"There we go! It's done!", Ajuka exclaimed as he stood up from his seat in the lab. He was visibly tired.

"Really?" Nathan, who was lying on the couch, stood up excitedly the moment Ajuka declared the completion of his project.

"Yep. Here you go.", Ajuka walked over to Nathan, handing him a clear box that contained an artificial arm. "Want me to help you put it on?"

"Sure." Nathan accepted Ajuka's offer as he raised his right arm, or really, just a stump.

"It might sting a little, but otherwise, there's no side effects." Ajuka said to Nathan as he unboxed the arm, before holding it to Nathan's shoulder and channeling his magic into it.

The moment Ajuka's magic was channeled into the arm, it grew ethereal limbs and latched itself onto Nathan's stump, digging into his skin as it attached itself to him

Nathan winced at the fleeting pain that lasted a moment, before he pulled his arm back and tested it.

Nathan moved his new arm around, testing it out through gripping the armrest and the air, before nodding in satisfaction. "Feel just like my old one."

"Good. It should, as I used a lot of materials for it. Expensive materials, mind you."

"... Do I need to pay you back?" Nathan asked with a doubtful look on his face as he put his left arm on his new arm, caressing it protectively.

Ajuka looked at his arm thoughtfully, before replying, "Yeah. You owe me one."

Nathan nodded in relief as he stood up from the couch that he'd been sleeping on for quite a while, before stretching as he looked to Ajuka, "How about we give it a field test?"

Ajuka considered Nathan's suggestion for a moment, "I'm busy… but I can make some time for stress relief."

"Pardon?"

"I meant helping you train."

"..."

Ajuka tapped his foot on the floor and with a brief flash of blue, the duo vanished from the lab and appeared on a field.

"Where is this?", Nathan asked as he looked around at his new environment.

"Somewhere where your screams can't reach the inhabitants of the Underworld."

That was the only warning that Nathan got before he was blown back by a blast of demonic energy.

"Hm? You blocked that?", Ajuka's eyebrows raised in surprise as he saw a transparent cocoon surrounding Nathan. One that was almost shattered from Ajuka's attack.

Nathan scratched his head as he said, "I've kinda developed an instinct to protect myself whenever someone says things like that."

"Good. That's as good as a warning that someone will give you."

"I know."

Nathan decided to make the next move as he raised his arms to create a large magic circle. One that had the attribute of gravity.

Ajuka narrowed his eyes as Nathan's magic circle disappeared under his watch, before his eyes lit up in enlightenment.

"That's a good attack." Ajuka praised Nathan as he dismantled the invisible attack with Kankara Formula, before adding, "If not for the fact that I'm sensitive to demonic energy."

Nathan nodded. "I figured that it wouldn't work on you."

"Then why do it? I remember teaching you to not make any useless moves."

"And I took that to heart. I did.", without revealing anything, Nathan made conversation with Ajuka as he opened his mouth, "There we go."

The moment he said that, the air around Ajuka stopped moving.

'Power of Time. Not bad.' Ajuka mentally praised Nathan once more, impressed with his… protege (?) 's ability to think ahead of time.

Of course, even as Ajuka was praising, he never forgot to observe Nathan and dismantle the attack.

The moment Nathan noticed Ajuka activating his Kankara Formula, he grinned.

"Checkmate."

Nathan re-enacted the scene with the grim reapers as he hid batches of demonic power that had been specially modified to be volatile and explosive within his barrier made from the Power of Time.

The demonic power began inflating, and within mere fractions of a second, they would blow up.

Caught off guard, Ajuka revealed a surprised expression before smiling as moments after, the demonic powers stopped moving completely.

"What the f*ck?" Nathan's jaws (metaphorically) dropped to the ground as he revealed a gobsmacked face.

"Guess how I did it?"

'... Kankara Formula, that's for sure. But, we're talking about where we go from here. …There are two options. He either repurposed my Power of Time to stop the explosions from happening, or he completely isolated the explosions… Either way, he used his Kankara Formula to stop it.'

Nathan considered the options that he had before finally deciding on one, "You controlled my Power of Time to isolate the explosion."

"Correct, but color me surprised. I thought that you would think of something like how I used my Kankara Formula to isolate the explosion from space itself."

'... Does the Kankara Formula include telepathy?'

"I doubt that you would use something of that caliber against me."

Ajuka nodded in agreement, "Exactly. I wouldn't bring a cannon to fight a rabbit. Anyways, I'm guessing it's my turn now."

Ajuka drew a line in the air with his finger as Nathan watched closely, before immediately ducking as a giant wind blade flew over his head moments later.

"Good reflexes. But not good enough."

Nathan's brain worked overtime as it tried to find the next possible attack route from Ajuka, before realizing that the earth underneath him felt… squishy.

Nathan immediately activated his wings as he enhanced them with his PoT and flew straight into the air, dodging the attack that would've ended the battle right then and there.

As Nathan flew up, the rock immediately swelled up as it swallowed a good portion of the land underneath Nathan, who also had no time to think as he was forced to flap his wings and dodge fireballs that came along with it.

"Good."

Nathan was about to retort when he realized- the voice came from behind him.

Nathan hurriedly turned his head only to face Ajuka's magic circle. One that was glowing brightly, and Nathan swore that he could've seen sparks restraining itself within that circle.

"A good fight for sure, Sekirai. But this is where it ends."

The lightning within the circle pounced at Nathan the moment Ajuka gave the command, almost ending the fight.

If not for the fact that Nathan completely stopped the lightning.

When the lightning was on track to Nathan's current location, Nathan instinctively created a barrier to slow it down enough to buy him time to get out of the way. But rather than slowing the attack down like he always had, this time, he completely stopped the attack.

Nathan and Ajuka's eyes widened as they watched what just happened.

"...You did it. You… stopped time."

Nathan, who was still shocked, dumbly said, "I did it."

"Heh…", Ajuka began chuckling, "I don't think you've ever done this before, no?"

"No… at most I only slowed it down."

The two became quiet as they tried to think of a reason for this.

Finally, after a few minutes, Ajuka offered, "Perhaps you awakened something during the incident?"

Reminded of the bad memories, Nathan's mood soured.

Still, he answered, "Probably."

"... Well," Ajuka broke off the awkward silence, "How about we go celebrate? I know a place."

"You mean your own office?"

"...No? I meant my house."

"The one at the border?"

"... Not all my houses are in dangerous locations."

"But is it the one near the border?"

"...Yes. But I'll be there. You have nothing to worry about."

"... Fine. Let's go."

Just as Nathan said that, he and Ajuka teleported to Ajuka's mansion.

"... You don't even have servants?"

"Who would be willing to clean a house located at the border?"

"True."

"Well, I don't have a need for them. Maintenance spells are good enough."

"Indeed they are…" Nathan looked around Ajuka's house, which was awfully plain.

"You don't even have decorations?"

"Would you count the weapons of my enemies?"

"... I guess I would. It's always nice to learn more about your enemies, right?"

That was when Ajuka smiled, "Then you're going to be here for a while."

"Teleport me to my house, please."

"... Are you sure?"

"I am. I have to face them eventually."

"... Okay." Ajuka nodded in acceptance of Nathan's wishes, before adding, "It's good that you take the initiative to connect with your family." He hesitated before adding, "Don't be like me."

With a blue flash, Nathan appeared at the gates of the Agares mansion. He hesitated before walking in.

As Nathan entered the mansion, he noticed that it was awfully empty. Not a single servant could be seen.

Chills went up his spine as he turned around to grip the doorknob, only to find that he had been locked inside.

[I believe that we haven't had a proper conversation before.]