Arnold placed his hand on Sol’s head and Sol found her awareness recovered. For a moment, she felt as if she were a different person. The flooded spiritual awareness receded like a tide and Sol only looked a bit lost at the situation.

“That was rude. Don’t do it again.” Arnold spoke to no one in particular. Sol’s face fell at the comment thinking Arnold was talking about her momentary outburst. However he soon followed up. “Even if you're Lillica’s mother, that doesn’t give you the right to invade a child’s inner domain. I’ll let it slide this one time.”

Eyes of gratitude reached Arnold from Sol and a smile creeped across her face. The man only brushed her hair once more before returning his attention to the guests. “Well, it should be obvious now that Sol has the qualifications.”

“She certainly does, but will she be able to display that on site? Even now, I can barely sense anything from her.” Forcelia rebutted without much challenge. It appeared she was fine with the selection. Lillica spoke up in Sol’s defense. “Even if she can’t, our decision won’t change. If they don’t accept her, it’s their loss. Sol can just come back home to us then.”

Sol would have enjoyed the statement more had Lillica not taken her head into a hug. Evenso, she couldn’t hide the grin on her face. ‘Having a family is such a nice feeling.’ The thought flitted through her mind and faces she couldn’t recognize flashed before her eyes. Just as soon as they appeared, the images faded out.

“In that case, I’ll take the Young Master back.” Forcelia spread her palms as if to say she was removing herself from the matter. Beside her, the young man’s eyes flared in anger. “The Drant representative should arrive within the next three weeks. Take the time to prepare yourself girl.” Forcelia’s eyes moved to the couple next.

“You should prepare her as well so there’s no unexpected conflict when she arrives at the main branch.” Saying so, Forcelia Raised from her seat and gestured to the young man to follow her. The two left the house, but not before the young man flashed Sol a nasty smile.

After the guests left, Arnold and Lillica sat Sol down across from them. “Sol, you might have been curious about why Lillica and I are at this frontier village. The truth is, we’re distancing ourselves from the main Drant family.” Arnold went straight to the topic.

“The current head of the family is my younger brother. Originally, the position would have belonged to me, but I would have been forced to accept a Mistress in that case.” His expression warped slightly after admitting the situation.

Sol immediately glanced at Lillica who smiled wryly in response. “I was hurt during an assassination attempt. In truth, Arnold and I had a child long ago.” As she spoke, Lillica’s hand covered her abdomen. “The attempt killed our child and impaired my ability to have children. When we investigated the aftermath, there was evidence suggesting Arnold’s brother was involved… Sadly, there was no direct evidence and movements followed up soon after proposing Arnold take another wife in order to preserve the main branch’s lineage…”

Within her eyes, Lillica reflected a mixture of disappointment, sadness, and anger. Sol understood the gist of what happened just from that small explanation. Odds were, Arnold’s younger brother was behind the assassination. After failing, he found an opportunity through Lillica’s weakness and instigated the family Elders to petition Arnold. ‘Well, assuming it really was his younger brother behind it all…’

Though inexperienced, Sol understood at the very least that not everything was as it seemed when individuals of rank and power were involved. Her thoughts were interrupted by Arnold. “I had no intention of taking in a Mistress and so stepped down from my position. It wasn’t something I wanted in the first place. Despite that, someone continued to instigate behind the scenes and tried to force Lillica and I to adopt a child instead.”

“Was it that young man?” Sol asked. “Yes… At the time, he was only 6, but the situation didn’t feel right, so we turned everyone down. After the petitions became incessant, I took Lillica away and settled in this village.”

Sol’s thoughts churned. ‘So the Drant couple are voluntary outcasts? What would anyone gain by having them adopt a child even after Arnold stepped down from his position?’ Her gaze landed on Arnold. From her perspective, Arnold was the target and Lillica the unfortunate collateral damage. With that in mind, Sol raised her question.

“Father, does the Drant family have anything they pass down from generation to generation? Something specific to each family. Something your little brother wouldn’t have, but you do?” Surprised at her question, Arnold went into thought.

“After relinquishing the head position, I left behind everything related to the family. If it’s something personal though… Magic Cycling? The Magic Cyclinc method I developed is the only thing that comes to mind.”

“Magic Cycling?” It was the first time Sol heard of such a term. The name alone suggested it was related to how Sol already used magic, but Arnold’s inflection suggested it was different. “Magic Cycling is something I discovered that allows you to cycle magic from your soul to your body. Every complete cycle leaves behind some impurities and boosts the quality of magic your soul contains. It’s as if you’re undergoing thousands of mini-refinements.”

“It uses the body as a filter to purify the magic you already have?” That settles it. Sol was sure the incident was related to that technique. If someone was stuck at a certain rank due to a bad magic model, they’d be unable to undergo refinement. What if they were able to gradually increase the quality of the magic they already had though? It’d allow someone stuck at a stage to progress to the next with enough time.

Sol continued her train of logic. If a child was presented to the couple for adoption during a time when Arnold fell out of position, then it was likely that child had a connection of some sort to the assailant. Sol voiced her thoughts and asked her follow-on question.

“Was the Mistress already decided? If so, were they related to that young master in any way?” Lillica was surprised for a moment before moving to sit beside Sol. She hugged her head and spoke softly. “Your father and I already went down this path Sol. There’s no need to discover who it was. The evidence is all coincidental at best… We broke off from the family because of our own conclusions…”

At that, Sol realized. Neither Lillica, nor Arnold were incompetent individuals. As someone capable of holding the position of family head and as someone capable of supporting an individual at such a position, it was clear the Drant couple was high-spec. They had already discovered the villain and determined it was impossible to prosecute them.

After realizing such, Sol laid down her questions and let the topic slide. There was no use pursuing it until she had more strength.

The following three weeks flowed quickly. Sol spent her time going on hunts with Arnold and learning his Magic Cycling technique. Unlike her mental model, Sol found the technique appeared to work regardless of what state her model was in. Thanks to that, a strange weakness she felt creeping into her body was put off slightly.

Day in and day out, Sol focused on honing her skills. After pushing herself to her limits repeatedly during hunts, Sol was able to confidently stride around the Cathis’ territory. Though she was still forced to use tactics when confronting them, the beast itself was no longer a death knell for her.

On particularly rough days where Sol was hurt or had to recover, she would sit down and spend time with Lillica. Despite her looks, Lillica specialized in imbuing magic into items. After demonstrating her Divine Refiner Arts the first time, Lillica was amazed and decided to teach Sol her own techniques. Sol noticed early on that Lillica’s technique was inefficient and discovered its many limitations.

Even then, Sol learned her technique. Rather than discard it, Sol took its best aspects and implemented them in her Divine Refiner Arts. Near the end of the 3rd week, Sol was capable of basic imbuement. Attached to her wrists were two bracelets Lillica helped build. Her slim legs carried two new anklets on each leg as well. From her right ear, a blue gem dangled while emitting a mysterious faery light within.

Each item contained the mysteries of magic and Sol’s ideas. She understood her position going to the main branch and recognized that she was likely to be surrounded by enemies. Her new items would grant her a degree of breathing room should she require it.

The next morning, Forcelia visited once more. Surprisingly, the young man tagged along. “I’m just here to see you two off, girl.” Forcelia chuckled at Sol’s cautious gaze. Sol blinked in surprise. “Two”? As if reading her thoughts, Forcelia continued. “Ah, one of the slots was provided to my house as well. Neither of those two kids of mine could live up to the role though, so the Young Master will follow you in. Rely on each other when possible.”

“Hah, this girl still has to pass the selection to get in. Who’s to say she’ll pass.” Sol ignored the young man’s provocation as Lillica was brushing her hair. The two spent the moment in comfort, ignoring the young man and causing his brows to furrow. Soon, there was a knock at the door.

Upon opening the door, a young man appearing not a day older than 20 bowed gently. “Greetings. I represent the Drant family and Heavenly Demon Guild. Have you prepared your representatives?” His soothing voice filled the house with an even tone.

Lillica provided Sol a final hug before sending her towards the man. Along the way, Arnold pet the top of her head as well, sending her off in silence. “If anything happens, feel free to come home. Noone here is interested in you losing your life just for honor.” Sol could hear Arnold’s words at her back and broke into a wide smile. Her steps continued in confidence carrying a fresh vigor in her eyes.