Abby could not believe what she was hearing… Was he truly an exception or was it just a fluke? He had been sitting directly next to her the entire time and she seemed not to notice… And, for the first time, she had genuine fun playing with someone else… He went that far just to trick her into playing a game with him— he definitely seemed like a nice person who truly cared about her… She had never felt such warmth from someone other than Alex in what seemed like forever in her mind.

"So, what do you say? Rematch?"

She heard that voice once again, as she looked up with her eyes that she only just now recognized were crying tears of joy and spoke…

"Yes… That would be lovely… B-b-but please stay on the other side of the couch…"

Moby smiled at her words and felt relief in his heart that drowned out all his senses. He seemed to have finally broken through the first barrier.

However, she did not fully get over everything and was still shy and reluctant which he found completely understandable.

"Okay let's do it!"

**********************************************

Moby and Abby played Dario kart over and over again trading blows on who won— However, in general, it was Moby who won most of the games due to his superior experience and game knowledge. Even still, Abby had fun; he had never seen her so happy in a long time. She seemed almost like a child discovering video games for the first time which he would have been lying to say that he wasn't in the same boat only a few months prior.

Yet, what Moby did not manage to do in all his time with her now was have a proper conversation that was not game-related so he can help her get over her internal trauma more but he decided to save that for another time, he had already made more than enough progress for today.

Before they even knew it, the light outside began to turn a tint of orange. They seemed to have played for many hours and none of them noticed until it was finally brought to Moby's attention when he looked around and stretched.

"It's 6 pm already?!"

He blurted out all of a sudden.

"Awwww… So do you have to go?"

Moby nodded to her words softly…

"Yes… I have to go now… But first, can we talk t—"

Before Moby was able to finish his sentence, he heard a voice enter his head.

'Don't worry about it now, bringing him up would only ruin the mood for her and I don't want that to happen after you've worked so hard. Talking with Alucard can wait until later, I'm really in no rush to know…'

'Hmmm… Really? B-"

'Heh, yeah, waiting a few days wouldn't be a big deal. You really impressed me, I never thought you'd manage to get to her so quickly, but I still stand by my words that she will never recover and be the same ever again,'

'We'll see about that,'

Moby knew that Avilia was not trying to bring him down but to instead face reality, but Moby's resolve did not allow for such things. His mind had been set and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

"Moby? Who was it that you wanted to see?"

He suddenly heard a voice snapping him back into reality.

"Oh, don't worry about it, that can wait for another time! It's been really fun, but I honestly have to go now…"

"W-will you come back tomorrow?"

Moby's smile grew even wider hearing her words as he could not help but slightly chuckle.

"Of course! I'll be here every day! Don't you worry about it okay?"

He spoke those words before walking away towards the door and opening it up.

"Thank you…"

He heard a soft, gentle voice reach his ears, turning around to once again see a crying and beaming Abby, nodding and smiling back at her before exiting and softly closing the door behind him. He felt great satisfaction and joy leaving those doors trying his best to keep his emotions under control as he lent back on the wall, a complete contrast from the last time he entered and exited those doors.

"Young Master, it seems like you have finally finished your talk with the young miss,"

Suddenly, he heard a voice coming from his left, turning around only to see a maid cleaning the hallway using a wind ability.

"Young mistress Jayden and lord Griffith have been anticipating your arrival for quite a while now. Allow me to escort you to the arena they are training in, or do you want me to inform them that you will be going home?"

Moby took a deep breath and calmed his nerves from what he had just been through before answering.

"Yes of course! Lead the way!"

*********************************************

*HA* *Clank* *HA* *HEIYA* *Crash*

Moby entered a wide, expansive, dark blue arena adorned with various Raven symbolism, one with no stands and that seemed extremely personalized.

There, at the center of the Arena stood three figures, two of whom were fighting and one who was simply spectating.

"Faster! FASTER! Keep those feet moving!"

He recognized all three of them.

The man that was on standby was Jayden's personal butler wearing more combat-related armour. It was rather odd for Moby to see since it was the first time he had ever seen him outside of his butler attire; he almost looked like a completely different person.

The two people fighting were Jayden and her father, using daggers and no abilities. Mason had a casual air to his demeanour and fighting but a serious look in his eyes as he seemed to be simply toying with Jayden who appeared to be clearly struggling with a deadly glint in her cold gaze, her face completely red, the sweat on her face almost like a waterfall as her panting was able to reach Moby's ears from such a distance.

'Damn… They must have been training the entire time… Demon stamina is pretty insane but she seems almost dead. Seems like my type of training, brings me back,'

He thought to himself before he was eventually noticed.

"Moby! You're finally here! What took you so long!"

Jayden called out to him, completely dropping her training with her father as she struggled to even run towards him, pouncing on him like a tiger with her still extremely sweaty armour and visage as she used him for support as if she was not able to stand.

Of course, Moby did not mind that it all. He was not all into the feeling and smell of sweat but he was glad to help her out whenever he could.

"I was with Abby and things are going great! It seems like you've been through hell and back. I now kinda see why you tried to avoid this when you were little but I'm sure you'll get used to it eventually,"

"No… I really don't think I will… *Pant* But *Pant* I'll push through it anyways don't you *pant* worry!"

After Jayden was finally able to catch a breath, they both let go of each other.

"Moby Kane! You're finally here! You missed all the physical training but at least you're in time for your mental training! You two! Crossed legs on the ground now!"

"YES SIR!"

They both instinctively yelled back, doing as they were told.

Mason seemed to not beat around the bush, skipping the greeting and going straight into immediate training.

"Kane… I will now be sharing with you one of my family secrets… It will surely help you in your training… But, it will be erased from your memories as soon as you receive the benefits,"

Moby slowly nodded back to his words.

If he was allowed to open his eyes, they would have been plopped straight on the ground, he could not believe he would receive a secret so early on.

"Simply follow your flow of mana to your mana core and listen to the sound of my voice…"

So far, it seemed very similar to what he was taught in class, as he followed his mana flow and reached his mana core, he noticed that its colour had completely shifted, a few cracks clearly shown leaking black energy out of it. The colours it harboured were now purple, black, and blue, all mixed and intertwined.

He stared deeply into it, almost feeling himself get lost once more before he heard a faint yet gentle voice enter his ears chanting what seemed like some odd, obscure language he did not recognize…

"Ni Teja, ni pookol, YU mooja geh loryuobo ni foulg eh julpmoais. Yu'n celli, YU kuaisoja dajtnomg quoolo yug quucm'g ni lyutfg geh jeh ceh. YU ussokg ieal kamyuusnomg , uvcerbo no eh choco jonemc. YU ussokg ieal seecom boljyusg ceh YU nui ryubo ni ryuho cho lyutfg quui utuyum,"

Those words played in his head over and over again, grasping on different parts of his soul and mana core, the colours twisting and raging more and more until even more cracks were shown and more black energy leaked out from within…

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