Chapter 86: Investment 86: What the Fragment Protects
"Ready?" Jin called out from across the training field, green mana already gathering at his fingertips.
"As we’ll ever be," Elliot said, positioning himself slightly ahead of Seria, sword raised.
"Ah-ah." Jin wagged a finger, tsking. "Not like that. Stand beside her, not in front. If I wanted to test how well you protect yourself, we already covered that yesterday."
Elliot hesitated, every protective instinct screaming against the idea of standing anywhere but between Seria and incoming danger, but he forced himself to comply, shifting to stand at her side instead.
"This feels wrong," he muttered.
"Trust the process," Jin said. "Or don’t, and get hit. Either way, we learn something."
He sent the first strike toward Seria directly—not lethal, Elliot reminded himself firmly, just a controlled test, the same calibrated danger Jin had used against him the day before. Still, every muscle in his body tensed on reflex.
The golden shimmer of Elliot’s ward flared to life instantly, faster than it had at any point during yesterday’s entire session, extending outward to fully envelop Seria rather than simply himself, and the strike dissolved harmlessly against it with a bright, resonant chime.
"Well," Jin said, eyebrows raising in genuine surprise. "That’s considerably faster than I expected."
"I told you," Seria said, a note of fierce satisfaction in her voice despite the clear surprise on her own face at the shield’s speed. "The fragment protects what he loves. That’s the entire premise of the system he was given in the first place."
"Fascinating," Jin murmured, already sending a second, faster strike—this one aimed not at Seria, but at Elliot himself.
The ward’s response was noticeably slower this time, flaring only just in time to deflect the blow.
"Interesting," Jin said. "So it’s not simply reacting faster to danger in general. It’s specifically prioritizing threats aimed at people you’re protecting over threats aimed at yourself."
"That tracks," Elliot admitted, working to catch his breath. "The system’s always framed my growth around Seria’s wellbeing more than my own survival."
"Which raises an important question," Jin said, expression turning genuinely thoughtful now rather than playfully instructive. "What happens when there’s more than one person you’re protecting simultaneously? Does the fragment split its attention evenly, or does it prioritize based on some hierarchy we haven’t identified yet?"
"Only one way to find out," Seria said, already glancing toward the training field’s edge, where, unbeknownst to either of them until this exact moment, Mira had somehow talked her way past the estate’s departure and into accompanying Elliot back to the academy for a supervised visit, currently watching the session with wide, fascinated eyes from a safe distance.
"Absolutely not," Elliot said immediately, following her gaze. "We are not testing this with my sister as a variable."
"Relax," Jin said, holding up both hands placatingly. "I wasn’t about to suggest putting Mira in actual danger. But we could simulate it. Illusion magic, low-risk, designed to trigger the same instinctive threat response without any real danger involved."
Elliot considered that, some of his protective tension easing slightly. "That’s more reasonable."
"I do occasionally have reasonable ideas," Jin said, mock-offended. "Not often, but occasionally."
"Should we tell her what we’re doing first?" Seria asked, glancing again toward Mira’s eager, curious expression. "She’s clearly dying to be involved somehow."
"Probably wise," Jin agreed. "Illusions of loved ones in danger can be unsettling even when the observer knows it’s fake. Better she understands the scenario going in."
Elliot jogged over to explain, and Mira, predictably, insisted on staying to watch the entire demonstration, arms crossed with the same stubborn determination she’d shown practicing her ward days earlier.
"I want to see if it actually works," she said. "Properly. Not just you telling me about it later."
"Fine," Elliot relented, unable to fully argue against the same curiosity he recognized so clearly as his own. "But you stay back here, understood?"
"Understood," she said, though her grin suggested she’d already decided this was the most exciting afternoon of her entire visit.
Over the next several hours, they worked through increasingly complex scenarios—illusions of multiple simultaneous threats, some aimed at Seria, some at a projected illusion of Mira, testing the fragment’s response with careful, methodical precision. By the session’s end, a clearer picture had begun to emerge: the ward, while powerful, remained fundamentally limited by Elliot’s own attention and emotional focus, extending more slowly and less completely when divided across multiple people at once.
"So it’s not infinite," Elliot said, settling heavily onto the grass, exhausted but grateful for the clarity. "It’s tied to how much of myself I can actually extend at once."
"Which means," Jin said, "as your bond with the fragment deepens, and as your own combat awareness sharpens, that capacity should expand. But for now, in any scenario involving multiple people you care about simultaneously, you’ll need real support. Allies who can cover the gaps the ward can’t yet manage alone."
Seria settled beside Elliot, resting her head against his shoulder, exhaustion finally catching up with her own carefully maintained composure.
"Good thing we’ve got plenty of those," she murmured.
Elliot glanced toward the training field’s edge, where Mira waved enthusiastically upon noticing his attention, clearly having thoroughly enjoyed her afternoon watching illusions of herself get valiantly, repeatedly defended.
"Yeah," he agreed, something warm and grateful settling into his chest despite the day’s exhaustion. "Good thing."
Jin dismissed the last of the illusions with a lazy wave, dropping to sit cross-legged in the grass a short distance away, expression turning thoughtful in the fading afternoon light.
"For what it’s worth," he said, "watching you two work today—the way the ward responded, the way you moved in sync without needing to discuss it—I think you’re both underestimating how far along this bond already is. Most hosts I’ve studied take considerably longer to develop this kind of instinctive coordination with the people around them."
"Is that a compliment, Jin?" Seria asked, arching a brow.
"Rare occurrence, I know. Don’t get used to it." He grinned, pushing himself back to his feet. "Same time tomorrow. And bring the rest of your friends this time. I think it’s about time we found out how this fragment behaves when there’s an entire team standing behind you instead of just one."