The morning, as well as the afternoon, had been extremely eventful.

And frankly, nerve-wracking.

For everyone inside the dungeon space, it felt like things were happening all at once, with no real pause in between.

For the Elders, it meant constant supervision. Their attention had to be everywhere, always ready to step in if someone accidentally doomed themselves or caused major problems during their experiments.

Then there was the chaos brought about by the people simply interacting amongst themselves.

More specifically, by a certain pair of rough-housing siblings.

Butler Gary and his sister, Assistant Gisella, had somehow turned the situation into a heated argument. The two of them were practically scrambling over each other as they insisted it was the other’s fault they still couldn’t figure out their bloodline ability.

Their voices rose.

Accusations followed.

At some point, the nearby children—well, all three and a half of them, if one insisted on counting a particularly curious blonde and his good brother—had to have their ears covered.

What started as a disagreement quickly spiraled into something far louder and far more personal.

Accusations flew with increasing intensity, until both sides reached the same dramatic conclusion that the other could not possibly be a real sibling and must have been picked up from a dumpster.

By then, whatever dignity had been present quietly excused itself.

Meanwhile, the argument only grew more elaborate, with increasingly creative theories about origins, questionable upbringing, and at least one accusation involving being mislabeled at birth.

"..."

"..."

It was, in every sense of the word, a disaster.

A loud, dramatic, absolutely unnecessary disaster.

And yet, even in the middle of all that, something unexpected happened.

Butler Gary had just started going on about how he didn’t even remember when Gisella was born, citing his position as the older sibling, when he suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

Something was wrong.

Gisella was no longer arguing back.

Her expression had changed.

She looked shocked.

Her eyes were wide as she stared at his feet.

"What?"

Gary felt a chill run through him as he noticed her pointing at his legs with a trembling hand, her other hand pressed tightly over her mouth.

She didn’t answer.

That made it worse.

A cold sweat formed as he slowly looked down.

And froze.

His feet and legs were covered in rocks.

Not dirt.

Not debris.

Actual rocks.

They clung to him in uneven clusters, like stones had been drawn to his skin and stuck there.

It looked strange.

But the strangest part was that he felt nothing. Something like that had happened without him even noticing!

That realization snapped him back.

"Gis!" he called sharply. "Get one of the Elders!"

Gisella, the younger sister who had just been about to argue that she had at least been picked up from a better-looking dumpster, suddenly jolted and ran off, no longer in the mood to continue.

Because this clearly wasn’t normal.

And more importantly, it had something to do with her as well.

If this was that old geezer’s bloodline ability, then hers would likely be something similar.

__

And what do you know, she was right.

Gisella found herself marginally fearing for her life and body as a certain dwarf began eyeing her like a piece of exceptional meat.

But why?

Well, after further testing and several unfortunate clothing changes for a very distressed Butler, they discovered that Gary could essentially attract stones to his body. Not soil, not dust, but specifically rocks.

At first, it sounded rather useless.

At least, to most people.

Luca, however, thought very highly of it. In his mind, the Butler had just become a walking detector. In fact, the young Lord looked so excited that it was almost like he could hear the faint echo of kaching-kaching in the back of his mind.

Still, before anyone could dismiss it entirely, Elder Feng spoke.

"Now, shape those stones."

He said it so casually, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"I beg your pardon?"

The Butler looked confused, but instead of answering, Elder Feng chose to demonstrate.

As someone naturally attuned to the earth, he was the perfect example.

Everyone watched as clumps of soil began to gather around him. Unlike Gary’s earlier state, where the stones clung awkwardly to his legs, the soil around Elder Feng moved with purpose. It formed around his body, settling into place like each grain knew exactly where it belonged.

In moments, it became a smooth, protective layer.

Then, as if that wasn’t enough, the Elder turned toward Luca.

"Lord Luca, if you can, please try torching me."

"?!"

"Huh?" Luca blinked at the request, clearly surprised because he clearly heard something about asking to be torched.

And yet, the Elder repeated the same request and eventually the dungeon owner decided to comply..

He raised a hand and sent a wave of flames toward the Elder while hoping for the best.

For a brief moment, the earthen layer glowed under the fire. The flames wrapped around him, flickering brightly, but they didn’t take hold. They faded quickly as Luca withdrew them.

The onlookers stared.

Impressed.

Meanwhile, Butler Gary’s eyes widened as the possibilities began to sink in.

Elder Feng calmly dismantled the earthen layer and began to explain.

"Normally, soil rich in organic material can be quite flammable," he said. "But part of mastering this ability is knowing which material to use for the situation. In your case, you must learn the differences between the stones you can attract and when they are most effective."

"But of course, don’t be discouraged if right now you’re only able to attract random ones. At this point, that is simply expected."

More people gathered as he continued.

"But even then, it could be quite useful when mastered. In combat, for example, you could create a secondary shield in front of yourself. Something unexpected. Or you could form a hardened layer to protect against fire or falling objects. With time, you will learn to shape these materials better and make them more versatile."

"Maybe you can even learn how to use a different focal point for attraction. Who knows?"

Then the regal Elder turned to the younger sibling.

"As for Assistant Gisella, you may want to experiment with other minerals, or use stones in a different way."

"Actually... looking into inorganic natural materials would probably benefit both of you."

He spoke with a certain pride, clearly pleased with his demonstration.

Unfortunately—

That was when he noticed Luca.

The golden-eyed cadet’s expression had shifted in a way that made several people instinctively step back. There was a certain glint in his eyes, and his smile was just a bit too bright.

"Young Lord... what is the matter?"

"Elder Feng!"

"Yes?"

"Beggar’s chicken!"

"...Sorry, what?"

"Beggar’s chicken! We should make beggar’s chicken!"

Silence.

The people around them had no idea what he was talking about.

But they moved.

Quickly.

Because Luca suddenly lunged forward, looking like he was about to dismantle the Elder for practical purposes.

But honestly, how could Luca not be excited?

They now had someone who could conveniently speed up the entire process he’d forgotten for a long time.

With someone like Elder Feng, wouldn’t it be perfect to prepare something like that after all the hard work everyone had done?

Then again, there was also another reason. One he wouldn’t dare talk about openly.

See, it had been a while since they ingested the fruit, but the helpful chipmunk had not yet figured out if he possessed another bloodline ability.

Now, to be clear, he wasn’t running away from the issue. Definitely not. But in situations like this, perhaps it was better to stay busy instead of dwelling on it.

Productive, maybe.

At the very least, this way, he wouldn’t end up worrying his already stressed mother.

__

Ah, yes.

Unfortunately, there was that.

One of the main reasons Luca had been making himself look busy was because he didn’t want to put more pressure on his mother who had already been relentlessly testing different approaches earlier, trying hard for both their sakes.

In truth, Luca wouldn’t have particularly minded if he didn’t gain another ability on top of the one he already had.

Even having one had been extremely surprising for him who had originally grown up as a Guide.

Moreover, even those who had successfully accessed their abilities were still unsure how to proceed. Even his husband, his father, and the Emperor and Empress hadn’t figured things out yet, so they were all stuck in the same place.

The Elders had already mentioned they would guide them later as a group, once the more unstable beginners had settled down.

So really, there wasn’t much of a rush.

At least, not for them.

But the same couldn’t be said for everyone.

There were those who couldn’t understand why they were struggling so much.

Like Duchess Amelia.

She had always been good at anything that required control over her body. A large part of that came from her natural talent, but also from the sheer grit she had developed over the years. And because of that, the lack of progress now was... frustrating.

She wasn’t even aiming for immediate success.

Just a direction.

Something she could use to narrow down her search.

She had already shooed away her husband, who insisted on staying close to cheer her on. Even without the distraction, however, nothing had worked.

Still nothing.

It wasn’t that she believed she had no bloodline ability. That would be rather ironic, considering everything.

But she also wasn’t knowledgeable enough about the possible outcomes, which made it difficult to test effectively.

Watching the others only reinforced that.

They had stumbled into their abilities in ways that were anything but conventional.

Which meant—

She had to try something different.

But what?

Duchess Amelia drummed her fingers lightly on her bow after landing several consecutive bullseyes. She was about to continue when a sudden exclamation caught her attention.

Curious, she turned and walked toward the source of the commotion.

Only to pause.

Because what she saw was... unexpected.

There, seated in front of several jars of water, was the young cadet Theo.

He looked like he was about to cry.

"...?"

"Is everything alright here?" the Duchess asked, stopping Noah nearby.

"Your Grace! Umm... I think so," Noah replied, though he didn’t sound very confident. "We’re just not entirely sure what’s going on."

He looked just as confused.

"It’s been a while since Elder Wei had him sit there, and honestly... I have no idea what’s happening."

Duchess Amelia frowned slightly, about to ask again—

When Elder Wei finally spoke.

"Support-type abilities."

"???"

The people around them exchanged confused looks.

Then the Elder continued, his tone calm but deliberate.

"What you are witnessing is the manifestation of a support ability."

A brief pause.

"One that is particularly difficult to discover."

"!!!"