“Now, that was anticlimactic,” Reyno said, his voice dull as if his shock had drowned.

  “Anticlimactic?” Naph asked, since he had not heard that word.

  Yun turned to Anaphol, “Anaphol, I suggest you get tested with a different test equipment from another Adventurers Hall. The Adventurers Hall near to the quintan ring wall has better facilities for testing, or the one in the eastern borough of Inthan here.”

  Naph nodded, noting what Yun said. He asked in return, “Is Dream cata mind wrong for eleven lesios?”

  “Not exactly,” Melia answered. “Based on what these graphs and change metrics show,” her hand swept over the slab’s surface while Naph closed in to view exactly that, “your eleven lesios is probably being treated as one single lesio by your cata mind. Which in fact allows you to use them, otherwise….I think you would have died.” She grabbed on her chin contemplating the part she doubts. “You could have been killed and then the lesios collision within you would have given birth to a caestre.”

  “WHAT!?”

  That last bit was new to Anaphol. He had been hunting caestres over many years, and never had he observed a caestre been born out of a human. He had seen them use humans as part but not being born of it. Let alone hear a rumour like that.

  Inri spoke at that, “Caestres are complex and simple at the same time. The reason that,” she momentarily pointed at Melia, “could happen is rare. At least in the continents and platinents we know of.”

  Naph’s brows furrowed. His guts told him this was not the place to ask more. What his guts felt was the hostile cata immersion clash between Inri and Yun.

  Inri was aware of Yun’s active cata immersion. She was able to tell of it even from the weekly market outside. And so, she had brought Anaphol in, not just as a side armament if Yun is a hostile against the Highest family but also to force her own doubts away she had of Anaphol’s lesios origins.

  There was no reaction, except for the orbs to dance and clash with no sonic wave. Which in fact for her was odd, she did not seem to find a lesio to suppress such an abundant rule of nature to be subdued.

  She also knew that she couldn’t begin a fight purely because of Yun’s cata immersion to be felt as hostile. That was not enough of an evidence, many people had variations in their own cata immersions.

  Reyno seeing a silent exchange happening between his foster guardian and a duchess of knowledge, he forced to speak. “Yun! Uh,” Baron Yun raised his eyes from the slab’s top to Reyno’s face, “can we take our training out of the city? Just for the day?”

  “Ahh!” Baron Yun facepalmed his forehead, “I apologise Naph and Melia, I may have filled the ground floor with hostile cata immersion. Please call someone in to remove it.”

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  Yun put a hand on Reyno and began walking away. Melia dumbfounded had her gaze spinning between Inri and Yun. Duchess Inri had plenty to say and she is a Plora.

  Yet, she knew what it meant to actually be a Plora.

  Yun and Reyno were gone. Melia had led Inri Plora and Anaphol to a different room in the Adventurers Hall. A luxury lounge for the masters and their guests. Melia did not ask any masters permission for this.

  She was owed, and she was cashing it today. Having gone out to get some snacks for her two guests, not exactly her guests but of the Adventurers Hall, still she treated them as hers after Yun’s stint.

  “I apologise on behalf of Baron Yun.” Placing her right hand on her heart, she bowed.

  “It’s ok. You don’t have to apologise for someone else’s shenanigans.” Inri sipped on a cup of black tea.

  Anaphol did not eat anything. He only stared at the salt and spicy confectioneries.

  Melia settled opposite the two and opened a file she had brought along before she went out again. “Have you both seen this?”

  Naph denied, while Inri nodded.

  “I see. Naph, so you have not? Why?”

  “Uhh…Inri stole it out of my hands!” He pointed at Inri. Surprised, Inri laughed tilting to the right like about to fall over.

  “He actually did look, just could not understand the language because of script difference from Tarna’s English.” Inri sipped another gulp.

  “Ah!”

  “Aren’t you supposed to learn a few of Rian no Tera’s easiest lesios? One of them I think is knowledge based. You could learn that.” Melia shut the file.

  Letting a breath escape, she got to ask the question that Inri had given her. “You saw that you have Dream cata mind. Has anyone explained about the cata mind capacities to you?”

  Naph did not had to look at Inri, he could tell this was not the question Inri must have given Melia. This was her way to get to it. He shook his head confirming a negative response.

  Melia bobbed her head as she said, “Ok, ok, so see. Cata mind is the core of lesios and cata that resides in us.” She pushed few strands of her black hair behind her ear, her eyes catching the shimmering reflections of her own cup of cocoa. “Saying that cata mind is a core would end up implying it could be hurt physically. And that is not true for cata mind. That’s enough about cata mind. I know you will go to Sanctuary aspiring Proficiency and Wisdom, they will give you a better in depth rundown of it.” Melia did not have to look at Inri nor Inri to look at her. Her cata immersion itself stared into Melia’s cata mind, not threatening but simply watching.

  What her cata immersion seemed to be? Normal light of this world did not interact with lesio altered cata, but with true cata immersion it interacted at a scale that was too minute to be noticed without a lesio or optical devices capable of looking at sizes smaller than a cell.

  Melia continuing said. “Your current cata mind is Dream cata mind.”

  “Yes, you said so. People at the castle said so. She,” Naph jerked his head towards Inri, “said so. But what does it mean?”

  “Just that the amount of cata a normal person has if they do not have a single goal that they could achieve by tomorrow. A realizable single goal, or idea of it.” Eating at the air she inhaled, “which I don’t think suits you. After watching yesterday’s audience of presenting Ennet’s proposal, I am confused.” She slipped in a breath, “You had a goal, you still do. Your cata mind should have become Dreamed cata mind by now. Why is it that you have a Dream cata mind and even that at its least significant value with eleven lesios acting as one illusory lesio?”

  Anaphol burst his eyelids apart, metaphorically. Shaking his head at the least hidden hint, he did not spare a glance at Inri sitting to his right. She already was putting the cup of black tea down.

  “Melia,” Inri said, “you can leave.”