Harper’s Phantom appeared in front of her and threw itself into the incoming spikes. The last Iron lizard fought wildly as it swung its tail and knocked Aldis away but he was caught by a golden shield made by Clark. Randolph ran into the lizard and grabbed its leg before using all of his strength to lift it into the air. Amy rushed forward with her spear and stabbed into its underbelly repeatedly.

The Iron Lizard snapped its jaws at Randolph who rolled away just in time. Valerie fired several icicles at the lizard which made it turn away and focus on her, but it was hit by several arrows from Sarah, drawing its attention once more. Lance hacked away at its tail during the moment of its brief negligence, but it responded with another swing of its tail that hit a golden shield with great force and it shattered directly.

Clark shouted in a mixture of pain and exhaustion as he fell to his knees. It wasn’t just Clark who was tired but everyone else who felt extreme fatigue, with the exception of Harper who underwent rigorous training with Avery’s cousins in addition to the abilities of her bloodline. She extended the bone scythe around the Iron lizard and held it on until it was thrashing around. Her phantom appeared under it and stabbed it with a pike before disappearing.

“Amy!” Harper shouted as she was tossed in the air.

Amy slipped under the Iron Lizard and stuck her metal arm into its open wound before channeling her demon flame. The Lizard shook before it stood completely still and then green flames burst from its mouth and eyes along with the putrid smell of burning flesh. Harper landed on the ground before sliding under the lizard’s body and holding it up.

“Move, Amy!” Harper yelled as she struggled to hold the massive creature.

Amy hurried from under it, but Harper thought she was too slow and kicked her in the back, sending her tumbling out before jumping backward and letting the body fall onto the floor.

The sound of heavy breathing overlapped and echoed throughout the cave. Harper wasted no time and began to cut off the spiked tips of the Iron Lizards tails before tying them to her belt. After some thinking, she removed two and tossed one over to Lance’s group and the other to Clark and Randolph.

“...How’d you get so strong? I almost thought we had Ira here for a second,” Valerie huffed as she fought off her oncoming headache.

Lance and Aldis also showed interest in the topic, as two people unaffected by the Golden Aurora they were bound to be interested in ways to increase personal growth.

“I received it after the Golden Aurora...Do you think I’ve almost caught up to Ira in terms of strength?” Randolph asked eagerly.

Before anyone could answer Harper began to giggle wildly, “Caught up to Ira?” She repeated the question and laughed again.

Harper used her foot to kick the dead lizard on the ground, “You struggled to lift that Iron Lizard, Ira would’ve been able to throw it across the room without a problem.”

Randolph made a surprised expression that turned into a sheepish grin with a dry laugh, “W-Well, I didn’t think it would be that easy.”

Harper just frowned before turning away, the longer Ira was away the more irritable she became and Randolph just enhance that irritation.

She turned to Amy and Aldis before speaking, “Let’s go.”

“But…” Amy glanced at Clark before looking back at Harper. She wanted to hear his reason for not meeting her after so much time had passed, but Harper didn’t appear to share the same feeling.

Aldis looked at Clark before he turned away, “Come on, Amy.”

Clark looked as if he wanted to say something but in the end, he was talked down by Randolph who patted him on the shoulder, “We’re bound to run into them again, just save whatever you have to say for that time.”

Clark gave a subdued nod as he watched Amy and Aldis leave the cavern.

…

In the blink of an eye, three weeks passed and the Convoy was a day from the Capital. Spring had now fully arrived, so the journey was much easier and far quicker. Inside of a single carriage, Rhys was writing a letter. As to whom it was for? Ira was no doubt the recipient. The carriage shook and her hand slipped, causing her letter to be ruined. She crumpled the paper up and tossed it into a pile of similar paper balls. She began writing another but was obviously unsatisfied with it as she repeated the same actions and threw it to the side.

Since she wasn’t wearing her mask, the frustration on her face became obvious. She sighed before writing again.

Rhys stated a few things in her letter, but she was essentially asking for Ira’s help with a personal matter. She debated on whether or not to state her feelings toward him in the letter but ultimately decided not to. If she was being honest, fear was holding her back. She had no idea how Ira would react and was scared of ruining her friendship with him. In her eyes, it would be better to remain the way they were now than to take a risk like that.

Rhys’ expression turned downcast as she traced over her scars. There weren’t many people who saw them, but those who did would always show a certain reaction. A type of pity with an underlying discomfort, averting their gazes when she caught them staring at her. Ira had been the only one so far to show the most honest reaction which was indifference. He could also communicate with Rhys far easier than others seeing as he could literally hear her facial expressions change if he was in close proximity to her.

‘I’ve been alone for too long, that’s probably it,’ Rhys thought to herself. Maybe the reason she felt something for Ira was due her being on her own for years. She tried to ignore it but the fact that she was always alone and would probably continue to be was always in the back of her mind. Her abilities made her dangerous to be around others and for their sake, she tucked herself away.

It occurred to Rhys that maybe her attraction to Ira was out of selfishness and she wanted to be close to him in order to ease that feeling of loneliness.

Rhys shook her head and smiled, but the corners of her mouth trembled ever so slightly which spoke volumes of her true feelings. For some reason, she found herself crying. She covered her face with her hand and quietly sobbed.

…

It was late evening and those apart of the convoy were resting up for the last day of travel, but Ira had different plans. He stood in front of a contorting section of space that twisted into a spiral shape. Then, he waved his hand and produced a muffin from thin air before tossing it toward the unstable space. As soon as the muffin made contact with the spiral it disappeared from sight.

“Ok,” Ira mumbled to himself as he turned his attention to the sky. He waited for a few moments before a small object began falling toward him. He reached out his hand and caught it before examining it, only to find that it was completely intact.

Over the course of the journey back to the Capital, Ira had practiced spatial manipulation diligently and arrived at a milestone.

It was confident that he could teleport over large distances and bring others with him as long as it wasn’t imbued with properties of the Void.

Ira took a deep breath and concentrated, bending the space around him. It slowly built up and then he abruptly vanished with an audible boom and reappeared in the Capital, more specifically, his house. To be even more specific, the kitchen. He crashed into the table and the force from his abrupt Spatial Jump sent all the furniture flying.

Ira stood up and dusted himself off before laughing like a madman, “Harper!” he called out, but only silence answered him.

“Well, that’s fine too, she’s probably on a job.” Ira looked around at the broken wood. “...Need to adjust it a little more.”

Once again, he bent space and vanished with a loud rumble. When he next appeared it was above his carriage, he landed his feet and ignored the shockwave that accompanied him.

Avery stepped out with her saber drawn but sheathed it upon seeing an abnormally chipper Ira, “You’ve made significant progress, I’m assuming.”

“No more carriages for us,” He said with a laugh before moving to pick Avery up.

Avery didn’t resist and gave a beautiful smile in response, “I never needed one in the first place, I only used it because you can’t fly.”

“Forget about flying, it can’t beat teleporting,” Ira spun around with Avery in his arms a few times before letting her down.

Avery still had a small grin that showed no signs of leaving while she spoke, “Are there any limitations?”

Ira thought carefully for a second before answering, “For right now I can only go to places I’ve been, but if I learn how to calculate the distance I can probably go in any direction...I don’t know how many times I can use it though.”

Avery couldn’t hide her shock when she remembered Ira couldn’t use mana. It was unknown how the Avarus Lupum gained their teleporting abilities, but it wouldn’t be surprising in the Divine Realm seeing as mana wasn’t necessary for many of their divine and celestial races.

“I have to admit, that is incredible.”

“Right?” Ira showed a proud expression, “Anyway, I can take you to the Valkyrie Hall if you want.”

“No, I still need time to consider the ritual you’ve suggested,” Avery replied.

The ritual she was referring to was a method to gain some control over the Solar Force. Helion was the name of the sun in the Mortal Realm and the name of a God in a Divine Realm, which was obviously intentional. From what Ira gathered, it seemed that whatever happened to Helion, happened a long time ago. In fact, it was fair to say that whatever happened to Helion took place thousands if not hundreds of thousands of years ago, maybe even more than that.

“It sounds pretty easy to me since the barrier is removed it shouldn’t be that hard to connect with the sun,” Ira shrugged.

“Have you ever done it?” Avery asked with an eye roll.

“Well...no.”

“So what will you do if it is too strong for me to handle and I die?”

“That isn’t funny, Avery,” Ira’s smiled faded.

“You’re right, I apologize.” Avery placed a hand on Ira’s cheek. “But it is dangerous without adequate preparation, wouldn’t you agree?”

“...Yeah, but I can’t really explain it any more than I already did,” Ira said honestly. Although he wasn’t sure, he assumed that if he spread the knowledge he received the recipient would experience the same pain he did. All Avery knew is that the ritual would allow her to draw power from the Sun.

“I suppose if you’re confident in it succeeding then I’ll trust in your judgment.”

“Good,” Ira nodded. He heard footsteps coming closer and turned to see Rhys approaching.

“Hey, Rhys.” Ira greeted.

Rhys nodded toward him and then to Avery after some brief hesitation before handing him a letter.

“For me?” Ira asked as he received it. “This is a bit fancy, isn’t it? Usually, you just write it down.” He went was about to open the letter when Rhys shook her head.

“What? I can’t open it now?” He asked.

Rhys nodded, indicating that she didn’t want him to read it at the moment before grabbing her notepad and writing. [For when we reach the Capital.]

“Hmm, if you say so.” Ira stored the letter away with a shrug before he turned his attention back to Rhys. “...Wait a minute.”

Ira’s gaze became one of scrutiny as he focused on Rhys’ eyes. They were slightly puffy and had a faint redness around them.

Ira continued to examine her before finally speaking, “Something’s off with you, Rhys.”

Rhys nearly jumped at Ira’s accurate statement, she tensed up but then broke into a muted laugh. If there was anyone able to read her mood it would be Ira and it reminded her of why she felt the way she did. She waved her hands and then made her way back to her own carriage.