— — — — — —
Sunflower Field
By the time Veyron returned, the sun had already risen into the sky.
"You're leaving?"
Before he could even say anything, Kazami Yuuka had already read it on his face.
"I've been out for about half a month. Thought I'd check back in."
Veyron nodded. "Besides, I've got a friend who needs to visit me for something."
"Then go handle your business first."
Yuuka gave a gentle nod—but when she saw Veyron wasn't moving, just standing a dozen meters in front of her like he always did before they sparred, she raised an eyebrow. "You want one last round before you go?"
"That was the idea, but…"
Veyron took a deep breath and finally asked what he'd been holding in: "This time… can you go all out? I wanna feel your real power."
"Oh?"
Yuuka's ruby-red eyes narrowed slightly, amused. "You serious?"
"Well... maybe not too serious. Just, y'know, please don't actually kill me."
The second she asked that question, every cell in Veyron's body started screaming danger, so he hurried to add a condition just in case.
"I get what you mean."
Yuuka slowly closed her umbrella, her tone calm but eyes gleaming. "You've been poking at me for days. Kinda itched to go wild anyway..."
A terrifying magical blast roared out in an instant, as if it was ready to obliterate everything in its path.
Along with it came an explosion of color—flowers of all types and seasons, blooming wildly where they shouldn't.
BOOM
The explosion rocked the mountains, shaking the ground with the impact.
A slumbering yokai nearby was rudely awakened.
"Already starting this early in the morning?"
Inukimi groaned, covering her ears with her paws, trying to block out the noise of Yuuka and Veyron's sparring.
But after a few seconds, she lifted her head, confused.
Wait, was it this loud the last few times?
...
"Wait, what?"
"You told her to beat you within an inch of your life… but not to actually kill you?"
Several hours later, around noon, Inukimi was carrying Veyron on her back toward home. Curiosity finally got the better of her.
"You're really not afraid she might just… snap and kill you?"
"You're exaggerating." Veyron chuckled. "Yuuka has got a good sense of control. You've just heard too many wild rumors about her. She's actually really gentle once you get to know her."
"Yeah, tell that to all those wounds you're covered in."
"Hey, I asked for it."
Inukimi rolled her eyes. "Oh? So those yokai who died to her over the past thousand years… they all asked to die too?"
"In a way, yeah."
Veyron explained, "Let me ask you something—if a random yokai showed up at your clan's floating palace in the West Lands, looked around, and said, 'This place feels fated to be mine, you should leave'—what would you do?"
"Obviously, I'd rip them apart!" Even though it was a hypothetical, Inukimi's aura sharpened. "Their blood and bones would serve as a warning to anyone else thinking about disrespecting us!"
"See? You're not so different."
Veyron snapped his fingers.
Inukimi paused, thoughtful.
...Wait. That kind of does make sense? No—hold on!
She nearly got sucked into his logic before catching herself.
"That's not the same thing at all!"
She huffed in annoyance.
"It's similar enough. Just depends on how you see the world..."
Inukimi didn't argue this time.
Sure, they were both yokai, but even within the same tribe, she'd always noticed how differently she thought compared to the others.
If that's how it was among dog yokai, it was probably way more extreme between species—like cats, wolves, or in Yuuka's case, flower-based yokai.
"I still don't get how anyone would call her gentle."
Inukimi muttered.
"You've been too scared to step foot in her field for over ten days. No wonder you haven't seen it."
Veyron stretched a hand toward the sun, as if trying to grasp it.
Sure, Yuuka didn't pull her punches during the fight—but once it was over, she did give him a nice reward.
After dragging him out from the rubble of a collapsed mountain, she casually popped a seed into his mouth.
Then a moment later, his system chimed in: [Your Trait: Photosynthesis (Purple) has evolved!]
[Photosynthesis (Purple) → Photosynthesis (Orange)]
The jump from purple to orange was a huge upgrade. His recovery under sunlight—stamina, energy, health—was way faster than before.
But the real surprise?
It now had a new ability: Energy Storage.
If he was hurt or tired, it'd still focus on recovery first, like usual.
But if he was in top shape?
Well, back when it was white, green, blue, or even purple, basking in the sun just felt nice.
Now, though? He could absorb sunlight beyond his limits, storing the extra energy in his body for later use—ready to be tapped when things got rough.
Honestly, just for that feature alone?
Even if some purple villain snapped his fingers and showed up right now, Veyron would still be out here praising Yuuka's gentle side.
And on top of all that— Despite setting ground rules about "don't go too far," once Yuuka got serious…
Every single move she made felt like she might've forgotten that promise.
Under that kind of pressure—where even the tiniest mistake might be his last—Veyron fought at full intensity for hours.
And in the end… The Gene Lock he had only recently pushed to Tier 2?
Yeah—it broke through again.
Tier 3: Unlocked.
.
.
.