time passes

it's been three years, at the behest of Sarabi Leonel stayed within the lion's den and its surrounding lands training alongside being a lord. every day he segmented into three parts, morning was spent with Sarabi training in the arts of a spirit tuner, afternoons were spent entirely working out every fiber of his being all while stretching to his limits. the night brought on mana control and quality control as he focused not on getting more of it within him but bettering what was already within him in order to turn whatever ambient mana that entered his system into a purer and stronger version.

although this caused his overall strength to stagnate for these three years it laid a strong foundation to raise in strength quickly all while having mastered all he could at the basic level. his crystalline Gundyr style as he called it had finally reached proficient in level and he had even seen some progress in the fusion of spirit energy and mana although he knew he had a ways to go. he wasn't the only one to grow in that time, storm hill city had become the true jewel of limgrave, its size almost doubled under the careful hands of Olani, now she focused on keeping the size yet elevating the citizenry to almost noble status compared to any other peasant outside of the city.

the lion's den too grew in size with another set of walls covering the second outer layer. first layer now dubbed the nobles quarter held all of the best the den could offer while the second layer was dubbed the workers quarter which held all industrial work. Bram worked alongside Leonel worked the " lion's guard" the new name for guards up into shape rather quickly with many of them capable of simple glint stone manipulation. each of the guard as strong as a simple knight and they numbered in the hundreds thanks to their careful nurturing.

Leonel alongside Sarabi spent a good portion of a year on a way to create artificial souls like that of an albinauric's and created a smaller copy of a lion, now the dogs that worked alongside the lion's guard were replaced and sent to loving families and in their place the artificial lions were put it. thanks to the powerful guards and their ever-loyal lions' crime within the now small city was almost nonexistent, even so the tax rate remained abysmal with Leonel only taking enough to cut even across the board. ana had begun to study law as well and during those three years she devised a simple law system and taught citizens turning them into her own personal band of inquisitors which headed the trial alongside a random citizen jury.

dew and silver were put as heads of the intelligence division by Leonel and within three years they made an inexistent department into one filled with plenty of spies with some already within leyndell sending back information whenever they could. Lina helped create the orphanages within the city and soon enough she saw to the happiness of kids without family as head of that department. she sent those who became of age to whatever job suited them the most, the position kept her busy when her son decided to not come home for days on end. with two jewels in limgrave naturally the storm veil royals were ever happy as that meant more taxes for them thus, they stayed quiet and did not bother neither.

Leonel started receiving secret letters from Luna hallway through that first year, simple stuff mostly with each other talking about their week and he wrote her stories of his adventures which she made sure to explicitly express her worry for him but that did not stop her from receiving his rather interesting stories. lady astra noticed her daughter sneaking off to the hawk's perch almost daily and simply smiled never mentioning it. Ansel too noticed it but didn't need to spy on them as the boy's deeds rang out often through limgrave's and liurnia's taverns by way of the traveling bards and he must admit that he was rather fond of them.

near the end of the three years Leonel noticed that the missions and quests issued by the Carian Hall began to dwindle bit by bit. of course, they would as he almost religiously wiped-out bandit camps alongside any other targets they sent his way. everyone noticed and knew that he would likely begin his journey towards caelid. Ana knew that this trip would likely return him several years older as caelid was as large as liurnia and limgrave with its woeful dessert. they all gathered for their final dinner alongside him for the next day he would set off for the sandy wilds and Rocky Mountains of caelid.

"Must you go?" an older Ana asked worried for his safety. " I have to if I wish to grow any stronger and before you ask no I'm not strong enough... om sorry everyone" he said as he ate his steak. "When will we see you again child?" Lina asked as she stared directly into his eyes making sure he did not lie. "haaah in truth i do not know, first I wish to take several contracts within each free city all while challenging any and all warriors I can, caelid is known for its diversity in combat styles and i want to gain experience from their masters, next I wish to head for the dragon barrow and challenge another dragon by the end of it, afterwards I wish to challenge general Radahn in a friendly spar if possible" he explained.

the feeling of worry and exasperation was mutual within all those dining at the table. "Then child please be safe and come back to me" Lina said as she stroked his cheek and continued to eat although the worry never left the mother's heart. Ana felt utterly conflicted, she twirled her golden locks in between her fingers as she bit her lips. time passed quickly and soon enough the next morning came, most of the castle stood outside ready to see their young lord off. Leonel put some things into his inventory outside then summoned his armor and donned it. "Do you have everything? water? food? a toothbrush? toothpaste? of and a spare change of clothes? what about shoes?" Lina said as she fussed over him.

" I have everything I need mom rest easy, now please promise me You'll get plenty of rest, I know the kids of the orphanages are important, but I need you healthy for when I come back" he said as she held him in a vice grip. she pushed him away slightly and stared at his face deeply as she tried to sear his visage within her memory then sighed as some tears came. " I will child, I will, know that mother loves you dearly and should you tire of your adventure then you can always return to me alright?" she said as she stroked his long black hair one and gave him one final kiss on his forehead then rushed back inside with some tears. next was the twins and naturally a simple bow and they went about their day.

Bram simply smacked his shoulder roughly in encouragement and moved on. lady song wished him well as she too gave his forehead a kiss. next was ana, she sported quite the blush much to his confusion. she tip-toed up to match his height and wrapped her arms around his neck then kissed him deeply shocking him greatly. everyone who stayed nearby gave out hoots and whistles at the sight of it. she pulled away a bit as a string of saliva still connected the two. "Good luck and please be safe" she whispered before practically bolting back onto the castle with a full blush yet her victorious smile could be seen by anyone.

he shook his head and hopped atop Sarabi although the blush upon him was quite hard to hide. 'So that little mate of yours back in liurnia has quite the competition huh' Sarabi said with a jesting tone. he only shook his head as he remembered Luna and wondered as to how she was doing. the said girl in question was training hard grasping at the primeval current trying to tame her section of it yet failing at it much to her frustration. " Child, know that to ride the current you will need your utmost concentration to do so, tell me, what troubles you?" Astra asked as she sat before the kneeling girl. " I feel... unwell... like someone close to me did something I wouldn't like?" she said rather confused.

astra hummed in thought before turning to the confused girl, " the closest person to you would be Leonel, as far as I know Hes headed for the caelid wilds today, no? maybe that is why you feel unwell" she said although the confusion never left the girl. " Focus child, to grasp the primeval current is a dangerous task but know that once done right your sorcery will advance to the third and final stage, I will allow you until you come of age" she said as Luna sat down and began to regain her focus. within her she saw many stars; they together made a constellation but what she focused on was a soft silvery strand that connected her inner constellation to an infinite number of other constellations by way of a silver river. an invisible hand grasped onto that connection and pulled; the pull pulled forward her constellation bit by bit until it finally reached the current then it was picked up.

all around her glittering silver blue stars were created before concentrating into one before her. she opened her eyes to see a floating mote of silver light as it danced before her. " Congratulations child, with this you have officially created your very own core of a star and your lifelong companion, treasure it well for it will now be one of your greatest sources of power" Astra said as she softly clapped her hands. although extremely happy Luna only stared at her mother intensely until she finally broke and sighed. "Child, he is safe moreover he is a strong knight, why do you want to be with him so badly?" she asked as she stared at the determined girl. " I am his guiding light, and he my sword and shield, should we not be together?" she asked quoting the phenomenon of their first meeting.

"Oh? only that? nothing else?" Astra asked with a teasing smile, Luna looked away as a tinge of red graced her cheeks. "y-yes that, will you let me go now?" she asked as she gave her an aggrieved look. "... very well you may go but before that go and fill your storage with what I prepared in the basement and before you go you are to take Smarag along, he although young is still a strong dragon and will defend you with his life" she said as she relented although a tinge of sadness flashed within her eyes. the young noble girl jumped up with excitement and rushed out of the study not forgetting to snatch her silver staff before leaving. " LOVE YOU MOM, ILL BE BACK WITH LEONEL" she yelled out as she ran down the stairs. she reached the base of the tower and sucked in a big gulp of air.

"CMON SMARAG WE ARE LEAVING" she yelled out at the top of her lungs. soon enough she heard a draconic roar of approval as a large glint stone dragon the size of a small house descended upon the open courtyard and nuzzled up to the giggling girl. " Give me a bit to pick up what mom left in the basement then we can go" she quickly said as she ran down towards the basement. she descended the stairs quickly to see a small mountain of items, between dried food and camping equipment it had it all. she quickly chanted a small spell which sucked everything up into a black space then she ran back up to Smarag.

she ran up and jumped onto his wing which he used to throw her on his back. the giddy dragon quickly took off into the air with a single beat of his wings. " To the south Smarag, Leonel is headed for caelid but Ansel said that he had created a beautiful city so let's go there first!" she said. the juvenile dragon seemed to nod then he accelerated in her given directions with gusto.