Nova didn't waste much time, immediately demonstrating a Piercing Magic Missile for the two students, activating the entire spell in less than a second. It roared from his hand, spinning slower than Annelie's version, and flying slower than Millie's version. The projectile looked fat and sloppy compared to their sleek attempts.

But then it transformed. The missile accelerated nearly out of nowhere, growing faster and faster until it vanished from sight. A faint ping sounded as it struck the barrier far up in the sky. A wave of energy spread from the impact point like ripples in a pond.

Nova felt a tiny sliver of essence get consumed from the small formation on his hand. The barrier drew power to repair itself where the missile had struck.

[You have learned the skill: Piercing Magic Missile (Grandmaster - 14%) {Tier 4}]

[You fire a magical missile that can pierce nearly any material, speeding up as it travels. The layered missile carries a smaller and more compact missile on the inside, sending it into the target as the weaker cape carries it forward.]

Millie stared up with wide eyes. Her mouth hung open in amazement. Then she turned to Nova with an eager expression. "How did it speed up? Why did it look like that? What rank did you get?"

Nova held his hand up and smiled. "Calm down, I'll explain how it worked. The missile I made had two layers, one dense missile in the middle designed to pierce the target, and one softer missile meant to guide it along. The speed came from a faint screw-like shape on the outside missile, making it faster as it spun through the air. And the rank was Grandmaster."

"Grandmaster? That's a rank?" Millie asked, wide-eyed. "Above Adept?"

"Yes, I think there's Beginner, Novice, Adept, Expert, Master, and Grandmaster." Nova ticked off each rank on his fingers.

"...So you're the best?" Millie tilted her head. Doubt flickered across her small face despite the amazement in her voice.

"No, there's always room for improvement." Nova shook his head. Birds chirped in the trees nearby as a cool breeze rustled through the leaves. "I think Grandmaster is just what the system calls the best skills it has seen so far. So even a Grandmaster skill at one hundred percent could be improved."

Millie stepped closer to him, looking focused. She traced small runes in the air, like she was trying to figure out the spell completely. "...Can you show me what runes you used?"

"Sure." Nova swept his hand through the air. The motion left trails of luminous blue energy hanging in space. A complex web of connections and branches that seemed to have branches of their own, and even connections and reconnections that seemed to layer on top of each other. The entire formation pulsed with essence, casting a faint glow on Millie's face.

She stared at the pattern with intense eyes. Her mouth opened slightly as she absorbed every detail, leaning forward so much that she nearly lost her balance.

'Oh, maybe that was a bad idea. But even she shouldn't be able to understand this, right? Let alone use it.'

He stepped through the pattern, appearing before Millie and waking her from her focused state. "Millie, before we continue training, you know you're never allowed to use this on someone else, right?"

"...But what if they're bad? What if I have to protect the others?" Millie wrung her hands together.

"That is the only time you're allowed to aim at someone other than me. Only when someone might die, and someone else is trying to hurt them." Nova placed a firm hand on her small shoulder. "Understood?"

"Yes!" She stood at attention and snapped her hand to her forehead in a crisp salute. "I will protect the weak when they need it!"

"Is it okay to use it when someone is bullying someone else?"

"Not unless they're about to be dead." Millie dropped her salute. Her voice turned serious as she processed the responsibility.

"Correct. But if someone is bullying, you can still use your hands to keep them away." Nova crossed his arms. "And is it okay to use attack spells if someone breaks into the New Garden?"

"...If they look like bad guys?" Millie scrunched her nose in thought.

"No. If someone manages to break through the barrier, they're very strong. Then you go to one of the teleportation formations and escape, bringing as many other children as possible." Nova's tone left no room for argument.

"But that's a trick question… When can I use it, then?"

"Protecting others is your priority. If you can help them escape, that's also protecting them. But if that doesn't work, you can fight. Understood?"

"I understood!" Millie nodded energetically, but she kept a serious expression.

"Good!" Nova stepped back, increasing the distance between them again. Essence flowed from him as he prepared for the next demonstration. "Then let's keep going!"

Millie pumped her fist in the air. "Yes!"

Nova put the final touch on his masterpiece, letting his formation adjust to the rest of the forge. Each rune connected with the ones before it, creating an intricate web of power that hummed with potential.

Temperature resistance, heat manipulation, air purification, and a few other features that would prove useful as his techniques evolved. The formations weren't just drawings or engravings—they were living things, breathing with the forge's rhythm, adapting to his every need.

The anvil also glowed faintly with runes, now built into the metal instead of having to be recast with each new session. Nova ran his palm across its surface, feeling the subtle vibrations of power locked within. Each symbol had been painstakingly integrated into the structure, allowing the metal to resonate perfectly with whatever was placed upon it. It would be able to withstand immense forces, despite being made of steel.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

'I think that's all I need… The barrier to protect me if I get too focused can wait a bit.'

The ambient heat of the forge wrapped around him like an old friend as he turned his attention to the other side of the room, where Annelie was sitting in a lotus position with her eyes closed. Her brows were furrowed in concentration, and sweat dripped from her temples, tracing glistening paths down her face before falling to the stone floor.

He still hadn't fully understood how incredible it was to have met her again, six lifetimes after their first encounter. And while it was the same little girl who had lost her legs so long ago, she had lived through just as many things as he had since then.

No one could understand him better than her. And no one could understand her better than him.

'But still, she feels like a mystery to me. We are different people who have shared unique circumstances. Even after so long, she still acts childish at times. Petty, jealous, snarky, and stubborn. I guess that's a sign she feels safe.

Perhaps noticing the silence, she opened her eyes and stared at Nova. "Is the forge finished?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Nova replied, running his hand along the edge of his creation one more time. "I sent the others back home with the teleportation, so there's no hurry."

He walked closer to her, studying her posture and technique. She was far from his first student in cultivation.

Annelie sighed, rubbing her eye with her thumb. She rotated her shoulders, wincing at the stiffness that had settled into her muscles during her hours of stillness. "When you said cultivation was torturous, this wasn't quite what I had in mind."

"It requires a ton of patience and bodily control," Nova said, trying to keep his 'wise teacher' tone at a minimum. He sat across from her, moving into the familiar position automatically. "I was never very talented, to be honest."

The admission brought a skeptical arch to Annelie's eyebrow. "But what's the goal? Do those golden core and nascent soul things even work in this world?"

"I don't know. But everything I've tried so far has had some equivalent effect. And cultivation has the potential to make you strong beyond comprehension. Even more so than the Signus."

"With the only drawback being the thousands of years you have to spend on it…" Her tone was dry, filled with impatience.

Nova's lips quirked in a small smile, acknowledging the enormity of what he was asking. "Yeah. That's the only one."

Annelie's shoulders slumped slightly as she swiped at another bead of sweat threatening to drip into her eye. "Then why am I doing this?"

"Again, I'll tell you when you reach the first stage."

Annelie gave him a look that would have been intimidating on her drakeling face. But it was hard to intimidate with her face surrounded by round, squishy cheeks. "...How strong will your sixth fragment be, then?"

Nova leaned back, considering the question. His gaze grew distant as he remembered a life spent seeking immortality through the cultivation of essence and understanding. "I didn't get very far on the road of cultivation... Ten million, perhaps?"

"Oh, well, that's plenty," Annelie replied, raising her eyebrows at the number. She adjusted her position, trying to find comfort on the hard stone floor. "How did you get that strong?"

"Cultivation consists of two parts, in essence. One is cultivating qi, much like Soul Power. The other is the comprehension and understanding of the Dao. The path, the purpose, the fundamental truth."

A glint of interest shone in her eyes as she leaned closer to him. "And you were really good at that last part?"

"Yes. I learned techniques that let me crush my peers, and that earned me some fame as a martial talent, if not a cultivation talent. Some sect elders took notice and gave me some resources as a reward." He thought back, still grateful for some of the guidance he had received back then. It was a nice sect, compared to others he had heard of.

'The greatest issue with cultivation in this world is the seeming lack of resources. No spirit stones, no immortal treasures, no great mountains filled with spirit energy… But there is hope.'

"You picked up the Crashing Waves Meridian Cleanse right away, so I have high hopes for you. It took me much longer to learn it."

"But I'm just sitting here and imagining things," she sighed. The stone floor beneath her had darkened with moisture dropped during her hours of practice. "I feel like I'm just headbutting a metaphorical wall."

"Well, that's pretty much what it is. Break the wall down."

"...Easier said than done." She looked down at her hand. Small movements rippled under her skin as she opened and clenched it a few times. "Recently, my beast parts have been acting up while I sit here. It's making it really hard to focus."

Nova suppressed a smile as he listened to her, keeping a straight face. What he was counting on, more than anything, was that Annelie's beast powers would enable her to cultivate at an incredible speed.

'If she can use the Thousand Beast Sovereign cultivation technique… I might have to take a backseat in combat going forward. But it depends on how her beast-powers will fit with the technique.'

"It's the only way I can think of to get stronger without spending souls." He got up from his position and walked back to the forge. "I'll handle the forging, so you just focus on this for a while longer."

She sighed again. The sound echoed slightly in the stone chamber. "Yeah..."

Her gaze drifted to the newly completed forge, admiring the intricate formations etched into the metal. "Just forge me a good sword and shield, and I'll be happy."

"It would be my pleasure." Nova smiled as his mind already began to sketch designs, planning his next day. His fingers twitched slightly with the phantom sensation of metal taking shape. "I have some ideas of what materials to use, so I think you'll be satisfied."

"There's nothing I have more confidence in than your forging skill." Her words were completely sincere, and Nova could feel it. He understood why she felt that way, of course, but it was still nice to hear.

"I appreciate that, Annelie."

"...Hey." Her voice had softened, almost hesitant.

"Yeah?" Nova looked up from his work.

"Could you… call me Anny?"

There was an unexpected vulnerability in her request. Her eyes met his briefly before darting away to study the floor patterns.

"Oh, you like that better? Sure, it's easier to say." Nova paused in his movements, sensing the importance behind her simple question.

"Yeah, it's just..." She looked down at her hands, suddenly finding them to be very interesting. "I haven't really been called Annelie since my first life. It feels a bit strange." Her voice grew quieter as memories seemed to surface. "I'm not that naive girl anymore."

"Yeah, I get it." Nova nodded with understanding. Their multiple lives shaped them both in ways few could understand. "I would feel weird if people called me Casanova as well. For several reasons."

Anny's head snapped up. "What? That's your first name?"

"Yeah." A hint of amusement crossed his face at her surprise. "Nova wasn't a normal name in that world. But it was in the second. And since it was part of my first name, I chose to use it."

"Right." She tilted her head, looking thoughtful. "I guess the name you got from your parents in that second life didn't matter much to you."

"Not a bit." His voice hardened momentarily. The shadow that passed across his face spoke volumes without words. "They were both cruel and unjust."

"...I had some bad luck myself in that department."

"Oh yeah?" Nova glanced at her. "Do you wanna talk about it while we head back? I have a meeting to get to."

"Eh, it's not really interesting." She stood and stretched. Her joints popped audibly as she worked out the stiffness from hours of sitting still. "But who's the meeting with? Can I join?"

"Sure you can. It's with a certain crime boss."

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