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Aggressively opening the windows of Theo's room, a booming order echoed through the space: 

"Wake up, princess," ordered Ethan, shaking the blanket off Theo's bed. 

Waking up gradually, still feeling lazy and with blurry vision, Theo yawned and sat up in bed. He expected daylight to be streaming through the window, but it was still the middle of the night. 

"Come on, make your bed and come downstairs in the next ten minutes." 

Theo groaned in dissatisfaction, sleepy and uncomfortable. But it was what had to be done. 

Getting up and obeying Ethan's orders, the boy quickly joined Edward in the backyard of the residence, where the Duke usually trained casually. 

On the lawn, just a few meters ahead, Ethan was warming up alongside Luanne. 

"Hm... Make sure you teach him correctly, so he can develop his own ignition," said Luanne. 

"I know," Ethan retorted, writing on a mobile board. 

"Hmm... Are you sure that's all?" 

"Luanne... It's the first day of training. Do you want me to overload him with information?" 

"Yes." 

Ethan looked at his friend with a comical and judgmental facial expression. In the distance, in the panoramic view, Ethan saw Edward and Theo sitting and watching them from afar. 

The Duke ordered Theo to join them. 

"Theo, as I promised... I'll teach you enough to survive without overstepping my limitations." 

"You can't teach me too much, because..." 

"There's a quota, son," Luanne replied. "Knowledge is monopolized by the academies; what are cores? How to use them? These are things we can answer. However, complex and specific knowledge can only be taught in institutions." 

"Ridiculous," Edward retorted, whispering to Theo. 

"I think so too, but unfortunately, there's a treaty for everyone who enters one of the Four Great Orders. We're forbidden from sharing knowledge with individuals not belonging to the orders." 

"Right..." 

Ethan tapped a ruler on the board. 

"In total, there are seven stages of cores, five types of energy, and three polarities. I talked to Beatrice when classes were canceled due to the Cataclysm, so you should already know something, right?" 

Theo nodded in confirmation. 

"The three polarities are: negative, neutral, and positive. Within the seven stages, there are three stages for the negative and positive polarities, and only one for the neutral." 

"What are the colors?" 

"Yellow, orange, and red for positive; blue, lilac, and purple for negative... Finally, green for neutral," Edward answered, seeing his nephew struggle to recall the sequences. Although he was human, Ed often studied deviants and their structure. 

"Mana, ether, ki, quantum, and psychoenergy are the types," Theo said before Ethan could ask him. 

"Great. Now, simply don't worry about that. These are concepts you'll only learn in the academy. I'll only teach you how to convert energy into elemental attributes, recognize your affinity, and manipulate it." 

"But first..." Edward said, grabbing Theo by his uninjured arm. "Let's prepare your body, right, brother?" 

"Exactly," Ethan agreed. 

Leading Theo across the lawn, Edward forced his youngest nephew to run around the house all morning. 

Even when he was tired and his legs were weak, almost falling to the ground... 

Theo stayed on his feet. 

When he was about to give in to his own judgmental mind, he kept running until the end. 

Edward made him practice jumps while running, moving between the trees in the grove, and even orienting himself. 

Taking Theo down the road that led to Loureto, Edward made the boy enter the grove and get lost for a few minutes. 

Running between the trees, Theo searched for the way back. Jumping over the boulders, he entered a path to the right; a clearing allowed the last rays of sunlight to pass through, signaling the approach of nightfall. 

Sitting on a rock near the end of the clearing, a skirran watched the Young Master's sudden movements. A small white squirrel with empty eyes was startled by some of Theo's swings at bushes; in reaction, the little animal jumped up and activated its gliders under its armpits. 

With a gust of wind, the little skirran disappeared back into the grove. 

Noticing that it was getting dark, Theo decided to stop running and start walking. He needed to rest: Edward had made him run for the last two hours, and his energy was running out. 

Still, he couldn't stop thinking about how incredible his energy reserves were for allowing him to run so much. 

But even a superhuman has his limits. 

Walking calmly through the grove, Theo saw, in the distance, remnants of cobblestones following a straight line, as streetlights lit up and revealed that this was Theo's guide. 

Even though he had gotten lost and completely missed the correct directions, Theo knew exactly where he should go at all times. The only problem was the steep and unfavorable terrain for him to walk alone. 

Reaching the cobblestone road, Theo ran back to his house, following the streetlights as the light presented itself. 

But at no point was he alone... 

"Did you like it?" Edward said, appearing beside him. "The exploration game. Did you like it?" 

"Yeah... I just didn't understand the purpose." 

"It's that when you're a Vagus agent, during the intervals of expeditions, you can't just lie down and wait for information. Intervals don't mean resting, but rather trying to complete the mission faster... At least that's what your father told me." 

The two boys ran side by side, trying to find a pace that wouldn't tire Theo so quickly. 

"There will be days when you'll be stationary, so the most sensible thing to do is to get to know the environment. Spending a day exploring and hunting is the best way to kill time on a mission." 

"And you leave me alone all day for that?" 

"Never! I didn't leave you alone. On the contrary, I've been with you this whole time. In fact, I even killed some beasts that tried to attack you." 

Theo's eyebrows furrowed in surprise. 

"But I didn't even feel that..." 

"You're not supposed to feel it..." Edward smiled, looking at the end of the road, exuding an intense glow in his eyes. Turning his face to Theo, he concluded: "That's why I train like a deviant." 

The speed of both gradually decreased as they approached the entrance square of Lawrence Residence. A surprise was planned for Theo. 

The Young Master lost his speed when he realized what was happening.