"Hold on." Ari grabbed his forearm, then they both disappeared in a golden flash. The next moment, they stood on the balcony of Xasha's research tower.

"Why is my gift at your lab? This isn't some kind of experiment, is it?" Ari stared suspiciously at her father.

Xasha sighed in trepidation. "I miss Tulip." He entered his tower, not bothering to address the concerns of his daughter.

Ari hesitated, then followed. "When is Tulip coming back?"

"I wish I knew. I'm waiting for her return myself."

"Is she still even on the west coast? There has been no report of her movements."

"Well, I hope so," Xasha joked. "Ari, I know you're worried, but Tulip left to find something. When she does, she'll return triumphantly. Let's just have faith in her and have a gigantic party to celebrate her return when she does."

"I agree." the knot in Ari's chest loosened.

"Do you miss it?"

"Miss what?"

"The power, to see the flow of time, to peer into the future."

"Oh, that." Ari went silent for a few seconds. "Sometimes I do, when something bad happens to the people I love. A part of me always wished I saw it coming, so I could have protected them. But other times, I don't even think about it that much. I mean, when I could see, it wasn't all that great either. Especially when I saw someone get hurt in a way, I can do nothing about. Like, do you tell them, or do you just let it happen? It was always yin and yang with that thing, but now I don't have to make those decisions."

"But if you gained control over it, the story would have been different. If you could control what you saw and when you saw it, there's no telling how powerful you or even us would end up being."

"That would be ideal, but wishes don't always come true." Ari sounded downcast.

"But, what if I could make this one come true?"

"What do you mean?" Ari felt her heart skip a beat.

"We're here," Xasha pushed open a pair of large metal doors, then entered the room. Ari stepped inside and was shocked. She could feel the high concentration of space-time mana circulating the room.

"What... what is this place? Where are we? This isn't your research lab, is it?" The flabbergast in her voice could not be hidden.

"We are underground, and this is a space-time chamber. I used all the Void Dragon energy cores I had. Created some super-advanced mana chambers to help pull in even more space-time mana. The excess energy is stored in mana pools that are attached to that mana pillar there. The result, a room packed with space-time energy. What do you think?"

"I think you have gone mad." Ari walked around the room, inspecting every inch of it as if to confirm that this was really happening. She then leaped into Xasha's embrace and gave him a big kiss. "I love it." She jumped back and began skipping around the room like a little girl.

"This is still a prototype. Once I perfect it, I want to create an entire space-time territory for you and all void dragons to train in."

"Really? That's pretty ambitious, but knowing you, I know you can do it." Ari's mood had improved drastically. "This really is the best gift I've ever received. Thank you so much. Can I train now?" She suddenly asked.

Xasha chuckled, "Yes, but that's not the gift."

"It isn't? What could be better than my personal cultivation ground?"

"A teacher to go along with it."

"A teacher? Where?" Ari was trembling at this point, and tears were welling up in her eyes. How could she not want to gain control over her powers and use it to protect those she cared about? This opportunity was one she wished for all her life, and now her father says it's here. Her heart was full, and the feelings were overflowing.

Xasha grabbed her hand and walked to the center of the room, where a giant obelisk stood. He and Ari looked like pebbles before it. This was the mana pillar he spoke of. Xasha stepped forward and drew glyphs on the broadside of the obelisk, and a door opened up.

"Wow? What is this place?" Ari's golden eyes shone the moment she entered the room. She saw what looked like golden liquid flowing in currents throughout the room.

"This is liquified time-space mana. I call this place the focal point. The mana in all the mana pools is sent here, then it spreads to the rest of the room. The concentration here is the highest on the continent and the perfect environment for you to train in.

Ari gasped. She could feel the mana already flowing into her body. Xasha chuckled, but this isn't your gift, either. He walked to the center of the room and drew some runes on an even smaller obelisk.

This obelisk opened up to show a short golden staff. The bottom of the staff was sharpened to a point, and the top was a sculpture of a pair of claws holding a golden energy core. Golden glyphs orbited the length of the staff, but they differed from those on Alexi's weapon.

"This is your gift. What do you think?" Xasha flashed a confident grin.

"An elite mana weapon? But-"

"You see these glyphs, you know what they are, right?" Xasha interrupted.

Ari, who hadn't paid attention, began reading the runes. "You figured it out?"

"Yes, these runes are like a prison for the power inside. I have it at its lowest output, so I'm sure you can connect with it. As you become more comfortable and get stronger, you can lift the seals yourself."

"I can't believe you finally figured it out. Does this mean you will start distributing these to our mages?" Ari couldn't hide her excitement.

"It's not that simple. There's still a lot of work to be done before we can have. How can I say? Our less accomplished mages, trying to control one of these."

"What do you mean? Our mages are the most powerful on the continent. How are they less accomplished? Every member of my Gold Raiders is extremely talented, no less than anyone else." Ari's temper immediately flared up.

Xasha smiled as she reminded him of her mother. "Ari, I'm not saying they're not strong enough. These things don't care about cultivation or talent. It's about willpower. If you have enough, you can connect with these artifacts, no problem, but if you don't... I have no way of testing willpower. I can't risk my citizen's lives on a gamble. Until I was sure, I didn't even think of having you try it."

Ari's eyes opened wide with realization.

"Did you know?" Xasha continued, "that I've been working on this weapon for four years?"

"Four years?" Ari gasped. Four years? Her father never took four years to figure anything out. Once he knew what the problem was, at most, it would take a few days. Was this problem such a gargantuan one that her father needed four years to fix it, and he was still not done.

"Well, don't just stand there. Pick it up."

Ari, who was in deep thought, snapped out of it and nodded. She approached the obelisk and pulled the staff from inside it with ease. She held it in her hands while she inspected it repeatedly with shining eyes.

"Oh, you've outdone yourself this time. You really have created the perfect weapon. But, why is it a staff? Have you forgotten that I'm a swordsman?"

Xasha didn't reply. Instead, he outstretched his fists, then did a sideways motion of pulling something apart. Ari mimicked his movements, and the staff split just below the claw sculpture, revealing a Katana blade.

Ari's face lit up. "A Katana like grandpa's. It's perfect, and it's so light, I can definitely get used to this." She was swinging the sword, cutting the air, and executing a few sword techniques to get a feel for her new weapon.

Suddenly, she stopped. "You mentioned something about a teacher." this is what she really wanted. Everything else paled in comparison.

"You're holding it in your hands," Xasha stated casually.

Ari looked at the sword in her hand with confusion. It soon turned to rage, and she flashed her father a look that made him stumble a few steps back in response. "Is this some kind of joke?" Her voice was docile, but Xasha knew there was venom in those words.

"No, no, you have it all wrong." Xasha sighed. "It's better I show you." He pulled out a strange-looking ruler that was a few inches taller than him from his void ring. Its body was completely black, and the glyphs were etched into its body.

Ari looked at the strange weapon and wondered what her father planned to do with that thing. She noticed there were thin, long blades in the ruler's body and realized. Like her staff, this weapon was two weapons in one type of deal. She could understand the sword, but what's the ruler?

Xasha saw the intrigue in her eyes but ignore it, he channeled mana into the ruler, and a green shadow flitted out and stood over his shoulder.

Ari looked up at the giant naked lady covered in green feathers standing casually above her father's shoulder like it's the most common thing.

"Ari, this is Mylyn, my teacher, and teacher, this is Ari, my daughter." Xasha made introductions.