The depth of the lord's words required a ridiculously large mind to absorb them all. Even so, fact was that the words he was saying made Valeriana feel self-conscious.

"Holes?" Her brows furrowed. "Open channels? What are they? How do I close them?"

"Open channels are inherent." He said. "They cannot be closed permanently. They feed the aura, and in turn, the soul. The closing of it only means the person has died."

"You said I'm full of them?"

"You are." He answered. "And you should only have six open channels in total. Your aura is abnormally full of them."

She shook her head, blinking down at her hands as she tried to comprehend the situation she was in. "I'm sorry . . . it's sort of hard to understand. I've only discovered a little so far. If it weren't for the guardians and their blessings, I wouldn't even know I was a Direct Controller."

"The blessings of the guardians?" He leaned back, confusion on his face. "Ah, yes, until now you thought you were human. Tell me, Valeriana, how many of these blessings you speak of have you already received in total?"

"Two."

"That explains it." Lienhard patted. "These blessings help you stabilize. I cannot tell you more than what you already know, but let me tell you this, these six open channels are normally located on these points."

He reached forward and traced the area on top of her head. "The crown." The lord then pointed on the space between her brows. "The eye." His finger pointed to her chest. "The heart, then one on the palm of each hand."

His sudden silence made her ponder.

"That's five. Where's the last?"

"The last is not visible to any eye, even mine. It is inside of you, connected to your soul. Only you can access and see this channel."

"My soul, huh? I wouldn't have believed any of this stupid crap before I became this way."

He chuckled. "Right now, the points on your eye and heart is stabilized. My guess is that if you obtain all the blessings, the unnecessary holes on your aura will disappear. Your power will inevitably be impossible to control until then."

"I need those blessings then."

"You do. But just to remove the tension in this conversation, let me tell you a little interesting fact. There is one special ability present only in each Direct User." He said. "Mine is the nullification which I have used on Lord Corvan. What do you think is yours?"

She steeled. Was it her purification?

"I'm not sure." She told him. "I don't know."

"Well, it can't be helped. We aren't even half way on unlocking you." His brows then furrowed so deep, it would probably leave wrinkles.

"What is it?"

Lord Lienhard suddenly beamed, as though he was finally back to his goofy self. "Nothing! Class dismissed!"

"But we're not even--"

He fell back on his chair and, instantly, his snores filled the room.

"Jerk." Valeriana fumed, shooting up from where she sat and stomping her way out of the room.

Soon after classes finished, Valeriana hurriedly made the arrangements and started with the selection of music. Her band's personal favorite when selecting songs for their covers had been The Band Perry, Taylor Swift, Paramore, and Maroon Five, so majority of the scores was saved on her laptop. Other than that, she had printed copies of her own sent with her things from the last monthly package.

It became a routine.

Right after the meetings with the DevDept, the Twelve would meet in the basement to discuss about their plans. The members of the other group seemed to be aware that something was going on. It was strange after all. Everyone certainly looked excited that they were cooperating with the other party well to get everything done early.

They still have to meet their groups though. The DevDept told them they were still preparing, even so, they did not have to worry. They were already conceptualizing about the gears they would use.

Valeriana had brought out her MP3 player, the charger, pulled Raziel into the middle the room, and made him into a power bank.

The sixth seemed displeased at this.

"Done seems like a good song." Tamara said, bobbing her head along with the beat.

"Do you feel like singing it?" Elfre asked.

"Heck, yeah. The lyrics are awe-mazing."

"This doesn't seem too hard as well." Zion whispered, looking through the pages. "Seems manageable."

"What about you, Charles?" Valeriana asked.

"My opinion does not differ." He answered, confidence in his tone. "Lord Corvan seems to not have any objections himself."

And yet again, that frown was ever present on the first-ranker's face. His eyes briefly met Valeriana's, but he turned away to examine the sheet he was given.

"Our first song is decided, then." He told them.

"Alright!" Tamara cheered. "But what about you, Valeriana? Do you agree?"

"Whatever you guys are good with, I'll play them with you."

Chatter erupted within the room. Gazing at her comrades, Valeriana felt a smile float to her lips. Nostalgia was an old friend. Times like this made her think back on the life she used to have when she still haven't met the Twelve. It was funny how they seemed to enjoy this.

A familiar aura came to Valeriana's radar that she looked up behind her to the direction of the main door. She had been waiting for the lady knight to come around ever since she made the offer, and up until now, she had been thinking about how to help without killing somebody.

She tugged on her gloves as she stood. The comfortable snugness of it around her skin was a comfort she relished on. Out of her own fear, she refused to look at her hand when she took them off. It served two purposes--to hide her markings and control her newfound ability.

After all, Lord Lienhard did tell her it would be impossible to control without first stabilizing the open channels on her aura.

The Twelve did not say anything about her wearing gloves since they were somewhat aware of her situation, leaving her alone to herself to figure it out which she was tons of grateful for. She doubted they knew much, though.

Except for Rowe.

Looking towards the direction of the second-ranker, Valeriana's troubled gaze seemed to reach him. He looked up from his practice, calmly put down his instrument, and made his way over.

"Is something the matter, Valeriana?" He asked, pure concern showing in his eyes.

"No." She shook her head. "I sensed a visitor coming in--Lady Seraphina if I guessed correctly."

The lord briefly examined the other members of the Circle caught up in the practice. Even Zion himself was preoccupied. He got his first part down beautifully.

"I believe it is more than that." He told her, dragging his gaze back to hers. "I could not help but notice you keep flexing your hands. This cannot be about that, right?"

"I'm sorry we haven't got to talk about this, lately." She replied, sighing. "Things have been busy."

There was a pause.

"I have announced that I shall help you and that will never change. I do not go back on my word, after all."

"But all that talk came because you thought I was one of your people. There's a high possibility I'm not."

"What is with that poor logic?" He inquired, his trademark smile on his lips. "Direct Controllers generally does not have a definite continent of origin. They are closest to Aetherians, so my view does not change. If ever you need any help, do not hesitate to run to me."

She smiled. "Thank you."

"Do not be." Rowe patted her shoulder. "You are a friend, Valeriana. The entire Twelve will be at your aid should the need ever come to it."

"Yeah, well . . ." She cleared her throat and raised her voice. "You guys! Excuse me for a moment, someone's at the door!"

"Sure thing!"

"Go on!"

"Thanks a lot, Rowe." Valeriana gave him her brightest smile before running up the stairs to greet the woman.

"My only advice for you, Valeriana." The lord called out. "Is that you do not do anything that will compromise your safety."

She gazed down at him. "If I stay fearing it for life, I can't get anything out of it. I'm given this ability because it is needed, not just by myself, but other people."

With that, their conversation ended and Rowe hesitantly went back to his previous activity. Valeriana erased all the traces of her negativity and tried to be the opposite.

She opened the door of the main door just before Seraphina could knock. The lady knight seemed shocked at this that her eyes had widened to a considerable extent.

"Good . . . evening, Valeriana." She greeted.

"Sorry for startling you. We were practicing something down the basement so no one would have probably heard you." The girl made way for her current guardian to enter.

"Then how did you know I was coming?"

Unable to explain, Valeriana merely gave the woman a smile. Almost instantly, Seraphina got what she wanted to say.

"Ah. The Direct Control business." She nodded. "I experience the same things with my father. It seems as though I'm bare whenever he's around." Her sigh was loud when it came. "Would you mind taking a walk with me? I know you're probably busy with the preparations for the festival, however . . ."

"No! Um . . ." Valeriana looked over her shoulder and jerked her thumb to the direction of the basement. "I think they'll be fine without me."

"Alright. That's good. I just wanted to talk to you about your training. I heard about it, you see. Your upcoming fight is with Corvan, is it not?"

Reminded of the fact that she had the first-ranker as an opponent made her dread the festival. Why did they choose her out of all the Twelve to go against Corvan?

"Yeah, well . . ." She breathed out. "I'm probably dead, aren't I?"

"I'm not sure about that. Come on."

Seraphina beckoned her over and they both left the residences of the Twelve. At first, Valeriana wondered in silence where the woman planned on taking the both of them to.

After a while, the girl realized they were going to the same place as before.

The lookout where they trained for her fight with Zion.

How nostalgic.

She didn't even know she had the ability like this during that time.

"Things are different now." Seraphina commented, one foot higher than the other on the slope of the hill.

They gazed at the towering structure the academy was and the connecting dark forest to it.

"Compared to before, you now have a Power Control. Not only that, but you got that sword. You've grown a lot during that time I didn't have my eyes on you. I'm proud."

"You are?"

Seraphina smiled brightly. "Of course I am. Do you not think it is fate that brought us together? Thinking back on that moment, things have changed drastically. Even I cannot bring myself to believe. There might be a deeper reason to why we met."

"I guess?"

"Pardon me. I'll be straightforward with you. Starting next week when classes are no longer in session, do you mind meeting me here so we can start?"

"Maybe during the morning?" She suggested, returning her smile.

"Why not?"

"I still have to see to how I'm going to meet with everyone because of the festival."

"Make a room for this in your schedule, alright?"

"Yes, I will!" She saluted.

Seraphina turned away from the girl. "And I am guessing you know I called you out here for more than one reason?"

"Is it about my offer?" Valeriana asked.

"Yes." Her eyes narrowed, the seriousness taking over. "I'll take you to meet this person tomorrow night."

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