Owari smiled and swung his sword to his side. His passive force affinity and subconscious application of force redistribution caused even a light motion like that to kick up the wind around him. His enemies swallowed hard seeing that. They could sense that other than the mana in his body there was no mana behind that wind, which could only mean he was strong enough to use such a light weapon to tear up the air. Usually only heavy blunt weapons like a hammer could do that.

Owari didn’t give them a chance to think and arrived in front of the lightning user instantly. She was the most annoying enemy to fight due to her ability to release electricity. Energy was harder to cut than water or earth which were physical substances. Owari swung his sword, Only for an earth pillar to appear under it and try to deflect his motion. However would Owari fall for the same thing twice?

He kept swinging his sword forward but stimulated his force affinity suing his force redistribution method to directly hit the earth pillar as it collided with his blade. This caused the earth pillar to shatter and turn to dust, meanwhile his attack still had the speed and sharpness needed to slice his opponent. Unfortunately that single second wasted was enough for her to back off only leaving a light cut on the side of her neck.

Owari swung his sword once again and rolled his shoulder. He was working out the stiffness that appeared from redirecting his force so suddenly. It wasn’t like it would affect his fighting performance. It was just that he was acting casually while facing these opponents. He didn’t need to win, just hold them off long enough for Noel to win her fight.

He would use this chance to temper himself. He needed to learn how to apply all of this raw power that he suddenly gained on a finer scale. He was originally someone who used skill over power to win his fights. He had no idea when he became such a powerhouse, but he wanted to go back to his roots. He took a deep breath and held out his sword in front of him with both hands. How could he find a way to enhance his skills? What was he missing?

He had speed, and power. His defenses should be good with his sapphire affinity. So what did he need? Maybe it wasn’t something like an affinity or a spirit art, and maybe not even a mystic art. Did he really master martial arts? Was the limit a mere high gold rank like he had managed to reach way back when? Is there a level of martial art above that? He thought there was. He could even cut energy with pure martial skill. But that wasn’t the limit.

Owari thought about it logically. Martial arts and mystic arts were equivalents when trained to the extreme. But mystic arts had an evolution. Spirit arts were an evolution of mystic arts, so what was the evolution to martial arts? Owari wanted to test this. He took a deep breath and raised his sword. With a vertical slash he poured all of his knowledge of martial arts into this one strike.

As he cut down with everything he ever learned the space around his blade twisted. The mana in his body stirred, but not with an affinity, it was typeless mana. It rushed through his body following his movements and enhanced it. With a snap he suddenly seemed to come to a realization. Just like with his spirit arts he became aware of a new power. His blade stopped an inch off the ground but nothing happened. The space returned to normal as if he hadn’t even swung it.

Owari however had a smile on his face. He discovered the evolution of martial arts. It required typeless mana, his problem was that he had been using his force affinity to boost his martial arts. But that only gave them a boost to power. Mana was magic, even a mundane action using mana would become something greater. Even breathing could become miraculous with the help of mana.

However Owari knew this wasn’t something just anyone could achieve. If it only took someone allowing their mana to enhance a technique without affinity then it would accomplish nothing but to be a slightly stronger or magical technique. Like how his steel bite bends reality to let it cut through objects steel could never split. Or how his force redirection can negate damage to a weapon. These things aren’t possible without mana. However when taken to the extreme and mastered, a martial art technique can evolve like any mystic art can.

Owari pulled his sword up and lightly swung it through the air. However instead of kicking up wind the space around him distorted for a moment before returning to normal. What ability did he unlock? Simple, he could distort space with a swing of his sword. Instead of kicking up winds which was a mere physical object, no matter how light, he could now affect a concept. That concept just happened to be space.

Owari’s swing didn’t seem to do anything but cause a mirage to his enemies. They quickly rushed at him each with a spear in hand. The lightning user even circled behind him at light speed and planned to time her attack for the moment he dodged. But he had no intention of dodging. He swung his sword once more, this time with more force.

The space around him distorted and cracked. As they passed through the cracks the bodies of the earth and water user were sliced to pieces. Meanwhile a moment later when the cracks repaired themselves they kicked up a massive gust of wind. Some of it pulled in and some of it pushed out causing a few localized tornados of invisible winds which sucked in the lightning user who had to use a spirit art to extricate herself.

As she landed on the ground she was faced with Owari who was right in front of her, having appeared at light speed in her moment of carelessness as she struggled to register what happened. He didn’t use the same spatial warping technique though. He again swung with all of his martial knowledge packed into this attack. However instead of the moth wing strike being the basis which attempts to pull along the wind, this one was based on the steel fang which attempts to cut through things with no resistance.

Again space folded under the pressure of such a high-level martial technique, this time however nothing seemed to happen even as his blade passed through her neck. Space didn’t warp and her neck was fine. She pulled her hand up to her neck in disbelief. She felt the fear of death in that moment. She should be dead, there were no two ways about it. However just as she was celebrating Owari turned his back to her completely unafraid of retaliation. She went to grab her spear but found her head flying through the sky instead. He had cut through space and left a wound in it which sliced her when it repaired itself. It could completely bypass any defence and was untraceable.

Owari smiled as he walked away. Leaving the three corpses behind and observing Noel’s battle as it finished up. She wasn’t overwhelming her opponent. Instead her opponent was using a style of hand to hand combat like Noel was. However she was using some kind of sand and earth technique. Her punches had incredible weight and speed to them, and they matched each other blow for blow. Her defense was incredible to hold up to Noel’s powerful strikes. Not to mention her sneak attacks through the kinetic domain, while effective didn’t actually hinder her any more than a normal strike. She could still do attacks from range if knocked away.

The battle ended as their two fists collided once again. In the end Noel’s mana reserves were larger by a great margin, combined with the added expenditure of both offense and defense her opponent was unable to keep up the battle. Noel’s fist directly shattered the woman’s fist and knocked her back. As she flew back Noel rushed her and punched her in the chest caving it in and sending her flying down through her building smashing it to pieces at the same time and causing it to collapse.

“So did you have fun?” Owari asked Noel.

“I did. How about you? Something feels different about you.” She held her chin as she tried to put a finger on it.

Owari held his sword and casually swung at the air, without a single mana fluctuation the space around his sword warped and bent under the pressure of his attack. Then he swung his sword which didn’t seem to do anything. Then suddenly a blade appeared nearby and split a piece of the buildings rubble in half.

“Impressed?” He asked proudly.

“How?” She was shocked.

“Martial arts.” He shrugged as he dismissed his sword.

“That’s not martial arts, that’s magic!” She argued.

“Same thing. All extremes lead to the same route.” He smiled widely.

“Seems you’re in a good mood.” She chuckled.

“I think I see my path to orichalcum rank.” He crossed his arms.

“So confident aren’t you? Though it’s one of the things I love about you. Let’s go home and see our baby. She probably misses us.” Noel jumped into his arms.

Owari didn’t argue and immediately made his way back home with her in tow. That night they spent playing with their daughter to make up for leaving her behind. The baby was pleased with this and surprisingly didn’t make a peep all night. This allowed the two of them to actually sleep as about halfway through the night they decided to give it a shot. They enjoyed the moment of intimacy as they never really got to sleep together like this since the baby was born.

The following days were fairly quiet. As if all the things they just did had never happened. However after two weeks they received a knock at their door. When Owari answered the door he was surprised to say the least. The one standing in front of him was Noel’s grandfather. As imposing as ever with his large body, he looked down at Owari with a hint of respect. “So may I come in?” He asked.

“Not yet.” Owari smiled. “Noel, we have a guest.” He called out, then he stepped out and closed the door. “So what did you need?” He asked casually.

“What was that about?” He asked with an eyebrow raised.

“We weren’t exactly expecting guests.” Owari didn’t give a definitive answer, but the implication was there. “So?” He pushed.

“I came to talk to you about what happened.” He said vaguely.

“What about it? Did it cause problems?” Of course Owari knew what he was talking about.

“Not really. In fact it’s the opposite. I came here to congratulate you on reaching high electrum rank. I went to the scene of some of the battles. I must say the destruction you caused was… something else. I knew how much damage a high electrum could cause in a city of course, but nobody had ever done it. Seeing the destruction to life that a high electrum could reek if given the chance is quite hard to describe.” He couldn’t really think of how to describe what he felt.

“Well it’s good that no high electrum rank has had a grudge against humanity so far.” Owari shrugged.

“Right, at least none that would dare do what you did. Though with you as a precedent I wonder what will happen from now on.” He sighed.

“Just tell everyone that if I learn of anyone getting any ideas I’ll personally execute them.” Owari said without fear. Now that he had developed those two new techniques he was on his way to surpassing high electrum rank. Who would he be afraid of among humanity?

“You speak quite assuredly. I’m glad you’re on my side.” He laughed. A moment later Noel opened the door with Sophia in her arms. She was wearing a casual outfit which seemed thrown on. “Is that the baby I heard about? It’s about time I got to see her.”

“We were planning on taking a trip in the coming months once we were sure she could handle it.” Noel answered as she gently handed the baby over.

He carried her carefully and smiled as he saw her. “She really is something else. To have so much mana.” He was quite shocked, he heard about it, but seeing it is another thing entirely.

“Not only that, she has inborn affinities.” Noel chuckled. It was easy to tell since a baby would naturally pull on their affinities in their smaller actions while growing up. Instinctual responses such as protecting themselves or while playing.

“Affinities? As in multiple?” He was shocked.

“Force, metal, and diamond.” Noel said with a smile.

“She must be a handful.” Francis couldn’t help but sweat at the thought.

“Nothing we can’t handle. And Morgana is fine as well obviously.” Noel responded as she took the baby back. She was still quite protective of her.

“Right.” He chuckled.

“So why’d you come here yourself? You could have sent a letter.” Noel asked curiously.

“Well it would be rude to only send a letter considering the scope of your achievement. Plus I wanted to see the baby.” He admitted.

“I wonder how father is taking it.” Noel chuckled.

“Not as well as my mother. If not for my assurance she would have hopped on a train and would be here by now.” Owari laughed.

“Yeah, he was cycling through being happy and devastated.” Francis answered for them.

“Well as long as he can accept it it’s all good.” Owari shrugged.

“He has by now. He’s had a year to do so.” After all they had let everyone know shortly after they learned of her pregnancy.

“I just realized, but aren’t we stronger than father now?” Noel asked with a surprised expression.

“You’re right. He’s only mid electrum.” Francis answered positively.

“I wonder how he feels about that.” Owari laughed. He had no reason to fear her father now! Not that he had in the first place.

“Probably proud of Noel and frustrated about you.” Francis also laughed. “In fact you’re at least as strong as me and Morgana now.”

“That does beg the question. Why is someone like Morgana merely a random maid/bodyguard in this random part of the world?” Owari asked curiously.

“She’s here to secure this part of the world. It would be a nightmare if some random abyssal creature surfaced and caused trouble for the world. Plus she insisted on coming out here as she grew up here. She wanted to keep it safe. However I only accepted on the condition that she act as a maid/guard for whoever we sent out here.” Francis explained. “Surprisingly she accepted. She was originally a maid in our employ anyway, she just happened to have a talent for fighting and grew to be a competent guard as well. So we would have her act as both a maid and a guard to keep her abilities hidden. She used to be my maid in fact.”

“Indeed. I did work for him at one point.” Morgana approached from the side.

“So why the loyalty to us? Even when we were weaker you never looked down on us nor complained about what we asked of you no matter what it was.” Noel found it strange someone who was so strong would set their pride aside to become the servant of mere children.

“I saw potential in both of you. And Owari reminded me of myself in my youth. Being from the same territory as me helped I’ll admit. It was my duty to serve whoever came here, it was the deal I made. But I also felt the two of you were special. It seems I was right, was I not?” She smiled playfully.

“I suppose one can say it’s true what they say about those with amethyst eyes. They truly do have a special destiny.” Francis laughed.

“What about Owari then?” Noel argued. She never liked that saying.

“Who says one cannot overcome fate with hard work?” Francis said with a smirk.

“Either way I’m glad we had someone so reliable by our side this whole time. I’m sure her presence was one of the reasons we had such a smooth time.” Owari chuckled.

“I merely do what I need to ensure the young masters are not inconvenienced.” She said dutifully.

“Indeed. And you do a good job. You really don’t get paid enough for the quality of your work.” Owari admitted. He decided to give her another raise.

After that everyone talked a little longer before Francis decided to go home. He didn’t have a lot of free time. Especially given what was happening right now. After he went home not much happened for the next month or so. There was of course the culture festival, but it wasn’t any different from their usual holiday. It wasn’t until this point that Noel and Owari decided to go on a trip to visit their parents.

They obviously decided to visit Owari’s mother first as she was along the way to the dragon territory anyway. They arrived in a week taking the ordinary train. Since they needed to buy a cabin room it was cheaper to go by ordinary train. Of course with how far Silverblood city was they definitely planned to go by express train. It wasn’t like they lacked money at this point. They were just naturally thrifty from their earlier days in the city.

When they arrived they got off the train and made their way to Owari’s old home. Of course his mother knew he’d be arriving soon, though not the exact date. If she had known the date there was no doubt she would have met them at the train station. Noel pulled out the simple stroller from their luggage and they made their way down the main road. Of course as usual the moment people noticed they were here word spread like wildfire.

By the time they arrived at his old home, everyone knew about Owari and Noel being here. And more importantly about the child they had in tow. However none of them showed surprise at this. It seemed his mother had been bragging again. Almost a breath after he knocked on the door it was thrown open. His mother looked straight at them and then down at the baby.

“So it was you.” She said with a wide smile. “It feels like I’ve been waiting forever for this moment. But who knew it would come so soon. With how my son is I had assumed it would take longer to convince him to have a child.”

“There wasn’t a lot of convincing. It just sort of happened. Whether he accepted or not was irrelevant.” Noel chuckled.

“I was never against it to begin with.” Owari shrugged.

“Oh, I see.” She said ambiguously but didn’t elaborate on what she meant before crouching down in front of the stroller and poking the babies cheeks. “Have they been doing a good job raising you?” She spoke cutely.

“We try our best.” Owari just smiled and shook his head. “Let’s go inside.”

When they entered they weren’t too surprised to find Milly inside. She typically worked with Owari’s mother so it was ordinary for her to be over most days. What was surprising was how much she had changed. Of course they made sure to visit once a year, so they knew she had grown a lot. Unlike Noel who looked the same as the day Owari met her. Milly had grown into a mature woman. But the real change was that she had a swollen belly.

“So it was you.” She smiled simply as she noticed their reactions.

“I didn’t know you were in a relationship.” Noel smiled widely. Having just gone through a pregnancy she couldn’t help but feel empathetic towards Milly.

“I just got engaged a month ago. Before that we weren’t as serious.” She looked down signifying how and probably why that changed.

“Who is it?” Noel asked curiously. The last time she was here she hadn’t noticed any guy in particular.

“The carpenter’s son William.” She answered.

“Too bad I don’t know the people of the town. He better be good to you.” Noel declared. She wouldn’t forgive a man who left a woman to raise a baby alone. Especially now that she knew how hard it was. She was glad to have Owari’s help or she’d have gone crazy.

“He is.” She chuckled.

“That’s good. Do you want to see Sophia too?” Noel grabbed the baby from the stroller and showed her off.

“Such a cute baby.” Owari’s mother was already complimenting her before she even properly saw her. She only got a glimpse before they came in.

“She really is cute.” Milly seemed like she couldn’t wait to have her own baby.

“So why didn’t you tell us Milly was pregnant?” Noel was curious. They sent letters every month after all.

“You didn’t ask.” Owari’s mother smiled.

“How exactly are we supposed to know to ask? Or should we just ask if anyone in town got pregnant lately every time we send a letter?” Owari chuckled off to the side. He knew his mother was just being playful and hid it on purpose.

“You should do that. Take at least some interest in your hometown.” His mother scolded him.

“Why? They already have enough interest in me for the both of us.” With how many rumors floated around about him here it was impossible to really befriend anyone here at this point.

“Yes I know. Luckily it’s mostly good by this point.” Originally there had been some bad rumors. But the ones to dispel that were Francis the blacksmith, Milly and her parents, Yunis, and ironically Lucas’ parents who still didn’t know he killed their son. He also had no intention of telling them either, though he did feel bad for them he never regretted what he did.

After that everybody continued to chat and enjoy themselves. Even Milly was involved. Any enmity between her and them was long gone. It had barely existed in the first place, so after all this time why would they have anything against her. In fact Noel got along with her quite well as they talked about baby stuff. Even Owari’s mom got involved and started talking about when Owari was younger. Owari showed no sign of embarrassment at this much to his mother’s disappointment.

Owari mostly stayed out of the talks, though he did add one or two things in when it came to raising a baby. Noel mostly talked about the good while Owari tempered Milly’s expectations by warning her of the bad. They made a great balance, and they drilled all the information they could into Milly’s head. Especially the part about making the father do half the work so the baby will imprint on both parents equally.

Overall it was a fun time and the two decided to stay in town a few days, though they did feel sorry for Morgana who had to sleep at the local inn which was rather average in quality. As for Noel and Owari, they shared Owari’s old bed. Owari’s mother ended up taking over for them that night so they could get some sleep. Like that she ended up caring for the baby which she enjoyed greatly. It was a win-win situation.