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training

The apartment had never been louder—and never felt more full.

Kairo stood in the middle of the living room, watching Kira crawl across the ceiling.

Literally.

Her fingers glowed faintly with gravity-shift runes, and she was upside-down on the plaster like it was the most natural thing in the world. Her long black hair floated around her face, golden eyes scanning a tiny levitating Rubik's cube she had "borrowed" from Mina's desk.

"You're gonna fall," Kairo said, voice calm.

"I adjusted the field angle," Kira replied. "I'll bounce."

"You bounce wrong, and I'm installing gravity cuffs."

" don't hit the ceiling fan "
She blinked, dead serious. "Those exist?"

Mina walked in with a cereal bowl and flopped on the couch. "She already disabled my door lock, reprogrammed my tablet, and made the bathroom scale lie to me."

"I did no such thing," Kira said. "I merely reduced your self-esteem variables."

Mina gave Kairo a long, betrayed look.

Kairo groaned. "She's five. How is she this smart?"

[System Notice: Riftborn Child Intelligence Scaling – Accelerated Cognition Active]

"Oh. Damn."

Later that day – Training Grounds, Sector 3

Kairo had rented out the upper arena, a floating cube of solid mana-shielded panels where rogue hunters usually trained in full combat mode. Now, it was just him and Kira—floating spar orbs, reactive drones, and a faint hum of gravity distortion.

"Alright," Kairo said, rolling his shoulder. "No weapons yet. Focus training first."

Kira nodded and tightened the wraps around her tiny hands like a pro fighter. "Voidstep sparring or Gravity Dance?"

He blinked. "You made up names already?"

"I categorized your moves while you slept."

Kairo opened a portal and sent a training drone through it. Kira instantly warped into the drone's blindspot and hit the sensor node with a precise flick of her wrist, causing it to explode in a burst of harmless light.

"Nice," he muttered. "Too nice."

Kira grinned. "You're slow."

"Alright. No more dad gloves."

He Voidstepped.

So did she.

They collided midair, portals warping and overlapping. Kira's energy wasn't as strong—but her instinct was nearly flawless. Kairo moved faster, but every time he tried to pin her, she bent space around herself and slipped away like smoke.

She didn't fight like a child.

She fought like him.

"Where'd you learn to—"

"Your memories," she said, already flipping to avoid a gravity crush. "I got a few... during the birth. Not clear. But enough."

He slowed. "You saw... me?"

She nodded.

"And Mom?"

Kira paused, floating above him upside-down. "She was... warm. She let go on purpose. So I could come here.right?"

Kairo's throat tightened, but he masked it with a smirk. "Well... she passed down the stubborn."

"Damn right."

"Hey—no cursing."

"You do."

He sighed. "."

That Night – Apartment Balcony

Mina had gone to sleep early, and the city buzzed below with Riftwatch sirens and floating transports.

Kairo and Kira sat under a glow orb, sharing a rare quiet.

"You ever think about what we are?" she asked.

"All the time."

He looked down at her—his daughter, born of shadow and chaos, and still somehow more human than most people he knew.

"You're not," he said. "You're proof I'm still something more than what they made me to be."

Kira leaned against him. "Then we'll fight together."

Kairo wrapped his cloak around her.

"No," he said gently. "We'll live first. Fight if we have to. But we protect what's ours."

Kira yawned.

"I like that."

Elsewhere – Rift Convergence Point

The Council of the Ascended gathered.

Twelve figures, each carved from a different reality—one made of water, another of glass, one constantly glitching.

"Voidborn child has taken shape," one rasped.

"She is the keystone."

"If the Riftwalker and the Child unite, the cycle may break."

"Or fulfill."

The eldest, a creature with a cracked halo and no face, stepped forward.

"Send the Seer. Send the Harvester."

"And if they fail?"

"Then... we awaken the Mother."