she was holding tightly. "I don't know how to feel. I'm glad that I managed to bring back a weapon and it's even something that brought me and Kiho together. But at the same time, I'm kind of disappointed in myself. I wanted to be as cool as the first Supreme who can wield a flaming bow and dagger."

"The Supreme didn't wield two weapons because of her own volition," the spirit guardian explained, then he squatted in front of her for their eye level to match since she was still in a lotus position on the floor. "The Supreme was originally a close-range fighter. She used her flaming fists to fight."

She gasped at that. "That's very different from what I imagined."

In her head, the first Supreme was an elegant woman who fought elegantly using her flaming arrow.

But she fought using her fists…?

Wow, that was still cool.

"Lord Wixx didn't want the Supreme to get close to the enemies during a fight," Sentinel said. "So he forced the Supreme to learn how to use a bow and an arrow instead. Thus, the Supreme became a long-range fighter."

She scowled at that. "Why did the fossil– I mean, the Red Phoenix force the Supreme to be a long-range fighter?"

"Because the lord wanted the Supreme to fight alongside him," he explained. "In the past, the Supreme would stand on the flying Red Phoenix and attack the enemies with her flaming arrows. They were notorious back then as a dangerous combo."

"Oh, I see. But the Red Phoenix was still selfish for that."

"I can't disagree with that, Lady Nystrom."

"How about the dagger?" she asked curiously. "Why did the Supreme decided to wield a dagger, too?"

"Someone close to her taught her how to use a dagger," Sentinel said in a somewhat annoyed tone. "According to that person, a long-range fighter needs to learn how to fight when an enemy happens to close the distance between them."

"But the Supreme was originally a close-range fighter, right? She could use her flaming fists so why did that person have to teach her how to fight using a dagger?"

"Because that person didn't want the Supreme to touch other men even if it was a punch."

She laughed aloud. "Eww! That's so cheesy!"

"Uh, Lady Nystrom, I don't think you have the right to say that of all people."

Okay, that embarrassed her a bit so she just cleared her throat and changed the topic. "Anyway, was that person the Supreme's lover?"

"I guess you can already tell from my slip of the tongue."

"Am I not supposed to know about her lover?"

"No, but the Supreme's love life has nothing to do with you, Lady Nystrom."

"Oh, that's right," she admitted. She was about to say something but she stopped when she heard a loud bang from the bathroom. "What was that…"

She trailed-off when Sentinel suddenly carried her in his arms without warning.

But she didn't feel uncomfortable because she knew that the spirit guardian wouldn't do that without a proper reason. And she realized that she was right when she noticed that the room was suddenly flooded with water coming out from the bathroom.

"Oh my gosh," Tilly said, a little bit shocked when she remembered that the saint brought her husband in the bathroom for their training. "What did Kiho do?"

"The water is filled with the duke's Mana," Sentinel said, then he turned to the bathroom door. "Duke Nystrom has succeeded."

***

KIHO was surprised when he woke up and found himself in the tub filled with water.

He was still in the bathroom but the whole place was a mess. The overflowing water in the tub made it flood in there.

Saint Forrester was even floating in the air, probably to avoid getting his shoes wet.

"Good job, Duke Nystrom," Saint Forrester said. "You exceeded my expectations."

He tried to get up and that was when he noticed two strange things.

First, despite being in the tub overflowing with water, he didn't get wet.

Second, the strange ice spear that he met in his subconscious when he was concentrating was now in his hand.

"Oh," Kiho said while looking at the ice spear. "So you can summon water, buddy. I'm sorry for accusing you as a sasaeng fan."

"What are you talking about, Duke Nystrom?"

He turned to the saint and shook his head. "Nothing, Your Holiness."

He was about to ask something about the water technique when he saw Sentinel carrying Tilly in his arms.

The sight made him scowl instantly.

"I just don't want the duchess to get wet," Sentinel said defensively. "Please don't look at me like you want to strangle me, Duke Nystrom."

"That's right," Tilly agreed with the spirit guardian. "Kiho, you did it," she said with a smile. "Congratulations!"

Kiho's mood was instantly uplifted when he saw Tilly's bright smile.

Also, he noticed the small iron crab mallet in her hand.

Oh, that's cute.

But still, he didn't want to see his wife in the arms of another man– spirit or not.

He stood up with the ice spear in his hand. To be honest, he didn't know how or why but he just knew what to do to stop the water from flooding the mansion. Before his mind could even process what was going on, his hand already began to spin the ice spear.

Much to his amazement, the ice spear began to absorb the water everywhere.

When the whole place was dried up, he was surprised when the blade of the spear changed into a glass globe. Just like that, the ice spear became an ice staff.

Wow.

"Kiho, that's so cool!" Tilly said while Sentinel was carefully putting her down. "Your new weapon looks amazing!"

Kiho hopped out of the tub and walked toward his wife. "Thank you, honey," he said when he reached her. Then, he held her shoulders and kissed her on the forehead. "I see that you also succeeded in your task. Your new weapon is cute."

"I know, right?" she said between giggles. "It's a crab mallet. Although I love it since it's meaningful to us, I wonder if I can burn down a tree with this."

"That depends on your fire power, not the weapon itself," Saint Forrester said, his feet now touching the floor. "Having said that, I'm not certain what a crab mallet could do in a fight. This is the first time that I saw a crab mallet as a weapon. Though if it was a normal mallet, I wouldn't be this skeptical."

"Just because the crab mallet is small doesn't mean it couldn't be used as a weapon," Kiho said. "I'm also relieved that despite it being made of iron, it doesn't seem to be heavy."

"It's light," his wife said. "Just like a normal crab mallet."

"May I borrow it, honey?"

"Sure, hon."

Tilly handed him the iron crab mallet…

… that he dropped within five seconds because it burned his palm.

And it was f*cking heavy.

No wonder the marble floor cracked when the iron crab mallet hit it.

The hell?

"Honey, you're strong," Kiho said in amazement when he turned to his wife. "You were swinging that heavy, burning hot crab mallet like it was nothing."

Tilly, who looked quite shocked, shook her head. "I don't know what you're talking about, hon. It wasn't hot or heavy. The crab mallet feels normal to me."

Now that was surprising.

"How heavy can a tiny weapon like that be?" Saint Forrester said, then he crouched down to pick up the iron crab mallet. The saint's veins popped out but he still wasn't able to lift it up. In the end, he gave up and held his waist carefully. "My back almost cracked. And damn, the crab mallet is seriously hot."

"Old people shouldn't be lifting heavy things," Tilly scolded the saint.

His Holiness just glared at his wife.

He smirked– proud of Tilly's sass.

That's my baby #1.

"May I try to lift it, Lady Nystrom?" Sentinel asked politely. When Tilly smiled and nodded, the spirit guardian said thanks and crouched down to pick it up. But after a few seconds, he pulled his hand away from the iron crab mallet and fell on his butt. "The crab mallet is freaking hot, my lady."

"Eh?" Tilly asked in surprise. "But you're a Fire Mage like me."

"That's right," Kiho agreed. "I thought it was normal for me and for the saint to get burnt. But the spirit guardian of the Red Phoenix shouldn't have been burnt by the Supreme's weapon, right?"

Sentinel's face flushed in embarrassment. "I'm a failure."

"You're not. Don't say that, Sentinel," Tilly said, comforting the spirit guardian. Then, she crouched– while being supported by Kiho– to pick up the iron crab mallet. Wow, his wife easily lifted it like it was as light as a feather. "Wow. I feel like I'm Th*r and my crab mallet is his hammer. Gosh, I'm the only worthy one of this tiny weapon."

He didn't understand what his wife said but he still found her cute.

"Tilly, now you're really the lady with a crab mallet," Kiho said gently, then he touched her face. "I'm so proud of you, honey."

"Thank you, hon," she said with the most charming smile ever. "May I try to carry your weapon?"

"Okay," he said, then he looked at the ice staff in his hand while hoping that it could read his mind. If you hurt my wife, I'll break you into two.

The ice staff shook in his hand as if it was nodding.

Good.

Only then did he hand the ice staff to his wife.

"It's a little cold," Tilly said with a smile. "Your weapon really looks amazing, Kiho. It suits you."

"Thank you, honey," he said.

"It's getting colder," she said, then she handed it back to him. "I guess our weapons are designed to only be wielded by their masters."

"That makes sense," he agreed, then he looked at his ice staff. "I just wonder about where this came from. When I master the ice technique, I didn't get a weapon from it."

"Those weapons are made of your Mana. They're very common," Saint Forrester said as if he wanted to change the topic. "Anyway, you may rest for now. I know that both of you are tired. Good job, Duke and Duchess of Oakes."

As soon as the saint said that, something strange happened next.

Tilly's iron crab mallet disappeared in a blinding red light. Then, the next thing they knew, a red feather "tattoo" was now marked around her right wrist.

The same thing happened to him.

His ice staff-slash-spear disappeared in a black light. Then, he felt something cold attached in his right earlobe. When he touched it, he was surprised to feel an earring with the texture of a snake's scale.

Why a scale though?

"Gosh, you look really cool, Kiho," Tilly said. It looked like she had something else to say but she covered her mouth with her hands. Then, she yawned. "Oh. I'm sleepy."

"Let's rest for the meantime, Tilly," Kiho said, then he carried his wife in his arms. He smiled when Tilly immediately wrapped her arms around his neck as if it was the most natural thing for her to do. "Ah, I remember." He turned to Saint Forrester with a smirk. "Your Holiness, we can sleep together, right?"

Saint Forrester rolled his eyes. "Do what you want, lovebirds."

***

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***

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