"Shouldn’t you na her?"
"She’s your daughter."
Naless Death was caught off by that statent.
"She’s... not. You’re the one who gave birth to her." For so reason he felt awkward saying that, even though that was technically correct.
"I gave birth to her because of you," she said, laughing softly. "Don’t look at like that. I wouldn’t have gone through with the Spell-Birth if it weren’t for your request, Prince."
He looked down at the child again.
The infant’s breathing was steady, tiny fingers occasionally curling in the air.
Leonora crossed her arms, watching him.
"Besides, soone as powerful as you giving her a na, it will be auspicious for her."
He was silent for a mont longer. Then he murmured, "Vivi Hargraves."
Leonora blinked. "Huh?"
He looked at her. "That’s the na. Vivi Hargraves."
"You’re giving her your na?" Her eyebrows rose. "Are you sure?"
He nodded.
"She’s my responsibility. Even if it’s not by blood, she’s tied to now. So yes, Hargraves."
Leonora stared at him for a few seconds, then let out a small chuckle.
"Well... fine. Vivi Hargraves it is."
...
Ti passed.
Days blended into months, months into years.
The child grew, and with every passing day, she beca more vibrant.
Vivi was a ball of energy, which was surprising considering her mother was Leonora.
At age four, she awakened the Divine Energy in her blood.
By seven, she could see control elentals.
By ten, she had reached expert mastery over water.
Naless Death had monitored her growth with a mix of interest and concern. Her affinities had blood earlier than expected.
Darkness.
Water.
Ti.
Weapon.
Those were her affinities.
Each of them was dangerous and powerful.
Considering she reached Supre mastery at eighteen, she was absurdly talented.
It seed she had inherited her mother’s talent, and coupled with her energetic personality, she made use those talents unlike her mother.
...
"Papa!"
Naless Death’s eyes twitched.
He had just sat down to ditate when the door slamd open. Vivi’s voice rang out across the chamber, bright and clear.
He didn’t move. He had learned over the years that reacting only encouraged her.
"Papa," she called again, marching across the room. Her dark blue hair was a ss, and her training robe was unevenly tied. "Mommy’s still sleeping. She won’t get up. I told her I wanted pancakes and she didn’t even respond!"
"She’s tired," he replied calmly.
"She’s always tired." Vivi crossed her arms. "It’s not fair. You don’t sleep, so you don’t understand."
"I do sleep."
"Do you, papa?" she raised a brow. "Because I’ve never seen it."
Naless Death’s lips pressed into a thin line.
"Vivi, we’ve been through this. You are not a kid anymore. So, stop calling that."
"Calling you what?" she asked, feigning innocence.
He didn’t reply.
Vivi leaned closer.
"Papa?"
A muscle in his cheek twitched again.
He had told her a thousand tis not to call him that. He wasn’t her father. He was simply the one who gave her a na.
If anything, he was her guardian.
But Leonora’s damned cat spirit had whispered to the girl constantly, told her stories, and referred to him as ’Papa Death.’
The na was now stuck.
Telling her to call him by his na — Naless Death — was like trying to argue with wind.
"You’re wasting ti," he said finally. "Didn’t you say you wanted to train today?"
"I did! That’s why I’m here," she grinned. "Co on. You promised to teach the third stance of Dark Tide Blade."
Vivi was still only Awakened Demigod, but she had high mastery of Masteries of elents, and she could also use Intent to so level.
Naless Death had created a new sword technique for her to match her talent.
It was called Dark Tide Blade.
"I’ll teach you the third stance, but only if you’re ready."
"I mastered the second stance last week!"
"Reproducing the motions and mastering the intent are different things."
She rolled her eyes.
"You sound like a monk."
He didn’t reply. Instead, he walked toward the sparring ground.
Vivi followed.
...
The day passed quickly.
They trained under the filtered light of the sun (he created it years ago), beneath a do of barrier wards Leonora had set up years ago.
Vivi darted between water pillars she summoned, shifting forms mid-stride, combining darkness into the edges of her strikes.
Naless Death gave few instructions.
He corrected her posture once.
Told her to breathe deeper.
Asked her to try again.
By afternoon, she had replicated the Shadow Blade’s third stance with surprising accuracy.
’Isn’t she too talented?’
Naless Death had always been amazed by her talent.
She fell on her back, panting, sweat running down her brow.
"Okay. Maybe that was harder than I thought."
"You need more endurance."
"Mhm," she raised her head and looked at her. "So, papa how long do you think I can master the entire Dark Tide Blade?"
"Four more years."
"Yes! That ans we can go out after four years!" she beca excited.
"...."
Naless Death remained silent.
He had taught her everything. She knew of people, of worlds, of societies.
That was why she knew they were not living in a normal world.
This was place where the three mbers of her family and two spirits of her mother were present.
Naless Death handed her a water bottle and sat down beside her.
For a while, they said nothing.
The sky above them darkened slightly.
Evening ca early here.
Vivi sipped water slowly and leaned her head back to stare at the clouds.
"Papa, I want to be strong like you."
"I’m not you papa."
"Hehe."
...
Three years passed.
She turned twenty-one.
By now, she could easily beco Stage-1 God.
However, Naless Death had told her to do the breakthrough for Godhood only after reaching Fabled Demigod rank.
It was too far considering she was only Mythic Demigod.
So today, she stood in front of him.
"If I win, you will let breakthrough to Godhood."
"You need to win for that."
"Hehe, I win as long as I land a hit on you."
Naless Death’s lips twitched.
She had co up with that win condition by herself and forced him to accept it.
Still, he didn’t refuse her.
"You can start," Naless Death told her.
Their eyes t.
Then Vivi moved.
She didn’t charge recklessly.
She approached while circling him.
A burst of water surged beneath her feet, propelling her forward, while dark tendrils flicked at his blind spots.
He deflected them without effort, but her speed impressed him.
She was combining several techniques to achieve speed on par with peak Empyrean Demigods.
A second later, her sword ca down in a sharp arc.
He blocked with a flicker of elental shadow.
The force of impact cracked the ground.
She spun, swept low, and water surged in a spiral.
He stepped out, barely moving, yet avoiding everything.
Then he countered. His hand moved slightly, and ti turned back.
Vivi was now standing at her starting position, far from her.
"You’re still annoying with that."
"I’ve taught you techniques to fight Ti users. Use them." He shrugged. "I’m already limiting myself to your level, so you can land an attack if you fight seriously."
She grinned.
"I’ll do just that, so don’t cry when you lose, papa."
His lips twitched.
The fight continued.
Unlike what Vivi said, she wasn’t fighting to win.
She was fighting to prove him that she had grown. Because she could see Naless Death always treated her like a child.
As the battle drew to a pause, she stood breathing hard, sweat dripping down her chin.
He stepped forward and offered her a hand.
She took it.
"Well?" she asked.
"You’re still not ready."
She blinked, then groaned.
"Ugh. You really are the worst papa. Can’t you let win for once?"
"No one can do."
"You aren’t a good teacher," she argued, sitting up with mock anger in her eyes. "You just throw at problems and then sit back to judge when I crawl out of them."
"I’m better than your mom at teaching," he replied dryly.
"That’s like saying ’I’m not last, I’m second last.’"
"...Fair enough."
They stared at each other for a mont, then both broke into quiet laughter.
Another year passed.
Vivi turned twenty-two and finally mastered the Dark Ti Blade.
And now, she was ready.
Today, she would go outside.
Last night, she had been unable to sleep due to excitent.
But now she was curled up on the bed, fast asleep, one arm dangling off the side.
Leonora stood in the doorway, arms crossed, eyes focused on her daughter.
"Are we really doing this?"
He glanced at her.
"She might hate you for it," Leonora continued, not waiting for his answer. "You’re the one who promised her she’d get to see the real world."
"We are going to let her see the outside world."
"She won’t like it if you aren’t with her."
"There is no other choice. It’s not like we can let her go outside while we are in Voraka Site," he replied evenly. "Our best bet is sending her to underworld, and having her reincarnate."
Underworld forbade living souls, so they had to reincarnate Vivi.
Leonora looked at Vivi again.
She didn’t speak for several seconds.
"Will she forget us?"
"No," he said. "I’ve put a seal on her mories. As soon as she reincarnates, she will start rembering everything slowly. Also, I’ve made her my Avatar. It will give her strength, and I’ll know her location at all tis."
"That’s not the sa."
"I didn’t say it was."
Leonora bit her bottom lip.
She didn’t like this.
She had agreed to this was the best option in theory.
It was not like they could keep Vivi in the Voraka until they left it themselves.
That would stunt her growth.
Besides, soon this place would beco a battlefield.
Naless Death’s path was about to be reach a point where he could start using it. But the thousand years given by Berserker would be soon up.
"I don’t like this..." Leonora muttered.
Standing here, looking at her daughter sleeping peacefully like nothing was about to happen...
It hurt.
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