"You do have your father's potential; how intriguing." Ael took a few steps toward Astara. "You killed my grandson, right?"
Daylan was overwhelmed by everything happening. The last thing he wanted to discuss right now was Slater's death. All that mattered to him was what Ael knew about his father. If his father was somehow still alive—and with his mother—it would shatter his entire world.
"Daylan killing your son is still an allegation, mister." Astara's words cut through Daylan's daze.
Ael smirked. "Do I have your permission to spar with your comrade, Lady Astara?"
"Huh?" Daylan wore a confused expression.
A maid suddenly hurried in and handed Astara a cup of coffee. She accepted it with grace and took a slow sip. "Yes, do with him as you please," she said calmly. "But our request afterward must not be denied."
"You have my word, Lady Astara."
"Wait… Do I have no say?" He let out a sigh.
Well, if a duel could secure his sister's place among the Bastians, then it wasn't an offer he could afford to pass up—even if he knew he had no chance of winning against Ael.
Even so, a few things unsettled him. If Ael knew about his father, did that mean he knew about his mother too? The Bastians wouldn't dare touch Zira—but if they were connected to her, was the Bastian estate really a safe place for her? If that was the case, then he was willing to let the chips fall where they may.
Without a moment's hesitation, Ael calmly materialized a glowing patriot from thin air. It perched on his hand, its head twitching as it scanned its surroundings. "This is Ax, my Worth Artifact," he said with a smirk. Without another word, he turned and walked toward the door to his left.
Daylan and Astara exchanged glances, reaching an unspoken agreement as they joined Ael. They arrived in a vast training room, almost triple the size of their previous center. The walls were laced with weapons and armor.
Ael continued, "Ax is at the middle stage of mastery, so you should know its spell is quite powerful. Your task is simple, son of Gerald: withstand Ax's Aspect of Lullaby and land a strike on him."
He smirked. "Just so you know, I won't take a single step from where I stand. Go ahead—do your thing."
Daylan didn't want to come off as arrogant, but what Ael was asking of him seemed almost too easy. He could sense Ael's strength just from his presence alone, yet the distance between them was barely ten meters. Either Ael was underestimating him—or the Aspect of Lullaby was far more dangerous than it appeared.
Astara stood silently to the side, sipping her coffee with quiet poise. Daylan took a deep breath, steadying his nerves. The only guess he had about Ax's Aspect of Lullaby was that the patriot might sing—and somehow hypnotize him.
"Let's do this, old man." He smirked.
Ael let out a sigh and shook his head.
Within seconds, a smoky white mist enveloped Daylan. The training room vanished, replaced by what felt like open sky, surrounded by dense, pure-white clouds. There was no breeze, no warmth from the sun—just a still, silent atmosphere that belonged to neither day nor night.
Am I dreaming already?—he glanced below to see himself standing on a solid cloud.
He pinched himself, hoping to wake from the dreamlike world—but nothing changed. He touched his face and felt it clearly, yet there was no sign that he was asleep. His eyes were wide open, his senses alert, every cell in his body active, and his mind racing to make sense of what was happening.
He hadn't heard Ax sing—or make any sound at all—so what exactly had happened? There was no time to dwell on it. He began walking through the mist, his hands brushing through its dense, cloudlike texture.
But no matter how far he walked, he didn't seem to get anywhere. It felt like he was moving, yet somehow stuck in the same place, as if the space itself was looping around him.
He started to take the situation seriously—this was more than just being trapped in an illusion. He broke into a run, pushing forward through the mist, but no matter how fast he moved, his surroundings remained unchanged. It was as if the world itself refused to let him go.
Fear began to creep in, and his mind jumped from one thought to the next in frantic succession. But he forced himself to breathe, to steady his pulse, and quiet the storm in his head. He needed to approach everything calmly—panic would only make things worse.
He sat down on the floor, determined to approach everything with a clear, thoughtful mind. One question surfaced first: was he here in body—or only in mind? And if it was just his consciousness trapped, could he still use his abilities?
There was only one way to find out—by trying to activate his ability. But no matter how hard he tried, nothing happened. Even the orb embedded in his chest had vanished.
At that instant, he realized that survival was going to be harder than he had imagined. But you can't plough a field by turning it over in your mind.
If everything existed only in the mind, then only a strong mind could dispel it. He suddenly began a yoga session, attempting to break Ax's barrier using the very thing it had consumed—his mind. Too much of anything is harmful; he just hoped that held true here.
At this point, if Ael had wanted him dead, Daylan would already be dead. And he was grateful that wasn't the case—he hadn't expected the lullaby to be like this. He'd imagined something more like a soothing tune meant to lull him to sleep. But this? Even if Ael had warned him beforehand, he wouldn't have believed it.
It was only natural to assume that time flowed differently in the dreamlike illusion, but even after practicing yoga for what felt like ages, he realized nothing had changed—there was still no sign of progress.
Are there more abilities like these? How's that fair?
Daylan got to his feet and began pacing back and forth. Frustration gnawed at him, and his impatience grew with every passing minute. He was out of options—yet how to accept defeat was unknown to him.
At that moment, an idea struck him. If anything could break the illusion, it was sleep.
Without hesitation, he dropped to the floor and began forcing himself to drift off.
Whether the theory would work or not no longer mattered—he didn't have the luxury to second-guess it. More than anything, he no longer cared about winning. He just wanted to wake up. This wasn't a fight; it was a one-sided duel—a battle he'd lost before it even began.
Falling asleep with a restless mind was no easy task. He had to curse at himself repeatedly just to regain focus and let go. But his frustration had reached its peak—and before he knew it, sleep finally took him.
The time between falling asleep and waking up in the real world was less than a millisecond, yet it felt as if he had slept for an eternity.
His eyes opened to find himself alone in the training room, lying on the cold floor with his cheek pressed against it. Without a moment's hesitation, he pushed himself up and got to his feet.
A sharp pain shot through his head the moment he woke, and he instinctively reached up to massage his forehead.
As painful as it was to accept, they had left him behind. To Ael, he was nothing more than dead weight the moment the spell took hold.
Letting out a sigh, he walked into the living room and found Ael and Astara casually chatting—like they hadn't just thrown him into a world that could've trapped him forever.
"Hey, Day. You are up." Astara asked the moment she heard his soft steps echoed quietly in the distance.
"You guys, that was a dirty trick. You told me it's a lullaby."
Ael turned to him with a gentle smile, eyes squinting slightly. "I'm surprised you made it through so soon. I expected it to take you a day or two."
Daylan finally stood within reach. "That's not an achievement," he said coldly. "I could've died in there—and all because you lied." He took his seat.
"What made you think I lied? And even if I did, why believe me? I was your enemy… wasn't I?"
He shook his head. "You never stood a chance of winning. Ax's lullaby is guaranteed to work as long as its rank is higher than the opponent's. Just be more careful next time—and stop believing everything you hear. Your enemies owe you no explanation about their abilities… be more like your father."
Daylan's experience darkened. "You've gone on and on about my father since our arrival. What do you know about him?… tell me."
Ael smirked. "The audacity of you little pricks these days—truly alarming."