"Why?" Rena was flabbergasted. "If Senton and I have to practice so much, what’s the difference with Mom and Dad?"

"Because you already have a yellow core, Sis." Tista replied. "The breakthrough to the green will be very painful unless you fortify your body properly. You might even die if it happens away from the tower."

"Tista is right, Rena." Solus said. "To withstand your breakthroughs and handle powerful spells, your mana core and body must develop at the same rate."

"As for your second question, Mom and Dad have decided to take the path to become mages." Lith said. "They will study and train until they reach the bright blue in a few years, and then I’ll teach them the secret of the violet core.

"You two, instead, just want to be Awakened, but I recommend reaching at least a deep green core. That’s the threshold that separates a mage from a magico/a and marks the minimum mana capacity to use dimensional magic.

"After that, as long as you don’t use Accumulation, your mana core will stop developing, and you won’t face any more breakthroughs. You can go back to your old lives with all the perks of being an Awakened mage." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"The deep green might be around the corner for Rena, but I’m barely at the bright red." Senton pointed out. "How long will it take me to reach that level?"

"Well, you already are an adult, and working as a blacksmith gave you a strong physique. You’ll get to the orange before you know it, and reaching the yellow should be a matter of a few months at worst." Tista pondered.

"How fast you get to the deep green depends on how hard you train and how much time you put into it, but no one expects you to make magic your full-time job. Just practice every day by applying it to the smith works as Lith suggested.

"The reason you are here is that once you Awaken, there are a few things you must learn to control if you don’t want to be a threat to others. Like Spirit Magic."

"What do you mean?" Raaz asked, and Lith took out steaming plates of hot food and cold beer.

Everyone was hungry from the training, so they released tendrils of Spirit Magic that snatched the food and drinks and shoved them in their faces. Senton’s plate shook visibly, but his core lacked the strength to do more.

"That’s what she means." Lith replied. "If you don’t learn how to control your Spirit Magic, it will grab what you want, hit those who annoy you, and destroy every fragile object near you when you are angry or upset."

He handed Senton his plate and mug, and he gratefully accepted them.

"This concludes your training session for today." Lith said. "You all had a breakthrough, and your bodies need time to adapt. From tomorrow, I’ll entrust you to Kami and Selia. Aran and Leria will step in only if necessary.

"They’ll take care of teaching you the basics of Spirit Magic and checking on your progress on chore magic. Once you have learned to control your abilities, there will be no more mandatory lessons.

"Remember that you chose to Awaken. No one will force you to read Silverwing’s book, exercise, or practice magic. How far you get and how fast you get there depends on you. If there is anything you don’t understand or you have a problem, my door is always open."

"Spoken like a true Academy Professor." Elina giggled. "Thanks, sweetie."

"I have a final word of advice, please." Solus shapeshifted into her human form, wringing her hands. "I know that magic books can be boring and physical exercise is a hassle, but don’t slack off every time life gives you an excuse to do it.

"It’s how I lost my father. My Dad loved me with all his heart, to the point that he didn’t take care of himself because he preferred spending time with me. Don’t make his same mistake.

"I couldn’t live with myself knowing I’m the reason more children lost their parents." Solus Warped away to her room, bursting into tears only when Menadion was already there to console her.

Solus hated using her father’s death as a cautionary tale, but she’d rather reopen her wounds a bit than let her new family go through the pain she and her mother had endured.

Senton and the others exchanged worried looks, knowing how Threin’s death had changed the fate of Menadion and Solus for the worse. Threin was a good man, a great husband, and a loving father by all accounts.

Yet he had taken the risks that being an Awakened carried lightly, causing his own demise and destroying his family.

"Please, thank Solus for me and tell her that I’ve taken her advice to heart." Raaz clenched his hands. "No matter how much I hate studying, I won’t do anything stupid that might endanger my life."

"Same." Suddenly, Rena felt like lifting weights until her arms gave out.

"You can do it yourself once she returns." Lith replied. "By the way, I’m activating the Lodestar. I’ll use it tomorrow to experiment with the stable Cursed Elements. The tower will be unavailable for the next 48 hours unless there is an emergency."

"About that, we have a small emergency." Elina said after checking her pocket watch. "We’ve been holed up in here for hours, and no one prepared lunch. What will we eat now?"

***

Luckily for the hungry Verhens, after not seeing or hearing from them for a while, Jirni had stepped in.

"Quylla, we have to prepare a lot of food, so we’re going to need all the help we can get. Call Selia and Aran. Nalrond, here’s the menu and a list of the ingredients we need. Check the pantry.

"If we have everything, you can start preparing the broth. Otherwise, I need you to make a grocery run. Friya, you start peeling and cutting the vegetables." She said.

"Why can he help with the cooking while I’m relegated to busboy duty?" Friya snorted.

"Because I tasted your cooking, and it was awful." Jirni replied as a wave of her hand brought pots and pans onto the stove. "I’m sorry, sweetie, but I don’t have the time to teach you, fix your mistakes, or coddle your ego."

"Thanks, Mom." Friya grunted, but did as instructed.

Under Jirni’s leadership, the Ernas and the Fastarrows prepared a small feast ready to be served when the Verhens arrived.

"Thanks for taking care of lunch, Jirni." Elina said. "I underestimated the effort that Awakening would require and didn’t expect our first lesson to last this long."

She glossed over the long shower everyone had taken to remove the stench of sweat from their relentless practice.

"Don’t mention it." Jirni nodded politely in reply. "Whenever you need a hand, all you need to do is ask."

"Are you really Awakened now?" Falco asked.

"Can you show us?" Aran could have used Life Vision to check on his parents’ Awakening, but he was too excited to think about it.

"Sure." Senton scratched his head. "Don’t laugh, okay?"

That request made no sense until the four new Awakened released their aura. Elina and Rena shone with yellow light, Raaz’s orange was much weaker, and Senton’s bright red was barely visible.