The one she cared about most in that moment.

The markings on her arm began to glow brighter. Suddenly, her eyes open up, now glowing with this green light.

A greenish aura swirled around her and the surge of mana from her was immense, far greater than what any S-tier could muster.

The others instinctively stepped back, feeling the weight of it pressing down on them.

Ethan, however, had a smile on his face.

He liked this outcome.

And he could attest to just how strong this power of hers really was.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Then suddenly, Ishtar’s focus faltered. The green glow in her eyes flickered, dimming for just a moment.

Ethan noticed the change in her demeanor immediately, the way her shoulders tensed and her breathing quickened.

"Ishtar?" he called, taking a cautious step forward.

But for her right now, the brief flashes of that night where her people were massacred came flooding back again.

The faces of her siblings as they fell, one by one, while attempting to defend her escape.

"No..." she whispered, her voice breaking. She gained a sad expression as a certain memory hit her harder than the rest; her eldest brother, standing at the gates, buying her precious seconds with his life.

She held her head with both hands, face tilted down toward the floor.

"No..."

"No..."

The green aura around her became violent, unstable, and crackling with raw energy that seemed to respond to her distress.

"Ethan, something’s wrong," Wilson said as he took a step back instinctively.

"Of course something’s wrong. You’ve obviously infected the girl’s mind!" Percival yelled, making the accusation as he glared at the vampire.

But Ethan kept looking with narrowed eyes, studying the situation carefully.

Then suddenly, there was an even more violent swirl of mana around her, and Ethan’s eyes widened at that point.

"No!" Ishtar yelled, her voice filled with anguish and fury.

An omnidirectional burst of mana emanated from her and spread throughout the room in a massive shockwave, sending everyone back in one violent push.

The force rattled the entire building, shaking the walls and shattering every window, starting with the ones in the training room.

Percival and Aliyah were sent flying backward. They hit the far walls hard with a loud impact.

Wilson was pushed as well, although he managed to hold most of his footing, eventually going down on one knee with his hand on the ground to steady himself.

In Ethan’s case, he had been pushed as well, but only for a few meters as his feet remained planted firmly to the ground. His dragon physiology and amplified strength kept him from being thrown like the others.

However, his suit had gone into total disarray, and when he brought his forearm down and away from his face, there were glass shards embedded in the fabric of his sleeve.

The training room looked like a disaster zone.

Everyone else was slowly getting back up, groaning and checking themselves for injuries.

"What the hell was that?" Percival mutter.

Aliyah coughed, brushing debris from her hair.

Ishtar still remained standing at the center of the destruction, but she looked horrified. The green glow had faded completely from her eyes and the markings on her arm had dimmed back to a much lesser glow.

Her hands were trembling, and she was too embarrassed to raise her head. Instead, she just stared at the floor and said quietly, "I’m sorry, Lord Ethan."

Then she turned and proceeded to walk out of the room.

Ethan heaved a sigh, watching her go. He didn’t try to stop her.

-

A couple of minutes later, Ethan had approached his car parked outside where Ishtar stood with her back resting on its side.

When he got into proximity, she inclined her head a bit further and said, "I’m truly sorry, Lord Ethan."

"It’s alright," he said casually, leaning close as he stared at the Clustervayne Guild building with practically no windows now. Shattered glass still littered the pavement around the entrance. "Is that why you ran out here?"

"I damaged your property, Lord Ethan. I shouldn’t remain in it." She answered.

Ethan scoffed lightly, shaking his head. "Ah, don’t worry about that. I already have people coming to fix it."

There was a pause before he added, with a smile, "If we’re being honest, it was my fault. I may have pushed too hard."

Ishtar still wore her solemn expression, but she said nothing.

There was a short pause before Ethan shifted his approach. "Instead of asking what happened back there, I’m going to ask this; what changed between when I asked you to try yourself and when Wilson compelled you to do it?"

Ishtar hesitated for a moment, then began to explain. "The first time, all I could think of was my family and how they were all killed because of this thing I never asked for."

There was pain in her voice when she spoke of this part.

Ethan listened without interrupting.

"And when your friend compelled me," she continued, "all I could see was that night when the bounty hunters attacked. All I wanted to do was protect myself and Ray."

"Then what changed in between?" Ethan asked gently.

Ishtar’s expression crumbled slightly. "Suddenly, those first thoughts came back again. And I could only feel this anger and resentment and just..." She sighed, unable to finish the sentence.

Ethan stared at her for a moment, piecing it together. "Was this anger and resentment directed only at those who killed your family?"

Ishtar shook her head slowly. "No. I was angry with myself too. And this thing too."

She raised her arm, looking at the markings with something close to hatred. "It’s the reason for every suffering I’ve faced in my life."

Ethan exhaled and turned back to stare at the guild building. He noticed Percival standing by the upstairs balcony, a glass in hand as he stared out into the open, surveying the damage with a contemplative expression.

"You’re rejecting it," Ethan said after a moment. "The power inside of you. You’re rejecting it. You hate it for all the hurt it’s caused, and now you only feel animosity toward it. It’s understandable why you would."

He paused, letting that settle in her thoughts. "However, I have come to understand that this power also responds to those feelings as though it had emotions as well."

Then he turned to look at her. "And if you don’t want it, it wouldn’t want you too."

"The past is something we can’t change. And well...unless you’re a summoner, you can’t bring the dead back either."

He chuckled lightly at that, trying to ease the weight of the moment.

Ishtar smiled just a bit too.