Even with Crown’s aid, Claud could feel the incredible demand his fifth mana circuit had on him. His incredible Mana Control Proficiency, however, was just enough for him to fix up his fifth mana circuit while still worrying about Lily, and with a tired meep, Crown rolled off his head.

A set of screens appeared in his mind a moment later.

[Your Mana Circuit Superimposition has reached 5.00]

[Authority increased]

[You have not met the requirements to evolve your Mana Locus skill]

[You have not met the requirements to evolve your Mastery of Permanence skill.]

Claud looked at the four notifications that had popped up, and then shifted Lily, who was still undergoing her Second Tutorial, in his arms. After brushing some hair out of her closed eyes, he hugged her lightly, before sending out some mana to the RECON artefact.

“Meep?” Throne rolled over and bounced twice. “Meep.”

“Oh, I’m surveying the situation at the warfront,” Claud replied. “But since I don’t want to repeat myself a few more times, can you get Sceptre for me?”

“Meep!” Throne bounced twice proudly, in a gesture that made Claud think of an enthusiastic young man thumping his chest twice, and then rolled off. “Meep!”

Before long, the two shapes had floated back, and the two of them dropped onto his bed in what seemed like apparent exhaustion. Crown meeped dismissively, giving voice to Claud’s opinion that laziness had made their flight ability weaker, before bumping the two little tired fellows a few times to show some disdain.

As the three little shapes meeped away and the RECON flickered to life, Claud took the chance to assess his status.

[Name: Claud Primus

Class: Omen

Lifespan: 1044 years

Active Skills: Presence Nullification (9), Flight (5), Binding Order (7), Cleanse (6), FiBoD;O??? (0), FiBoD;O??? (0)

Passive Skills: DiL???C, Mana Locus, Omen, Understanding, Master of Permanence, Artificial Life Contractor

Mana Circuit Superimposition: 5.00

Mana Control Proficiency: Master

Authority: 5

Comments: Be careful. A thousand cold suns burn in the void, waiting for their vengeance. A hundred shadows scour the land, fearing the light of destruction. What will you embody, Omen? Your time draws near…]

Claud looked at the ominous proclamation in the comments. This wasn’t the first time he’d seen such a prediction about the future that was to come, but…what was he exactly to do with such a warning? He was already growing stronger the only way he knew how. Was he supposed to pick up a sword and start waving it around?

He shook his head. The only way he was growing stronger was to understand the world around him. Intelligence and knowledge were everything. Knowing the location of conflict zones and battlefields were most important.

The rest could wait.

He glanced at the three meeping shapes, who were crowding around Lily’s legs for some reason, and then said, “Come on, guys. Might as well get you three up to speed. Right now, this world is a battlefield for two very scary sides. The Dark and the Moons. Previously, the Dark had lots of advantages since it descended first, but we screwed up something, the Dark blew lots of power on us, and the Moons got to descend a few days in advance.”

“Meep?” Crown tilted to its side, and then completed the barrel roll.

“Yeah. I think the Dark caught a portion of that skill and tried to eradicate me with it,” Claud replied. “Anyhow, the Moons caught their breath, rallied a huge army and sent them. They’ve pushed back the frontlines; it’s now in in this very dukedom, in Vacuos.”

“Meep!”

“The halfway point, correct. Incidentally, we actually have a small house in Moon territory itself,” Claud added. “It’s in the county south of Vacuos — Cava — in a small town named Monsville. We’ll drop by there on the way back to Licencia for a few days and to settle some issues for maintenance and cleaning.”

Sceptre and Throne, who had never visited their little cottage, meeped away happily.

“Other than that…well, we’re just studying the enemy numbers and patterns,” Claud studied the screen. The little ball-like probe that the RECON had tossed out was able to stay activated for indefinite periods, allowing for a constant…feed.

That last word felt off, but Claud was aware that his world’s iteration of language was less modern that that of the Celestia Ruins.

“Heh. Throne…have you developed any special ability yet?

“Meep?”

“Figured.” Claud patted the little guy. “Don’t let it get to you, though. I want you to develop the special ability of protecting Lily…and I definitely didn’t say this because I remembered your first interaction—yeowch!”

The small ball smacked his hand as he said those words, and Claud laughed. He couldn’t help but remember the first time he’d used the RECON artefact — the small ball that the machine had released garnered quite the reaction from little Throne, who immediately nudged it a few times while making meeps.

What really took the cake, however, was how Throne had fled when the ball-like probe took to the skies and flew out of the window. As a result, Lily had to cajole the little guy back down from the ceiling, along with Crown and Sceptre.

Smiling, he fixed his eyes on the RECON artefact, and time drifted by in a haze. In this odd state that had him slipping between consciousness and unconsciousness, he could vaguely tell Lily’s current state in her Second Tutorial. There was some fear, some trepidation, and yet…some hope.

He held Lily tighter, willing his touch to tell her that he was out there and rooting for her to return victorious.

“You can do it,” Claud whispered, his tongue forming these familiar words for the umpteenth time as two armies smashed into each other. The bright lights that tore through the skies and ploughed the armies below seemed like nothing in comparison to Lily, who was fighting a war within her own psyche.

How many times had he whispered those words?

He had lost count, but as the battle on the artefact’s screen drew to an end, both sides bloodied and bruised, Lily began to stir. Her breathing, which had been increasingly shallow, had taken on a deep rhythm, and Claud’s odd state of mind dissipated.

It was morning, and Lily had woken up.

That was all that mattered.

Blue light began to condense around her, and her mana circuits, four of them superimposed on each other to form a total of ten illusory patterns, flared once, but Claud simply let the light blind him. Lily’s presence grew more pronounced, and her eyelids opened a moment later.

Claud looked deep into her eyes, and then pulled her close. “Well done.”

“…I’m back.” Lily whispered.

Claud nodded. “You’ve succeeded. I…can sense it.”

Lily’s confidence had grown immensely in that single Second Tutorial. What did she undergo in there? The light in her eyes had taken on a piercing, confident sheen, and Claud found himself falling in love with this new, unfamiliar side of her.

“Yes. I did.” Lily separated from him slightly, and used the space to cup his face. “And I felt you the whole time. I could sense your mana and hear your words. I could feel you by my side.”

“Mhm.” Claud smiled. “But you conquered it on your own, did you not? What really mattered was that you banished your regrets and affirmed your path on your own. I…just held you. Don’t devalue that.”

Lily nodded. “I know. But I want to thank you all the same. I…never truly realised how much your support meant to me until the Second Tutorial.”

“…What did you see in there?” Claud asked.

A sad, yet content smile appeared on her face. “I experienced my childhood. The Lily I would have been, if I hadn’t chosen to flee my family back then. And…”

The light in her eyes grew stronger. “And I knew. That me leaving back then, and then bringing justice back…it was not the perfect solution. It could never be the perfect solution.”

Lily’s eyes shimmered with the faint glimmer of tears. “But it was good enough.”

“You will forever bear your own guilt and pain,” Claud murmured. “But that, I can at least shoulder with you, right?”

In the end, there was no way anyone could ever have handled any situation perfectly. But what mattered was that the ability to confront oneself and be confident that they did the right thing. Even if it was not done properly, it was better than not doing it at all, out of fear that they would mess it up.

Today, Lily finally had her own affirmation.

“You’ve done well.” Claud dried the corners of her eyes, and saw the small hint of confidence in her eyes. For Lily, the Second Tutorial had granted her the answer to the question she had held for years and years.

“Yes.” Lily looked him squarely in the eyes. “I have.”

Claud found her confidence a bit too dazzling, but this was not the time to turn away. “Good. Now, then…we can make for home now.”

“…Penta-folder?” Lily’s eyes filled with shock.

“You’re not the only one who had an epiphany,” Claud replied. “And I figured that getting home was the best gift for you. After all…you still need to face your fears in person, right?”

“You’ll be coming along, right?”

“Naturally.” Claud smiled. “I’ll always be by your side.”

Before he could say more, the three little fellows rushed over, meeping as they clambered onto Lily’s head.

“You guys…damnit. This is my time with her!”

“Meep!’

“Ugh…”