Little Genius

In the days that followed, Vivian and Lucia officially began their daughter’s magical enlightenment.

Vivian patiently taught her how to sense the dark mana within her own body, how to slowly guide it to flow.

Lucia, meanwhile, taught her how to feel the warmth of holy light and how to let it circulate gently inside her.

Little Luna studied with utmost seriousness.

Her movements were still clumsy, the energy she guided as thin as silk, yet she had already mastered the most basic circulation of mana—and, as expected, she showed astonishing talent in both aspects.

“Very good, just like that,” Vivian encouraged, gazing at her daughter. “Take it slowly. There’s no rush.”

At that moment, Lucia suddenly frowned.

“Vivian… don’t you think we should standardize our teaching methods a little?”

“Hm? What do you mean?” Vivian asked, puzzled. “Where are we inconsistent?”

“I mean,” Lucia hesitated, “I’m teaching Luna to perceive holy light by emphasizing inner peace and brightness, while you’re teaching her dark mana through control and dominance. These two philosophies feel contradictory. Won’t that confuse her?”

Vivian considered this for a moment, then shook her head.

“I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“Because Luna herself… is coexistence,” Vivian explained. “She carries both my Evernight bloodline and your bloodline and gifts. If we force her to accept only one philosophy, we’ll end up suppressing half of her potential.”

But… Lucia was still worried. “Light and darkness are fundamentally opposed. Even though I’ve mastered my own light, I can’t guarantee it’s completely safe. If she learns both powers at once, what if they clash someday and hurt her?”

“They won’t,” Vivian said earnestly, meeting Lucia’s eyes. “Don’t you remember the time Luna accidentally fused light and darkness before? Her body showed no discomfort at all—she accepted that power completely naturally.”

“That proves that in Luna, light and darkness are not opposites. They complement each other.”

Lucia fell silent, deep in thought.

Her mind still clung to the traditional belief that light and darkness were irreconcilable, yet Vivian’s words made sense.

“Besides,” Vivian continued, “I’ve always felt this world draws too sharp a line between light and darkness. Does light always mean good? Does darkness always mean evil? Not necessarily.”

“Power itself has no morality. What matters is the heart of the one who wields it.”

“What we should teach Luna isn’t to choose between light and darkness, but to learn balance, to learn understanding—so she can grow into someone truly free.”

Lucia listened, her heart stirring with complicated feelings.

Once upon a time, she had been a staunch believer in the supremacy of light, convinced that darkness must be eradicated.

Yet gradually, she had begun to realize the world was not so black-and-white.

“You’re right,” Lucia finally nodded. “Then we’ll each teach in our own way, but we’ll coordinate carefully.”

“That’s settled,” Vivian smiled.

Having reached an agreement, the two resumed instructing Luna.

It wasn’t long, however, before a small incident brought them both to a halt.

While trying to sense both types of mana at once, Luna suddenly let out an excited cry.

“Mommy! Mommy! Look!”

In her tiny hands hovered two spheres of energy—one was Vivian’s Evernight mana, a profound black; the other was Lucia’s holy light, radiating warm white.

Under Luna’s control, the two spheres slowly drifted toward each other.

“Wait, Luna—” Lucia started to stop her, afraid of an energy clash, but it was already too late.

The instant the two touched, there was no explosion, no rejection.

Instead, they naturally began to merge.

Black and white intertwined, eventually forming—once again—that strange gray radiance.

It was neither the abyss-like depth of pure darkness nor the blinding brilliance of pure holy light.

It existed somewhere in between—like the sky just before dawn, or the earth right after dusk.

Warm, yet not scorching.

Dark, yet not oppressive.

Contradictory, yet perfectly harmonious.

“This… is possible?” Lucia’s eyes widened.

Vivian was equally stunned. Though they had witnessed Luna’s potential for fusion before, neither had expected a child this young to accomplish it so effortlessly.

“Mommy, pretty?” Little Luna proudly held up the gray light, her eyes curving into happy crescents.

“Very pretty,” Vivian answered softly. “So, so pretty.”

She reached out to take the gray radiance, carefully sensing its energy.

This power truly was extraordinary—it possessed both the profundity and control of Evernight mana and the warmth and healing of holy light.

The two attributes blended seamlessly, without the slightest conflict.

“Luna, how did you do that?” Vivian asked curiously.

“Just… like this!” The little girl tilted her head, clearly not understanding why it was a big deal. “Luna thought they should be together, so they became together.”

Just like that?

Vivian and Lucia exchanged helpless glances, seeing the same mixture of awe and resignation in each other’s eyes.

To Luna, fusing light and darkness seemed as natural as breathing—an instinct that required no effort, no struggle.

Yet this was the very fusion of light and darkness that would drive any theoretical mage to madness, something deemed fundamentally impossible by all known laws.

Neither of them had expected that a child who had only just begun stringing words together could already command the two diametrically opposed powers within her with such ease.

“It seems my worries were unnecessary,” Lucia exhaled, her voice filled with wonder, relief, and a touch of exasperated amusement. “This child’s talent… truly defies imagination.”

“Yes,” Vivian murmured, her gaze overflowing with tenderness.

She lifted Luna into her arms and planted a soft kiss on her forehead.

“Alright, little genius. You’ve learned a lot today. Are you tired? Shall we rest?”

“Yes! Mommy~”

At Vivian’s words, Luna happily wrapped her arms around her mother’s neck and nuzzled close.

The gray light pulsed gently in time with her emotions—like a peaceful heartbeat, warm and serene.