"This spot will do," Absol said, slowing to a stop in the forest clearing.

For Luca's training, Absol had decided that a wide-open space was necessary—thus, she had led them just outside of camp. Dante was concerned about being outside of the camp's borders when there was almost certainly still an assassin—or assassins, even—after Luca. Absol seemed confident she could protect Luca, though, so Dante squashed his concerns.

"Why don't we start with a simple fight between you two?" Absol continued as she settled down to lounge on the forest floor. "I want to get an idea of where we need to start."

Dante noticed Luca shift uncomfortably at the edge of his vision. "Um. What's allowed in this fight?" she asked. "Because Dante can breathe fire."

"No restrictions. It won't be an issue if neither of you are actually trying to kill each other, and it's not like you'll be fighting to the bitter end. I'll tell you to stop once I'm satisfied. OK?"

"Yeah, OK," Luca said, though she still seemed a bit unsure. Dante wondered what she was thinking—he remembered her shock when he had spit fire on that Scatterbug back when he had first found her. She had said that his weak fire attack would have killed most humans, so it made sense that she would be especially concerned about it.

Regardless, Luca moved away and settled into a wide combat stance. Her paws were in a strange position for a Riolu—they were stretched wide as if she was intending to grab or catch something—but her eyes were clear, focused, and locked onto Dante with all the fear that had just been in them erased. It was encouraging overall: it seemed Luca at least had an idea of how to fight, and he wouldn't necessarily have to give her a one-sided thrashing. He walked opposite her and settled into a combat stance himself.

"Begin."

Neither Pokémon moved. It seemed Luca was determined to play a defensive battle. Not a good long-term strategy against a Pokémon with ranged capabilities, but still a good start against an unfamiliar opponent.

Dante took the bait and rushed her. As he grew close, he flexed the claws on his right hand—he wanted to see how Luca would react to an attack. She allowed his approach, but as his claw descended, she managed to intercept it with her left arm. Dante was shocked to realize that she had managed to catch his claws with the protruding bone on her forearm, meaning she was able to block him unscathed. After she had verified her feat, Luca wound back her right paw, preparing for a punch.

Unfortunately for her, Luca had overlooked the fact that Dante's head and left arm were still free. Without pause, Dante delivered a headbutt to Luca's face. She recoiled, both hands abandoning their respective tasks in favor of reflexively cradling her nose. As she stumbled backwards, Dante wasted no time in spinning to sweep his tail under her legs, tripping her entirely.

"OK, that's enough," Absol's voice came. "Well done, both of you."

Dante was intending to allow Luca to stand regardless of whether Absol saw fit to end their fight or not, but it was convenient that she did. He offered Luca a hand. Unlike every other time he had done so, Luca accepted the hand without hesitation and allowed herself to be pulled up. She never ceased to confuse him.

"Dante, you're exceptionally skilled for a Charmander," Absol observed. "Do you have prior training?"

"I was raised by a wild family of Charizards. No formal training, just a lot of experience fighting."

"Oh, I see. I wasn't aware of that. Frankly, I thought you would be the perfect sparring partner because I assumed you were relatively unskilled."

"Yeah, sorry. I didn't mention it when you hired me because I didn't want to create any preconceptions."

Absol smiled. "I understand your concerns, but you would have been fine. Regardless of their role, all the staff of the Explorer Coalition are intelligent. They know your background does not define you."

Absol's reassurance was admittedly a relief, but Dante still took issue with her wording. His background did define him: his family supported and raised him, and he was generally happy with how they did. The point he wanted her to understand was that not all wild Pokémon were savage beasts, but... perhaps that was a bit ambitious. Regardless, it wasn't worth bringing up.

"By the way, you may actually be close to evolving, Dante," Absol continued. "By my estimation, at least."

"...Really? You think so?" Evolution had always felt like a distant event to Dante, especially since he became an analyst and largely stopped fighting.

"It seems like it. I have an eye for such things. But enough about that—do you have any thoughts for Luca about her fighting, Dante?"

Dante turned to Luca, speaking directly to her. "Um... I think your block and retaliate strategy could have worked, and I was impressed how you managed to use your external bone to minimize damage. Your counterattack was too slow, though, and it gave me an opportunity. I'm not sure if you need a better reaction time, or more confidence, or what, but... yeah."

"And Luca, do you have any thoughts about why your attack was slow?" Absol prompted.

"...I was always planning on the counterattack, but I put all of my focus into the block because I wasn't sure if I would be able to do it," Luca said. "I think it's probably something that will be solved with experience."

Absol nodded. "I agree with both of your assessments. It works out that you're more skilled than I was expecting, Dante, because Luca is as well. At any rate—Luca, it seems you have the basics of fighting, so we should focus on your strengths as a Riolu. Since you've already connected to your Aura, we can start your training to use force palm."

Dante cast a glance over at Luca. She was still and silent. "I'm not sure if that's a good idea, Absol," Dante spoke up.

"Oh? And why not?"

"Luca's initial connection to Aura didn't go well. I don't think she's willing to use it."

"...How bad was it?"

"You two don't have to talk like I'm not here," Luca interrupted. "It was bad, so can't we just pretend that I'm unable to use Aura and go from there?"

"No, we can't," Absol asserted. "Many fighting types source their strength from inner harmony and the accepting of one's self. This is, by far, the truest for Riolu and Lucario. If you do not accept a part of yourself as important as your own Aura, you will fall apart over time. I'm sorry, Luca, but this is something that you must address—ideally sooner rather than later."

Dante could see it—Luca was trembling. He had to step in. "Absol, she had a panic attack. It's still a fresh wound—we need to revisit this later"

"I understand that recovery can be a long and difficult process, but starting is important," Absol said, not unkindly. "I will trust that you understand the importance and will manage your own recovery, Luca. For now, though, we can start with some non-Aura fighting-type techniques. OK?"

"Yeah," Luca sighed, appearing relieved. "Teach me."

"We'll start with counter," Absol began. "A proper fighting-type counter. Fundamentally, this means you'll be purposefully receiving the brunt of the attack and using the resultant pain to create a much stronger counterattack. So, as long as you can manage to withstand a single strike, you will have a chance to defeat a much stronger opponent—especially fragile hard-hitters such as Weavile, for instance."

"Admittedly, this training will be difficult," Absol continued. "Dante will need to cause enough pain for you to practice with, and he will need to do so repeatedly—until you manage to successfully feel out how to perform a counter. Are you prepared to bear the pain for the sake of training?"

"I'm willing to try."

"Good. To start, don't worry about the counterattack itself. Focus on the pain and try to concentrate it into something malleable. The counterattack will be a natural instinct after you have successfully managed that. You may begin when ready."

And so, Dante spent the next few hours closed-fist punching Luca at various points around her body. After the first few, she had to take significant breaks between each; from how she was talking, it seemed that her efforts to "manipulate" the pain meant it was much more difficult to withstand—that when the pain was concentrated into a ball with nowhere to go, it inevitably exploding within her was so much worse than the punch would have been. Still, Absol insisted: Luca couldn't move onto the counterattack stage herself—it had to be the result of an involuntary reflex. So they continued—Dante kept punching, and Luca kept gritting her teeth to bear it.

Given that he was used to passivity, when Luca eventually responded to a punch with a swift and brutal kick to Dante's stomach it took him completely by surprise.

"That was reflexive, I presume?" Absol asked as Dante coughed to catch his breath.

Luca couldn't respond. She was exhausted, wet with sweat, and weak from her training. She managed a nod, however.

"Well done, then. Now that you have the reflex, all that's left is verifying that you can actually increase your attack power in proportion to the pain. But that will have to come tomorrow. Shall we go back to camp?"

Luca, who had collapsed onto her back at the first implication that training was done, groaned. "OK," she said, pushing herself to her feet.

The walk back was quiet. Only upon their arrival to the Admin tent did Absol speak: "Come see me at the same time tomorrow. That was the toughest hurdle, and training will be much easier going forward. Before you leave, though, I'll mention this one last time: I was not overstating the importance of coming to terms with your Aura, Luca. For your health, and for you to have a happy life, it is essential—and the longer you wait, the more difficult facing it will become. Above all, however, you must remember: Aura, just like the Pokémon they are associated with, can change and heal over time. Whatever you saw in yourself is not permanent. That is all." With a bow of her head, Absol pushed her way into the Admin tent, leaving them alone in the streets of the camp.

Dante was sure Luca wanted to go rest as soon as possible, so he wasted no time in leading her back to the archives. Immediately upon their entrance, Luca collapsed again, just inside the door. Dante moved past her, towards his room.

"Dante."

He turned. Luca was laying on her back, gazing at the ceiling with her arms and legs spread. "Yes?" Dante asked.

"Can I tell you about what I saw in my Aura?"

"Of course," Dante said. He sat in place, well away from Luca. "Go ahead."

Luca remained still, her eyes still locked on the top of the tent. "Since coming to the Pokémon world, I've been able to do incredible things without really understanding how. Somehow manipulating the pain I feel or reading strong emotions both came naturally to me—even when we were fighting, I surprised myself with how easily I was able to block you like that. When I went to look inside myself for my Aura, it was no exception: I'd never done anything like it before, but it felt... right somehow. But I saw nothing. It was like walking into a bare, empty room. I just... I didn't understand. I thought maybe I was doing something wrong despite how easy it felt."

"But I was doing it correctly," Luca continued, emotion beginning to enter her voice as she brought her paws to her temple. "I kept looking, and eventually I saw it. My Aura." Luca paused, and Dante could see that she was clenching her teeth. "It was the first and only Aura I had seen, but... I knew. I don't know how, but I could tell. My Aura was less than a hundredth the size it should be. I-it was small, pathetic, and unrelentingly—unrelentingly weak," she hissed. "I knew that this... tiny, defeated speck was the culmination of me. Of... of Luca."

Luca had started to cry by this point, each eye creating a wet trail down to the ground. "I know Absol said that Auras can heal, but... is having such a small Aura something that can be changed? My first thought when I saw it was that I was broken... that I was a freak. That's what Giratina said to me, even. He called me an abomination. And... I think he was right."

Luca went quiet; she had said all she needed to. Dante took a moment to collect his thoughts before responding. "...I don't want to discount how you're feeling, but I don't think it makes sense to assume that there's something terribly wrong with you. I mean, it's not remotely reflected in how you behave, and there's a handful of other explanations for what you saw. It could be that humans don't have an Aura and you essentially have to grow one from scratch, I don't know. Regardless, Giratina is not the Legendary who would take issue if there was something wrong with your Aura. The only reason I can think of that Giratina would call you an abomination is because you're from another dimension, and he can't really do anything about it when he's banished anyways. So, it might be worth looking at your Aura again. It could have grown, or it could be easier to bear seeing it now. I just don't think it makes sense to simply give up."

Luca continued to stare at the ceiling. Dante wasn't sure if he should say anything more, but it seemed like she was thinking, so he stayed quiet. After what felt like a few minutes, Luca finally sat up. "Honestly, what Absol said about Aura being able to heal gave me a lot of hope," she admitted as she wiped her eyes of tears. "I'll give it one more try... but tomorrow morning." With that, Luca stood and made her way up to her loft.

Dante was surprised: he was expecting to have to force Luca to revisit her Aura, but she was being impressively proactive about it. As he watched her climb the ladder, he remembered that he was going to teach her how to file reports after training, but... she had a long day. He figured that she deserved the rest, even if it was barely evening. Beyond that, even if Absol's training would be easier tomorrow, Luca would be confronting her Aura. It promised to be difficult in a different way.


When Luca awoke, it took her a moment to realize that she had just experienced the blessing of waking up naturally, rather than against her will by an Aura alarm clock. Had she really managed to get a comfortable night's sleep?

Luca sat up and looked down into the archives. She couldn't see much—only vague, dark outlines of the bookshelves and table below, as the only light sources below her were very dim. It seemed that it was still early morning, based on the light from the entrance—similarly, the warm light from Dante's tail in the other room barely made a difference in revealing the archive itself.

Luca felt a pang of fear as she remembered what she had to do. It already felt like her throat was closing up at the thought of looking at her Aura once more. At least wait until you actually see it to freak out, idiot.

Luca mimicked what she had seen Dante doing to calm himself down. She focused on her breathing, keeping it slow and controlled. Even as breathing became easier and her heart rate slowed down, Luca continued her meditation. Within a few minutes, she felt relaxed and surprisingly indifferent.

If I'm going to do this, I should use this momentum. Without pause, Luca delved deep inside herself in search of her Aura. She shivered as the same cold, empty feeling washed over her. Still, she pushed deeper, searching. And then, there it was. Her Aura. As tiny and defeated as ever. Luca felt a rush of disappointment—even if she was trying to keep her expectations low, Dante had made her expect... something.

Still, it had only been two days since she first looked at her Aura. If it was growing, it wouldn't be inconceivable for there to be no discernable difference. Maybe looking at her Aura more carefully would give her a hint of what was going on. Luca sighed. I can do this.

In looking closer, Luca could see that her Aura resembled a small blue flame. It was... admittedly beautiful despite its size. Really, looking at it wasn't so bad. Luca sat there for a time, meditating, watching her own Aura burn by itself, floating in the void within her.

Luca was finally wrenched from within by a crash from below. She leaned over the edge of the platform and looked down into the archives.

Dante had knocked a stack of folders off of the table near the entrance. As he bent down angrily to pick up his mess, Luca called down: "Good morning."

"Oh," Dante exclaimed as he whipped around to look up at Luca. It seemed she may have startled him. "Did I wake you?"

"No, I actually managed to get a full night's sleep. Turns out the key was extreme exhaustion."

Dante set the folders back at the low table. "Ah. And how are you feeling now?"

"I'm surprisingly OK, actually. I looked at my Aura again. It was just as small, but looking at it was tolerable, at least."

"Really?" Dante said with surprise in his tone as he looked up towards the platform. "That's great, actually. If you're comfortable with it, we can ask Absol if its size is something to worry about later today."

"Yeah, okay. But if she tells me I'm a freak, I'll be mad at you for suggesting it."

"She won't. Now do you wanna come down so I can teach you how to file reports?"

"...Oh. We were going to do that last night, weren't we."

"Yeah, but you needed to rest. Are you ready now?"

Luca took a moment to stretch. "Yeah, be down in a sec." After shifting to the ladder, Luca carefully climbed down to the ground floor. "OK, teach me," she said once her feet hit the ground.

"OK," Dante said as he approached Luca. He pointed past her, at the shelves. "All you need to worry about is the bottom three shelves of that bookcase."

Luca followed the gesture to the shelves in question. The bottom two held wide open-topped boxes meant for filing that were filled with countless section dividers, folders, and papers. The third shelf, just above, was nearly empty—it only held two thick binder-like books and what looked like a writing quill slotted into a base. The shelves were directly ahead, at the end of the center of the three aisles of the archive. The base of the ladder for Luca's platform was in the center aisle, so she found herself blocking Dante. She moved to the end, just in front of the filing shelves, and stepped aside to give Dante the room to stand.

"OK, so," Dante began after approaching the shelves and beginning to dig into the upper filing box. "Actually filing something is easy—it just goes into the back of the section of the team that submitted it. It also gets an ID number based on its placement. Here," he said, handing Luca a folder. "See the number on the front?"

Luca quickly translated the footprint runes in her head. "13-9?"

"Right. That means it's the ninth report from team thirteen. So, filing is easy—it's the cataloguing that can be difficult. And that's," Dante said as he slapped the left binder on the upper shelf. "where this comes in. In here, there's dozens and dozens of categories and classifications—everything from how urgently a report needs review to the actual content. For each report, you need to read it carefully before recording its ID in every applicable category."

"That doesn't seem too difficult," Luca said as she handed back the 13-9 report.

"It's not, but consistency is a very important factor here. We'll both be doing the same report until I feel confident that we'll always have the same result."

"Let's get started, then."

"OK. Stay here a moment," Dante instructed as he returned to the low table by the entrance. When he returned, he carried a folder and a loose sheet of paper. "We'll start with a shorter one. Don't write anything in the catalogue for now, just record what categories you think it should be in on the extra sheet. Good luck, and let me know when you're done." With that, he left Luca alone.

Luca sat on the ground right next to the filing shelves and cracked open the report, leaving the extra sheet of paper to the side for now—she would read the report first, and worry about the categories later.

The report came from a team consisting of a Gourgeist, Yamper, Chespin, and Totodile. It was written by the leader—the Gourgeist—and it described their single-day excursion into a cave-based mystery dungeon. Interestingly, the report seemed to purposefully omit the team members' names—assuming they weren't all nameless.

Regardless, the team was chosen for the expedition because the Gourgeist was able to light the way through the dark dungeon with a technique called will-o-wisp. The report detailed each floor (or rather each basement floor, as the stairs were going down), down to describing the actual layout as well as the location and type of ferals within it.

It was smooth sailing until the fifth floor of eight, when a particularly messy skirmish with a few Zubat and Golbat resulted in the Tododile and Yamper being poisoned. Luca could recall that poison, like paralysis, lasted until it was healed—though instead of restricting movement it slowly but steadily wreaked havoc on the afflicted Pokémon's insides. Unlike paralysis, it was eventually lethal. As a result, the report became much sloppier as the Gourgeist hurried through the remaining floors, hoping to return the team to camp as soon as possible.

The invisible entrance of the dungeon had been at the mouth of a natural cave, and once they passed the eight floor, the exit ended up dumping the team at the deepest part of that cave. Thankfully, the dungeon had no interest in drawing them back in as they left what ended up being a small cave, so the team was able to return to camp for healing without further incident.

All in all, the report was well put together considering the circumstances—Luca was given a clear idea of what had happened on a single read-through, so she finally turned her attention to the catalogue. First, she carefully grasped the quill between two of her stubby fingers and lifted it from its base in order to inspect it. It seemed easy enough to use, with its holder doubling as an inkwell. The shelf was at an acceptable height, so Luca used it as a desk to write as she made her way through the catalogue and recorded the appropriate categories. Within ten minutes Luca was satisfied with the list she had, so she moved to Dante's desk and left her list—as well as the report—for him to review.

"Let's see," Dante said, immediately picking up Luca's work. "Oh, wow, your handwriting is atrocious. Not your fault, I guess. Alright, so you wrote short expedition, initial exploration, downward stairs, medium-length dungeon, cave-type dungeon, low-priority review—why'd you call for low-priority review?"

"Um… they weren't very thorough after two of them were poisoned, so they easily could have missed something."

"True, and I agree with the tag, but our reasoning doesn't align. Dungeons change each day, so a single exploration—thorough or not—doesn't give us enough information. All initial explorations should be flagged with at least low-priority review. Moving on—poison, severe injuries. I'm assuming that refers to the poisoning as well?"

"Yeah, but it's occurring to me now that the poison tag was probably sufficient."

"Yup. The severe injuries tag is used for anything but things like poisoning and paralysis, 'cause they have their own. Alright, more tags—dungeon replacing area, one-way entrance. OK, good. Now, what's missing?"

"I skipped a whole section of numbers in the catalogue I didn't understand. Maybe that?"

"Ahh, yeah, that's the dungeon ID. I forgot to tell you about that. The system itself is a bit complex, but all you really need to know is the analysis division gives us a list of all dungeons to expect a report about soon. It's here," Dante said, placing his hand on a particular paper on the corner of his desk. "Feel free to use it. Now, take this next report and try again."

As she accepted the report, Luca couldn't help but sigh. The system was easy to understand—it was designed to be—but the smallest mistake would have her back at the start line. Even if she did it perfectly, her goal was to convince Dante that she would do it the same as him every time—and Luca was beginning to realize that his standards were high. It was going to be a long, arduous process, learning to file reports.


"Your Aura is small?" Absol asked quizzically.

After hours of failing to measure up to Dante's standards, Luca was finally afforded a break in the form of lunch, then training. So, here she was in their little training clearing, confessing to Absol what was wrong with her Aura while Dante looked on.

"Yes," Luca confirmed. "Abysmally small. So am I a freak, or what?"

"I don't know, I'm afraid," Absol admitted. "I'm familiar with the basics, and Lann summarized how to train you, but I have little knowledge concerning what the various states of Aura can mean. We may need to wait for Lann to return given that he's the expert on this sort of thing."

Luca looked down at her hands—no, at her paws. She had really expected an answer—good or bad. No answer was better than a definite 'yes, you're a freak,' but now Luca was back at square one.

"Regardless, the fact that you managed to look at your Aura again so soon is very impressive," Absol continued reassuringly, as if reading Luca's mind. "Do not underestimate the importance of this. Besides, if you are comfortable with it, we can now try to teach you Aura-based techniques."

"Like what?"

"Like force palm, as I mentioned. You'll need to begin by looking at your Aura. Do it now, if you are prepared."

Luca took a deep breath. She could handle this—she had done so before. This time, she didn't bother sitting—she simply closed her eyes, steadied her breathing, and looked inside herself where she stood. As before, it took her a moment to actually locate her Aura, tiny as it was.

"Well done," Absol's voice came. Although she was only a few feet away, her voice was distant and tinny, as if she was speaking from an adjacent room. "Now you need to move a portion of your Aura to your dominant hand and condense it. The method you'll need to employ depends on the form your Aura takes, so that's up to your own judgement."

Luca had never considered that she may be able to actually manipulate her Aura directly. It was a part of her, though, so it wasn't unthinkable. Her Aura took the form of a blue flame, so would moving it be analogous to real life? Would it be best to move it by thinking of moving its fuel source, rather than the fire itself?

Regardless, Luca wouldn't get anywhere just thinking about it. Keeping her eyes closed and continuing to look at her Aura, Luca held out a paw in front of her, palm down. Then, she envisioned her Aura's fuel source—a small, circular core. She imagined it breaking in half, hoping her body would automatically translate the thought into action.

To Luca's surprise, something actually began to happen. She watched as the blue flame of her Aura grew wider, threatening to break in two. As it did, however, Luca felt an unbearable stretching sensation around her heart. Her concentration broken, Luca was wrenched out of herself and back to the real world. Her legs felt weak, and immediately upon her return to herself they gave out, causing Luca to fall to the ground.

Luca felt a pulse of concern from Dante and Absol both. "Luca?" Absol asked having rose to her feet. "Are you alright?"

Luca very much wasn't alright: the horrible stretching sensation was still present and getting worse, and her entire body—especially her extremities—were going numb. If Luca had to guess, this was what a heart attack felt like.

Thankfully, it passed more quickly than Luca could have imagined possible. "I think I may have almost done something really silly," Luca finally said as she caught her breath.

"What do you mean?" Absol asked. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"Well, I tried splitting my Aura in half, but I guess that was comparable to trying to split my soul in half? If you guys have that word, that is. I don't know—it felt like my Aura was going to go out for a second there."

"Go out? Like exit your body?"

"No, go out like a fire."

As Absol finally sat back down, she emitted a wave of worry and fear. "OK, well let's not try that again. It sounds like I almost just killed you with my instruction."

Dante finally spoke up: "Lann told you what to say, right, Absol? And he didn't know that Luca's Aura was small. So, the small Aura thing is probably the only issue, and Lann might even have a solution."

"Yes, we'll have to wait for Lann. I'm sorry about that, Luca."

"S'okay," Luca said as she finally rose to her feet. "I'm fine, so let's train."

"Are you sure?" Absol asked. "You don't need a minute?"

"Don't get me wrong—it felt awful for a second, but it didn't last at all."

"Very well, we'll start now. Though I'm surprised you're so anxious to begin, given that we'll be continuing counter practice."

"...Oh, right."

"'Oh, right' indeed," Absol agreed. "Let's start by verifying whether you can reliably trigger the reflex. Begin when ready."

As Dante approached and gave his usual apologetic expression, Luca mentally prepared herself. Yesterday, when she had the reflex, she had anticipated the pain and, instead of holding onto it, sort of... angrily pushed the pain towards the offender, Dante. It was a bit of a dirty trick, telling her to concentrate the pain when she really needed to release it, but maybe it was just how it had to be taught. Absol didn't seem the type to pull a prank like that.

Luca finally nodded to signal that she was ready as she settled into a balanced stance. Dante tapped his left arm, signaling to Luca where he was intending to hit. He had begun doing this yesterday after the first few hits, and Luca was actually very appreciative—knowing what kind of pain she was in store for and where it would be actually made controlling it so much easier. So, when Dante's punch landed, Luca was able to mentally push the pain back as before without much issue.

This time, Luca's reflexive counter took the form of a right-handed jab into Dante's ribcage. It really was a strange sensation—Luca put no thought into actually moving her body, it just happened purely on its own—as if her instincts fully took over.

"Ahh," Dante winced as he held his side. "This training is a lot less fun when I get hit back."

"It's a lot more fun for me," Luca smiled.

"How strong did that feel, Dante?" Absol asked. "Stronger than a normal punch?"

"Luca hasn't punched me before. Couldn't tell you."

"We'll move onto the next phase, then," Absol said as she turned to Luca. "Assuming you feel as though you can counter reliably?"

Luca simply nodded, encouraging Absol to continue.

"The most foolproof method of checking whether you are properly adding power to your counter would be for Dante to significantly increase the pain caused by his attack. That will make your counter-attack that much stronger, and Dante will really be able to feel it. Frankly, this will be a bit dangerous for both of you. Are you willing to try regardless?"

"I'm fine with trying it if Luca is," Dante said.

"...Dante's fine with trying it."

Absol gave Luca a look. "OK, well let's do it right. Dante, use your claws. How deep you wish to go is up to your judgement—but note that whatever damage you cause may be returned tenfold. Also, a proper counter should be virtually unavoidable, so do your best to dodge as well. If Luca both hits you and hits you hard, we can consider the skill mastered. You may begin when ready, but take your time with this one."

Luca immediately settled into a balanced stance—she didn't really need to prepare, except for maybe eyeing Dante's claws. Doing so wouldn't exactly be great for her willingness to go through with the test, so Luca was trying to avoid it.

Regardless, Dante approached. He tapped his upper left thigh and settled into a strange low stance that Luca hadn't seen before. She realized he was intending to pivot into her range with only one foot so he could exit it as fast as possible. An inventive strategy, but it wasn't something for Luca to worry about—all she needed to do was prepare to manipulate the pain.

Finally, Dante made his move. Given that he was trying to be quick this time, Luca was nearly caught off guard by the veritable explosion of pain—unlike the punches, the pain was full-body and not remotely localized to the injury. It threatened to overwhelm her, but the exhaustive practice she had done took over—Luca managed to condense the pain into a loose ball in an instant before shoving it towards Dante with her psyche.

Dante's strategy for getting away involved being low to the ground, so when Luca's uppercut hit his jaw with a resounding crack, her first thought was about how very satisfying it was. The significant resistance against her paw was blown away, and it didn't even hurt—the bone restricting her wrist may make finer, everyday tasks difficult, but it reinforced her punch beautifully.

Luca's second, more rational thought had her fully realizing that the 'significant resistance' was Dante. He had taken it poorly, with the surprise force on his head causing his back to bend backwards awkwardly. His legs, having been left behind, failed to compensate making Dante fell to the ground limply.

"Oh!" Luca gasped. "Are you alright?"

Dante's tail-flame flared underneath him. "Well, that felt like a proper counter to me," he smiled as he got to his feet. "I may have gone a bit overboard with my attack, Luca, sorry."

Luca looked down for the first time. On her left thigh, right where Dante had signaled, there were deep cuts, and they were beginning to soak the surrounding fur with blood. Dante had managed to take a significant chunk of Luca's flesh out, and it was beginning to throb. For the time being, Luca shifted her weight entirely to her right foot. "You're being awfully casual about this," she observed. "Are you not hurt at all?"

"You hit him hard enough that his blaze activated," Absol explained. "Think of it as his body's last-ditch effort to keep itself from being killed in a fight. Dante can't feel the pain from his injury at all right now—if anything, he feels more powerful than ever."

"I am more powerful than ever," Dante corrected. "It does feel a bit strange this time, though. I wonder if—"

Dante was cut off mid-sentence when his entire body began expelling bright white light. With a sound that reminded Luca of a puddle of oil catching fire, the beautiful light of evolution quickly intensified until Dante's form was entirely consumed by it.