Lilly had grown up in the city her entire life. Ever since she could remember, her parents had pushed her to study and train. After the war, they shifted into full-time combat work, and Lilly was dragged into a rigorous training schedule to match.
During her training downtimes, Erie often sat under the large tree in her yard, flipping through books about Sun Warriors. She never knew where the books came from. They'd appear in her room, one after another—each older than the last.
She loved everything about them: the energy, the speed, the way they channeled the sun like it was part of their soul. But eventually, she learned the truth. Sun Warriors were outlawed. Anyone who came in contact with one was required to report it to the National Force of the World Economy.
None of the books explained why. All she knew was that Sun Warriors were more potent and faster and could harness the sun, which could be what made them dangerous.
Lilly reread the books repeatedly, trying to find answers in the context of the book. Still, all she could read was the description of the physicality of the beings: tan skin, orange eyes, orange hair, and, can admit, a yellow aura; some can manifest white.
Lilly realized that all the traits matched her complexion. So she did her best to wear contacts and keep her hair dyed jet-black.
As the economy moved forward, the books stopped showing up randomly, and the world seemed to focus more on the new abilities users were showing. Lilly thinks she is the only Sun warrior left until she sees Erie.
After meeting Erie, she knew she had to stick close to him; this was the perfect moment to grow and learn more about their race. She knew she had to teach him a few things, but at least she would not feel alone anymore.
Lilly stepped closer, grabbed Erie's hands, and stared him in the eyes. "Yes, we need to stick together, Erie!"
Erie stepped back a little and looked around the empty area of grass. This was strange to him. No girl had ever held his hand before. "UH..."
Lilly walked closer to Erie again, this time more demanding and serious. She stared Erie in the eyes. "Yes, we are closer than you think we are. We have to stay close to each other."
Erie knew he would be cornered by the building if he kept backing up, so he finally stood his ground. Before he started to speak, he let out a huge sigh. He didn't know where this was going, but he wanted to explain a few things to her before he could let his mind race.
"Look, I'm an orphan with a bronze rank; I can see you have a gold rank." He paused for a moment and then began, taking another deep breath. "I'm not a sun warrior. A sun pendant made me this way; it's magic or something."
Lilly frowned at his comment and took a few steps back from Erie.
"Yeah, I'm sorry, but I'm not a real sun warrior," Erie announced.
Lilly closed her eyes and took a deep breath; Erie told her that he wasn't born a sun warrior but was given the power by a pendant. She and Erie were different; she couldn't grasp it. But she couldn't believe that it could be the case.
"I don't know why you hide the truth, but I understand."
Erie shook his head. "You see, I think that this is just an ability."
Lilly could not process Erie's logic; if this were an ability, then the core would have grown a color, and it wouldn't glow for him at all. The core glowed for her because she had a fused ability, even though she didn't know what it was entirely for herself yet.
"Then why didn't you tell the instructor you had an ability?"
Erie stayed silent as if her questions were rhetorical. He stared at Lilly, waiting for her to answer her question, but she remained quiet.
"I have read a few books where it's told that sun warriors were outlawed. I can't just say, "Hey, I have the sun warrior ability!""Lilly's face turned a shade as she began to think about what Erie had said.
"And besides, I'm not even strong enough to defend myself yet."
Lilly thought about what Erie had said and realized there was no other ability quite like this. Because of the surge of fused abilities, abilities were now unique, but the base was mostly elemental. Erie had no elemental base connected to his ability.
"You could just put it off as a unique fire ability!" she said excitedly, "and then you could be a unique user. The fusions are a perfect way to hide your real race! I mean ability!"
"I wish I could, but I don't even know how to use the sun skills yet." Erie began to explain even more. "When I used this sun slash, it just happened. I don't even know how I did it."
Lilly debated whether Erie had seen Erie use the skill twice, but it looked more like a punch than anything. Lilly had no other indication to go by, so she had no choice but to believe Him. Lilly knew they had to hide, so she just put it off as there being extra causes about his race.
She knew Erie was an orphan, so the city would not mind turning him in if they found out or using him against his will to do their bidding; Lilly couldn't even imagine what could happen to him; at least Lilly had a family backing her, and Erie didn't.
Nobody else would believe in any way that his pendant granted him the sun warrior genes. Or ability, as Erie called it.
Erie then tells Lilly everything that has happened to him, but he leaves out details about his system. He didn't want anyone to know about the system; he told her how he had an urge to meditate in the sun. He grew hungry, but nothing would satisfy his hunger, and one day, his body reacted to taking life energy from the people around him.
Lily knew the feeling because she had felt it before. She couldn't help but think about what had happened to her in the past.
Erie then explained what he noticed: he didn't feel energized at night; only during the day did he feel weak. He didn't feel charged. And Ednergy was not entering him; he was only escaping to fight all out like he wanted to.
"Fine! I won't push for more answers from you." Lilly announced, "Clearly, you don't know much about being a sun warrior yet; you even went out of control and drained all the energy from that boy; we cannot have you go around draining energy from random people and knocking them out completely. It'll catch up to you quick, so make sure you come to me, and I'll help you go through the process sufficiently." Lilly said, rolling her eyes. She stood tall, stared Erie in the eyes, and waited for his response.
Erie considered his situation. He didn't know why Lilly was so eager to help, nor didn't even know how she knew he was a sun warrior. But Erie wanted to test a few things with his system anyway, and he now had someone offering him help for free.
And it felt like Lilly was Gheniunie. He didn't feel like there was a strong attachment to him with the offer; not only did it seem like she knew what she was talking about, but he also felt like she somewhat lived it.
"I can use the help. We have a deal, but we will have to spar in the future."
Lilly smiled, and she was happy that Erie accepted her offer. The truth was that Lilly did not want to be alone. She knew he was a sun warrior. Now that someone is going through the world with her, it'll be a great start to building protection for herself and potentially others she comes across in the future.
"Alright, hold out your hand!" Lilly announced.
Erie did as she said. Lilly placed her hands on his hands, and he felt a warm pulse enter his body. "I am sharing some life energy with you. I can create my own now; I can share some with you. This way, you do not have to go hungry and go on a rampage or black out again."
Lilly stumbled back a little... "This is just temporary, though. This is not a real fix, yet it'll hold you and give you more time."
Lilly gained her composure, and Erie stared at his hands. "There was no need for that; I'm already full."
Gene and Jake entered the area to train as the two continued talking. They both saw Erie and lilly talking to each other, and Gene noticed Jake's face turned red.
"Hey Jake, there's no need to get upset. You're not mad, are you?" Gene notices Jake's green eyes starting to glow a little, and a silver line is slashed on the ground in front of him. The slash was instant, but Gene's eyes were quick enough to catch it.