In case you reading this because you got a notification that the fic had updated, I've made significant changes to the second chapter because I was unhappy with how I characterized Rael and his actions. So you might want to reread that before reading this. I've actually been writing this update on and off for about a year, I've just been very unmotivated so it's taken a lot of time longer that it should have.

Seira woke from a dreamless slumber. Her scarlet pupils dilating, she let out a demur yawn as she blearily took in her surroundings. She was lying on bed, her head propped up by a stack of pillows. The room she was in was spotlessly clean and the walls, floor, ceiling, were entirely white. It all seemed vaguely familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. She sat up and as she did so she felt a small resistance on both her arms. She glanced down in surprise and only then noticed the numerous IVs that were embedded in the veins of both her arms. She must be in some sort of hospital, she reasoned, but where and how had she ended up there?

She stiffened as recollections of her desperate fight with Rael and his end at the hands of the Noblesse flashed through her mind. The contract she'd made with Shinwoo to save his life was the last thing she remembered. Everything after was a blank, so it was clear she'd passed out, but then why was she here? She'd used up the very last bit of her strength making that contract and she'd known her wounds were fatal without accelerated healing. When she'd closed her eyes, she'd done it with the certainty of knowing she'd never open them again and it seemed very unlikely that this was eternal sleep; she certainly felt like she was alive. So why?

The sound of footsteps, precise and almost military in their cadence shifted her attention towards the door on the opposite side of the room. Seconds later it slid open and Frankenstein walked in, carrying a clipboard in his left hand. She understood then why everything looked familiar: she was lying in the lab he had in the basement of his home.

Frankenstein blinked in surprise as took in her sitting up in bed. Then he smiled.

"Seira, it's good to see that you're awake. After all, it's been ten days since I brought you here unconscious. Even though all your vitals were stable and your tests showed nothing too alarming, I was beginning to worry that you wouldn't ever wake up."

"Frankenstein, what happened? Why am I still alive? I didn't have enough energy to recover from my wounds."

There was a briefest of flashes of sadness on his face, and then a blank mask dropped across his features. "You're correct. As you were, you should have died."

"Then why . . .?" She paused as understanding struck. Her miraculous survival and Frankenstein's change in demeanor meant there could only be one reason. "Raziel-nim? He saved me?"

"Yes." His voice was tight, almost bitter. "Shinwoo begged him to save you and Master is not one to refuse that sort of plea. At the cost of a significant amount of his life-force, he awakened you. Of course for someone of your power and development, it didn't provide a significant power boost, but it was enough to put you into a state where you were able to cope with the wounds that Rael gave you."

Her voice was hesitant. "And what is Raizel-nim's condition right now?"

Frankenstein grimaced and took a long moment to answer. "Awakening you after having expended as much strength as he did defeating Rael put a tremendous strain on his body. I managed to convince him to engage in a short slumber, but I have no illusions about how effective it actually will be."

"I see." Her tone was unhappy and she felt terribly conflicted. She hadn't wanted to die and was grateful that The Noblesse had saved her, but he'd done it at the cost of weakening himself when he was already greatly weakened. She felt a surge of guilt; he hadn't just wakened himself to save her and to defeat Rael, but the entire event had been her fault in the first place.

Frankenstein saw the conflict. "Don't."

"What?"

"There's no reason to feel guilty. What's done is done. Beating yourself up about the current situation is pointless and weakens the sacrifice Master made. You should just enjoy the chance at life that he's given you."

"You're right."

His voice softened. "Speaking of enjoy, there is someone who is going to be overjoyed to see you awake. He's been staying by your bed pretty much every moment that he's not asleep or at school."

"Shinwoo." Seira felt a surge of affection as she spoke his name.

"Yes."

"How is he?"

"Other than the fact that he's so worried about you that I have to force him to leave every night so he can actually get some sleep? He's doing fine. Because of the contract you made with him, he completely recovered from all his injuries within two days."

"I'm glad." She smiled. She stretched, noting with annoyance the IVs that constricted her movements. "Do I still need these?" She gestured at the tangle of lines.

"Since you've now awake, they're no longer necessary. Hold still, I'll remove them."

As Seira waited patiently, Frankenstein strolled over and began gently pulling the needles out of her arms. The tiny rents in her skin knitted shut almost immediately afterwards. Once he'd finished, she got out of bed and as she stood up, She wobbled unsteadily for a moment as her legs got used to being used again. Despite her long rest, she feet an acute sense of weakness; her stomach was so empty it ached.

"Is there any food available, right now?"

"I take it you're hungry? That's not a surprise; those IVs didn't go anything more than give you the bare minimum to live. "

"Famished."

"Well that can be sorted out relatively quickly. Just let me go back upstairs and make you something. Is there anything else?"

"I'd like to see Shinwoo now, if that's possible." She had to work to keep the eagerness out of her voice. "Do you know where he is?"
"You're his contractor, you should be able to talk to him and find out for yourself. There should be a link between the two of you."

"How would you know that much about contracts?"

"Oh, I heard some things when I was living in Lukedonia."

She suspected it was more than that, but didn't press. Instead, she concentrated, trying to sense the link he'd mentioned. There was something strange tied to the edge of her mind, a foreign presence. She touched it tentatively. "Shinwoo?"

She felt his startlement through the connection.

'Who are you? How are in my head?'

"It's me, Seira. I'm talking to you through the mental link created by our contract."

She sensed his shock.

'Seira . . . you're awake?"

"Yes, I woke up a few minutes ago."

She didn't get a reply. Instead about thirty seconds later, she heard a clatter as something leapt off the stairs and landed in the outside corridor, followed by the sound of racing footsteps approaching the lab. The the door slid open a second later and Shinwoo stumbled inside. His eyes darted to the empty bed immediately and then searched the room. When he spotted her standing to the left of Frankenstein, his face split into a wide smile. "Seira, you're okay!"

Seira returned the smile, feeling almost giddy at the sight of her boyfriend. Frankenstein cleared his throat then. "I expect you two have quite a bit to talk about, so I'll take my leave now." He strode out of the room. The door hadn't even finished closing before Shinwoo had crossed the distance separating them and thrown his arms around Seira.

Returning his embrace, Seira let herself relax into his arms. Her head nestled on top of his right shoulder, he whispered into her ear. "It really worried me when you wouldn't wake. How are you feeling?"

"I'm sorry to have worried you." She withdrew from his embrace. "I'm feeling okay, a bit light-headed, but otherwise fine. How are you doing?"

"Alright, much better now that you're awake."

Seira nodded. "Have you noticed anything different about yourself in the past few days?"

"Now that you mention it, yeah. Ever since what happened ten days ago, physically I've been feeling better than I ever have before. Tasks that used to exhaust me barely even make me sweat now. "

"You've made a contract with me and so you've been gifted a portion of my power. Even without usage, its presence alone is enough to significantly enhance your body, as you've noticed." She paused; her eyes became downcast and her mouth curled into a slight frown as thought she'd tasted something bitter.

"What's wrong, Seira?"

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry? Uh, what are you sorry for?"

Her voice was heavy. "For getting you involved in all this. If I hadn't started dating you, then Rael wouldn't have come after you and I wouldn't have had to make a contract with you to save your life. Now that that has happened, your life can never go back to what is was. I've robbed you of the chance for a normal existence."

Shinwoo didn't even hesitate before replying. "There's no need to apologize because I have no regrets about what has happened. Even if I could redo everything, I wouldn't change a thing. Getting to be with you is worth anything."

Seira looked slightly stunned by his words. "Do you really mean that? Even after I lied to you constantly about who I was?" The words came tumbling out of her mouth. "Even if I got you injured so badly? Even after—"

"Enough." Shinwoo placed his hands on her shoulders. "You had good reasons for hiding the fact that you were a Noble; the only one who has done anything wrong was Rael."

Seira was silent for a moment. "Nobles . . . so you know what I am. How much did they tell you."

"Frankenstein gave me some basic knowledge. I know that you, Regis, Rai, and Rael are Nobles. I know that there are six Noble clans, and you're the leader of one of them: the Loyard clan. I know a bit about the Union. Like that the Ajussis used to be members of it and that the Union experimented on them. That the Union basically controls the world's governments from the shadows. I also know that you didn't lie to me completely"—Seira flushed at that, although she couldn't see perceive any ill-feelings in his words or on his face—"and that you—like all other Nobles—do come from an island known as Lukedonia located in the Bermuda Triangle."

"That seems like a decent enough overall for the time being." She hesitated. "Actually there is still something Frankenstein likely didn't tell you that I think you should know if you're not already aware."

"And that would be?"

"We Nobles live a lot longer than humans. A Noble only comes into their full power after their Coming of Age ceremony, which occurs when a Noble reaches 200 years. Although I look to you like I'm in my late teens, my coming of age ceremony was 17 years ago."

Shinwoo's eyes widened. "You're217 years old?"

"Yes."

"Well that's . . . unexpected. Are Regis and Rai of a similar age?"

"No, Regis is 199. As for Raziel, I don't know how old he is. The only thing I can tell you is that he's existed at the very least for several millennia; I suspect that he has been alive for much longer than that."

Shinwoo was silent as he took a moment to digest all this. It was rather jarring to realize that the person whom he so cavalierly crushed at video games was an ancient being who predated civilization on the Korean peninsula.

"Does this change anything between us?" There was more than a hint of anxiety in her tone.

Shinwoo thought it over for a moment. "No. If I can cope with dating someone who isn't even the same species, then two centuries of age difference isn't really that big of a deal. The age gap doesn't affect how I feel about you."

"Ah."

Shinwoo smiled at her and took her left hand in his.

"Are you hungry, by any chance? I'd imagine you must be given that you had no sleep for ten days."

She nodded.

"Then why don't we go and get you something to eat, okay?"

"Sure."

Hand in hand, they headed over to the elevator at the end of the hallway, stepping inside as the doors slid smoothly shut after them.

"I should mention that Ikhan, Yoona, and Sui are here as well, and that they've been told the reason they haven't seen you in more than a week is that you've been away on a trip, visiting your home country." Shinwoo said, after the elevator began its fifty meter ascent to the ground floor. "So don't be surprised if they ask how your trip went."

"Understood." The doors slid open a moment later and they stepped out into a small room set out in the back of the house. They slid back the door to the room, which had been designed to look identical to the walls on either side and headed towards the living room, from which Shinwoo could hear the boisterous voices of his friends.

Ikhan was lounging on the couch, conversing with Tao about the merits of various Linux distros, while Yoona and Sui were discussing Sui's upcoming tour of Southeast Asia for her new album

"Ppalgan Lomaenseu" (Red Romance), which was going to be released in three weeks. As Shinwoo and Seira entered, Ikhan looked up and gasped as he caught sight of them.

"Seira, you're back! Principal Lee said that you'd left to visit your home with Rai . . . wait where is Rai? Is he not with you?"

Seira hesitated for a second, unprepared as she'd hadn't been aware of that part of her cover story. Regis, who'd been standing in the kitchen and conversing with Takeo, came to her rescue.

"Raizel declined to accompany Seira back to Korea as he has a few things he still needs to take care of at home."
"Oh, well tell him to hurry back; things just aren't the same without him here."

"Yeah," Yoona concurred, having broken off her conversation with Sui upon noticing the pair's arrival.

"Is everything okay, Seira?" Sui asked. "You left school in the morning without saying anything; we only learned where you'd gone when Principal Lee told us later that afternoon. Since your departure was so sudden, we've been worried that something awful had happened."

"You needn't have been worried." Seira gracefully sank down onto the edge of the couch directly opposite Ikhan and Tao, who'd gone back to their discussion. Shinwoo copied her, but sat down with an audible thud. "There were merely some personal matters that required immediate attention. Everything is fine now."

"You should tell that to Shinwoo," Yoona replied. "He has varied between being depressed and being anxious wreck since you left."

Seira glanced over at Shinwoo, who smiled sheepishly in response, "Guilty."

She reached over and ruffled his hair affectionately. Yoona and Sui both smirked at that.

"So what were you guys talking about before?" Shinwoo said, flushing slightly despite himself.

"Oh, we were just discussing my upcoming album tour."

"Oh! That's right, you're going to be leaving two weeks from now, if I remember correctly?"

"Yes, but the tour is going to begin in Seoul. I'm going to be doing a small show in Seoul, at DGBD."

"DGBD?" Shinwoo had never heard of the place. Yoona looked confused as well.

"It's a club in the Mapo district, almost against the river. It's much smaller than the rest of the places I'll be preforming at. I like to start a tour off with a performance at an intimate venue."

"I'm guessing the show has long since sold out?"

"Yeah, within about three hours of the tickets being made available."

"I should've known." Shinwoo sighed. "I was thinking that Seira and I could go to the concert—as she's never seen you preform—but guess that's the end of that idea."

Sui waved a hand airily. "Nah, it's not. I'm given a few tickets for each concert to distribute to whomever I wish. I'd be more than happy to give two of them to you two."

"Really?"

"Of course."

Shinwoo turned and look at Seira for assent. She looked at him for a moment and then nodded.

"I should warn you guys that it's general admission, and there's no seats at all so you'll be standing for a few hours."

"That's fine," Shinwoo said. "It doesn't bother me."

Seira surprised both of them by taking that moment to speak up. "What led you to become a singer?"

Sui looked thoughtful for a moment. "Uhm, I guess it's just what I wanted to do? I mean I'd always had talent for singing, even as a child, and the idea of making music had always appealed to me. I only started pursuing it seriously when I turned 13 though. I wrote an album over the course of five months. I managed to convince my parents to send it to a bunch of record labels and a few months later I got a phone call from SM Entertainment, saying they liked the album and they would like to discuss a record deal." She shrugged. "And the rest is history. Why do you ask?"

"I was merely curious." Seira stated.

"Oh."

It was at that moment that Frankenstein brought over the food he promised her. A large bowl of Mul Naengmyoen: thin, chewy buckwheat noodles noodles in a cold Dongchimi broth, mixed with cucumbers, pickled radishes, and Asian pear. The sight of it Seira brought the aching, empty feeling in her stomach back to the forefront of her mind.

"Here you are, Miss Seira," Frankenstein said.

"Thank you."

She broke the chopsticks and began to eat. She noted the savoriness of the noodles, the dual sweet and tart nature of the broth, but she didn't much care. She'd have eaten just about anything at that moment. While she ate, Yoona and Sui went back to discussing Sui's tour with Shinwoo interjecting occasionally. From there things moved on to Sui, Ikhan, Shinwoo and Tao continuing a game of Settlers of Kattan they'd started three days ago, while Yoona spent time trying to engage M-21 in conversation to little success, and in the kitchen Regis quietly discussed communications he'd received from Lukedonia with Seira. Eventually the other three kids left for the day with Shinwoo staying behind.

Seira and Shinwoo sat on the couch, drinking tea after they'd helped the modified trio and Regis clean up the house.

Seira spoke up suddenly. "It must be nice to live a life like that."

"What do you mean?" Shinwoo was surprised by how wistful she sounded.

"I'm speaking about Sui and how she became a singer. It must be nice to be able to choose the path you take in life."

"I guess?" Shinwoo looked at her quizzically. "I mean that's kinda how I've lived my life; in fact I don't think I've ever lived it any other way. Is it not the same for you?"

"It is not." Seira hesitated and took a sip of tea before responding. "I mentioned a few hours ago that my coming of age ceremony had only been a few years in the past. To most Nobles, I'm considered barely more than a child. Does it not strike you as odd that I'm the Loyard Clan leader?"

"I guess."

"The reason I'm the Loyard Clan Leader is not because of skill or of merit; it is not even because I choose to take the position. I'm Clan Leader by default."

Shinwoo stared at her slightly confused.

Seeing his look, she placed her cup of tea down and turned to meet his eyes directly. "I'm the Loyard Clan Leader because I'm the only member of the founder's bloodline remaining."

"Wait, you mean . . ."

"Yes, my father went to his Eternal sleep a hundred years ago; killed trying to protect ordinary humans who'd been used as bait to lure him into a trap."

"I'm really sorry to hear that. I don't know what else to say."

"You don't need to say anything. It was a long time ago." The tone of her voice didn't quite sell her statement. Seira stiffened as Shinwoo abruptly wrapped his arms around her.

"What are you doing?"

Shinwoo blinked in confusion for a moment before replying. "I'm giving you a hug. It's what we humans sometimes do when we want to comfort someone else."

"Ah, thank you." Seira met his eyes as she began trailing her left hand through the unruly mop that was his hair.

Shinwoo spoke after a moment. "Forgive me though, but I still can't quite see what the fact that you're the last member of the Loyard has to do with what we were talking about. In fact, if you're the last member it would seem like you'd not have any responsibilities?"

"You misunderstand. I'm the last member of the Loyard clan's bloodline, that doesn't mean I'm the only Noble in the Loyard Clan. There are still many Nobles under the Aegis of the Loyard clan. With me being the only member of the Loyard clan left, I not only have the duties of being the Clan Leader, but I also must look after everyone and everything that is under the aegis of the clan on my own. And my consequent duties have made it so that very little of my time is my own."

"Hmmm. You know you don't have to do that all the time?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've been here how long? Five months?"

"Something like that."

"Have things fallen apart with your absence so far?"

". . . no."

"Well that's proof that you don't need to always be the Loyard Clan Leader. You can set down that mantle for a little while and just be Seira; take the time that you're here at the school to just be you, to be whatever you want to be."

Seira stared as Shinwoo for a moment, a startled look on her face. The words of the Former Lord came into Seira's mind unbidden: 'If we Nobles used our strength for humanity, perhaps humans were there to teach us how to live.' And she realized that he'd been correct. Her life had remained relatively static once she'd become a Clan Leader and her personality had been much the same even before that. And yet she'd been living at Frankenstein's house less than half a year and already she'd changed. The reserved and quiet women Seira had been before she came to Korea would've never have opened up to someone else like she had a moment ago. She was still reserved and would likely never be anywhere near as boisterous as her human boyfriend, but gone was the impulse to conceal all her feelings from the rest of the world.

A second memory surfaced then, another part of Former Lord's message that he'd left in his shrine. 'It is the same for the Clan Leaders. We cannot expect our descendants to walk the same road we did. Now is the time for change. And so we have chosen eternal sleep, for the sake of our children. For the hope that they be able to live in freedom. We want them to live their lives according to their own choice, not fate. We do not want them to follow in our footsteps; but to be able to choose the life they want, and live it as they please.'

To live her life her own way, free of the constraints of the role she felt she had to play was something she'd desired for a long time. She hadn't taken the Former Lord's words to heart back then, but perhaps she should have. Perhaps she should now. In some ways it was a gamble, but what was life without taking risks? Just this once, maybe she should ignore what caution dictated and do what she wanted.

She thought about for a moment more and then made up her mind. She smiled and then lightly kissed Shinwoo. "Thank you," she said. "You really are the best boyfriend I could ask for."

"Um, thanks?"

"You're right, my duty is not entitled to the entirety of my life. While I'm here, I should just do what I wish to do."

"I'm glad I could help."

The conversation trailed off there; it was one of those that ended just because everything that needed to be said had been said. A silence yes, but a warm and comfortable one. They sat for a few minutes then, just sipping tea and enjoying each other's presence. Then Seira spoke up.

"Hey, what did I miss in school while I was asleep?"

"Eh? Um, I think we started covering integrations by parts in mathematics?"

"You think?"

"I slept through it," Shinwoo sounded a bit sheepish, "but I dimly recall Ikhan mentioning it."

Seira sighed. "You should put a bit more effort in. It is your future."

"Yeah, I know. It's just"—Shinwoo shrugged—"I've always been more focused on sports and academics never really interested me. That's more Ikhan's thing. I mean it is probably not great in terms of my future but . . ." he shrugged again. "Besides, it's not like it really matters anymore. Given what's recently happened."

He caught the somber look that started to spread across Seira's face. "None of that. I've already told you, I don't regret anything. So what if I can't have an ordinary life? That doesn't mean I can't have one I enjoy. And I do enjoy this one," he finished firmly.

Seira looked uncertainly at him for moment and then nodded, her face relaxing. She reached out and mussed up his hair so that it was an even more unruly tangle of ginger locks than usual. There was a long pause and then she spoke again. "We really should start to review the new material and do the homework we're assigned. It wouldn't be good for either of us to fall behind."

Shinwoo looked at her quizzically, "I get why you think that about me, but why do you care? You're a Noble, and not just any Noble, but a Clan Leader. Why do you care if you know calculus or chemistry, or Korean history?"

She looked thoughtful for a moment. "You humans individually lack power compared to Nobles and yet you've managed to overcome your personal weaknesses and construct such a complex global civilization. And you did done it off the back of technology. I wish to understand what humanity has built and so I need to know these basics. It's both a personal interest and an interest I have as a Clan Leader because I have to steer my clan through a future in a world ever increasingly shaped by humans and I can't do that well if I don't understand the force driving those changes."

"Hmm, I guess that makes sense."

"Now we really should get started on that math."

Shinwoo sighed. "You really are relentless about this, aren't you?" He reached down and pulled his math textbook out of his backpack. "Let's begin then. I think it was chapter 6."

"Just jump up." The voice spoke in Shinwoo's mind. It was an hour after sunset and he stood in an alley in Seoul's Gwangjin district only dimly illuminated by the lights of the streets at either end.

"How?" he responded to Seira who stood perched on the edge of a roof, five stories above him. "It's like twenty meters!"

"I told you I'd teach you how to make use of your new power. Draw on it and make the leap."

"You never really clarified how I'm supposed to do that."

"Concentrate and turn your mind inwards. Feel for something that feels similar to my aura. Your power has not had time to integrate into your body, so it'll be very much like mine at the moment."

Shinwoo drew in a deep breath and then exhaled slowly as he closed his eyes, trying to focus all his attention into being aware of his body and mind. After a couple of minutes of effort, he sighed, feeling frustrated and more than a little foolish. Seira's instructions were vague enough that he still really had no idea what he was supposed to do. How exactly did one search for power insides one's body? What exactly did it mean to look inward? He sighed again and resolved to give it one more shot. If he couldn't do it, he'd ask Seira for more of a step by step explanation.

He concentrated on his mind, peering at the stuff that was at just the edge of his consciousness. And he found something. A faint pulsation that was new and strange to him. He reached out for it and as his awareness of it increased, it pulled him in. As it did so, his body stilled and the outside world faded away as he sank into a trance. He could hear his breathing at first, but it was faint as though it came from a great distance and soon even that sound died away

All at once, the source of the pulsation resolved itself. The closest thing it could be likened to was a miniature sun: a roughly spherical ball of energy whose surface was carpeted with loops of vermilion light. This energy radiated out in waves, at a frequency in time with the sphere's pulsations. As these waves washed over him, warmth flooded him and along with that warmth came a flood of insights of the ball's fundamental nature.

On first impression, it seemed to be a thing solely of duty and order; an entity dedicated to its responsibilities with no availability for anything else. A second closer inspection belayed this portrait. There was a strong inclination towards order and a devotion towards duty, but these were alloyed with and tempered by streaks of independence and stubbornness; amounting to something that was loyal, but would do what it felt was right regardless of that loyalty. It was reserved, but there was also the sense of a restrained intensity; a fiery spirit contained behind many walls and shackled with many chains. It spoke of love, but also of great loss.

An aura was an embodiment of the individual's personality and character. Prior to that moment, Shinwoo wouldn't really been able to describe what it was that he sensed when he looked at his love. This changed things. The feeling and impressions this energy invoked was the same as then, but far more vivid and clear. He knew without a doubt that this power was Seira's.

There was something else as well. A faint presence lurking behind the sphere that he instinctively knew was his own aura. But it was barely there. From what Seira had told him, it was trying to assimilate the power Seira had gifted him. Eventually it might succeed, but for the moment, its efforts were no different than a waxing crescent moon trying to eclipse the sun.

Feeling an almost instinctive drive, Shinwoo moved towards the sphere, his left arm outstretched. The instant his hand made contact with the surface of the sphere, there was a brilliant flash and surge of energy that surged up along his left arm and enveloped the rest of his body. The sensation broke the trance he was in. The previously blocked sensory input that related to everything external came flooding back in an instant. He opened his eyes.

He hadn't moved from where he'd stood in the alley and yet everything had changed. Everything around him seemed fuller, more vivid. Colors were far more vibrant than before and his ability to perceive differences in them had also increased remarkably. Before the dumpster standing slightly to the left of him had been monotonic gray. Now he could see the slight variations in shade caused by microscopic differences in wear patterns on the painted metal.

His glanced down at himself and noticed with some surprise that his aura was faintly outlined around his body. What was more, he realized that he could now feel the pulse of his power even without focusing. It was like a second heart beating in the back of his mind.

His body thrummed with energy and a feeling of euphoria surged through him at the sensation. With power like this, he could do anything. He glanced at the edge of the rooftop onto which he was supposed to be jumping. Before, it'd seemed unreachable. Now? It didn't merit even a moment's consideration. With barely a conscious thought, he pushed power into his legs. The aura encircling his legs flared slightly brighter in response. He bent his knees slightly and then jumped.

Shinwoo soared upwards, his hair and clothes billowing upwards as he did so. His jump was far from perfect, however. For one, he'd need to be a bit more controlled when using his power in future as his movement took him more than forty meters above the height of his target. He'd also made another mistake, he realized, as his upward momentum stalled out and he began to fall back down: he'd only jumped straight up and so his trajectory was almost purely vertical instead of the parabolic arc he'd needed. He tried to maneuver in the air as he fell back to earth, so that he'd be over a rooftop, but it was to no avail. There was nothing he could push off of in the air and drag didn't have the time to even begin causing his body to drift.

His violent attempts to propel himself sideways did however, manage to invert his body and so with a dull clang that resounded through the alley, Shinwoo slammed into the floor of the open metal dumpster head first. He'd tried to relax his body as much as he could before the impact in order to minimize the transfer of force, but he still hit hard enough to severely jar his whole body. To his shock, there was no flare up of pain indicating the broken bones that he was expecting at minimum. He wasn't even dazed by the impact.

He lay there for a few moments in a half stunned state before beginning to move his limbs gingerly, expecting at any moment to feel pain as he tried to move an injured section of his body. It never came and after a minute or so, he realized that he still had full range of movement. He got to his feet. Brushing himself off, he further realized that, apart from a minor ache distributed throughout his entire body, he was completely uninjured from his fall.

His tapping into his power and moreover his contract with Seira had completely changed his body. That impact would've killed any normal human; that he'd be basically unhurt from it meant that the physical vulnerabilities of ordinary people were not his anymore.

With a single hand, Shinwoo casually vaulted out of the dumpster, landing lightly on the dirty concrete. He look up and saw Seira staring at him, a slightly anxious look in her eyes.

"Are you alright?"

"Yup, I'm fine."
"I'm glad."
"Me too. I would've thought I'd badly injured at minimum from falling on my head from that height. But I had trouble even feeling it."

"It is to be expected. You're not who you were a couple weeks ago."

Shinwoo grinned. "I can't disagree with that."

"Do you think you can make it up here now?" There was a teasing note to her words.

"Yeah, I can handle it. Third times the charm after all."

Shinwoo moved a few paces back from the dumpster and then stopped. He bent his knees and pushed off the ground, aiming for the ledge of the roof that stuck out into the air, five stories above him. As his soared upward Shinwoo realized that he still hadn't gotten it right. While the direction was fine, the amount of force he'd put into it was not. He cleared the edge of the roof, sailing over and to the right of where Seira stood. He reached the top of his arc a third of the way across the roof and then began to fall. He landed on the very edge of the roof on the opposite side. He reflexively bent his knees to absorb the force of the landing but that pushed his weight too far forward. Off balance, he began toppling off the roof edge and towards the ground once again. Crap, he thought. Then an arm reached out from behind him and grasped his shoulder, stopping his fall. Seira had caught him, he realized. He hadn't even heard her move; one moment she was on one side of the roof, the next on the other. She effortlessly pulled him back onto the roof.

"Thanks for catching me," he said after a moment, sounding embarrassed.

"I thought you said could handle it?" She grinned at him playfully and Shinwoo flushed slightly in response.

"Guess I overestimated myself," he replied.

"People who suddenly gain a great amount of power, of any type, have a tenancy to do that. It's to be expected."

Shinwoo nodded.

"How are you feeling overall though?"

"Honestly? I feel incredible. There's this strength coursing through me right now and its just this overwhelming rush. All my senses feel like they been put into overdrive. It's a similar feeling to the one I have when I'm engaged in a serious fight, but its so much more intense that its not really comparable."

"I know the feeling well." Her voice turned serious. "Just don't let it cloud your judgment. What you feel you can do and what you actually can do are two entirely different things. Those who mix them up or treat them as if they are one in the same have a tendency to come grief."

He swallowed. "I'll keep that in mind."

The silence that followed gave him a moment to look at her closely for the first time with his newly enhanced senses. He could now clearly from her aura, radiating from a mass of energy which dwarfed his. Strands of it billowed around and enshrouded him. Where it touched his skin, the nerves there tingled and tendrils of his own aura, unbidden, reached out to reflect it.

He could perceive the connection created by their contract as well, a non-tangible bond that nonetheless felt just as real and as a physical rope or cord tying them together. He looked up and met her eyes and couldn't help but smile. She returned it and a pulse of affection flowed across that cord and flooded his body with warmth. Without thinking, he closed the distance between them and placed a hand on her shoulder, gently guiding her head towards his. She yielded as Shinwoo turned his head to the side and met her lips with his own.

Seira wrapped her arms around his back and began running her fingers up and down his spine. Shinwoo shivered at the feeling of her soft fingers on his back and his breathing became a little heavier.

He stopped a split second to take in a breath and then kissed her once more, this time their tongues entwined and fought for dominance as Shinwoo's hands roamed up and down her torso.

"I think I could just stay like this for the rest of my life, and wouldn't ever get tired of it." he said after a few minutes of making out, using their link to communicate because his mouth was occupied.

Seira began dragging the fingers of her left hand slowly down the center of his chest. "You really are too sweet," she replied after a long pause. "Here I am, trying to train you and you have to go ahead and kiss me and say things like that, which makes me want to do something else entirely." Her hand slid between his thighs and began to gently caress what was there; Shinwoo shuddered in response to her touch.

"However, there is a still a lot I plan to go over before today is done." Shinwoo felt a momentary pang of disappointment as she disengaged from his embrace. "We're going to start training again now. Afterwards though, we can do whatever we want."

Seiracasually leapt onto the slightly lower roof of an neighboring building landing with effortless grace. "Now let's see if you can keep up."

Shinwoo stood there motionless for a moment. I guess I should follow, he though. He took a few steps forward to the edge of the roof to build up momentum and then pushed off from roof. He soared through the air and landed a few feet away from Seira. He landed far lighter this time.

Seira gave a short nod of approval then jumped onto the next building over. This time she didn't stop and wait there, but crossed the rooftop and leapt onto yet another one. Shinwoo moved to follow her. And thus began a pursuit that spanned half of Seoul.

With every leap, Shinwoo grew more and more comfortable with using his new found strength. Soon he was crossing rooftops with a single stride and effortlessly leaping between them. Still, he always lagged a few steps behind Seira, for no matter how fast he moved, the Noble always moved just a little faster. Eventually they were moving at such speeds that any that might have looked upon them would've seen only blurs; any that did however fell under Seira's mind control and quickly forgot anything they saw.

Seira abruptly jumped into an alleyway. And then walked at a normal rate out onto a well-lit street that was mostly deserted at this time of day, coming to a halt as they beheld her intended destination: a graceful six story building whose facade was a combination of steel, glass and concrete. It was a building she'd been in only once before: the abandoned Union research facility from which they'd rescued Shinwoo and the rest after they'd been kidnapped by the DA-5. She'd chosen it because she knew it had plenty of space inside to use for their purposes. That she also knew it had been abandoned by the Union meant that no one would bother her and Shinwoo during the next part of the night's training.

Shinwoo reached her a few seconds later. Seira nodded in acknowledgement of his presence.

"Why are we here? What is this place?" He was slightly out of breath.

"I don't know what the parts of above ground are exactly, but some of the underground levels of that building across the street are an abandoned Union Research facility. It'll be a good place for us to do the next part of your training. Until we get into the facility itself, you should refrain from saying anything though. The rest of the building is a civilian workplace and they are entirely unaware of the existence of the research facility below their feet."

"Okay."

Seira, with Shinwoo following close behind, walked across the street and strode up the building entrance. As she drew close, the automatic door slid open silently and they stepped into the main building lobby. There were a few people walking around and a couple of them glanced over at them as they entered. Seira's eyes flashed momentarily and the people immediately looked away. They crossed the lobby walking up to a set of stainless steel elevator doors. Seira pushed the down button on the elevator panel and the doors slid open almost immediately.

Seira stepped inside the elevator car and motioning for Shinwoo to join her. She jabbed the elevator close button once she'd done so. She pushed an unlabeled button at the top of the panel. Although unmarked, it would take them down to the fourth below ground level, which marked the first level of the Union base. The elevator began silently descending, opening thirty seconds later out onto a deserted, white paneled room. Set into the wall across from them was a door and an elevator. Seira led them over to the elevator and touched the down arrow. The doors opened noiselessly and they stepped inside. Seira pressed the button for the lowest level.

A thought struck Shinwoo as the elevator started going down. "Wait, how do you know the Union has abandoned this place?"

"I know its abandoned because the Union is aware that the base's location was compromised and because the people who used to work here were all killed less than a year ago."

"How did you know that?" Shinwoo asked hesitantly. "Were you involved?" Given what he knew about the Noble's view on humans, he found it impossible to imagine Seira slaughtering a bunch of scientists regardless of whether or not they were members of the Union, but he knew she was more than physically capable of doing so.

"No, I had not arrived in Korea yet. I was only told about this well after I'd come here."

"Then how do you know?"

"M-21, Rai, and Frankenstein infiltrated the facility immediately after the elimination of the researchers. Everything I know comes from what they've told me. The whole event apparently was instigated by a high level Union member named Crombel in order to cover up some research that had been preformed at the facility. Crombel accused the researchers of having committed treason and ordered the facility's security personnel to purge them. However, he apparently wanted to test some of the research and eliminate any loose ends as well because he had the guards that carried out the initial killings unknowingly awaken the experimental product of that research, which proceeded to kill them as well."

"That honestly sounds like some Manwha plot."

"Perhaps, but answer me this: does anything that has happened in the past few weeks not seem like that to you?"

"That's a pretty good point."

The elevator chimed once then and the doors slid open to a dimly lit hallway that snaked off into the distance, with various metal doors set into the walls.

"So where to now?" Shinwoo stepped out into the hallway.

"Down the hallway, it's a fair bit of a walk."

As they walked, Shinwoo had another thought. "Seira?"

"Yes?"

"I just realized that I've never gotten around to asking what was the real reason that you came here. Was it to see Rai?"

"No. I was unaware of his existence prior to arriving here. Regis and I were sent to investigate an incident here in Seoul."

"An incident?"

"Do you remember the mass murder that occurred at a hospital a while back?"

Shinwoo nodded slowly. "Yeah, it was shocking. 140 people all killed in a single night. Ye Ran closed for a week once people discovered what had happened. The police never found out who did it or why as far as I'm aware."

"We came to investigate that incident. As it turns out, the same being that killed all the researchers here also killed all those people in the hospital. We had at first suspected it to be the work of a mutant."

"A mutant?"

"It is the creation of a chain of contracts, more specifically when a human who's made a contract with a noble makes a contract with another human and that human in turn makes a contract with another human and so on. Eventually the resulting being will be bereft of sanity and crave blood to the point that they can't survive without it. They are the origin of what you humans call vampires. Long ago mutants caused such havoc that the previous Lord forbid their creation and made it the responsibility of the Nobles to hunt down and eliminate them."

"So was it the work of a mutant?"

"No. As it turned out the Union had developed similar abilities. It was a work of something called an infected. However it's nature was relatively similar."

"Is it still out there?" Shinwoo couldn't help but feel a little nervous at the thought of such a murderous creature prowling through the city.

"No, it was killed shortly after being let loose in the research facility, although I'm not aware of exactly how."

"Well that's good to hear."

They came to a fork in the hallway then. After considering for a moment, Seira took the path that branched left.

"You know, you said that you weren't in Seoul yet when Raizel, Frankenstein, and M-21 infiltrated the base." Shinwoo commented. "But you seem to know your way around here pretty well."

"I have been here once before," Seira replied. "I was here to rescue you after you, Sui, Ikhan, and Yoona were kidnapped by the DA-5."

"DA-5? That's Takeo's and Tao's old group. You say I was kidnapped by them? I don't remember . . ." Shinwoo stopped dead in his tracks, his voice trailing off as he remembered Seira using mind control to erase any memory of them from the mind of anyone who saw them moving through the city.

"It's exactly as you think," Seira said calmly. "We erased all of your memories of the events after they happened. It was actually the second time that it was done in fact."

"Why would you do that?" Shinwoo's voice was tinged with anger; regardless of the reason, the idea of someone messing around with his memory did not sit right with him. "What gave you the right to do that? They're my memories. They were not yours to mess with!"

"You consented the second time," she responded quickly, surprised at the vehemence in his response.

"And what about the first?" he responded sharply.

"I'm not aware of whether or not you did then."

"And even if I did consent the second time, was it because you offered me a fully informed choice or was it because you presented it as being the only option?"

"I . . ." Seira opened her mouth and then closed it; she didn't have an answer to that. Wincing inwardly, she changed track. "You need to understand, if you kept your memories of those incidents, you'd have been unable to live normal lives and those memories would've put you in danger from various organizations including the Union. And that was something none of us wanted. Although circumstances have changed—at least for yourself—at the time, we reasoned that you could continue on unaware and untroubled by this side of the world so long as we erased those memories. We did what we thought was best."

"And did it ever occur to you that by erasing our memories, you left us blind to the dangers around us and thus unable to take steps to protect ourselves, without actually getting us away from those dangers?"

Seira physically flinched at that. There was more than a hint of validly to his point. The children's minds had been wiped of being kidnapped by Jake and Mary, their first encounters with M-21 and M-24, as well as any memories they'd had of the infected. This hadn't prevented them from being kidnapped by the DA-5. All it had ensured was that they'd been completely unaware anyone might be targeting them and and thus ignorant that they needed to take steps to protect themselves. And erasing their memories of that incident hadn't protected Shinwoo and Ikhan from being targeted for recruitment by the KSA nor had it protected Shinwoo from Rael's wrath upon finding out that Shinwoo and her were dating. It was, she reflected, misguided to think that keeping the children ignorant would protect them. Merely being around Rai and Frankenstein and all who lived with the pair continuously placed them in harm's way.

She sighed. "Your criticism is valid. Erasing your memories while doing nothing about your continued association with me, Raziel, Takeo, M-21, etc was a mistake. It ultimately didn't protect you at all. I'm not sure what we actually should've done, but what we choose was not the correct choice.

For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

Shinwoo opened his mouth to respond and then closed it, turning his head away and looking forward at the ground. He didn't seem inclined to respond so they stood there in silence, with Seira glancing at Shinwoo's face every now and then in an attempt to divine his thoughts, but his expression was inscrutable. As the seconds ticked by, Seira began feeling increasing anxious at his continued silence.

She'd never had qualms about Shinwoo's memory being erased prior to this. It hadn't even been her who'd done it, although she'd agree with the decision at the time, for one. She'd agreed with the other's decision because she'd believed at the time that it was the best course of action. She'd only wanted Shinwoo to have a normal life which wasn't constantly in danger. And Raizel had supported the decision to do so. Even the kids themselves had ultimately consented at the time. She'd never considered that it could drive a wedge between them if he found out about. If that happened she wasn't sure what she'd do. If he would just say something she was sure that she could make him understand—

"I'm not happy at all that you guys did what you did." Shinwoo's voice interrupted Seira's increasing worried chain of thought. She turned her head to meet his eyes; the hard look in them was a dagger into her heart. "Even if you did it with good intentions, you robbed me of the choice to decide whether or not I wished to keep some of my memories. You decided you knew what my best interests regardless of what I actually might have wished myself. I honestly feel violated by that, especially since you did it by such an invasive method as altering my memories."

"I—" Seira felt a surge of anxiety. Was she going to lose him because of this?

Shinwoo's eyes softened. "However, the past can't be undone. You regret it and sincerely apologized. I'm not sure what else you could do. And I don't want to be angry at you"—Seira's body relaxed slightly at that—"Just promise me you won't ever touch my memories again unless I explicitly ask you to."

"I swear it upon the honor of the Loyard clan," she said firmly.

It was enough for him. Shinwoo placed a hand on her shoulder. "Let's just put this behind us."

"Alright . . . Do you still want to continue training tonight? I entirely understand if you no longer wish to do so."

"Yes," he said without hesitation. "It's important that I learn to use my power. I don't want to be helpless anymore if and when stuff like Rael crops up again."

"Understood. Then if you'll follow me again, we'll reach our training area in a couple of minutes."

"You haven't been clear though. What are we going to be training here that made it necessary to come to this place?"

"I'll be teaching you how to fight with your power. Coming here is to keep our training away from bystanders as well as eliminate damage to the city itself."

A trill of anticipation ran through him. Integrating this new power with his martial arts had been something he'd been looking forward to from the moment he became aware of it. He grinned. "This will be fun."

Seira throw him a look that said 'don't be so sure' as she started walking again.

A few minutes later they stepped out into a large room, which bore the unmistakable evidence of a fierce battle having been fought there. A large portion of the room's cement walls were cratered and cracked. The floor had been torn up all over the place and was littered with craters; in particular there was a near perfectly circular crater about six meters in diameter which extended not only into the ground, but through the ceiling as well as though someone had taken a massive drill and bored down through the room from above.

"This is the place where we fought with the DA-5 to rescue you," Seira announced. "It seemed like a good place for us to spar undetected." She slid a foot back as she spoke, falling into a more combat-oriented stance.

Shinwoo did likewise. "Seira?"

"Yes?"

"I don't want you to go easy on me. I want to see just what my limits are now."

She gave him a measured look. "As you wish. I'd advise you to bring your power to fore now. You won't be able to keep up at all if you don't."

Shinwoo reached for his power then and let it surge through his body, a red glow encircled and enveloped his body, billowing off him in time with the pulses of his heart.

And suddenly Seira shot forward, her arm and hand outstretched like a spear. Shinwoo shifted his footing to evade the strike, at the same moment his hands moved to control her arm as it moved pass them, attempting to get a joint lock and follow it up with a throw. He let out a gasp at the explosion of pain that resulted when Seira's foot suddenly caught him in the gut. There wasn't even a chance to block. It was so fast it was as if her foot had just appeared in his stomach. The force of the kick launched him backwards, sending him tumbling through the air the entire length of the room, whereupon he smashed into a wall with enough force to embed himself into the cement.

He managed to extricate himself in just enough time to avoid her follow-up strike which struck the wall instead, partially shattering it and sending chunks of concrete debris everywhere.

She really meant it when she'd agreed not to take it easy on him, he realized. If that had hit him, he would've be in very poor shape. His chest ached even from just that one kick she'd landed; any harder and it would've cracked ribs.

He launched himself forward at her, realizing that to allow himself to be kept on the defensive would guarantee his loss. He let go a fury of strikes, a combination of jabs at her head intended mostly as feints and hooks to her kidneys; she blocked them all and each collision of his fist with her forearms sending a jarring shock through Shinwoo's arms.

He noticed a sudden motion out of the corner of his left eye and he instinctively twisted to block her kick with his left thigh. Even as he winced at the sharp pain of her shin slamming into the side of his leg, her right hand was already coming up and pointing at his chest. His eyes widened as a flare of vermilion energy erupted from her hand. There was an explosion as it struck his chest, flinging up a cloud of dust and sending him tumbling backwards head over heels into the wall once again.

He got his feet after a brief second to regain his bearings, and noted with surprise that Seira was just standing there, looking at him with a measured expression on her face.

"You won't get anywhere like that," she said. "Because you're not using your power correctly."

"What do you mean?" he asked, panting slightly.

"You're fighting as if you don't have any power. Rather than just allowing it to passively enhance your physical capabilities, you need to consciously use it. You need to feel the flow of power your body and intentionally direct it into the areas of the body that you're using to strike or block with as well as those that you're attempting to defend. Doing so will greatly reinforce your defenses and strengthen your strikes."

Shinwoo let her words sink in for a few seconds then focused and immersed himself in his power. He felt its ebb and sway as it surged up from deep inside himself, filled his core and then spread to his limbs before bursting out of his body. He took a few deep breaths focusing on condensing his aura. The billowing red energy faded as he pulled it inward until it was just a faint red glow outlining his body. He took hold of the uncontrolled torrent of power inside of him and stilled it, ready to direct it where it was needed at a moment's notice.

"Like this?"

She looked at him with a mixture of surprise and pride. "Yes," she said slowly. "Just so."

"How did you do that energy beam at the end?" he asked.

"It's just an extension of what I just taught you. Instead of directing it to a specific area of your body, you direct to a specific spot outside your body."

"Ah."

"Are you up to continuing?"

"Of course." He grinned. "I'm just getting warmed up."

"Very well. Let's begin again then."

Shinwoo decided he'd start things this time. He pushed energy to his legs and took off with a loud crack as his body broke the sound barrier. His feet skidded on the ground, but fortunately held as turned and tried to get her back. He darted in even as Seira turned to meet him, spinning to evade her kick before throwing a kick of his own; a straight kick that she took and blocked on crossed forearms. He quickly brought his foot down and then, twisting, threw an elbow at her head with his right arm. She leaned back to evade it and stepped in to drive a punch into his gut. He twisted the other way to evade the strike and for good measure used the side of his left forearm to push her arm up and away. Seira swung her back leg around, pivoting 90 degrees and, without pausing, embedded it in his left side, right below his floating ribs. Shinwoo skidded backwards a few feet. Her kick had hurt him, but nothing like the last one. He'd had enough time to redirect his aura to the point of impact and it had greatly dampened the blow.

Controlling and manipulating his powers was getting easier and more automatic with every punch and block he made, but that hadn't made this fight any easier, he reflected. No matter how much power he put into his strikes, no matter how fast he moved, Seira effortlessly matched it so that the gap between them never changed.

He needed to keep on the offensive. If he ceded the initiative to Seira again, she'd pick him apart. Can't hesitate, just got to attack. Before she'd even put her leg back down, he'd launched himself back at her with a loud crack as he accelerated to more than twice the speed of sound. He aimed a low kick at her right leg, and winced at the impact as she blocked it with her shin, the sound of the impact reverberating throughout the entirety of the room. He threw a left hook that she easily evaded and then followed up with a fury of jabs, all but one of which she blocked on her forearms. The last she caught with her hand and he wasn't entirely able to get out of the way of her counterattack. A horizontal slash with the side of her hand that opened a thin gash along the width of his upper torso.

Even as he yanked his hand out of her grasp and reflexively stood a step back, Seira was already following up. Her left leg swung up above his head and come down with an ax kick, aimed for his right shoulder. He jumped back out of range and her kick slammed into the ground, cratering it and briefly embedding her foot. In the split second it would take her to extricate herself, Shinwoo saw an opportunity. Remembering what she'd told him previously, he lunged with his left leg and thrust out with right hand, focusing on sending his energy not just into his palm, but to a point directly in front of it.

Seira's eyes widened in surprise as the beam of scarlet energy erupted from his fist; she hadn't expected him to be able to do that without prior practice. However, just as she'd given him an opportunity, his lunge which had left in a precarious and unbalanced stance had given her one as well. She tilted her upper body to the left to avoid the energy blast and freed her foot from the ground in the same motion. Extending it forward, she scythed Shinwoo's left leg out from under him. He toppled over to his right as his attack went wide to the right, hitting the wall behind her instead with an explosion that pulverized the concrete and left a gaping hole three meters deep and half as wide behind.

Shinwoo recovered quickly, turning the fall into a sideways roll and then scrambling to his feet, just in time to block Seira's energy infused forearm strike with his own. There was a flash of crimson light and an explosion that sent dust and rock billowing to the ceiling as their arms collided. Once again, Shinwoo was knocked backwards by the force of the Seira's attack, but this time he managed to remain on his feet.

They paused for a moment then. Looking at each other as the dirt and dust thrown up by their last clash drifted down slowly through the air. Shinwoo was panting, his clothes, especially his shirt, were not much better than rags, and the gash Seira had inflicted across his chest moments ago, had just started to bleed even as it had already begun healing at the edges. The places where she'd managed to land solid blows ached and his knuckles had been scrapped raw and stung something fierce; they'd been fighting for at most five minutes and yet his fists felt like he'd been punching a heavy bag barehanded for an hour straight.

Seira, by contrast, was at worst just a bit disheveled with some dirt and dust staining her clothes. If their fight so far had caused her even the slightest bit of strain, there was no sign of it that he could discern.

"How are you holding up?" she asked.

"I'm doing fine." Despite how winded he was, he grinned back at her.

"You seem to be enjoying herself."

"I am. Even if I'm getting the worse of it in this fight, I'm always happy to fight someone skilled. It does make me feel a bit foolish though."

"Oh?"

"It really just hit home to me, all those times I stepped into to defend you? Well you really didn't need it."

"Ah."

He smiled and then fell back into a fight stance, at the same time making an effort to get his breathing under control. Given an unspoken signal that he wanted to keep fighting.

"Are you sure?" she looked uncertain and more than a little concerned. "Your skills have improved significantly since we've begun. It'd be quite alright to end things here for today."

"I don't like ending a fight before I'm beaten. I can still stand so the fight should continue."

"Alright, if you're sure."

Shinwoo knew despite his words that he couldn't last much longer. The well of power he had been drawing on was nearly empty and he was experiencing the first few symptoms of exhaustion. He had enough left in him for one and only one more engagement. So he was going to have to make it count and for it to have a prayer of affecting her, he needed to do something unorthodox and catch her off guard.

He raised a hand and fired a series of energy blasts. Seira launched herself out of the way of his attacks and as she did so, he pushed all his remaining energy into his lower limbs and darted towards her. As Shinwoo's blasts exploded against the wall behind her with brilliant flashes of scarlet light, Seira threw a straight kick with her right leg with the intent to break his charge. He moved to the left as though to evade it. As she shifted instinctively to counter, he pivoted and pushed off the ground, his previous movement having been a faint, and accelerated. At the same time he brought his torso down as low as he could. He crossed underneath her upraised foot and he didn't even have time to bring her foot down before he was inside her guard. Her right arm came out in an attempt to ward him off, but he brought his own arm up to block it and as he did so, he lifted his torso back up and extended his head.

The top of his skull slammed into her forehead with a sickening crack. Immediately, there was an almost blinding flare of pain; Seira's head was a lot harder than he'd expected. And then he was flying away once again as Seira slammed her palm into his chest. He smashed into the wall behind him with enough force to not only wreck the section of the wall he hit, but throw substantial chunks of concrete the entire length of room.

Seira stood there for a moment, her head swimming, trying to clear it and focus. She felt something begin trickling down her face and she lifted her hand to her forehead. She found a small gash from where Shinwoo's head had contacted her own that stung painfully. She pulled her hand back and it came away sticky and wet with blood. She wasn't worried about her injury though, it was minor and would heal quickly; far more worrisome was the fact that she'd responded mostly on instinct to Shinwoo's last attack and so she'd put far more power in her strike than she would've done otherwise.

She anxiously watched his prone form lying amidst the rubble of the wall. He tried to stand up a few moments later only to have his legs give out from under him and collapse back into a heap against the wall. A split second and she was kneeling down right in front of him. He started to try to stand again, but she placed a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down.

"There's no need to get up right now," Seira said. "Our fight is over. You should take some time to collect yourself."

Shinwoo nodded and then winced immediately afterward.

"You did really well, you know?"

"Eh?"

"You were learning to use your power at a rate even I found surprising. And that last attack of yours really caught me off guard."

"Doesn't seem like such a smart idea in hindsight—"He put a hand to his forehand as he tried to ignore the incessant pounding in his temples—"because my head is killing me right now."

She noted with a mixture of concern and relief that while he was able to talk without slurring his words, his speech was notably slower. She held a finger up and slowly moved it back and forth in front of his face. His eyes followed it with some difficulty.

Seira frowned. "I think you might a concussion."

". . . Really?"

"You're certainly showing symptoms."

"Ugh."

"Training is definitely at an end for today. We should go back to Frankenstein's so you can get checked up there."

"Sounds . . . good." Shinwoo gritted his teeth as a particularly sharp pain stabbed through his head, scattering his thoughts.

"Can you walk?"

By way of reply, Shinwoo struggled up to a standing position. He took a step forward and stumbled as his head swam and his balance disappeared. He nearly fell again, but Seira caught him before he could.

"Seems the answer is no."

"Then I guess I'll have to carry you."

"I'm sorry."

"There's no need to be sorry. It's not the first time I've done so."

"It's not?"

"When you got food poisoning, I carried you back to Frankenstein's house."

"Oh."

Seira reached down and scooped Shinwoo up, curling one arm around his shoulders and the other around the back of his knees. Shinwoo wrapped his right arm behind her neck as she started walking, picking her way careful through the rubble strewn about the room.

"Seira?" Shinwoo asked as they left the room.

"Yes?"

"I think . . . I'm going . . . to take a rain-check on tonight, sorry."

"It's quite alright."

The rest of the trip back to Frankenstein's place was made in silence. As it turned out, Shinwoo did indeed have a moderate concussion, with the recommended treatment being to refrain from exerting himself for a couple of days. This imposed period of no activity didn't bother him overly much, because Seira was there to keep him company.

Three days after his training session, Shinwoo awoke free of any concussion symptoms. And not a day too soon because it was the date of Sui's Concert.