The days passed slowly in the Valcor household.

Damian spent most of his time working through the mental damage from the portal, his debuffed Will and Perception stats gradually recovering as his mind healed.

The hallucinations were rare now, the whispers faded to background noise, and the weight pressing against his consciousness lifted degree by degree.

He trained in the mornings, meditated in the afternoons, and spent evenings with his family.

Luna’s presence helped more than any meditation technique, her quiet companionship anchoring him when his thoughts spiraled too far.

Lyandra fussed over him constantly, checking if he was eating enough, sleeping properly, pushing himself too hard.

Alaric maintained his usual distance but was always nearby, offering silent support through his mere presence.

Slowly, the fractured pieces of Damian’s mental state began fitting back together.

Then the day of the entrance exam results arrived.

****

The Valcor family sat gathered in the living room, the atmosphere charged with anticipation despite everyone already knowing what the results would show.

Luna’s communicator sat on the coffee table, its screen dark and waiting.

Unlike when Damian’s results had come, there was no nervous energy, no uncertainty about whether she’d qualify.

They all knew what Luna’s talent meant, what her SSS rank would accomplish even with Gia artificially lowering her official designation to SS.

Beep Beep

The notification arrived precisely on schedule.

Luna picked up her device, her silver eyes scanning the screen. Her expression remained calm, but Damian caught the slight upturn of her lips.

[Congratulations, Miss Luna Valcor. You ranked 1st in the entrance examinations and are qualified to join any academy you desire.] 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

The room erupted.

Lyandra pulled Luna into a fierce hug, her voice breaking with pride and emotion.

"I knew it! My baby girl ranked first!"

Alaric wrapped his arms around both of them, his stern face cracking into a genuine smile.

"Well done, Luna. You’ve made us incredibly proud."

Luna accepted their embrace with quiet happiness, her cheeks slightly flushed but her composure maintained. When she pulled back, her eyes found Damian’s across the room.

He smiled, genuinely warm.

"Congratulations, Luna. First rank is no small achievement."

Before she could respond, her communicator began buzzing with incoming notifications.

Beep Beep Beep Beep

Academy invitations flooded in, each one more prestigious than the last. Imperial families sent recruitment offers, Noble houses extended sponsorship proposals. Even the military reached out.

Luna scrolled through them with calm efficiency, dismissing most without reading beyond the subject line.

Then she stopped, her expression brightening slightly.

"I got the invitation from Stormhold Academy."

Damian stood up, moving toward the training room.

"Come on then. Let’s get your core formed."

Luna stood immediately, following him without hesitation.

Alaric cleared his throat.

"Kiddo, I think it’s better for Luna to form it on her own. She should familiarize herself with her body’s Aura pathways properly. That’s the reason we didn’t help you during your awakening."

Lyandra’s head turned toward Alaric, her black eyes carrying a glare that could freeze magma.

The look conveyed a very clear message: Don’t stop them from spending time together.

Alaric caught the glare and immediately reconsidered his position.

"Though... I suppose it doesn’t matter that much. Lyandra already helped Luna understand her pathways beforehand. It’ll be faster if Damian assists her to avoid wasting time."

Damian and Luna exchanged a brief glance, both catching the family dynamics at play, before continuing toward the training room.

****

The training room door closed behind them, muffling the sounds of the house.

Luna stood in the center of the room, her breathing already controlled, her posture showing the discipline of someone who’d prepared for this moment.

Damian walked over and positioned himself behind her.

"Sit down and start the breathing exercises. I’ll guide your Aura flow to help stabilize the core formation."

Luna sat cross-legged on the meditation mat, her back straight, her hands resting on her knees.

Damian placed his hand against her back, his palm warm against the fabric of her shirt.

His Will extended outward, threading through her pathways with practiced precision, mapping the routes the Aura would take.

"Begin."

Luna’s breathing shifted, falling into the rhythm she’d practiced countless times with their mother.

The Aura came rushing in immediately.

Not a gentle trickle like most awakeners experienced, but a violent torrent that made the air around them shimmer.

Damian’s eyes widened slightly.

’Is this what SSS-rank talent looks like?’

The suction force was intense, pulling ambient Aura from the entire room toward Luna’s body like a vacuum. The environmental energy responded to her presence, drawn by something fundamental in her existence that demanded power.

His hand stayed steady against her back, his Will guiding the chaotic flow into controlled channels, directing the massive influx toward her core formation point.

The Aura condensed rapidly, compressing into a sphere at her center.

But instead of the single color Damian expected, the forming core began showing multiple hues.

Colors swirled together, each one distinct yet somehow existing in perfect harmony with the others.

The core wasn’t a single shade like most awakeners.

It was a mixture of colors, shifting and flowing like liquid light.

The core solidified in minutes, the formation process that should have taken hours compressed into an impossibly short timeframe by her overwhelming talent.

When it finished, the multi-colored core pulsed with radiant light, its quality visibly superior to anything Damian had seen before.

Even better than his own.

Luna’s eyes opened slowly.

Her silver irises caught the light, and for a moment, they radiated the same shifting colors as her Aura core, creating an effect that made her look almost ethereal.

She turned her head slightly, looking back at Damian with confusion.

"What is it, Damian?"

Her thoughts raced.

’Was I too slow? Did I do something wrong?’

Damian realized he was staring at her eyes and blinked, his composure returning.

But the word slipped out before he could stop it, barely a whisper.

"...Beautiful."

Luna’s gaze shifted away immediately, looking toward the side of the room. Her ears had turned slightly red.

Then she raised her hand, gathering Aura in her palm, trying to redirect the sudden awkwardness.

The energy that manifested swirled with the same multiple colors, flowing together in her palm like liquid rainbow.

"Why is it so colorful?"

Damian forced his mind back into analytical mode, studying the phenomenon.

"Probably due to your innate skill."

It was a guess, but a reasonable one. Her SSS rank Empath ability dealt with emotions and emotional spectrums. Perhaps the colors represented different emotional energies or aspects of her.

Or maybe it was simply how SSS rank talent manifested when combined with such a unique skill.

He didn’t actually know, but Luna seemed to accept the explanation with a thoughtful nod.

Damian smiled, reaching out to pat her head gently.

"Congratulations on your awakening."

Luna’s smile brightened, genuine happiness radiating from her.

"Thank you, Damian."

They stood together, Luna testing her newly formed core’s responsiveness while Damian watched with careful attention.

Then they moved toward the training room door, both ready to share the good news with their parents.

The moment Damian opened the door, a stranger’s voice drifted down the hallway alongside their parents’ familiar tones.

Damian and Luna exchanged glances, curiosity replacing their earlier focus.

They moved quietly toward the living room, their ears trying to pick up the conversation before they rounded the corner.

****

Ezra Thorne sat on the sofa with a helpless smile plastered across his face, looking like a man who deeply regretted every decision that led to this moment.

Alaric and Lyandra sat across from him, their expressions vastly different.

Alaric’s face remained calm but guarded. Lyandra’s was cold enough to give frostbite.

"Good to see you again, Madam–"

"This is my house."

Lyandra’s voice cut through his greeting like a blade.

Ezra’s smile became even more strained.

"I’m sorry for intruding without announcing myself."

Alaric’s calm voice broke the tension slightly.

"What are you doing here, Ezra?"

Ezra took a deep breath, his expression shifting from awkward to serious.

"...You should visit Vice Director Onyx."

The temperature in the room plummeted.

Lyandra’s expression became full of wrath, the air around her starting to crackle with barely contained power.

"How dare you mention him in front of me."

Her voice was so cold it made Ezra flinch.

Alaric’s hand settled on Lyandra’s shoulder, his touch gentle but grounding.

She took a slow breath, forcing herself to calm before speaking again.

"...That man severed all ties with me years ago. Why would we visit him?"

Ezra sighed, his face showing complex emotions.

"He’s still your father... And he’s been protecting your family for years, even when you didn’t know it."