Kyrion awoke the next day after a good night’s sleep and made his way around the town, noticing that most of the villagers were happy with the sudden and convenient addition to their village and the influx of activity that came with it.

Working at the hotel was considered one of the more prestigious jobs in the eyes of the young. Its rates were nice, and the cost was relatively cheap for travelers. Luckily, while the tavern’s inn was cheaper, it didn’t have anything else to offer aside from food. The hotel did not have anyone who could cook, so most went to the tavern to eat.

Kyrion closed his eyes and looked up to the sky before starting his morning training with the new addition of boulder lifting. Solid stone proved heavier than Kyrion thought, and the process of pulling up some with his mana was pretty trivial. He started with what he thought was eight hundred pounds for the first set and then moved on to a thousand for the second set of lifts. He tried hefting one thousand and one hundred pounds. He felt his arms creek and hurt while his body strained to push it that much. His regeneration worked overtime to heal the damage caused to his arms which drained his stamina and mana quite a bit.

Increasing weight by one hundred pounds was not as gradual as he thought it would be.

Ceres approached her master as he lay in a heap on the ground, sweating. First, she looked at the boulder and then the boy who was face down in the dirt.

“Do you need any help?” She asked.

“Uhhhh.” Kyrion complained.

“What was that master?”

“Foummmd” He tried harder.

“How much?” Ceres interpreted.

“Ahall i cam eaa.” Kyrion let his body rest and heal.

Ceres nodded her head. “That’s a tall order, master, but I will do my best.”

Ceres left and returned with three of the Kyr Specials. Rolling him over, she found that her poor master was too tired to eat it on his own. Bringing a piece of the sandwich to his mouth, she opened it and put the food inside. Moving his jaw up and down to chew said sandwich.

She didn’t have to feed him. He could eat the sandwiches by himself. But he liked her initiative and played along, making her job as easy as possible. Then, all of a sudden, she stopped feeding him the food.

He watched as she bit her thumb, thinking. Kyrion tried to move when he realized that he wasn’t pretending.

Ceres watched as her master seemed to struggle. “It’s ok, master. I’ve seen birds do this before. I’ll just chew the food for you so that you can just swallow it,”

In a pragmatic sense, that could work, but to Kyrion, that seemed like a fate worse than death.

“S-stop!” Kyrion heard someone say in the distance.

Ceres clearly didn’t hear it.

Kyrion, having gotten a break to breathe, opened his mouth to speak but found his jaw sore. Wait, not sore, broken. His mouth opened wider than he intended and pain shot through his body.

“Looks like the master is already ready.” Ceres began to chew the sandwich.

“I-I said stop!” Repeated the same quiet voice.

Kyrion almost swore that he recalled the voice. It had been so long since he last heard it.

“Can’t you see that I’m attending to my master?” Ceres said, having accidentally swallowed the first part.

“You’re making it worse can’t you tell?” The boy stated.

“What do you mean?” Ceres asked.

“His jaw is broken and he looks like he’s about to cry… It looks rather odd on his face.” Damian stated as he examined the clearly injured teenager.

“My master would not get a broken jaw from me, helping him. He’s too strong for that.” Ceres said matter a factly.

Ceres was tired of the nosey kid and tried to get the food to rise up like a penguin does.

“Please just leave him alone. I can’t stand for this.” The boy stated.

“Then sit down!” Ceres yelled, frustrated by her inability to get it back up.

Kyrion had recognized the voice, and while the two kept each other occupied, Kyrion crawled his way towards a safe place to hide. The bushes next to that tree seemed fine.

“Take another bite and I will be forced to fight you, to defend my friend.” Damian seemed a bit too happy at the prospect of a fight.

Kyrion looked up at the speaker from his bush after turning back on his regeneration.

“Who the?” Kyrion stated.

Damian had gone from a bald kid with a stoic face to a dark blue-haired noble-looking boy. His hair was still pretty short, but he wasn’t bald. His manner and dress were fancy. Carrying himself a bit more proudly than before. One look into his friend’s eyes told Kyrion that he needed this fight as much as Kyrion needed to avoid eating chewed food.

Kyrion decided to keep his mouth shut and set his jaw to help the healing process.

A sword appeared in Damian’s left hand, and Ceres motioned for him to wait as she donned her plate armor. All in all, it took her a surprising bit of time. Kyrion was ninety percent sure she forgot why they were going to fight, the same way she didn’t notice that he slowly crawled away. Sometimes there were only clouds up there. Kyrion knew he was the pot and she was the kettle in this scenario, but he didn’t care.

“Ok. I’m ready to fight!” Ceres charged at the boy, halberd in hand.

Damian copied the maneuver, and the two found themselves close and personal.

Ceres swung down, attempting to hit him in the head.

Damian moved up the shaft of a halberd like a striking snake and landed a dropkick to her helmed head before pushing off with a second foot and landing a few feet away, which had the added benefit of causing her to stumble.

Kyrion was chewing on a blue pomegranate as the two fought. Which helped his natural healing quite a bit. Now all he had to do was capture the breakfast that the two warriors were dancing over.

Kyrion planted one foot on the ground and broke the earth a bit, constricting his muscles in preparation for the massive leap he was about to facilitate.

Ceres repeated the same overhead swing that missed digging into the ground.

Damian ran up the shaft in an attempt to knock her off balance.

Ceres grabbed the boy by the ankle and spun him around a few times before throwing him away.

“Your sacrifice isn’t in vain my dear friend.” Kyrion whispered.

A booming sound could be heard as a puff of smoke rose where Kyrion had been hiding. He stepped on a platform of solid air and stepped again. Swiftly grabbing the three sandwiches before flying into another set of bushes. He was exhausted from the maneuver, but at least he had his sandwiches.

“Priorities.” Kyrion sat in his spot with his prize. His jaw started to fix itself.

Kyrion ate the three sandwiches as Damian landed onto his feet while Ceres was distracted by the sudden sound behind her. The two danced in a circle of blows, swings, sweeps, and parries.

Damian was being pushed back by the practitioner rank dragon.

Kyrion examined his friend and saw that he hadn’t reached that level yet. Though Damian was a fifth-tier fledgling. Unlike Kyrion, Damian had a lot more experience in combat. At least he fought like he did.

Damian pulled out his second sword, and his style changed quite a bit.

“What is that?” Kyrion was surprised by the second sword, Damian probably didn’t think too much about it, but it made a lot more sense when he saw it in action.

A black-haired woman in flowing pink robes appeared in between the two fighting. “That’s enough of that, Damian. Don’t we have some business to take care of? Like finding your friend, I heard he’s been missing since breakfast. From what I’ve heard, he doesn’t sound like the time to miss a meal. He said he got a lot bigger, which means we need to find an obese kid in a village, which shouldn’t be this hard.”

Damian raised an eyebrow. “Big as in tall.”

“Is what you say.” The woman crossed her arms.

Kyrion was awestruck. He’d never seen someone so sparkly. It was as though flower petals were surrounding her. He felt his heart speed up and his face flush. He also felt a familiar pressure in his head.

For the second time in two days, Kyrion saw his first love, then a familiar wave of mana cleansed the effect from his body. That second first love died where it stood. But, of course, he wouldn’t tell anyone about this fact.

“Armor girl, what is your master’s name?” Damian asked.

Ceres took a long moment to think. First, looked to where she left Kyrion and then where she sat the sandwiches down. She then looked at Damian with suspicion.

“What did you do with master Kyrion! And his breakfast!” Ceres yelled.

“Nothing. Shouldn’t you have kept a better watch?” Damian looked around, glancing about.

“I had to put on my armor!” Ceres yelled, getting ready to fight.

Damian began to hum a tune causing vibrations to fill the world around them. Finally, the sound made it to Kyrion and past him.

“He’s eating breakfast over there. Please don’t try to feed anyone else like that. It’s disturbing.” Damian explained.

“What’s wrong with chewing his food for him?”

“Everything.” The women in pink robes and Damian said at the same time.

Kyrion stood up full and fully healed after a solid breakfast. “Good to see you Damian, haven’t seen you in what feels like forever. Everest is already here as well, I was just getting some training done when I hurt myself.”

Kyrion pointed to the boulders he had been using.

Kyrion then pointed to Ceres. “While a bit zealous, your head was mostly in the right place. Don’t try to feed me like that again please.”

“What should I do if you hurt yourself again?” Ceres asked worriedly.

“Don’t chew anything for me… If you must just lay me somewhere and let me rest. I didn’t feel you break my jaw. Until I tried to move it.” Kyrion rubbed his chin.

“I- I did break your chin? How? I’ve seen your chin break walls.” Ceres was surprised.

“It probably had something to do with you forcing it open and closed without much care for my body. You also may be much stronger than me. Have you been holding out on me?” Kyrion crossed his arms.

“So. Kyrion, right? You’re taller than I assumed. Do you know the owner of the hotspring?” The black-haired woman spoke to him with a melodious voice.

“Yes. I am.” Kyrion replied, not letting too many words spill out as he defended his mind from the subtle invasion.

She laughed a bit before eying him closely. “You may be talented but this is something that could only be built by a great architect. It’s quite solid and is something that requires a deal of experience for a farmer’s son shouldn’t have. “

“Oh… No, my master got the blueprints from somewhere. I just recruited the beavers, gremlins, moles, and ect. They did most of the construction thinking and whatever..”

“You taught woodland critters and monsters how to build architecture?” She asked, a bit confused.

“I’m not surprised.” Damian said matter of factly.

“Why is that?” His teacher asked.

“He already knew how to train squirrels, it was only a matter of time before he figured out bigger animals.” Damian said stoically.

Damian’s teacher bowed. “If your friend is telling the truth then I will apologize. It’s just unusual for one to find the non combat aspects of their abilities so early on.”

“It’s what my master has been focusing his teaching on lately. I hate it.” Kyrion added.

“I am currently trying to help Damian discover that aspect with his powers but he’s a bit stubborn when it comes to this. Maybe a peer could open his eyes a bit. I’ll be taking the first group into the baths. Feel free to play around a bit more, the only stipulation being, you can’t fight.”

Damian sighed as he watched his master leave.

“Everest is here. He’s currently training with a friend of mine. Would you like to go meet them now?”

“No… not yet. I need to figure out what my teacher meant by trying out my powers outside of fighting.” Damian eyed his friend.

“Have you tried singing to animals?”

“I thought his spirit was that sword.” Ceres pointed at the weapon.

“Oh this?” Damian brought out his second sword and showed it to her.

“Were you holding out on me?” Ceres seemed surprised.

“It’s just how I fight. The longer a fight goes, the stronger I get. My first sword chips away at my targets defenses, slowly weakening anything it hits while the second weakens my target’s senses, making them distorted.” Damian explained.

“I see. Have you tried singing to woodland critters?” Kyrion brought up.

“No, why would I do that?” Damian asked.

“Yeah why would he sing?” Ceres asked.

“It’s one of my abilities.” Damian said shyly.

“What does singing have to do with swords?” Ceres seemed confused.

“He has two spirits.” Kyrion said.

“Yes, two swords.” Ceres stated.

“No, the two swords are one spirit.” Damian said blankly.

“How does singing become a spirit?” Ceres asked.

“Abyss if I know.” Damian replied.

“Haven’t you been training that skill?” Kyrion asked.

“Yes. But not with anyone else around. It’s embarrassing.” Damian covered his face.

Kyrion clapped his hands in a pattern which caused various woodland critters to come out of the woodworks.

Damian eyed Kyrion as though he had grown a second head. “Why? How? You know what nevermind.”

“I want you to sing to the woodland critters.” Kyrion said blankly.

“But…” Damian started.

“They’re animals. If they hate it then they will just get up and leave. The perfect test subjects.” Kyrion smiled at his friend and sat on a stump. Ceres took a seat next to him.

Damian gulped a bit, waving his blades around, the tassels forming a hypnotic pattern before he began to sing a lullaby. One by one, the smallest of mammals began to sleep.

Kyrion was unaffected by it while Ceres looked at the singing boy in awe. After a few minutes, Damian stopped singing and earned a couple of claps for his trouble.

“Your voice. It’s so peaceful. Can you do another one?” Ceres asked, a bit too excited. Her eyes seemed to have fogged over.

“Another one? Uhhh.” Damian’s face reddened…

“This is the only song I know how to sing right now. Well the only one that affects others.” Damian quickie added.

“What did that song mean to you?” Kyrion asked.

“It was a lullaby my mother sang to me when I was smaller.”

“You can remember things like that?” Kyrion tried to remember if he had heard his mother sing. But unfortunately, he couldn’t recall such a situation. He recalled Samanta singing a few songs to Illanda, but it wasn’t the same.

“More or less. I used to have trouble sleeping when I was younger.” Damian stated.

Ceres laughed, recalling how quickly she’d seen her master go to sleep right after a fight during their time in the dungeon.

Kyrion scratched his head. “So the song means something to you?”

“Yes. Like I said, it helped me sleep when I was younger.”

“I could hear that you love this song, in your voice. Maybe the first requirement for your ability is emotion?” Kyrion looked up at the sky.

Damian slapped himself on the forehead. “How did I not figure that out?”

“My friend, you are pretty dense.” Kyrion grinned.

“Like you’re one to talk.” Damian laughed.

“Hey. I have been training to fix my lack of common sense.” Kyrion finally fell back.

Ceres looked back and forth, confused as the two were laughing at something that she couldn’t understand. “So no second song?”

“No se...” Damian started.

“Damian, are you happy?” Kyrion asked.

“Yes. Why does that matter?” Damian started again.

“Try singing.” Kyrion looked toward his friend.

Damian’s smile widened as the idea made sense, and he began to hum a song that expressed his elation.

The woodland critters got up and started running around at a speed that Kyrion hadn’t seen them used before.

Ceres seemed to be entertained by the humming.

Kyrion raised an eyebrow and slowly soaked the note that Damian’s teacher had slipped him.

Emotion is the catalyst for his abilities. But he doesn’t listen to me, sometimes you have to hear something from a friend to understand.

“They’re moving faster than normal as though they were enhanced by something,” Kyrion ordered the critters to do a little dance, and they happily obliged.

Damian stopped and watched as the critters continued to dance at that speed. The effects were reminiscent of when he used his sound affinity to enhance his speed and power.

“I think I understand what my teacher wanted me to learn. The reason she wanted me to mingle with others was to experience different feelings with this ability at my disposal.”

“Yeah. It doesn’t suit Other Guy very much. He was a bit too stoic. Any reason for that Damian?” Kyrion eyed his friend.

“You know I have trouble with strangers. I’m just naturally shy, which is ironic for someone whose parents were performers. I just freeze up, sometimes unable to speak.” Damian said truthfully.

“You spoke to me?” Ceres said.

“I-I s-saw you hurting my friend. Of course I had to step in.” Damian stuttered and then scowled.

“Ah. So you can speak when the situation is dire….” Ceres nodded.

“Can we move on now?” Damian started messing with the tassels at the end of one of his short swords.

After a minute of silence, Kyrion stood up. “Well that’s that. Everest and Tiffany should be done. I don’t know about you but I’m pretty hungry.”

Ceres recalled that Kyrion’s food had disappeared. “Ah you missed breakfast. That sandwich thief! I will get them for this master.”

Kyrion looked at Damian, who seemed to be squinting at his friend. “Good luck with that.”