“I have to admit,” Alnea said, grinning from ear to ear, while suppressing the urges of his Aspects. “You are far stronger than I thought you would be.”

  “…You are not half as bad as I thought you would be either,” the woman said, returning his grin with her own, while twirling the swords in her hands, leaving behind a trace of fiery circle behind in the air. “I am going to get serious next. You better stop holding back, and fight me seriously.”

  “…As you wish,” Alnea said, letting go of the reins on his Aspects, allowing them to surge out of his body, creating flashes of green, red, silver, golden and black lights all around him, before they all converged, and wrapped around him, forming an armour of silverish golden lights, with streaks of golden lightning flickering all over his body. Not because he asked them too. No, his Aspects moved on their own, doing their best to Protect him. Because that was what they had promised him. Because that was the Concept closest to his Heart. Protect.

  It was funny how he had been trying so hard to understand how to make use of the Concepts he had comprehended, when he had been using them all along. Even before he had comprehended the Concepts, he had always been Protecting, always ready to Slaughter his enemies. Even if doing so disgusted him, he still stepped in to Slaughter the enemies daring to lay their hands on what he Protected. That was his core all along. To Protect.

  Somewhere along the line though, he had forgotten about his Heart, focussing solely on dealing with their enemies, and leading the Star Seekers to enter the inner city. What had been Slaughtering to Protect, had become Slaughtering to fulfil an end. To achieve his goal. He even went so far as to make traps for the Lotus clan, all just to vent his anger. And he was wondering why his own Concepts had kept eluding him.

  Although he still did not think he did anything wrong in dealing with the Lotus clan, he had to admit that somewhere along the line, his intentions had deviated from his Heart. It was no wonder that he was finding it so hard to grasp a hint of the Concepts he had comprehended. Maybe, if those Concepts had been about selfishness and greed, then he might have already begun getting acquainted with them. But to Protect…

  He was Alnea Oathkeeper, not Alnea the Slaughterer. Even when he Slaughtered, he Slaughtered only to Protect. That was his Heart. That was the Concept flowing through his veins. The Concept igniting the Primitive Golden Lightning of Life surging around his body, and the Concept beating within his Aspects. He was Alnea Oathkeeper, a guardian. And he was going to Protect.

  Exhaling a heavy breath, Alnea urged some of the Aspects still resting within his Spirit World to flow into his sword. Only some of them though. Not all of them. After all, he had already tamed over sixty Aspects, well over what even an average Peak Stage Wanderer tamed. Even if the recent advancement of his Heart could, theoretically, allow him to command them all at once without losing control, he did not have enough Spirit Power to supply to over sixty Aspects at once. At least not for a long time.

  Besides, it was not as if the more Aspects he used, the stronger he would be. Rather, using the Aspects that contradicted each other might even decrease his strength. A lesson he had read about back in Anneve itself, but learned only when he tamed over forty Aspects. After feeling the sudden decline in his strength in the middle of fighting against a peak phase Oren Beast, he had never summoned more than a dozen Aspects at once.

  But that was when he did not know how to use the hint of Concept he had comprehended. Since he could already incite, and imbue the Concept of Protection into his Aspects, it should allow him to both control, and to use them in a much more efficient manner. Especially those aligning with the Concept of Protection. Yet he still did not dare to summon his Aspects indiscriminately.

  Not to mention that he had already exhausted quite a bit of his Spirit Power fighting against the woman in front of him, just the favour he owed her would not allow him take advantage of her. Of course, he still would not let her win. No, he could not underestimate the woman. Being able to clash against his Aspects imbued with Concepts without losing grounds, she should also be able to use a hint of Concepts herself. And if he could use their fight to understand how to use Concepts, she should be able to do the same.

  From goodwill and appreciation to solemnity and respect, the way that Alnea looked at the woman changed once again. A False Wanderer who could use Concepts… Such an opponent deserved his greatest respect. A hearty fight, was it?

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  Alnea shifted his hind leg behind a little, lifting up his heels, and digging his toes into the ground, leveraging more support for his next move. Since she wanted a hearty fight, he would give her a hearty fight. One that would last long enough for both of them to enjoy to their limits. After all, where else could he find such a good opponent to hone his use of Concepts?

  As if reading his thoughts, the woman also shifted into an active stance, pulling her flaming swords in front of her chest, while grinning back at him. For a moment, as their eyes met against each other’s, everything in the world seemed to have come to a still. Right in the next moment, they pushed against the stage with all of their strength, and rushed towards each other, leaving behind a trail of golden fire and lighting in their wake, along with a few more craters on the stage.

  Neither of them cared about the stage though. All of their attention was on each other. And on their Aspects. On the Concepts they represented. To Protect. And to burst forth with all her Passion. Alnea did not know how, but the moment their swords clashed against each other in the second round, he understood exactly what the woman’s Heart was yearning for. Just as the woman herself understood what he was fighting for.

  Maybe it was because they had both recognised each other. Or maybe it was just because they could not control their Concepts. They did not know. And neither did they care. All they cared about was the sword in their hands. And so, they slashed at each other once again. Lightning against Fire, a Storm against a couple of Beasts, both trying to overwhelm the other, only to be forced back by an equally great force. But that was not enough to stop either of them.

  And so, they went at each other once again. Flood against the Mountains, Bear against Tigers, Dragons against Volcanoes. Their forms kept changing, but in essence, it was always a clash between a Heart seeking to Protect and a Heart seeking to burst forth with all its Passion. Again, and again, they kept clashing against each other, leaving behind traces of their clash in the air, and on the ground, until they could barely stand.

  The armour protecting their bodies was gone, and so was the lighting and fire flickering around their bodies. Even their swords, stuck in the ground in front of them, supporting their bodies to stand, had lost the lustre of their Aspects. But their Hearts never lost its will. It stood tall, leaving its mark on each other’s Heart. And a smile on the other’s face.

  “…It was a good fight,” Alnea said, panting, and heaving, trying to catch some breath.

  “It was,” the woman said with a nod, while panting just as heavily as him. “But it is time to end it.”

  “It is,” Alnea said, nodding back with a grin, as he pulled his sword out of the ground, and put it back into its sheath, before shifting the centre of his body towards the ground. Even though both of them were unscathed, they had exhausted almost all of their Spirit Power. Neither of them could continue the fight for long. At least Alnea could not.

  Maybe the woman still had some Spirit Power left. She was, after all, a Peak Stage Wanderer. But just like how Alnea could not summon all his Aspects to take advantage of the woman, she could not continue to wait for his Spirit to be exhausted either. Their Hearts would never allow it. And so, it was indeed time to end their battle. But…

  “I am Ameria Valence, from the Valence clan of the Red Seas in the Fire Region.”

  “…I am Alnea. Just Alnea. I do not belong to any clan.”

  “A civilian?”

  “What? Does that bother you?”

  “No. On the contrary, it makes me admire you even more than before. Would you like to join my clan?”

  “…Joining a clan would restrict my freedom.”

  “It would. But it would also give you access to resources that you cannot even imagine. Especially with your talent.”

  “I still prefer my freedom.”

  “…The Union?”

  “…Most probably.”

  “Pity. Still, at least I got a friend.”

  “…A friend?”

  “What? Am I not worthy to be your friend?”

  “I never said that. I was just caught a little off guard.”

  “So? Do you want to be my friend or not?”

  “…I would be glad to have you as a friend.”

  “It is decided then. We are friends from now on. You can come to me if you face any troubles in the future.”

  “…It is said that there can be wrong names, but no wrong Concepts. You are indeed just as passionate as your Heart.”

  “That’s just who I am. Though you are not bad either. A friend who likes to protect…”

  “…We can continue our conversation later. There is something else that we need to do first.”

  “…Indeed,” Ameria said. “Let’s end this battle.”