Astor watched as the black-haired girl pranced towards the house. Looking up at the sky, it seems that they had taken a good chunk of the afternoon to get Aricia used to mana manipulation. His brother should be arriving in a few hours. Having spare time to waste, Astor decided to get serious about his training. Astor sat next to a tree and started to meditate. Focusing intensely, he envisioned his mana pool. The world around him turned dark. Astor felt a vast amount of his mana surge before him. All sounds muted as he slowly closed his eyes. In his consciousness, he could feel his form take shape in the open space. Opening his eyes, he was momentarily stunned by a bright light before seeing a vast ocean of flowing mana below him. The sky was painted in endless azure that seemed to stretch for miles. Eyeing the churning torrent of energy, he motioned for the huge bulk of energy to rise. The whole horde of energy cascaded upwards while effortlessly passing by him. Astor moved the ghostly avalanche of mana higher above him, reaching deeper into its depths. He felt the mana above him block out the bright sky and noticed the surrounding blue glow grow darker and darker before turning pitch black. There he stood infinitesimally in a black void. Scanning around and finding nothing, Astor shot out a small stream of mana he had collected earlier through his hands and waited. He watched the small glowing stream of blue turn black and whiter away. Sighing to himself, he motioned forward until he thought he had gained quite a bit of space between him and the first shot. Astor shot another stream and watched it fade into the abyss. The only way to find mana is with mana. Astor repeated this process painstakingly for an hour. The results were always the same. Astor was on the verge of rethinking his approach when he saw the new stream of mana he had shot out dye blood red. Surprised by the discovery, Astor attempted to pull the energy back but to no avail. He watched the stream bubble up and evaporate. Astor marked this spot of his mind and concentrated on the enormous mass of mana above him. With great strain, he forced the bulk of his own mana down against the empty void he was in. Astor felt a heavy recoil as he tried invading the wall of void. It was like pushing a lead box against a stone wall. Astor stopped his efforts briefly and focused his mana into sharp, coiling tendrils. He then felt the spears pierce into the black void around him but watched hopelessly as the streams of mana froze and evaporated into red vapor. Stopping his exertions, Astor allowed the natural flow of his mana to reset . Astor didn't want to try this since it was dangerous, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. He forced the sphere of transparent blue glass that surrounded him to shrink. Just as the ball shrunk to arms length from Astor, he stopped and pushed his hand effortlessly through the glass. He felt a warm sensation grasp his exposed hand. Pulling back quickly, Astor looked down and saw a white flame engulfing his hand. The white fire danced vigorously against the black background. Astor motioned his mana towards the fire and watched as multicolored sparkes diffused between the two's friction contact. From the different, mysterious sensations of the white energy, there was one that he had come to know. Concentrating fiercly, Astor was able to pin-pointed his familiar power by weaving his mana around the different sparks. After a few minutes, Astor was snapped back into reality and rose to his feet. He let the energy he held fade away before rejoicing at his accomplishment. Astor found where to pull the power from (but not what made it). He thought for a moment. To call it by its vague nature all the time was simply not practical, so he decided to name it. Hmmm, what should I name it? Astor thought for a moment. He unlocked the power with his battle with that Celestial Captain. Hmm....Celestial huh...Then, how about calling it Empyreal? Astor scratched his head at his poorly made rip off. At least he had a name for it now. Looking at the sun, Astor remembered that he was to greet his brother during his return. Astor ran into the mansion to prepare for his arrival.

Aricia stood at the front doors of the mansion with all her family members present. She heard her uncle and mom exchanging introductions as they waited for her father's arrival. Aricia gripped the hems of her skirt nervously. She had very few encounters with her busy father and had always struggled to keep a conversation with him. Aricia watched as the two large front gates opened, exposing a series of approaching carriages. She saw her father emerge from the middle carriage and slowly approach them. The whole family lightly bowed as he approached. Her father went straight towards uncle Astor with an expression of surprise. They embraced and spoke in laughter. Then, he hugged mother before looking upon Aricia. "Welcome back father. I'm glad for your safe return" she said timidly . Her father smiled and rubbed her head affectionately with his huge hands. "I'm glad to be back," the deep voice said. Her father had black hair like her grandmother, but he had round bear-like eyes and a strong jawline. He was short, shorter than her mom. "You're getting prettier every time I see you." Aricia looked down sheepishly. He probably only meant that as a formality, right? When most people looked at her, they would always have expressions of surprise or fear. "I'm starved. When's dinner?" her father asked. "It'll be ready soon. Why don't we let these two catch up." her grandmother said to mother. Aricia was led away from the two and escorted back into her room. She sat on her desk and proceeded to do the writing assignments Margery had made for her. If she got done before her next lesson, Margery might excuse her for the remainder of the lesson. She wanted to try using magic more. It would surprise her uncle if she suddenly became faster at gathering her mana. Aricia had sat for a solid hour before she felt a dull sensation come over her head. She exhaled and stretched her back. Just as she did that, she heard a series of knocking on her door. "Aricia... Can I come in sweetheart?" Hearing her mother's voice, Aricia stood from her chair and ran to greet her. "Hi mom," she cheerfully replied while opening the door. Aricia stared into her mother's face. She was elegant and short. In contrast to herself, her mother had beautiful, kind eyes with cute a perky nose and delicate lips. Aricia wished she looked more like her mom. "Hello dear. Let's chat while we wait for dinner," she spoke. "Okay." They sat on her bed, and Aricia bounced on the soft cushions while waiting for her mother to start. "How was the lesson with your uncle today?" "It was fun! Uncle is a little weird, but after making me fall from a tree, I can use magic now!" Her mother's eyebrows twitched. Her facial expressions changed from shock, worry, then reassurance. Mom is so silly, Aricia thought. She lets her feelings show even though Margery says a proper lady should always hide her feelings in front of others. "Mom, your face is making weird looks again." "Oh?... My face? How about yours and that little grin you got there!" Aricia was grabbed and wrestled onto her bed. Her mother wasn't from a strict family like grandma was so she was a little more lenient with her demeanor when they were alone. Both were laughing when they heard a knocking on the door. "Miss Aricia, Lady Loretta, Dinner is ready," a maid called out. "Yes. Thank you, Mamie," Aricia's mother replied. "Lets go Aricia." "Yea!" Both walked out the door towards the dining hall. It was a huge, long room with plenty of forks and spoons lined up for a invinsible guest. Aricia couldn't figure out why it was so large when only their small family was able to use it. Sitting in the chair furthest from the host chair, Aricia glanced around as she waited for the meal. She noticed that her mother and grandma was also doing the same as they awaited the two men. After spending a whole afternoon with her uncle, she felt relieved to find him just as silly as the rest of her family.

Astor sat down and across from his brother on the dinner table. He saw his brother pick a random knife off the table and stab his strip of pork before putting it in his mouth. "Still as crude as always huh," Astor questioned. Bertram chewed a little and spoke with his cheeks partially full. "And what about you? Still acting prissy even after returning from war?" "We're soldiers, not gremlins," Astor said bluntly. Bertram huffed in amusement. Astor had always made fun of his brother for being quite a bit shorter than most boys when they were little. "The family isn't complete without you, brother." Astor dipped his pork into the light orange sauce to his right and bit into its succulent texture. The sauce spread the hickory aroma of the pork throughout his mouth before he tasted a sweet, tangy flavor. "Applesauce with lemons?" He whispered towards the waitress. "Yes sir," the waitress replied. "It's perfect. Please give my compliments to the cook." The rations presented by the army where... inadequte to say the least. Astor was glad to be able to eat such a regular meal. He can still remember the starving bodies of men unable to handle the burnt pieces of bread given to them. Shaking off such thought, Astor refocused his train of thought. "You should have told me you were going to war. I would have bought you a whole suit of armor to go along with that fancy robe," His brother said, breaking his immersion. "It was more of a moral decision that I go into the war without such benefits. I wanted to start clean by putting only my own pure efforts to end the war," Astor replied. The table resounded with the mild laughter of his brother. "I never thought the frail young boy from my memories would be able to talk about valor and honor in such a way. Funny how it seems we have our roles switched. I've stayed here and raised a family while you went off to war for such things as fame and glory," Bertram said with a hint of jealousy. Fame and glory....huh. "You wouldn't last a day with the amount of food that you eat," Astor replied, eyeing Bertram's empty plate. "The thrill of combat would be enough to sustain me." "If that were true, then we might as well be eating air right now." "Please do not talk about such things," his mother's voice rang out clearly. "Sorry mother, we got too carried away," Astor replied meekly. Just as Astor was about to finish his meal, he saw Aricia stand from her chair. "May I be excused," a little voice said. It was a polite formality for children to ask to be excused from the table after finishing. "Go ahead dear," her mother said. With all eyes on her as she left, Bertram took the opportunity to boast. "She'll attract the attention of dukes and princes with those pretty eyes of hers." he said mournfully.

"If I were in charge, I would have her stay here all the time," he added sarcastically while glancing at their mother. Her mother replied without looking up, "Only princes and dukes could dream of persuading me." Bertram and his wife sighed in relief. It seems they never really talked about future marriage candidates for Aricia. Astor smiled at the fact that her future has not been decided yet. Funny how as a kid, he had really realised just how limited were his own decisions on such matters were. "I've decided on Aricia's birthday present, but I need a blacksmith to do so," Astor said as they finished. Her mother eyed him wearily. "You don't mean THAT do you?" she questioned. "I do." "What?" Bertram asked quizzingly. "Very well, it's your decision on what to do with it." "What are they talking about?" Loretta questioned quietly to Bertram. "No idea." The next day, Astor was standing in the open fields with Aricia again. He watched as she slowly gathered the energy into her hands. "Now I want you to concentrate the energy by swirling it, in small circles, to a small space around your chest." Astor watched the blue glow slowly faded from her fingertips as her face scrunched up. "Okay..." she managed to squeeze out. "Good, now continue to gather more energy and add it to that space." Astor watched as the young girl tried doing so, only to break out of her trance from the strained effort. "You can't gather energy while focusing only on retaining the energy as a whole. Think of it as a game of jacks and split your attention," Astor explained. Astor knew the struggle of this phase. This part simply took time and dedication to master. He continued to observe her progress. She seemed to be doing fine by the looks of it. Astor wanted her to try to figure it out first before pushing her in the right direction. "Tell me when you think you have enough energy saved up to be able to....ummm...." Astor tried to find the words for it. "When you thinks it's enough to light up the gem," Astor said. Aricia nodded at his vague directions. Sorry... I'm not that good at explaining the sensation, he thought. Once a person becomes proficient at controlling their mana, one can start to feel the activation energy required for each gem. It's like looking into empty cups and figuring out how many handfuls of water it would take to fill it. Astor watched as she broke from her daze once again. "The process is done in steps, not as a whole. Don't think of it as a beginning and end for every time you get and hold energy, but as a continual path being joined by other multiple paths to create one larger path. She nodded once again with weary eyes and stood up. Astor stared at the sky. The far-reaching clouds were thick with dark colors. The trees and grass whistled quietly in the wind. Astor couldn't hear the usual bird calls or other commotions that the forest usually makes. Like it was waiting in anticipation for something to happen. It's going to rain soon, and Astor thought while inhaling the musky air. "Aricia lets continue tomorrow. We may become drenched in rain soon," he called out. "Okay..." she replied morosely. "Don't worry. Your birthday is coming soon so you should prepare for that instead. We can always continue later." They are celebrating her birthday in three days since Bertram will have to leave soon for who knows how long to serve in the new nation's council. Seeing her run back, Astor went to retrieve his sword from his room. Astor eyed the familiar outline and felt its weight. After he had finished reminiscing, he walked out of his room to the front gates. The two guards there began questioning him. "Where are you going, sir?" "I need to see a blacksmith. My sword has dulled significantly since the last battle." "Would you like us to come? I heard there's been a group of fanatics harassing the nearby towns." "It's quite alright, I think I can handle," he said before leaving the worried guards. Astor walked down the quietly, uncanny path. This road should lead him directly to the small town of prospectors. The many magical mines in this area are quite famous to those that are looking to make a quick profit. Surely they would have a few smiths willing to dismantle a sword. After about three hours of jogging quickly, Astor saw a few dark figures hanging against the dark gray clouds. Hoping that the sky was playing tricks with his mind, he jogged forward to inspect closer. He, indeed, dreaded what he saw. He saw four figures hanging by their necks on a high branch to the right side of the road. Astor could see the purple marks on their necks along with the black-stained nooses that wrapped around each person. Their skins were dark brown from rot, and Astor could see dried, bloody incisions and slashes across each body. The most striking things from the sight was the three other empty nooses that swayed listlessly in the wind. Not liking what it foretold, Astor looked under each empty loop and found the decayed bodies of its victims with their heads torn off. The flies ravaged at the black, open flesh as a familiar stench radiated from the bodies. On the tree trunk that was in the middle of the gruesome sight were a few words that Astor recognized. They were the words of the Faldrick army. "All hail Faldrick, Guardians against the Obscurit Ones."