Trafalgar was pulled out of the water by Xavier.

Maledicta dissolved into particles of mana before his hand even reached the surface, the blade breaking apart while his body gave up the last of what it could spare. By the time Xavier dragged him far enough onto the sand, Trafalgar was still conscious, but only just.

He lay there on his back, chest rising hard, seawater running from his hair and shoulders into the sand beneath him.

Xavier bent over with both hands on his knees, breathing like he had been the one fighting at the bottom of the sea. To be fair, Trafalgar had drifted much farther from the shore than any of them had realized, and dragging him back had not been light work either.

A short distance away, Zafira, Cynthia, and Bartholomew were still making their way in. They had stopped pushing deeper once the water kept exploding from the mana clashes below. None of them had wanted to jump blindly into that.

Xavier straightened and wiped water from his face.

"You good, man? What the hell happened?"

Trafalgar let the question sit for a breath while he stared at the sky.

"Because of someone," he said at last, voice rough from seawater and effort, "who does not know how to pass a ball properly, I had to go out into open water. Before I could even grab it, something caught my foot and dragged me down."

Xavier frowned. "Something?"

Trafalgar turned his head slightly.

"Yeah. Something with tentacles. Slimy thing too." His mouth twisted faintly at the memory. "Pretty disgusting, honestly."

Cynthia and the others had reached them by then.

Barth dropped down first. "A sea beast?"

Trafalgar nodded once.

"More or less. Looked like a giant octopus that had been raised badly."

That got a short sound out of Xavier, half laugh, half disbelief.

"You are lying there half dead and still talking like that."

Trafalgar breathed out through his nose. "I am not half dead."

"You were dragged under for ages."

"And yet, here I am."

Zafira had not said anything yet. She stood over him, wet hair falling over one shoulder, her face carrying more tension than the rest of them. "Did it injure you badly?"

"Nothing serious."

That part was true.

He was exhausted. Empty, close enough to drained that his limbs still felt heavier than they should. But the worst of the damage was already being handled. Primordial Body had started its work the moment the fight ended. Mana from the surroundings was already slipping back into him in thin currents, drawn in through skin and breath, pulled toward the center of his chest where his core had changed.

That was the part that made the corner of his mouth rise despite everything.

Because the difference was there.

His body felt lighter now, but not in a fragile way. His limbs answered with a different kind of readiness, like something deep inside them had become more complete. The sea air carried mana, and this time he did not need to reach for it in the same way as before. It came easier. Each breath brought more of it. Each breath fed something that no longer felt as cramped as it had before.

The pressure he had spent so long carrying was gone.

In its place was space.

Trafalgar closed his eyes and thought, ’Status.’

The system window appeared.

[Core: Prime]

There it was.

He had done it.

The smile on his face deepened a little.

After months of work, after all the fights, all the hours spent training, all the time pushing through one wall only to find another behind it, he had finally reached Prime Core.

The fifth core.

He was still behind some of his siblings, well, cousins, technically, but not by as much now. The distance had shrunk, and with his talent, it would keep shrinking.

Xavier caught the expression first.

He straightened a little and narrowed his eyes at him. "Why are you smiling like that? You almost got eaten. That does not usually make people happy." His brow lifted. "Do you actually enjoy weird slimy things?"

Cynthia and Zafira both turned toward Trafalgar at that, waiting for the answer with more attention than they tried to show.

Trafalgar looked at Xavier.

Then he said, very simply, "I’m Prime Core."

No one spoke for a second.

Xavier was the first to understand it fully, and his face changed at once. The joke died there. Cynthia’s posture shifted right after, and even Barth, who had looked more worried than anything else since Trafalgar came out of the water, stared at him with open surprise.

Zafira’s lips parted slightly.

Prime Core.

At seventeen.

That was not something ordinary people reached. Hell, it was not something most talented people reached that early either. Plenty of awakened worked for fifteen years or more just to get there. Some never did. Some spent their entire lives trapped below it, not because they lacked will, but because their talent had already shown them the ceiling and refused to move it.

Trafalgar had crossed that distance in less than two years.

Xavier let out a breath and rubbed the back of his neck.

"You bastard," he muttered, though there was no real heat in it. "You passed me in no time."

Trafalgar pushed himself up on one elbow. "That’s what happens when you’re dealing with a prodigy." His voice had more life in it now. "I told you before. You already got your ass whooping in the duel."

Xavier snorted, but he did not argue.

He was not angry. If anything, he looked annoyingly pleased for him beneath the jealousy.

Bartholomew, who had been silent until now, spoke up with visible relief. "Do you want something to drink?"

Trafalgar finally pushed himself upright.

"Yeah. And food." He brushed wet sand from one arm and rolled one shoulder. "I’m starving."

That ended the heavier part of it.

The five of them went back to the towels and sat down with the food and drinks they had brought earlier. The whole thing looked almost absurd now. A peaceful beach afternoon, half-finished snacks, and Trafalgar sitting there wet and exhausted after killing a sea monster under the water.

Xavier kept glancing at him every now and then like he still found the whole thing mildly offensive.

Trafalgar ignored him and ate.

Mana was already returning more steadily. Not fast enough to fill what he had burned through during the fight, but enough that the hollow feeling inside him had started to ease. Prime Core changed that too. He could feel it with every breath and every slow pulse inside his chest. The mana he drew in answered more cleanly now. It no longer felt like forcing a stubborn river through a narrow channel. The path inside him had widened.

Cynthia took a drink before turning to her brother.

"Remember that we still have to stop by the orphanage before second year starts. They’re still doing renovations."

Bartholomew nodded at once, much brighter now that no one was disappearing into the sea anymore.

"Yeah, I remember. Don’t worry. I’m not forgetting something like that." He turned toward the others. "Do you all want to come too?"

Xavier lifted one hand without much thought. "I’d like to, but my mother is going to keep me busy."

Zafira adjusted the towel over her legs. "Sorry. I already made plans with some friends."

Trafalgar had nothing urgent waiting for him.

He wanted to spend time with Mayla too, yes, but there was still time for that. Enough of it.

"Sure," he said. "I can go. You can count on me."

Barth smiled at that. Cynthia said nothing, but her shoulders eased slightly.

The rest of the afternoon passed more quietly.

No one suggested going back into the water. Xavier complained about that once, though not seriously. They ate, drank, talked a little, and watched the sea calm itself as if it had not just tried to swallow one of them whole.

Trafalgar sat with the others and let the warmth of the sun dry the last of the water from his skin while the new strength inside his body made itself known in small, steady ways.

He felt fuller.

’So this is Prime.’

The thought stayed with him while the sun lowered and painted the sea in softer colors.

He had not been able to relax for even a full day without something trying to drag him to the bottom of the ocean.

Even so, as he sat there with the others and watched the evening spread across Mariven’s coast, one truth outweighed the rest.

He had reached Prime Core.

And for that alone, today had been a good day.