It was a sight to behold. Abs pure heat and light the White Dwarf vomited, he was almost no longer in the shape of a man.

  Picture this: his skin, once a subtle shade of pale, now glowed like a neon sign at a rundown ival. It was as if he had bathed in the essence of a supernova, and his plexion was here to prove it.

  [Lumigryn esheridynn, thylyra ael'rinnor naithryn, aeshoryslyn xeril, lumithyr draesthris, lyssaryn'lyn lershaithyr denunaishalo vaedryn alysyn, luminara dreithryn ael'varinthynn lyriistindar…]

  His hair, oh his hair, decided it was tired of being just hair. It shimmered like strands of preetals, catg the light in a way that would make a disco ball jealous. Each follicle seemed to whisper secrets of the os, as if the universe itself had taken up residen his scalp.

  [Dol'nae'vyr asaryn kythendara, edaraen ryyr thyrihendyr valyn, viirydol viilylyn'sindaer lomor, luminara heyllis, teryndaelon, hynaii, hynaii, hynaii—]

  His eyes, windows to the soul and all that jazz, were no longer mere orbs of vision; they were swirling vortexes of gaxies colliding. Staring into his gaze was like trying to t the stars on a moonless night—a dizzying, exhirating experiehat left anyone questioning their very existence.

  [Hymbrim, sothar lumihyr ael'rinnor shin'lyssals, araynthir virlys'aryhor riandranaes, lumirar dael'naa, vinae'lyn souera saendryn'shin, aldryrn viistar verin'dorah luminae'shyn…]

  [Lathynaedin, nindryn viilylyn, viraelor luminae'shyn!]

  And his mana? Oh, dear. It swirled around him like a force field of pure energy, crag with pootential. One couldn't help but be drawn to him, as if his mere presence romise of something greater, something beyond mortal prehension.

  BZZZZZZZZT—

  What do you think the sun sounded like up close?

  Whehing was absorbed into him, suddenly his presence bed. Light bent around him—no, light itself was being absorbed toward the empty silhouette of his being.

  What they heard at that moment wasn’t the sound of the sun. It was the sound of a bck hole—abs even the sound of Man’s holy song.

  But she didn’t stop.

  [Mirendora inyrlynth shylryndaes, viitalthyr litharysyr myrlynthor viilera lumirar, vindenyr lumithalii aelinii alysen vilthyn, hymdril'lo—]

  [Aelyrilyhoryn'thor'lyn, araynendal voe'haeris hyh hyh hyh…]

  BZZZZZZZZZZZZT—

  It was just a split sed, but it felt like eternity. Burn was lost in himself, the outline of his being almost shifted to another pne of existence.

  Danger.

  Ahhh, how could he be so pt? He almost let even himself be absorbed in the process. Thankfully, he could still hear her voice.

  [Hymbrim, sothar lumerys rynniru'shaaleth, vael'nae shylindrae virlys'aryhor, verin'dorah araynthir aeslyhor shyrinales, verli s'anaaes nia'serith verin'dorah aelysyn…]

  [Aldryrn viistar nora myth nindyr rynnae, hestarii lun'dor syrallyh velessa'lyn nia—]

  [Luminexa'ryn, nindryn viilylyn, viraelor luminae'shyn…]

  Burn's body majestically desded, showg a truly mesmerizing glow that defied all logic. Meanwhile, Man valiantly grappled with the mana field eng him, seemingly determio give Burn a quick "how are you holding up" che the midst of it all.

  Burn, w if he would hurt her with his atomized body, said with his voice eg in a strange wave of sound, “Wait.”

  “Just a quick touch. Cheg your soul, that’s all,” Man said.

  Extending his hand after recalibrating his body for a sed, Burn took a deep breath, g and ung his palm, iing his arms and body carefully. “Okay. Touch.”

  Man slowly touched his skin, and the moment they made tact, she felt a shiver down her body.

  “Scary?” Burn asked.

  “You rip me apart so easily now,” Man said with a smile.

  Burn creased his eyebrows, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Tsk tsk. Don’t start what you ’t finish, Madam.”

  “Stop,” Man almost s him, but the smile on her face didn’t go away. Slowly toug him with her entire palm, she sighed in awe.

  Looking around, Burn could see so much more with his eyes now. “I see stars despite the daylight now. That’s .”

  Not only that, he could see the flow of mana, small mundane waves in the air from sound and other things, and he could see so many more colors. It was weird that with everything more he was able to prehend with his eyes, Man just stayed the same—ically geous.

  Merely seeing her now made him experienformation overload. Seeing something so devastatingly beautiful iail had overwhelmed his brain so much that he had to frown and narrow his eyes.

  “Why are you making that face again? It’s been a while sinade that face at me…” Ma a bit helpless. This particur face of Burn made him look scary.

  “To down. Don’t smile,” Burn said.

  Man chuckled, “Pfff—this again?”

  “Your Majesty!”

  Yvain ran toward them with his short legs, clutg Burn’s robe to his chest. As he approached, he asked with , “Are you okay?”

  “It’s a success,” Burn replied, “As expected.”

  ing up behind Yvaihe other spectatahad stood with a broken shield, Finn and his people wore looks of horror, and... there was Dirk. He removed his helmet and appeared stunned. “Damn... I thought I had killed you.”

  “Not even a trace of radiation in the air,” Man muttered as she helped Burn put on his robe. “You absorbed everything.”

  “This is like feasting on nuclear bombs for breakfast…” Dirk remarked. “Are you actually a god? Is this one of the Seven Heavens or something?”

  “gratutions, Your Majesty,” Gahad said, restraining his instinctive urge to kneel before Burn, uanding the Emperor's desire to avoid any unnecessary otion at this moment.

  Yet, more than anyone present, Gahad uood the magnitude of Burn's achievement with his Force art. It was unpreted in history—

  Burn just hummed, his eyes focused on Finn, who he hadn’t greeted yet, and who hadn’t spoken a single word yet.

  So, Burn invited, “I’m curious what food tastes like with this body now. Let’s eat.”

  "Food!" Yvain excimed, darting towards the small camp they had set up the day before.

  Man and Burn couldn't help but notice Yvain's sudden fixation on food. The kid seemed perpetually stu that are-pubest phase, probably due to a diet that was about as banced as a unicycle on a tightrope.

  He looked one or two years youhaually was, not to mention boys usually hit puberty te.

  Well, sure, he was a king and all, ruling at an age when most kids were still mastering the art of tying their own shoeces. But hey, stress didn't discriminate, folks. Even with a buffet fit for a king and naps lohan a full afternoon, your body would still be like, "Emergency mode: activated."

  But now, with Man ba the fold, vanquishing his worries, and Burn’s Force art training sessions, Yvain's stomach was singing the bald of hunger like a hungry hobbit at elevenses.

  The prospect of a growth spurt loomed on the horizon, promising a transformation from pint-sized king to t titan in just a few months, following in the lofty footsteps of the Edensor Royal Families' geic giants.

  "Maybe you're right," Burn suddenly said tan as he guided the way for his guests and subordinates with authoritative ease.

  "Hmm?" Man turo him, asking for text. Despite their linked arms, it wasn’t like she read his mind all the time.

  "Last night, you said Yvain looks lonely. We should enroll him in the academy, let him meet his peers, make friends, and the like," Burn said.

  Man blinked, her expression veying a hint of pleasant surprise. "Oh, my... Caliburn…"

  "Yeah," Burn shrugged. "Isn't it time for the academy's entraest?"

  Gahad, Finn, and Dirk wondered if they had transitioned into a family/slice-of-life genre.