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Back to last night.
After Jash fell asleep, everyone inside his room left, save for Sera.
Caera walked out of the room in an absentminded manner, her steps unconsciously leading her.
"...ra..."
"Yo...n...g Mi...s Ca...ra..."
"Young Miss Caera!"
An urging for her brought her back to the present as she looked around, confused at finding herself in the training ground.
"What am I doing here?" she mumbled subconsciously.
"You were walking without a care in the world, Young Miss," answered Kesha, her personal maid.
Kesha stood guard nearby to make sure she was there to escort her master, Caera, at all times.
Unlike Emma, who left Jash upon his orders, Kesha remained faithfully by Caera's side.
She ensured all of her master's needs were met, ready to be served at any time.
"Kesha? Why are you here? Didn't Emma leave?" Caera asked, in an attempt to change the topic.
Kesha recognized Caera's attempt but refrained from pointing it out, sensing her distraction.
"It is my job to be by your side at all times. Emma is... just different," Kesha answered but hesitated at Emma's topic before going silent.
Noting Kesha's stern expression, Caera pursed her lips. 'That's your elder sister!'
Apparently, Emma was Kesha's older sister but it didn't seem Kesha cared about it much.
To be fair, they were only a year apart in age and were raised without much difference yet they had contrasting personalities.
Or maybe it was because Emma served Jash, who was laid-back and Kesha served Caera, who was serious and hard-working.
In hopes of leaving the previous topic altogether, Caera implored Kesha, "Can you make sure no one disturbs me for a while?"
Just as Kesha nodded and bowed professionally, Caera hurriedly added, "Ah... Uhm... If he wakes up, TELL ME!"
She didn't wait for a reply and ran straight to change her clothes for a training session.
Despite it being midnight and her birthday, thoughts of Jash and her concerned parents overwhelmed her mind.
Bothered by everything replaying in her mind like a loop, she didn't know what to do other than distract herself by training.
'Training improves strength. Strength thwarts problems,' Caera recited her mantra mentally which gave her the courage to train everyday.
She exited the changing rooms clad in a gray combat suit, made with flexible materials to ease the fluidity of movements.
Reaching the training area for mages, she looked on with a determined look in her eyes.
In front of her, training dummies made from wood, straw, metal, leather, clothes, and other materials were affixed at different distances.
All the training dummies had blue lines running through them, connecting to form a full circuit.
Narrowing her eyes in focus, Caera clenched her practice staff before chanting spells and moving her mana in a set pattern inside her body, materializing a small fire in front of her red staff.
Locking her eyes on the closest wooden training dummy, the fire grew into a ball before shooting towards it.
'F-Rank Spell: Fireball!'
It was the weakest spell of the fire series and she had learned to control it at will. The time it took from start to finish was merely 1.2 seconds.
'Too slow!' Caera furrowed her brows, her eyes tracing the path of the spell as it landed.
—Boom
A small explosion sound followed by a small burn mark on the wooden dummy echoed as Caera clicked her tongue in displeasure.
The blue runes on the wooden dummy lit up as the damage got healed in less than a second.
'I can't give up!' Caera hardened her resolve, clenching her teeth.
She continued chanting spells, rooted in place as she struggled to master basic chanting, let alone moving chants.
Luckily, she didn't have to speak some gibberish but only mumble words in a specific order and tone.
The mana in her surroundings resonated with her chants, moving and forming the spell after she materialized the fire using her light red mana.
Even her range of spell was limited to just 10 meters, for now.
If only some other novice mage looked at her casting spell after spell gracefully without as much as a drop of sweat on her face, and the cast time reducing with every cast.
Only Caera had the nerve to consider herself weak when she could cast the same rank spells as herself in about 1 second!
That too, when she had just awakened less than a year ago and was just 13!
Alas, she really was weak, according to her.
Well, she just had to stop comparing herself to the adults, who had awakened for at least a decade.
...
Caera didn't realize how long had passed before her mana reserves felt empty, causing her to stop casting spells.
Despite her sweat-drenched face, she didn't stop and shifted her grip on the staff from one hand to two.
—Click
With a sudden sound, the shaft dismantled into two, revealing a pair of blades hidden within.
Dual wielding the swords, Caera started to move and attacked the training dummies with all her strength, trying her best to maintain form and speed.
...
After a long time, Caera fell to the ground as she laid on her back, drenched in sweat.
She was fatigued after her intense round of training, unsupervised by anyone, or at least she thought so.
On the verge of sleeping, she heard a sudden sound, startling her.
"Caera, I will overlook your late night training today, but never do such intense training unsupervised."
'Grandpa...' Recognizing the familiar voice, Caera relaxed for a moment before she heard another pair of footsteps.
"Young Miss, Young Master Jash has woken up," Kesha informed the moment she spotted Caera, ignoring her current state.
Upon hearing about Jash, Caera's eyes widened as she sat up straight.
Her face scrunched up at the sharp pain in her tired muscles caused by her sudden movement.
Yet it wasn't enough to stop her from meeting Jash as she rushed out to shower before donning a black dress.
...
Standing in front of his room's door, she hesitated to enter, recalling her mother's words, "He asked for some time alone, Caera."
Yet what truly made her nervous was her mother's stern expression.
'Haa... What am I supposed to do?'
In the end, she barged into the room and gathered her courage to ask him, but her voice cracked in between.
"Ja–... Jash... h-how a-are... y-you?"
The momentary silence afterwards made her heart pound in anxiety which calmed down immediately at Jash's next action.
"I am fine now. Everything's fine, Caera."
His words calmed her heart but the sudden hug surprised her, making her flinch in response. It made her conscious about accidentally hurting him due to her tense muscles.
Despite her hesitation, she gave in and hugged him lightly, finally burying her head in his chest before she felt his hands patting her back gently.
Time seemed to pass slowly as Caera felt the warmth and comfort after a long time. However, recalling Sera's words, Caera broke the hug reluctantly and muttered in a small voice, "Mum and dad are waiting for you. Just tell me whenever you feel ready, and I will bring you to them."
"Okay."
Everything went well before her stern expression and calm facade crumpled at the head pat, causing her dash out of the room from sheer embarrassment.
Unaware of Jash ordering Kesha, Caera continued to dash with a red tint on her face, feeling embarrassed at how she enjoyed the head pat.
Involuntarily, her hand reached for the same spot on her head, her heart warming at the affection and care her brother displayed for her.
Deep down, she had a soft spot for her family. Especially Jash, whom she felt responsible for.
But she had a hard time showing her soft side, unlike her mother.
"Stupid lazy panda..."
She mumbled inaudibly as if annoyed, yet a small smile graced her lips.
*check paragraph comment for image*
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