Lina then said, "What? Only half? I'm already so weak, and only half of it has entered my body?"
And Anna said, "That's because most people, instead of using the help the mist gives as an aid, use it as a crutch, and when they lose that crutch, the same thing that's happening to you now happens. Your father and I had already planned to help you with this when you reached the level of influence, but it doesn't hurt you to start training for it now."
"You said I could get half of it in, right? How much can Raja get into him?"
"What do you mean how much Lina? Didn't you hear me say he hides it? That means he gets all the mist into his body."
"All of it? How is that possible?"
Balkan then said, "It's simple, child. He's certainly been training for a long time. Even during your fight with him at the bar, I noticed that the speed at which he brings it back into his body is very fast, and I would say that perhaps he has never used the mist as a crutch since he awakened his essence."
"What? And how did he do that?"
Anna then said, "It's simple, dear. A member of his family, or some friend, who was already on the level of influence when he awakened his essence, taught him how to do that."
"If that's all, why didn't you guys teach me how to do that when I awakened my essence?"
"Great question, Lina, and I will give you the answer now. I wanted to teach you this when you awakened your essence, but your soft-hearted father convinced me that there was no need to rush things like this and that I shouldn't be so hard on you, and I ended up following his advice."
Balkan then said, feeling a bit wronged, "But there really was no need. It's not like Lina needed to -", but before he could finish speaking, Anna interrupted him and said, "Balkan! Stop right now!"
And Balkan said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."
"I know you didn't, but you have to be more careful."
Lina, seeing this, asked, "What just happened? Is there something I can't know?"
And Anna said, "You can know it, but not now, and don't push the subject!"
Everyone then became silent after that, and Balkan said to break the ice, "Continuing on the subject of making the mist come back, if you thought what we talked about, Raja, was impressive, you would be amazed to see what Gen can do."
And Lina said, "What do you mean? How could Gen do anything? He didn't have an essence until recently."
Balkan and Anna then looked at each other, and Anna said, "It's your friend, you talk."
Balkan then said, "Ahh, okay. Listen well, Lina. As long as I've known Gen, he's always had an essence."
And Lina said, "Impossible. In these three years that Gen has been here, the one who has spent the most time with him has been me, so there's no way I could have missed that."
"Of course, you never noticed Lina. Gen hardly ever used his essence. He only used it in situations that he considered dangerous for him, such as exactly one year ago when your mother threw that fork at him. If he hadn't used his essence at that moment, he probably would have had that fork stuck in his head to this day. Well, not that I would have let that happen because, obviously, your mother only did that because I was standing right next to him, right, love?"
And Anna said, "Huh? Yeah, that's true ..."
Lina then asked, "Did he use his essence that day? I didn't feel anything different about him at the time."
And Balkan said, "Exactly, and that's what's most impressive. Gen can make the mist of his essence leave and return almost instantaneously."
"Instantaneously?! You're kidding me, right, father?"
"I wish I were, but it's the truth."
"How did he get to that point?"
"Your mother and I have discussed this at length, and we can only conclude that someone of a very high level taught him how to do this."
"How high are you talking?"
"Probably a King taught him this."
"A King-level person? That doesn't make sense. How did Gen come into contact with someone of that level?"
Anna then said, "Lina, it's only been three years since we met Gen, and though it may seem like a lot, he's twenty-one years old. He's probably experienced a lot of things that we can't even imagine. Anyway, enough of this talk, let's go home."
And Lina said, "Hold on, Mom. You and Father said that Gen has always had an essence since we've known him, right?"
"Yeah. What about it?"
"What is this essence? And we also haven't finished talking about these monster attacks that happened these days."
"No need to worry about that. Your father and I will handle this situation. And about Gen's essence, your father and I don't know what essence it is. The only thing we've been able to understand from observing it over the past three years is that it's most likely conceptual."
"Conceptual?! I can no longer tell if you are serious or joking."
Balkan then said, "Hahaha, we really threw a lot of information at you at once, so it makes sense that you are confused."
And Anna said, "Well, you can ask him tomorrow. Now, come on, let's go home."
Lina then said, "Ok."
She then started to follow her parents out of the room.
Before she left, she took one last look at Gen, who was lying on the bed all bandaged up, and then thought, 'Get ready, Gen, when you wake up, you and I are going to have a long talk, and you're not going to run away this time.', and then she left the room and closed the door.
Soon after that, the three of them left the restaurant, locked it, and then started walking towards their house, when suddenly they heard a voice say, "Hey Lina, what took you so long in there? You weren't taking advantage of Gen again, were you?"
And Lina said, "What are you still doing here, Raja?"
Raja then said, "Hey, I was waiting for you to come out to make sure nothing bad happened to Gen."
"What about the party? Weren't you going to go?"
"I was, but halfway there, I realized that going without Gen wouldn't be any fun."
"... You weren't getting any dates, were you?"
"Hey! That's not it ... I didn't even go to the party. I just stood here waiting for you to leave."
"Oh yeah? Mom, Dad, did you see Raja outside when you arrived?"
Balkan then said, "No, as I recall, the street was empty when we arrived, wasn't it love?"
And Anna said, "Yeah, I don't remember seeing him."
Raja then said, "That's because ... I was ... taking a nap! I was over there in the corner, taking a nap. After all, Gen and I barely slept last night."
And Lina asked, "You took a nap in the middle of the street?"
"Y-Yes, what's wrong with that? You and Gen also started grabbing each other here in the middle of the street. You even laid on the ground. Are you the only ones who can lie on the street? Or is there a rule that you can only lie on the ground if you are having intimate relations with someone?"
Lina, hearing this, said, "YOU! Gen and I have already told you that you are confusing things. We were just arguing."
"And I told you to come up with another excuse. Who is going to believe that you were arguing? You started out kissing, then he knocked you to the ground, and the next thing I knew, he was lying on top of you. If this is arguing, I want to argue with someone every day. Ah, but inside a private place since, unlike you two, I have decency."
"That's enough! I'll end you now!"
Lina then started walking towards Raja when suddenly she heard her mother saying, "I found what you just said very interesting, Raja. Why don't you come with us to our house for a bit and tell me more about what happened."
And Raja said, "I'd love to Miss Anna, but I'm afraid of being attacked by your daughter if I get too close."
"Don't worry about that. You can come here, and nothing will happen to you."
"Thank you, Miss Anna."
Raja then started to approach, and when he got close to Lina, she went towards him, but halfway, she was stopped by Balkan, and then she said, "Let go of me, father!"
And Balkan said, "Calm down, Lina, we just want to hear what happened."
"Then don't ask him. He'll tell a bunch of lies."
Raja then said, "Hey, I might add something here or there to make the story more exciting, but I don't just tell lies, or is it my lie that you kissed him?"
"... It's not a lie, but still-"
Anna then said, interrupting Lina, "Enough, Lina, be quiet. After Raja tells us his version, you can tell us yours. You can start Raja."
And Raja said, "Well, let's go. It all started earlier, we were at the bar, Gen was 'passed out', and Lina said she wasn't going to the party because she was 'tired', and that she would leave Gen resting on the restaurant bed and then go home to sleep, but little did I know that it was all a plan by the two of them to be alone. After all, the two of them hadn't seen each other in a year, and not even the sun could burn as brightly as the longing they were feeling for each other."
Anna then said, "Wow! And then what happened?"
Raja then continued, and Lina, upon hearing what he was saying, tried several times to break free from her father without success, to a point where she gave up and thought, 'This isn't going to stay like this!'