The golden colored sky of the Core Depths bathed Solana with warmth as she took a brief nap. Unfortunately, her slumber was disturbed by a violent explosion occurring in the distance. The ground she laid upon rumbled and quaked, prompting her to sit up and stretch her arms as she yawned loudly.

  “Geez, would it kill them to be a bit more quiet?” Solana quipped with an annoyed tone, looking over her shoulder towards Carmen and Sitri’s sparring session.

  She eventually got to her feet and made her way over to their location, humming a simple tune as she traversed the lush, fantastical landscape of the Core Depths.

  Five months had raced by in the Core Depths and during that time, Sitri had put Carmen through the ringer. His regime was strict, brutal, and incredibly precise, focusing entirely on Carmen’s Boundless abilities. There were moments where she felt that she wouldn’t make it, but after showing great resilience, her efforts were beginning to bear their fruits.

  Once Solana crossed the tree line and entered the clearing, she saw Sitri dodging backwards as Carmen’s inky shadow violently chased him. He landed firmly onto the ground and after setting his feet, Sitri aimed his left palm out in front of him. Suddenly, a black and silver glove enveloped his hand.

  The glove was adorned with small, metallic skulls that were linked together by chains along his knuckles. When he charged his Core Energy, a single white, glowing runic symbol appeared on his palm. Sitri braced himself as Carmen’s ink drew closer, increasing its speed and size with each passing second. Then, with a single forceful grunt, hundreds of black, ethereal chains fired up from the ground below. The terrain crumbled like brittle glass as the chains emerged, rapidly surrounding and piercing the volatile ink.

  The chains continued to blast upwards until they reached Carmen’s location, swiftly wrapping themselves around her with a vicious grip. The ethereal bindings squeezed tightly, not giving Carmen any room to retaliate. However, just as they reached their limit, Carmen’s body exploded and collapsed into a pool of shadowy ink.

  When his chains dropped to the ground, Sitri sensed a presence approaching from behind him. He quickly turned around to see Carmen bursting from his shadow with her Manifest reared back. She thrust it towards Sitri’s face with impossible speed, the tip of her blade appearing as a purple blur.

  As Carmen’s rapier raced forward, Sitri quickly took hold of the blade with his bare hand, stopping it completely in its tracks. Sitri looked down and smirked as he stared into Carmen’s vivid, red eyes. The two glared at each other for a moment until Sitri felt something wet trickle down his cheek.

  “Damn. So close…” Carmen muttered with a disappointed tone as she struggled to pull her Manifest free from Sitri’s vice grip.

  “Hmph, one would think you were trying to kill me or something.” Sitri replied with a soft chuckle, letting go of her rapier.

  “I mean, I don’t have much of a choice. I can’t match you unless I go all out, you’re too strong.”

  “True, I am pretty incredible, aren’t I?”

  Sitri let out a loud laugh as he wiped away blood from the surprisingly deep cut on his cheek.

  “Ugh, must you be so obnoxious? Now I see why the other Boundless Generals didn’t like you.” Carmen replied with a heavy roll of the eyes.

  “What!? There’s nothing obnoxious about speaking the truth. Those bastards were just jealous of my brilliance.”

  “If you say so... Tch, why’d both of my teachers have to be so insufferable…” Carmen muttered under her breath, growing tired of Sitri’s over confident personality.

  “Both of your teachers? Who was the other?”

  “Huh? Oh, it was a guy named Varric. He taught me everything I know about fighting with two affinities and how to approach most situations. He can be just as annoying as you, only in his own way, but that aside, I owe him a lot.”

  “Hmm, I see. That explains why you’re so adaptable and quick thinking. He’s taught you well.” Sitri replied, giving her a rare compliment.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Before Carmen could continue the conversation, Solana walked over to them. Sitri immediately dropped to one knee and bowed his head to her, showing the utmost reverence to his Queen.

  “How’s the training going?” She asked with a subtle yawn.

  “Spendidly! And if I’m being honest, I don’t think there’s anything more I can teach the young miss. The mastery she has over her Dark affinity has improved significantly and her control is well beyond the necessary threshold needed to utilize it on a regular basis. I think she’s ready, my Master.” Sitri replied as he got to his feet.

  “I see, that’s good to hear. Well Carmen, you feel ready to go back to the surface?”

  Solana turned her attention towards Carmen as she crossed her arms, waiting for her to give confirmation. Carmen took a moment to think, pondering and reviewing all of the training she had endured over the past five months. She looked down at her hand, balling together a fist as she felt her new found power coursing through her body.

  “Yeah, let’s go.” She replied with a determined nod.

  “Alright. Sitri, I want you to stay here and watch over the Core Depths.” Solana said, turning her head towards her subordinate.

  Upon hearing her request, Sitri’s proud smile immediately shifted to a frown. He quickly took hold of Solana’s hand and dropped to his knees, showing the most pathetic expression she had ever seen.

  “Master!! Please allow me to accompany you on the surface! I can’t bear the thought of being away from you again! Please don’t leave me down here!” He pleaded, his eyes on the verge of tears.

  “But Sitri, part of your duty as one of my Generals is to protect and maintain the Core of Alaira. I would feel more at ease if you were here to watch over things in my stead.”

  “Yes, I am aware of that, but I’ve been away from you for far too long. I humbly request that you don’t sever our reunion so soon.”

  Sitri continued to grip Solana’s hand, trembling at the thought of being separated from his Master. Solana sighed and rolled her eyes at his child-like behavior. After taking a brief moment to think, she finally caved to his demands.

  “Alright, I’ll allow you to follow me. However! You must behave yourself in front of the humans and be respectful. I can’t have you running around calling people inferior and weak because they’re not Boundless. Also, I want you to come to the Core Depths once a week, just to check on things. Got it?” Solana said, her gray eyes staring deeply.

  “Of course! I will follow your orders without failure, this I swear. Thank you, Master.”

  Sitri gave her a deep nod before leaning in and kissing her hand. Solana let out another hefty sigh as she pulled her hand away, wanting nothing more than her subordinates' theatrics to end. She turned to Carmen and reached out to her, prompting Carmen to walk over.

  Once Carmen got within Solana’s space, she felt the world shift around her. A single blink later and the trio were now standing in the Castle de Belouis training arena. She frantically looked around with a stunned expression, completely caught off guard by the sudden change of scenery.

  “Alright, we’re back. Let’s go find your sisters, I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to see you.” Solana said, motioning for them to follow her.

  They nodded and quickly made their way towards the exit. After navigating the many, pristine halls of Castle de Belouis, the group made it to Azhane’s office. Without knocking a single time, Solana opened the door and made their presence known. Azhane and Zalthia looked up with great surprise, almost startled by their unexpected arrival.

  “Azhane, we’re back! Did ya miss me?” Solana said with a smile as she approached her desk.

  “Hey! How did your training go? How do you feel, Carmen.” Azhane replied, looking up from her documents.

  “I feel great and I’ve got full control over my Dark Affinity now! Er well, almost full control. There are still a few limitations I have to work around, but I’m much better now!”

  “Limitations? What kind of limitations?” Zalthia chimed in.

  “Well, I can only stay in my Boundless form for a max of ten minutes. My body can’t withstand any longer than that. Also, it kind of depletes my Core Energy reserves, so I can’t just activate it over and over. I’ve learned that I need to be very strategic when going full power, otherwise I’ll put myself in danger.”

  The group continued to catch up and discuss Carmen’s training until Zalthia eventually shifted their attention to Sitri. Her eyes locked in on his striking, short red hair and the Boundless features decorating his body.

  “And who are you?” She asked, crossing her arms as she waited for a reply.

  “Tch, the nerve of this human to address me so casually-”

  “AHEM!”

  Solana loudly cleared her throat as she sent a deadly glare in Sitri’s direction. He felt shivers go down his spine once their eyes met and he immediately straightened up, his irritated expression quickly shifting to that of a friendly smile.

  “Hello, my name is Sitri. I serve under Queen Solana as the leader of her Boundless Generals. It is a pleasure to meet you.” He said with a slight bow.

  “Leader of the Boundless Generals? Why weren’t you revived alongside your other general buddies?” Zalthia inquired, continuing to stare with great intent.

  “I don’t know, maybe because those idiots were the ones that sealed me in the first place. Those disloyal miscreants are no ‘buddies’ of mine. I’d kill em myself if given the chance…”

  Sitri looked down at the ground, clenching his fist and gritting his teeth as the memory of that fateful day played back in his mind.

  “Hmph, well, you can rest assured. They’re dead and gone, I dealt with that Moku guy myself.” Zalthia replied with a confident smirk.

  Sitri immediately looked up with great surprise, caught completely off guard by her response.

  ‘She killed Moku!? A human!? Hmm, interesting. Seems as though things have changed a lot in my absence, humans can actually hold their own weight now. And also, that woman over there…. I can’t sense her presence at all. She’s definitely hiding something…’

  He averted his gaze towards Azhane and stared, trying his best to sense her Core Energy output. No matter how hard he tried, he felt nothing. Before he could investigate further, Solana began to speak up.

  “Sorry for bringing an uninvited guest. I wanted him to stay in the Core Depths, but he insisted on following me up here. Don’t worry though, I’ll make sure he earns his keep.”

  “It’s quite alright, Sola. He’s more than welcome to make his home here.” Azhane replied with a warm smile, her vibrant red eyes staring into his soul.

  “We’ll have to get him an illusory charm or something. Those lines on his face stand out too much. We can’t have people from outside of this room knowing that we have a Boundless roaming the halls. I’ll have one crafted for both of you.” Zalthia added.

  “That won’t be necessary for me, the lines on my-”

  “No, Solana. Even though you don’t have the signature lines on your face, your other features still stick out like a sore thumb. This isn’t up for debate.”

  Solana rolled her eyes as she softly mimicked Zalthia’s words, pouting her lips like a child. Azhane let out a light chuckle before getting to her feet, walking around her desk towards the group.

  “I think before we do anything, we should see how much Carmen has grown. Shall we go to the Ability Clinic?” She asked with another kind smile.

  “Ability Clinic?”

  Sitri wondered what she was talking about, having never heard of such a place.

  “You’ll see.”

  Azhane aimed her palm outwards and within a blink, the group was standing in the Royal Shard Room at Ariana City’s Ability Clinic. As soon as their presence was known, an attendant rushed over and bowed her head deeply. Zalthia turned to the attendant and requested that she grade Carmen’s abilities. She graciously accepted and motioned for them to follow her towards the Grand Shard.