"Now that I’ve taught you what needs to be done, let’s begin with your current form," Aleda said as the surroundings shifted once again.

They were back in the same place... or perhaps not. Kyle couldn’t tell. Everything looked exactly the same as before, making it impossible to distinguish.

"What about me?" he asked.

"I mean, you were eager to meet me for a reason, weren’t you?"

Kyle paused, thinking for a moment before voicing his doubt. "Do you have any idea what the source of my powers is? When I tried to trace my Genesis pathways, I found nothing."

Aleda, who was usually relaxed and playful, simply smiled and shook her head. "I’m sorry, but I don’t have the authority to reveal that."

The system had said something similar.

This mystery was starting to get on his nerves. Just what exactly was the source behind his power?

"Then forget about it," he said, shaking his head slightly before continuing, "You mentioned my magic control has improved compared to before?"

Aleda nodded. "And I assume you’ve been using your Genesis extensively, pushing it to its limits to achieve that."

"You could say that. I trained hard for a few days just to gain enough control so I wouldn’t explode from Genesis overflow."

Aleda hummed thoughtfully, cupping her chin. "That ’explosion’ remark sounds like it hides an interesting story. But let’s focus on something else for now."

She snapped her fingers, and a crystalline orb appeared in her hand. It was transparent and roughly the size of a football.

"Without the assistance of the system, pour your magic into it," she instructed as she stepped closer to him.

"But I need to activate God’s Eye to actively use Genesis."

"Doesn’t matter. Do it yourself."

Kyle hummed softly. This clearly felt like a test, and he intended to give it his best.

He willed the God’s Eye to manifest, and it responded immediately.

He had already practiced activating it on his own a few times before, so the process felt familiar now.

As for manipulating Genesis, he had recently gained a clearer sense of how it felt to control magic consciously.

Raising his hand, he touched the surface of the orb with his index finger.

Almost instantly, golden dust began to spread inside it, starting as a small swirl before rapidly expanding outward.

"Slow it down. You’re pushing it too fast," Aleda warned. "If you can’t control the flow, then reduce it. Make the stream thinner."

Kyle frowned slightly. He had done something similar before with his arrows.

Following her advice, instead of trying to pull the Genesis back, he focused on narrowing the stream. The effect was immediate. The swirling dust calmed down, and the flow became far more stable.

However, maintaining that thinner stream required intense focus and complete concentration. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep the flow stable for long.

Sweat began to form on his forehead, and his hands trembled slightly under the strain.

Gritting his teeth, he pushed through, pouring all his effort into those final few seconds before finally cutting off the supply and letting his arm drop to his side.

"Hmm, three minutes and forty-two seconds. Not bad... but nothing worth praising," Aleda remarked bluntly.

"Isn’t it enough... haah... to maintain a controlled flow for a few minutes... fuuuh... I mean, most battles don’t even last more than a minute," Kyle replied, still catching his breath.

The battle at the resort, after Kyle had joined it, hadn’t even stretched to ten minutes, and he had already slaughtered dozens of Majins within that short span.

So his argument wasn’t baseless. It came from actual experience.

"Which battle would allow you to just stand still and focus on your magic like this? In real combat, I’d say you wouldn’t even last half this time while using it consciously."

The remark hit hard, settling deep in his gut.

She was right. In the chaos of battle, there was no way he could maintain the same level of focus he had right now.

But then the question surfaced, "Why do I even need to use it consciously when the system can do it for me?"

"First of all, that’s not how a warrior should think. Shame on you." Aleda said it without hesitation. "Secondly, unless you learn to use it on your own, you won’t be able to do anything beyond fueling your arrows with Genesis."

Kyle grimaced at the blunt criticism before asking, "What else is there to do with Genesis other than using Aquilla?"

"Enhancement," Aleda replied immediately, as if she had been expecting the question. "Augmentation, healing, barriers, fortification, reinforcement, resistance..." She shook her head lightly. "You possess one of the purest forms of Genesis. That means you can surpass most others and achieve all of this without much restriction. But for that, you need to slowly stop relying on the system."

Kyle fell silent.

Right... he hadn’t even reached ten percent of his actual potential yet.

Most of his victories so far had come from the powerful gifts he had received.

On his own?

He wasn’t sure he could handle something like a horde of Nightmares without assistance.

[Don’t take her words too deeply, host. The system has observed your efforts and understands your determination to master the magical arts.]

The system’s reassurance softened his thoughts slightly, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

Shaking his head, he said, "I understand what you mean. Do you have a method to improve this?"

Aleda hummed thoughtfully before tossing the crystal toward him, which Kyle barely managed to catch in time.

"Use this during your spare time. I’ll have the system add new stats to your status panel. That way, you’ll be able to track your progress more precisely."

"But there’s already an efficiency meter there," Kyle said, tilting his head slightly.

Aleda let out a faint sigh. "And what exactly do you think that efficiency represents? I’ll have more detailed metrics prepared for you. Just make sure you check them regularly, and don’t waste the next few days. You need to gain better control over Genesis as soon as possible."

Kyle nodded, understanding her point clearly now. His priorities were becoming clearer.

But before anything else—

"I need to find the one misusing the blessing."

Aleda nodded. "Once you get close enough to that person, the gauntlet will appear on your arm automatically. Don’t worry, no one else will be able to see it."

Kyle nodded as the edges of his vision began to blur, his consciousness slowly slipping away.

Just before everything faded completely, he managed to ask, "Will I see you again soon?"

Aleda grinned faintly. "Not unless you complete a quest I assign you. There’s no free lunch, Tarzan."

"..."

A moment later, his vision cleared, and he found himself back in the storage room of the training warehouse.

It had been a short trip, but it left him feeling more exhausted than he expected.

Looking around, he found a suitable spot in the storage room, pulled out a mattress, and decided to call it a day.

°°°°°

A/N:- Thanks for reading. If you have been enjoying the story so far, please drop a comment