Rebecca was the first of the two to say something. “So are you really pregnant?” She asked dumbfounded.

“Why would I say it if it wasn’t true?” Noel smiled.

“Okay. Well congratulations! It finally happened.” Rebecca said as if it was long overdue.

“So you’re having a kid?” Lance couldn’t wrap his head around it. Here he was barely starting a relationship and they were having a kid and were married.

“Yup.” Owari chuckled seeing Lance trying to come to terms with what was happening.

“Well congratulations.” He finally said after a few moments. “I can’t really believe you two are going to be parents.”

“Why’s that?” Noel asked with a small smile.

“Well I had thought you’d see having a baby as a hindrance to your growth. After all now you’re going to have to spend most of your time caring for it.” Lance explained.

“It isn’t a hindrance. It’s a blessing. This just means we’ll be slower in growth, we can always train during our free time. And Owari can go out and fight whenever he wants. If we both want to go out we always have Morgana to babysit.” Noel replied.

“That does make sense.” Lance nodded. That was the way most people grew their skills.

“I don’t really intend to go out much.” Owari stated simply.

“Why’s that?” Noel was surprised.

“I was just thinking. I don’t really know why I want to get stronger anymore.” Owari answered. “Or more specifically why I wanted to in the first place.”

“Wasn’t it for the thrill of battle?” Noel knew that was her reason.

“Sure, but now that thrill isn’t as enticing.” Owari said after a moment of thought.

“Why’s that? Is it the baby?” Noel asked curiously.

“Yeah. when I was young I lost my father because he went out hunting. I don’t want the same to happen to my kid.” When he said it everyone went quiet.

“So what you’re saying is that you don’t want your kid to lose you if you die?” Lance asked.

“Of course. Who would? I’m still not afraid of death. But that might not be a good thing. Having a kid is a serious responsibility.” Owari said seriously.

“Of course it is. It’s very mature of you to see that.” Rebecca said.

“I get what you mean. Now that you’ve said it I feel the same. It’s no wonder my father rarely went out hunting when I grew up.” Noel finally saw why Owari had been so lethargic these past few days.

“Right. So I won’t go out hunting as much. I can always train myself on my own time. It can be my new hobby.” Owari shrugged.

“So you two are really having a kid then.” It finally really hit Rebecca. She had already accepted it, but seeing how different Owari had become showed how much of an impact this would have. “I think it’s wonderful. Now Noel won’t have to worry about Owari not coming home.”

“And I can spend more time with her.” Owari brought out the most important part.

“Indeed.” Noel smiled. That sounded good to her.

“I can’t wait to see the baby.” Erica spoke up as she stared holes in Noel’s belly.

“That isn’t going to speed it up.” Noel rubbed her belly subconsciously.

“Right.” Erica said that but she didn’t stop.

“Well this is good news. I’d say let’s drink to it but neither of you drank in the first place.” Lance joked. Nobody here really liked to drink actually. Only Rebecca actually drank on special occasions. Lance, Owari, and Noel all liked having self-control and disliked the way alcohol takes that from them.

“I also can’t drink anyway.” Noel reminded him.

“Right.” He nodded with a smile.

Soon their food arrived and Rebecca suddenly asked halfway through the meal. “Do you have names picked out yet?”

“Not yet. We just found out a few days ago.” Noel answered between bites. She had a lot of food in front of her and she was wolfing it down.

“How did you find out by the way? There’’s no signs from the outside, and you're not the type to go to the doctors often.” Lance asked curiously.

“I can sense the baby’s aura” Owari answered this time.

“That must be weird.” Rebecca’s face scrunched up a bit.

“Why?” Owari looked at her oddly.

“Well doesn’t it feel weird to sense two people in the same place as your wife?” Rebecca felt it would feel strange for some reason. It just seemed weird to her, she couldn’t explain it.

“Not really. It feels normal. I’ve sensed pregnant people before after all. It’s just new so I’ve got to get used to it.” Owari shrugged. Everyone then realized Owari had been sensing such things for a while. Of course it was normal to him.

“Right. I didn’t think of that.” Rebecca understood a bit more.

After that they continued to eat and soon they were done. After some goodbyes they all split up. Owari and Noel noted that despite living in different directions, Rebecca and Lance didn’t split up. However they didn’t say anything and just made their way home. Erica wanted to come with them so she could ask all about the baby and all that stuff. Soon they were at home, Erica and Noel stayed up all night talking about baby stuff. Meanwhile Owari meditated through some of the night and after a few hours of that he went out and began practicing his swordsmanship.

The next day Noel and Owari made their way into town and talked to the Orion Tradecenter about hiring someone to take care of their magical beasts. It took a few days for them to find someone up to the task. After all they’d need experience and the ability to stay calm when around powerful beasts. Not to mention they would likely need to be able to drive if they had any intention of returning to the city as they were quite far out.

Eventually they narrowed it down to someone. It was a young man in his early twenties. No older than Owari and Noel. When they saw him they both turned towards Tristain. “Is this the guy?” Noel asked to be sure.

“Yes. He has worked with powerful beasts before. But he lost his job to someone older than him who had more experience. But I guarantee his skill.” Tristain said with certainty.

“Really? Then we’ll trust you.” Owari looked at Noel who nodded. “Alright. What’s your name?” Owari asked the young man.

“My name is Aaron.” He answered seriously. He had to leave a good impression after all. Tristain had informed him of who these two were.

“There’s one other thing. He also needs to care for his own beast so part of his payment is food for his own beast.” Tristian informed them. “I assure you he is worth the price.”

“Is that so? You’re a hunter?” Owari was surprised.

“Mid-gold.” Aaron answered.

“Impressive. Why not be a hunter?” Owari was confused. He’d make a lot of money that way.

“I prefer not to do dangerous work. And I like working with animals more than killing them.” He seemed to be a gentle soul.

“That’s good. It just means we can trust you with our beasts more. Though you’ll not be needed to protect them.” Owari chuckled. It was reassuring to have someone who had some skill working for them.

“Of course.” Aaron responded dutifully.

“So do you have your own car?” Noel asked.

“Yes. I was paid quite well before so I could afford one, though I almost lost it due to not being able to pay the monthly fee..” He added the ending part quietly.

“Well we’re glad to have you on. What kind of beast do you have?” Owari asked curiously.

“A woodwyrm.” He answered.

“That should have the water, wind, and earth affinities. Wow, impressive.” The woodwyrm was a plant type magical beast that was shaped like a serpentine dragon. It had three affinities which was rare, and none was weak.

“Thank you.” He seemed quite proud of his beast. It was also mid-gold rank like him.

After that they all made their way over to their cars to drive back home. Owari and Noel chuckled when they saw the rather expensive looking current model car the young man had. Clearly he wanted to look impressive. Unlike Owari and Noel who had a very humble older model. Aaron was shocked to see their car. He expected an expensive car after hearing how rich they were.

Soon they got back home and Aaron immediately prepared to meet the beasts he’d be taking care of. When he saw the lineup he couldn’t help but sweat. He had known which beasts he’d be caring for, but it was something else entirely to see them. A hydra, a fenrir, a white tiger, a drake, and a unique mud salamander. There was also a treant on the property which he’d have to keep fertilized. This lineup of super rare and high tiered beasts almost caused him to pass out.

“By the way, when harvest season comes, you will be the one picking up the treants apples. You can have one-third of the harvest for yourself as a bonus. Harvest season comes three times a year. The treant will let you know by dropping them off near you.” After saying that Owari also introduced the beasts by name which Aaron carefully remembered.

“Once they get used to you they are quite friendly. Guillotine likes to have its cheeks rubbed. And Garm likes belly rubs. Hebi is in general aloof so do your best not to look like you see him as a mere beast. He’s as smart as most adults.” Noel explained a bit about caring for them. “Draco is just Draco. Just feed him and leave him to his own devices. As for Fang, he’s similar. Just don’t interrupt his time when he is swampifying the land or he’ll forget to turn it back and you’ll have to remind him.”

“Swampifying?” Aaron asked confused.

“You’ll know when you see it. Just be careful not to fall in the mud and get dirty.” Noel chuckled.

“Alright…” Aaron began to realize his new bosses were quite eccentric. They treated their beasts more as pets than legendary creatures. Especially since the white tiger and fenrir were likely as intelligent as a normal person. Yet they still acted like spoiled pets.

After that life continued on, if there was anything that was different it was Owari’s constant presence at home. This left Noel both happy and exasperated. He always wanted to spoil and pamper her due to her current condition, but she kept telling him to wait until she was actually unable to do things or she’d go crazy being laid out for nine whole months. So in the end he had to find something else to do.

During this time he realized something interesting. If he jumped high into the air and used dark speed step, he could travel anywhere on the continent in a split second. He used this to arrive in the mountains at the border of the Nix territory quite often so he could practice his techniques without worrying about destroying any inhabited land. In this way he passed the next few months. As the time progressed Noel started to become noticeably grouchy as her belly swelled making it hard to move.

“You should relax more. You get to have time off from work after all.” Owari comforted her.

“That’s true.” She relented. “But what am I supposed to do? I’ve read everything we have here.” She looked at Owari. “Buy me more books.”

“Alright let’s go.” He grabbed the keys and dragged her along.

They went into the city and quickly bought a small mountain of books for Noel to read over the next few months before going home. When they arrived at home something changed though. Suddenly Owari’s eyes sharpened. “Get into the house. We have a visitor.” Owari said.

“I can feel him to. Be careful.” She said nonchalantly before making her way into the house.

Owari stood leaning against his car when his opponent arrived some time later. He was also in a car, and he slowly and dramatically got out of his car. “Is this the property of Owari and Noel?” He asked rhetorically, he knew the answer.

“Who knows?” Owari said as he waved his hand.

“It doesn’t matter. Either way I was asked to kill whoever lived in this house.” He lifted a spear from the back seat of his car. He must have been confident not to have his weapon with him while traveling. He was wearing all red with black colored hemming. He even had a red cape on. His spear was bright red with a crimson point shaped like a flame.

“You sure like fire. Ignis family?” Owari chuckled.

“Right you are.” He smiled.

“Let’s take this somewhere else. I don’t want my house to be destroyed.” owari stretched a bit.

“I plan to incinerate your house along with that wife of yours.” He smirked coldly.

The next moment his neck was grabbed and they were flying through the air. Before he even had time to realize what happened he was flying through the air and smashed into a cliff wall. He climbed from the rubble and held his throat while standing in the crater he had made with his body. He coughed and hacked for a moment before looking up and seeing Owari standing in the air with his arms crossed. The man with the spear was low electrum ranked. Which meant the enemy still wasn’t aware of Morgana’s strength. Only a few people in the Silverblood family knew about her real strength.

“How?” The spearman asked confused. “Where are we?” he looked around dumbfounded. There hadn’t been a mountain in sight a moment ago.

“On the border of the Nix territory and the uninhabited region. I brought us here.” Owari’s face was like a mask of indifference. Unlike his usual bloodthirsty smile, he showed no enjoyment currently. He wasn’t interested in testing his opponent and enjoying the fight. He merely wanted to kill the threat to his family.

“How?’ He asked again. But Owari wanted no more words.

Instead of speaking, Owari summoned his phantom cloak to cover his body, along with his spirit blade. During these three months his mana reserves haad increased substantially. Plus he had figured out a trick with his phantom cloak. By using its sticky property he could grasp ambient mana with it and convert it into phantom mana which could then be converted back into normal mana and absorbed. This made the ambient mana around him more like an extra pool of mana for him to use. Because his phantom cloak negated the mana cost of his spirit blade by stabilizing it, he was essentially only growing stronger by having them both active and not weaker.

After having his sword in hand, Owari acted. He lifted up his sword and swung using silver wave. His enemy spun his spear and summoned a wave of flame and the two clashed causing them to cancel out. Owari squinted his eyes. His opponent doesn’t use normal flames. Flames aren’t as destructive as metal usually. Which meant his opponent’s mystic and spirit arts likely amplified his fire somehow. After all he had used the same amount of mana as Owari in that last attack.

Owari carefully dissected his enemies skills and abilities before making his next move. He instantly appeared before his enemy and swung his sword using dark steel fang. His opponent stabbed with his spear and the two weapons collided. The fire of his opponents spear burned away the darkness around Owari’s blade, but it couldn’t break or melt his sword. Owari pushed back using his force affinity and smashed the man into the cliff wall again sending broken rubble towards the ground.

Then Owari stabbed forward using his earth affinity and force affinity, the man barely dodged making the sword stab into the cliff wall. As he prepared to counterattack he felt the ground beneath him shake as the rock around Owari blade cracked and broke apart. A large chunk of the cliff wall broke off and fell to the ground in chunks smashing into the ground and creating a localized earthquake.

The spearman was terrified seeing that. Who had strength like that? A monster. He backed off hoping to take advantage of ranged combat. He knew metal affinity techniques were costly and he was confident in his mana capacity. He was 10 years or more Owari’s senior so he had more time to expand his mana. He swung his spear sending a fan of flames out to slow down Owari’s advance before stabbing forward with his spear in preparation to strike Owari when he regained visibility.

To his shock Owari passed through the flames and appeared in front of him. He then grabbed the spear shaft with his hand which was covered in blue energy. He swung his sword up diagonally slicing the man’s chest and sending him flying into the cliff wall and smashing it to bits. He clutched his hand snapping the spear shaft before dropping it to the ground. The spearman was shocked. He had been overwhelmed through the whole fight. His opponent had gained the advantage too early. If he hadn’t been so arrogant and went full force the moment he saw Owari he might have held an advantage due to Owari needing to protect his home. But he had given Owari the chance to put him on the defensive.

Owari grabbed his sword and tried out a new idea of his. He swung using both silver wave and dark steel bite. Spirit arts didn’t need specific movements to be activated and could be activated in conjunction with one another if desired. As the dark energy that surrounded his blade was torn apart by the metal energy he flowed phantom affinity mana into the dark and metal mixture to keep it held together and harmonious instead of self-destructive before swinging his sword. What did he gain from this? Besides the speed boost of dark mana to his silver wave and the cohesiveness of phantom affinity, it was the amplification. Each of these three energies were amplified by his sword making this attack exponentially more powerful than a basic silver wave.

The three colored energy blast shot at the man at near imperceptible speeds. He barely shot off fire from under his feet and jumped right. His left arm and part of his flank were caught in the blast and immediately destroyed. However the sheer force of the attack sent him flying back and shattered all bones in his left side and cracked most of the ones on his right. He smashed into the cliff wall once again. This time however he was dead. In the cliff wall was a hole that pierced the whole mountain and left a clear view to the other side.

Owari turned around and left the man’s body there as he returned home. He had used almost 50% of his mana in that last attack. He contemplated it as he walked towards the house. Once he got the efficiency up and had more mana he could use that technique to rival mid-electrum ranks. However one technique wasn’t enough. He would need more. So he contemplated the fusion of his affinities using his phantom mana. Was there more techniques he could fuse like this?

When he entered the house all those thoughts were put to the back of his mind as he saw Noel sitting on the couch as unfazed as ever. When she saw Owari she smiled as though she had no doubt about his ability to come back. “Welcome home.”

“Thanks. I took care of our uninvited guest.” Owari went and sat down next to her.

“Of course. Was he any trouble?” She asked knowing the answer. It hadn’t taken that long after all.

“None at all.” Owari answered.

“I thought as much. So what should I read?” She completely brushed aside the previous event much to Owari’s amusement.

The two of them chatted as they picked out books to read. Soon though it was time for bed. The next day came and went without much fuss. They lazed around and read some books, there wasn’t actually a whole lot to do. Time started to pass once again after that event. Owari and Noel got some quality time alone. Noel went back to her usual chattery self, it wasn’t until month six of the pregnancy that she ran out of things to chatter about.

It was around this time that Owari started to look more into technological advancements currently going on. With the music box as a precedent people started to really research the crystal cards potential. One of which was car engines, however it wasn’t all that impressive. The current models were far more impressive. The crystal cards main benefit was the ability to store information in the form of words, not its ability to store mana.

Another was a form of long-distance communication. Even though it doesn’t have high mana capacity, the efficiency of mana that runs through it is very high so there is little drop off in the amount of mana over distances. Some initial tests show positive results. The eventual goal was to create a way for words to travel from one crystal card to another over distances. For now though they could only get the mana to transfer and not the shape.

Owari’s eyes shined as he read about this. He immediately took out the largest loan he could reasonably afford and offered it as funding to this project. Whether it was viable or not mattered little to him. He wanted to fund it because he hoped they could solve the problem and not because he thought they could. He had no idea if it was possible, but the end result if it was possible was worth the risk! In the end they offered him a percentage of ownership of the company they owned. They didn’t work on a stock-based system since it was a private company. He was essentially buying the company. They gave him about 40% ownership for his funding.

In the end he got a decent amount of ownership and would be paid profits accordingly. However for now they had no real inventions to show for it. All they could do was keep trying and hope for a breakthrough. Luckily with all the money they just came into they could expand the testing materials. Getting a loan was hard for a company that just started up and had no reputation. The reason Owari trusted them was because they had been the first ones to show results in this field. They were obviously not the first to try this. This stroke of luck got them the funding they needed to take their tests to the next level.

Owari was satisfied for now. No need to worry about it, he had time. He spent his days with Noel and only thought about work on occasion. He separated his family and business life by only working while inside his study. Though Noel found it fun to bother him while he was in there. However it still worked well enough for Owari so he didn’t mind the interruptions. In the end he was able to find a balance that suited him and Noel, much to their relief. Noel was especially happy that Owari was around more often.