Melody returned at last to the place of her trauma.

“I did it.”

“You did it.” Satholia agreed. “After fifty cups, you finally mastered how to use the power of [Authority].”

“I need to ask you a question. You ordered Hikma to teach Lux and Rem how to create their authority, but what about me and Cytortia?”

“Luxinna and Remus have an easy foundation to establish their Origin. A creation type Origin is represented as a tangible object such as ink, roots or flower. Augmentation-type, like Rem and Ehto, got their own world. Those are easy to make into a celestial object, but Blessing and Manifestation type is another story.”

“You mean me and the Cy?”

“Yes, both of you are similar. Your Origin is essentially a mass of energy unique to you, gathers into the core, forming the very essence of your soul. This meant you need to master a specific method to create it. Just so you know, I sympathized. I am a blessing type and it took me time worth a solid 120 years to do it.”

Satholia levitated and sat cross-legged.

“Now, sat Infront of me, dear. I will guide you through the basic.”

…

Melody found herself in a dark space.

Summon the [Scarlet Band Soul-gazer]

Melody summoned the red, eye-shaped brand.

Now, recall how you snuff the candle, but instead of exerting the spiritual pressure to crush the flame, inverted the process and used it to gather the ember of solar fire coursing through your body. Those are the fragment of your Origin — your unique core which powered your Manifestation. Condense all the embers into a star.

Melody gritted her teeth. It took her a massive length of time to work out the image for manipulating the pressure. She had thought over Rem’s experience with [Tenshou] and found her interpretation of [Authority].

Connection upheld Rem’s telekinetic might. Melody couldn’t manage that kind of metaphysical comprehension. Instead, she imagined her spiritual pressure as string. To snuff out the flame, she stirred the string inside the glass into a whirlpool to lock out the air without exploding the plastic cup. Compared to those attempts, using that spiritual string to gather a tiny ember scattered around her consciousness and combined it into a nucleus was a child-play.

Melody thought that maybe — just maybe — Satholia’s training program was an overkill.

…

Two hours.

It took two hours for the golden sun to be created inside of Melody’s Mana Core.

“Good,” Satholia commented, watching Melody rises. The girl was practically oozing with energy. “Congratulation. You basically create a pseudo dragon heart as your Origin. That inner sun put you ahead of everyone in term of raw energy output. Now is the time for the meat and potato. I will impart to you the technique for [Scarlet Brand].”

“Ready to learn, Shishou.”

…

“The first is called the [Soul-gazer: Astra]”

Satholia explained, while watching Melody struggled with her newest Legend. The demoness was hunched over in clench teeth to guide the current of power which shook the air and ground around them.

“With your Origin established, you [Radioactive Flame] become a passive [Dragon Reactor]. Now, skill upgrade is good and all, but it comes with the need to readjust because you have a stream of raw heat energy rather than a clump of radiation. [Astra] is a technique to draw on the trait of your [Dragon Reactor].”

Sat upon Melody’s palm was a brand glowing with crimson light.

“This technique's most troublesome mastery condition is manifesting the [Dragon Reactor] into the [Scarlet Brand], imparting it with the spiritual strength of [Authority] and containing its overwhelming power discharge.”

“So how do I combine it with [Authority]?”

“It is pretty easy. Treat [Authority] like discontinuous-fibers in the composite and it should be hunky-dory,” Satholia answered. “But be extremely careful about dealing with the output when you fire it. Because when you do…”

Melody stabilized the light. In her hand was the fiery eye-pattern with a miniature star for an iris.

“…you created a solar flare canon. Congratulation on creating [Soul-gazer: Astra], Melody. You are holding a solar canon.”

Melody lifted the [Astra] into the sky and fire a crimson beam that lit the starry sky apocalyptically red.

“Wow.”

“Careful, dear,” Satholia warned. “The cartographer is already busy without you firing this willy-nilly. Wouldn’t want to change the topology too much.”

…

Satholia changes the scenery to a mountain to teach Melody the next technique.

“If [Astra] is a cannon, [Ara] is the sword,” Satholia instructed. “This is the technique to fix your reliant on raw material, and a way to improve [Nuclear Forge]. It essentially readjusted the output from [Astra] with [Anima Enchanting] to forge a spiritual blade that…]

Swoosh!

Melody finished extending the Astra into a crimson javelin and threw it at the mountain. The newly created [Soul-gazer: Ara] impaled the stone landmark, spreading a crimson crack over the mountain before bursting it with the explosion that violently fragmented half of the 3200 meters tall mountain and filled the sky with raining rocks.

“…can blew up even the mightiest of mountain.” Satholia looked at the fragment of rocks showering down on them. “Dear, I must warn you to be careful. The Japanese and the men of culture — Rem and Ehto among them — will never forgive you for accidentally blowing away half of Mt. Fuji like sneezing. That is about 3500 Megaton of TNT you are throwing there.”

Melody quickly summoned Astra and released the blast that destroys all the raining boulders. The scarlet beam engulfed the sky with a scarlet glow as it penetrated the exosphere.

A moment later, Melody’s incredibly sharp eyes saw a comet falling from the atmosphere and disintegrating into nothing in the distant sky. The young demoness felt an uncomfortable silence echoed across the simulated mountain range.

“What is that?”

“That half of the hypothetical European’s household satellite television dying,” Satholia said dryly. “Your attack just went to space and killed the TV, dear. You need to be extra cautious when firing this in the Earth’s territory. Phantasia might do a strange thing to orbital physics, but people still keep the mobile network. Please don’t take it away from them.”

Melody nodded sheepishly.

…

“Okay, let rest with a property damage,” Satholia continued. “[Vajra] is a defensive shield created by manipulating [Authority] pressure. It can be directed as suppression field or repulsion field. It is an easy technique compare to the basic of snuffing candles.”

“Thank, Shishou,” Melody commented, looking her newest scarlet-shield. “It looks like you try to shoot all the problems early.”

“It is a habit of mine,” Satholia nodded. “However, we are now at the second most difficult skill to master and the long-awaited reason for you to familiarize yourself with [Scarlet Brand Soul-gazer]. Imbuing pseudo-soul into attack or object. While [Astra], [Vajra] and [Ara] extends your Origin, imbuing soul has a totally alien leg to stand. Basically, you must understand of succubus’ aspect in the [Soul-gazer]. This aspect could be summed up by two skills: [Soul Servant] the skill to create pseudo soul and contract it and [Spirit Drain] Succubus signature ability to drain spiritual energy. I recommend you combined the skill of spirit drain with your attacks. It will add extra teeth to the anvil you could drop.”

“Okay, how?” Melody felt that question had become her favorite.

“[Spirit Drain] can behave like a spiritual frequency,” Satholia winked.

Magnolia got it.

“So, I can combine it with [Authority],” Magnolia, with a proper mental image helping her, easily created [Sprit Drain] enhance Astra. Unlike her initial [Astra], this version got specs of magenta mixing with its usual crimson.

“Excellent, now back to the learning about [Soul Servant]. First, you must create a pseudo soul. You must gather your experience and spiritual energy, then combined them into a soul clone using [Soul Servant] skill. This clone is akin to an automated version of you with a specific specialization. Practicing this is quite time-consuming and you should learn about it in reality with my minor guidance. Instead, I will teach you the what to do after that and left the rest to experience and self-study.”

Satholia turned serious.

“Melody, your [Soul Servant] is derived from your experience with Arcane. The [Maximum Circuit], [Soul Servant] and [Link Consciousness] function of [Scarlet Brand Soul-gazer] allowed you to imbue a soul clone into your Arcane, allowing it to function autonomously. Unlike Hikma’s natal spirit, the [Soul Servant] will behave as a supremely sophisticate living-spell connected to you through [Soul-gazer] rather than a self-conscious familiar. Which leads us to the goal of today's exercise: perfecting your control over [Dravritra].”

Melody stood straight-up.

“I believe you are aware of [Dravritra] short-coming. It function so far as a descent ace-in-the-hole, but if you have to fight several S-rankers back-to-back, it become a death-or-glory super-mode that will run out on a time limit.”

“Shishou,” The demoness pointed out the obvious. “You are talking like I am about to challenge an army of S-rankers. Those guys are like the top 5% of Phantasia, not cabbages.”

“Melody, dear, do you seriously believe the power that be with a betting pool on Tengen will let you go after you flip the ring?”

Melody’s mouth shut tight. She knew deep down Satholia’s fear was well founded. All this time Horizon Dawn had been handling major potentially catastrophic event as a mysterious third-party. Rem directed the group as some kind of charitable Samaritan with no alignment, striking for the common good of every party. Sure, they created few resentments, but those from their direct antagonist like Chuang Tianshang and Illma Zoldia Road were taken out discretely.

That status quo would change the moment they tried to restore order to Tengen. Phantasia’s upper-classes and the 33 Stars stared at the continent like the greatest reality TV and the Horizon Dawn would be the one pulling its plug. It was inevitable the Dawn — as a restorer of peace and harmony — would have to piss off every S-rank mercenary, the Untouchables and even the Divine Fist with a stake to kick the living shit out of the continent. This time the Dawn is the Public Enemy No.1 of every single bully in the yard.

No matter the result, Tengen would make them infamous. Escalation from there was inevitable.

“I believe the reason finally dawn on you. Tengen is our formal declaration of war against every asshole in Phantasia. The weaker of them will attack you to prove themselves, while the stronger amongst them will try to come up with the way to use us to their benefit, so we must make the first impression. Our message is simple: the defender of good is not to be fucked with and no army of S-ranker will even the odds. For that reason, you all must be the hardest rock when we drop the hammer.”

Melody stood silent for a second.

“So how do I use [Dravritra]?”

The goddess whistled.

“That is the problem: using. You are seeing a highly violent Primal Arcane base on Imaginary Heritage like an octane fuel instead of a Super-solider serum. You are funneling the ancestral memory of the being older than time and as ancient as the Center Force. The key secret of the Imaginary Heritage is that it is trade. You are using [Dravritra] inheritance, but said inheritance is actively molding your body into a vessel worthy of its history. No pure flesh in the Multiverse could tank those alterations. I estimate your [Void Surfer Manifestation] must reach the end point of its evolution for you to inherit [Dravritra] legacy. The tip is simple, you need a proper tool as a filtration device.”

“Wait… so all Imaginary Heritage base Arcane are like that? Is this one reason, Luxinna got left half-dead after releasing [Edge of ADA].”

“Exactly, but luckily…”

“Is the solution [Soul-gazer] again?”

Satholia was impressed.

“You are quick indeed. That is correct. In the same way [Soul Servant] could create a pseudo soul clone, it could create a soul clone solely to house [Dravritra] like a conceptual enchantment armor. The combination of your [Dragon Reactor] and [Maximum Circuit] can easily supply and operate that technique — [Scarlet Brand Soul-gazer: Dravritra]. The final stage is putting enchantment on your [Void Surfer Manifestation] because a demon’s body can’t, for the love of all things holy, handle that kind of power.”

Melody nodded.

“That should exactly cover everything, right?”

“Hardly,” Satholia smiled. “You still need to learn how to weave all the techniques I just teach you together into a battle-style!”

Melody felt her feat dropped to the final circle of hell. She could read what was running in Satholia’s head. Rem and Hikma narrated their brief training session with Satholia. One thing was clear. From that moment onward, Melody won’t be able to see an S-ranker like Scathach as something other than cabbages.

Every member of the Horizon Dawn was infamous for their blasé attitude in face of gods, World Enemies and million strong apocalyptical armies. Their utmost courage in face of impossible odds, and the sheer insane combat expertise in face of legendary monster and once-a-millennium heaven's favorite child that haunted the weak was the stuff of myth. One or two members being walking pantheon slayer might not be strange, but every fully knighted member possessing the resolve and skill to match Kratos was something that blew the mind of the gods.

But that question automatically answered itself when the identity of their head honcho became public knowledge.

If you survive a sparring match against Satholia, even the mythical SSS-rank would look like a cute poodle.

…

Rem and Hikma looked at their consecrated marble and back at the man handling the rest of the production.

“Ehto, you look different,” Hikma finally voiced the obvious.

The pale young-man with light green hair sat amongst the monitors. Both men didn’t remember they fitted the lab with that many monitors. The likely explanation was the familiar stranger in front of them cobbled together a hybrid Phantasia-Earth technology by ordering parts from their contacts. Rem whistled. He needed to send Alexi and Madam Marmel and box chocolate soon. However, it was what on those monitors that took the cake. Those schematic of parts and weapons in the stage of improvement and annotation was an artwork. Rem could wait to use the cryogen-canon and portable sub-space air-strike.

What wasn’t a miracle of engineering was the designer; who was missing an arm and got an empty where his left eye should be.

“Someone goes through a new remodeling,” Hikma commented at Ehto Shaxter’s newest get up.

“Like it?” Ehto smiled. “Android body. Satholia helps me design this. I am learning a lot of things about engineering for her.” Ehto glanced at his missing arm. “Well, at least most of the body, the arm still need the remodeling. The Photon Kinetic Cannon needs a little fine-tuning. Although looking at how Primal Arcane function really helps ironing out the kink.”

“And the eye?” Hikma asked.

“Hikma, fitting an optic laser with several retinal sensors isn’t easy,” Ehto replied.

“So green hair,” Rem mused. “What an amusing color?”

“Yeah, yeah, no need to speak about my taste. You are here about the weapon, yes?”

Rem produced a round marble circled by a duplet ring of silver.

“Ehto, I believe a marble isn’t a viable weapon,” Rem said.

Ehto sighed.

“It is technically a core of the weapon. What we need is giving it a proper body.”

The Android flipped a switched below the table. The recently installed hidden shelves by the wall clicked open and extended to show them a catalogue of weapon. While most shelves were empty, they were expertly labeled, and the few models of the guns and high-end weapon hung there would make the Pentagon drool.

“You and Melody have been busy,” Rem whistled.

“She needs to blow off steam after fighting the paper cups,” Ehto said. A terminal in form of golden squid popped to exist near his head. “Should we begin the synchronization process?”