Inside the Underground City. A Valkyrie swung a thick greatsword in an empty training ground. She had the characteristic attractiveness usually found in Valkyries. But what stood out the most about her was the extremely short hairstyle she had. It seemed as if she cut it a few months before, but being from the Thynne family it was more likely that she suffered at Raveria’s hands. She wore a simple outfit consisting of a sleeveless shirt, grey pants, and leather sandals. She handled the greatsword that was clearly denser than normal with one hand.

The growth of Valkyries depended on understanding the intricacies of combat as well as a mastery of fighting with their preferred weapon which, more often than not, reflected their core personality. A heavy greatsword could be associated with a brash or hot-headed Valkyrie who was quick to anger and even quicker to fight.

After obtaining enough skill, energy could be projected through the weapon allowing for some devastating effects.

Some of the Valkyries sought to pierce through foes while others thought to cut down their opponents. As for the Valkyrie handling the sword? She wanted to cleave through her enemies.

She swung the greatsword once again and an ominous sound filled the air.

Valkyries were usually strong but any great feats of strength were performed by temporarily enhancing their bodies with mana. It was useful but it wasn’t a technique which was commonly used unless one used an extremely heavy weapon.

The greatsword being used by the Valkyrie was one such weapon as it weighed more than one hundred pounds based on the sound it produced when swung.

“Maevyn.” A voice called out and caused her to stop what she was doing.

“Aunt Casey,” Maevyn greeted.

“You’ll be in charge of a prospect coming from the temple. It’s a young half-dragon whose shown a high level of talent from what I’ve heard. Ira personally approved her training so I’ll leave it up to you.”

“I understand.” Maevyn stabbed her greatsword into the ground a puff of dust spread out from the impact.

“That’s not all, we’ve decided that you’re to be married to Sidryn, that ancient dragon Ira brought here,” Casey said while examining Maevyn’s expression.

Maevyn issued a slight grunt of discontentment but didn’t complain. “I’ll try not to kill him.”

She wasn’t against the marriage but rather, she didn’t feel like having children at the current moment. Though Avery, her cousin, was way younger than her and already became a mother so she couldn’t use that excuse too effectively.

“No one would mind if you did kill him since that would mean your level of skill increased. Though try to restrain yourself since I would have to ask Ira to get another dragon and I’ve been told he’s killed a great deal of them,” Casey replied.

“What about the other one, the Vulpes?” Maevyn asked.

“We’ve reached an agreement with Sylun and he’ll be married to her daughter Sylvia,” Casey answered.

“I see,” Maevyn was about to grab her sword when it began to vibrate. A high-pitched noise emerged from it and it seemed to be crying. Casey’s sword did the same and soon the high-pitched noise could be heard from everywhere.

“What is this?” Maevyn asked with shock as weapons from all over the Underground City cried together in a haunting metallic tone.

Casey thought to herself in silence before she raised her head. “It has to be Avery.”

“She’s giving birth?” Maevyn asked.

“I have to go, make sure you’re prepared to handle your apprentice, Maevyn,” Casey said before leaving.

Maevyn was left in the training grounds with a strange expression. Her weapon continued to cry out to someone or something which was disturbing, to say the least.

…

Ira sat with a calm expression while waiting for the moment to come. It would be his third child and by now he had better control over his emotional state. Although, the sound of swords crying that filled the city didn’t really contribute to his calmness.

“I wonder if I’ll have a little sister.” Raveria sat next to Ira and swung her legs while thinking of what her sibling would be.

“That would be nice.” Harper sat on the other side of Ira. She had previously been a part of Rhys’ birth and had been subsequently traumatized as a result, because of that she eagerly sat outside while waiting for the news.

“It doesn’t matter to me,” Ira said with a blissful smile. He still reminded himself to train his Reality Separation even more than he already had to keep his growing family safe.

The pitch of the swords rose higher and continued. It was likely that the entire city was confused because of the phenomenon but there were no signs of panic. The faith of the people of the Dark Elf Empire had in Ira was at its highest. At most, there were people who prayed for the safety of the city but that was it. People just waited for the disruption to pass so they could continue about their day.

The Valkyries who stood at the door on guard could do their jobs diligently without being affected as they held spears in their hands. Ira took note of that small detail but continued waiting. The chorus of swords rose higher, each of them screamed with an unending desire. At least, that’s the impression Ira gained from the sounds.

After a few minutes, Sylun emerged from the room and smiled wryly. Each of Ira’s children had some quirk that became more apparent as they were born and it didn’t do anything to help the process. The most tame had to be Zephyr who only caused a few metal things to float in the air.

“Your child has been born,” Sylvia said while gesturing for Ira to enter.

Harper and Raveria ran into the room before Ira could even get up but he only smiled before following after them.

“Thanks again, Sylvia,” Ira said happily.

“Of course, Keeper. It is no problem to me at all.” Sylvia bowed and entered the chambers after him.

Avery didn’t seem exhausted at all, her body was far more powerful than it was when she gave birth to Raveria. It could be said that her current birth resembled the usual Valkyrie standard, a stoic face, and the occasional grunt.

“It’s a boy,” Avery said softly. “Valeryn.”

Ira smiled and approached the bed while the sound of the swords in the background screamed out in desperation.

“Can I hold him?” Ira asked over the ringing sound of crying swords.

Avery handled the bundled Valeryn to Ira. When Ira looked at his son, he found that his expression was incredibly calm. There was a light smile but for the most part, he looked as if he was expecting something.

“Hmmm,” Ira hummed as he increased the sensitivity of his bloodline resonance. When he did, he found that Valeryn desired one thing.

Ira furrowed his brows with uncertainty but he felt that his newborn son’s desires outweighed his slight hesitation. He held Valeryn closer to him with one hand and then produced the Paradox sword within his other hand. As soon as the sword appeared, Valeryn’s tiny body squirmed in delight. His yellow eyes shined like polished steel as he stared intently at the sword. In response, the Paradox Sword slightly shook once but that was all. It didn’t call out in desperation as the other blades did.

“Ira?” Avery seemed to want an explanation but there was nothing Ira could say.

“If it’s what he wants,” Ira said while moving the sword toward Valeryn.

Valeryn freed his small hands and reached out to the sword and then something strange happened. The sword and scabbard were slowly absorbed into Valeryn’s chest but the infant didn’t appear to be hurt. If anything he appeared to be extremely comfortable with what was happening.

Unfortunately, the other people in the room weren’t as their jaws dropped out of sheer disbelief. The cries of the swords that were filling the city reached their climax as a high pitch screech turned into one of despair before they slowly died out.

For a moment, the entire room became silent and except for Valeryn who showed an Ira-like smile which exposed his gums while squealing in delight.

“What did you just do, Valeryn?” Ira asked but the infant couldn’t answer at all.

Valeryn’s only response was a tired yawn and innocent blinking which followed it.

Inside of Valeryn, the Paradox Sword changed its form. It became a long single-edged saber with a very minimal guard that slightly protruded out. The saber didn’t curve except for at the tip of the blade, but other than that, the flat of the blade was perfectly straight.

Valeryn wasn’t conscious of the significance of the changes but if the sword changed by itself it meant that it was something he desired in some part of his young mind.

Ira looked at his son and didn’t know what to make of the situation. “I guess he likes swords.”

“Strange,” Avery said. “It seems he inherited some Valkyrie-like qualities.” She explained.

The mixture of Avery’s Valkyrie roots, the mysterious blessing, and Ira’s ever-adapting bloodline, it seemed that Valeryn gained some type of control over swords. It was hard to tell and they could only speculate until he grew older.

Avery began to get excited as she thought her son would be more enthusiastic about training then Raveria was.

“Can I hold him?” Raveria’s voice interrupted Avery’s line of thought.

“Sure, just be careful.” Ira reminded her.

“I know,” Raveria huffed. She accepted Valeryn into her arms and began speaking. “I’m your big sister, ok? That means when you get older you have to listen to me and play the games I want. I hope you can run faster than Harper.”

“Hey,” Harper protested but Raveria ignored her.

“Also, you have to give me a piece of your mooncakes because dad never shares.” Raveria continued with her list of demands, each one went into Valeryn’s ear and out the other.

He yawned again and darted his eyes toward Ira who took his son out of Raveria’s hands.

“Alright, I think he understands,” Ira said.

“I wasn’t done,” Raveria grumbled.

“You can continue later, he’s tired.” Ira smiled at his daughter before handing Valeryn to Avery who accepted him carefully.

There were more questions than answers about the nature of Valeryn’s abilities but there was no urgency to find out.