After a few hours of tossing and turning, Dia found herself getting up at the crack of dawn, unable to sleep. Her mind was full of what Farah had said, regarding the policies that surrounded the concept of a sub-folder, and she didn’t like them at all.

Did her kind father, who showed benevolence to both commoners and nobles, really abide by such a policy too? Did he restrict information about sub-folders to discourage the common folk from using lifestones themselves?

She didn’t know what to think.

Nor did she want to.

Splashing some water on her face, she pulled on her training gear and went out of the mansion. Virtually no one else was awake at this point of time, so training in her room might just rouse the others from their own rest as well.

She glanced at her sword…or rather, the specialised hilt that her mother had given her, before setting it aside. Instead, she picked up her training blade, one that was meant to strengthen the muscles that dealt with swinging, stabbing and other sword-related movements, and then began her practice.

The passage of time turned into a blur. Beads of sweat ran down her face, and whatever fatigue she felt numbed her thoughts. Right now, she just wanted to train her skill at the blade, making use of slow, flowing movements to deal with the incessant nightmares of flying spears.

It would not do if the only way she handled those flying spears was through her mana circuits. The murderer, a vanilla, had managed to match her abrupt strike with pure reflexes alone, even when taken by surprise. Therefore, it stood to reason that her foundations were not fully developed yet; there was much more she could learn.

Deep down, she had a feeling that her Sword Sense was integral to the whole thing. That skill boosted her reflexes, judgement and overall ability to assess the situation when used; if she could enter such a state without using Sword Sense, Dia had a feeling that she would reap an unexpected benefit.

Letting the silence envelop her, Dia stayed as still as a statue, calculating and recreating a mental model of the world around her, with her weapon as the focal point.

Twenty metres behind her, the air trembled. Restraining the urge to dodge, she lowered her blade and noted the rising sun. A small bunch of people, radiating trace amounts of mana, were heading over. It was the daily practice session for the Moon Guards, but their numbers were far smaller now.

Apparently, some time ago, the others had gathered the Moon Guards and told them about becoming a sub-folder. Of course, the rest of the Moon Lords didn’t tell them anything about a sub-folder directly, instead stating that their pay would increase if they forked over ten years of their life. Those that weren’t willing could join the general members instead, which most of them did.

The ones that remained, however, had been brought into the fold as sub-folders. In the wake of the threat posed by Absolute Domination, Claud and Schwarz had apparently found it a necessity to ensure that the Moon Guards, the elites of the Moon Lords, were immune to the effects of Absolute Domination.

Even then, however, neither of them was at ease simply because these people were now sub-folders.

“Instructor.” The five people took up positions in front of her. “Welcome back.”

“I’m back,” said Dia. “How is every—”

She shook her head. “No, that’s wrong. No one’s fine. No one could be fine, after what happened to Rodrio. Therefore, I will not ask that question. Ladies, gentlemen, let us resume our training, but for today, I shall talk about the use of mana in fighting.”

The others stiffened up, and Dia nodded to herself. “Mana is a mutated form of lifeforce. Capable of passing through your blood vessels and flesh, if you learn to manipulate it well, you can increase your strength and reflexes, or even move in ways impossible to vanillas.”

Changing her stance into a one-handed grip, Dia channelled her mana and slashed out. Two arcs of light seemed to bite down on the air in front of her, stirring up a small gust of wind that swept their hair.

“Does anyone recognise what I just did?” Dia looked around, and then shrugged. “It is a classic, beginner move for most mercenaries, the skill ‘Twin Bite’. Of course, there are many differences, including the fact that a fake Twin Bite like what I did would lose in power when faced with the real deal.”

The group of five whispered amongst themselves.

A teenager stepped out. “Instructor, then what’s the point of learning such a skill?”

“Not everyone has the leeway to become a sub-folder, Garen.” Dia frowned. For some reason, she had unconsciously subscribed to Farah’s explanation about policies regarding sub-folders. It was a rather simple policy too — to discourage people from using lifestones they picked up. If they didn’t know about sub-folders, common folk would be more likely to sell any lifestones they found, since having a longer life meant nothing much to most people.

“Is that all?”

Dia blinked twice, and then returned her attention to the ongoing conversation. “No. More important, skills are…well, I wouldn’t say absolute in nature, but once used, they cannot be stopped easily. Even if you were to faint right after activating the Twin Bite skill, your body would still carry out these movements to the end.”

“They’re inflexible, then.”

“You make it sound like a disadvantage. But yes, such a skill is inflexible, which is why most mercenaries don’t actually have this skill. It is a rudimentary skill for mercenaries-in-training; most of them prefer enhancement skills like Heightened Response and Heightened Senses,” Dia explained, calling on her imperfect understanding of mercenaries.

She moved on to telling them about channelling mana, which for them, could only be done while Mana Manipulation was activated. It was somewhat sad to see that they had to resort to a skill to reach their peak state, but being able to expend a hundred years of life for increased combat ability wasn’t something anyone could do.

It didn’t take long before they broke up to conduct their individual practice. Dia, who had grown used to teaching a rather huge class, felt a bit lost at the small group of five swinging away, but that was just how life was.

Things had to change.

“Dia.” A voice called out to her from behind. “Huh. You sure are hardworking. Not even a full day back home, and you’re already training the Moon Guards.”

Rolling her eyes, Dia turned around to look at Schwarz. “There’s nothing much I can do anyway. You and Risti take care of intelligence, Farah’s the administrator of this city, Claud’s busy handling security, and for some reason, Lily’s acting as his student.”

“True, that. Still, there is nothing much I can do now. Why not teach me? I just became a one-folder, but I’m still the weakest of you guys. Heck, Farah can lift a giant sword and swing it around with ease.”

“And you can’t?” Dia squinted at Schwarz, who looked like he worked out often. To be fair, everyone in the Moon Lords had a pretty good physique, so it was probably an issue of him not knowing how to make use of his newfound strength.

“Yeah…”

“I see. Well, I think I’m the most qualified person here to train you,” said Dia. “Be honoured. I’m going to teach you the way my instructor did, and she was a tetra-folder.”

“Wait, hold on. Can I—”

“No can do. Second thoughts don’t exist in the mind of a warrior.” Dia handed her sword to Schwarz, who promptly fell over upon receiving it. “Get up. It’s time to teach you how to fight properly.”

“Wait, wait!” Schwarz struggled to his feet. “What in the name of the Moons is up with this sword? Why is it so heavy?”

“It’s only a hundred and ten kilograms,” Dia replied, her tone severe. “If I can lift it, so can you. You want to learn, right? Then pick up that sword and start moving your mana!”

She paused. “Or, you know, you could let the others look down on you.”

“You monster…” Schwarz placed two hands on the sword handle, and lifted it up. Blue light leaked out from his arms, prompting Dia to poke them twice.

“Wrong, wrong. Restrain your mana output. If your hands are shining from just lifting something up, you’re not doing it properly!” Dia shook her head. “Come on. Control your mana. You don’t need to dump one-fifth of your mana reserves into lifting this sword. Feel the strength coursing through your veins, and synchronise them with your muscles.”

“Looks like I need to get hands-on, then.” Dia stretched her fingers. “You better be prepared for a long day, Schwarz!”

The bartender whimpered, but the only response Dia had to give was a small pinprick of blue light in her index finger.