For the rest of that day and the day after that, Finn continued practicing his Lightning Breathing technique. Here and there, Lei would teach him some more advanced Stormbringer Abilities as a break, all of them which he managed to learn first try.

The same, however, couldn’t be said about the breathing technique. Finn only had a short amount of time left before Thursday hit and joint training with the Big Five would begin — it was now the night before, but he still hadn’t reached mastery.

“… That’s all the time we have today,” Lei said, standing up. “In the end, you didn’t manage to get it, but don’t be downed. It took me ten years to master this technique, after all. I just wanted to teach you how to employ it and what it does.”

“Thank you, Patriarch,” Finn replied briskly but politely, getting to his feet as well and preparing to leave the room. “I will master it, someday.”

“I believe you can. After all… you are the one who triggered the Lost Art of the Stormbringer Angelica. Surely you are able to conquer this.”

Finn nodded and left the room, using his own memory to navigate his way back to his dorm.

Tomorrow, joint training with The Big Five would begin. The exact plan for the operation on Monday would also be revealed. It’s been quite a bit since Finn last fought a Ghost — he was eager to kill one again. He was hoping to obtain a lot of Souls from this operation — that way, he could get his eyesight back sooner.

After a hot shower, Finn headed for his dormitory room and went to sleep after saying good night to the others — or at least, that was the plan. Quite unexpectedly, he was suddenly pulled in to the reality rift by Zelestria without any warning, just before he was about to fall asleep.

“Hello, darling~” She waved happily upon seeing him materialize before her.

“… Did you need something from me?” Finn asked warily, wondering if this was about Iris again.

“My, my~ why so cautious?” Zelestria giggled, hiding her laughter with her hand. “If you’re worried about Iris… don’t be. I saw you struggle a bit with the Lightning Breathing technique over the past few days, so I decided to lend a hand, that’s all. What, you don’t want my help~?”

Finn shook his head. “No, I appreciate it. But how exactly will you be helping me?”

“Fufu~ do you still remember how I can regulate your mana because of our bond?” She asked with a wry grin.

At this, Finn’s eyes widened.

“You mean… you can control the speed at which the lightning moves in my body?”

Zelestria merely smiled innocently. “Want to try?”

Finn closed his eyes and began channeling his Stormbringer mana. Even though this wasn’t the real world, he could still use his Angelicas and such here — just like Project: Simulacrum.

Immediately, he could detect that the lightning in his veins flowed incredibly slower than normal. If it’s like this, then…

He gradually sped up his breathing to match the slowed-down lightning current, which wasn’t all that hard to do. He didn’t even need to hyperventilate.

Once Lightning Aura was triggered, Finn’s eyes snapped open as he reached a state of enlightenment and glanced down at his own body. Glowing blue veins had appeared on his skin, sparking with energy and power.

Quickly turning around, he tried to use one of the Tier 3 Abilities he had learned from Lei: Lightning Reach. He opened his palm, made a mental thought of using the Ability, and instantly, a bright and destructive beam of lightning shot out of his hand. There was nearly zero travel time as the ray of obliteration struck the mountain in the distance and tore straight through it.

“…” Canceling the effect using nothing but a thought, Finn glanced back down at his hands, lined with glowing blue veins.

“Pretty cool, huh?” Zelestria giggled, folding her arms behind her back and giving a seductive wink. “Now… where’s my thank you?”

“… Just to be clear, this method doesn’t affect my power output in any way, correct?” Finn asked cautiously.

“Nope~!” She responded happily. “There are zero downsides to this method.”

“I see… in that case, I suppose a thank you is necessary.”

“Ara~ the best thank you for me would be to let me kill Iris, y’know~” Zelestria smiled innocently, latching onto Finn’s arm and looking up at him with the sad puppy dog eyes.

“… Sorry, but that’s a no. We’ve been over this — I need her still. You may be able to be my eyes in her place, but the squadron’s morale would fall greatly if you were to kill her now. For the upcoming operation on Monday and future ones down the line, teamwork is incredibly important. Her Oculus Angelica is also useful for detecting traps, locating enemies, and such.”

“Yes, yes… but has anyone told you not to talk about another girl when speaking with one?” Zelestria asked, folding her arms and pouting slightly. “My feelings are hurt, hmph~”

“You’re the one who brought her up,” Finn replied as calmly as ever. “In any case… regarding the thank you… just the usual, right?”

“Hm… this time, I have an extra requirement,” Zelestria said after some thought.

“What?”

“You have to personally cook the food, fufu~”

“…”

Zelestria, noticing Finn’s silence, frowned. “Don’t tell me you can’t cook.”

“… I can, but I’m not the best. Are you sure about this?”

“In that case… why don’t I be your taste tester to help you improve your cooking skills?” Zelestria suggested with a wry smile. “I don’t mind.”

“You just want me to cook you free meals,” Finn replied, exposing her true intentions in an instant.

“W-Well, I won’t deny that’s part of it, but I genuinely want to help you improve, darling~”

“… Denied. If I have time learning how to get better at cooking, I have time to train and get stronger.”

Zelestria sighed in response. “Aww… it was a worth a shot, I suppose.”

With that, she sent Finn out of the reality rift and licked her lips in ecstasy and pulled down her bottom lip with her finger, giggling to herself.

“Fufu~ I can’t wait until you get enough Souls again, darling…”