Chương 27: Of loss, luck and squids

Kite was currently dashing along a rather large, open square, frantically trying to stay ahead of lines made out of erupting stone spikes continually sent in his direction. Around the square were taller and more lavish buildings, as well as a massive set of stairs which Kite believed led to some kind of palace. However, only the stairs and parts of the gate and facade of said buildings were actually intact, as the rest was cut off by the steep edge of the platform's end.

Kite was currently on the fifth platform, at the beginning of his third day inside the jade-sky gate. Helped by experience and his fortunate new weapon, he had been able to conquer three whole platforms on this second day, albeit that they had been smaller than the first where he had arrived. There had been some situations more intense and tricky than others, such as a series of devious traps which included a huge rolling boulder that Kite had stumbled upon in a series of catacombs beneath a strange graveyard.

Third had been slightly disappointed as Kite had let his void gate shred the massive boulder instead of attempting to flee from its path. Kite had also found some additional treasure accounting for one more essence and varieties of quintessence. His struggle had taken him to this moment, as he found himself confronting the first bronze-rank enemy in the trial. Having felt it from afar, he had at least not been ambushed, but it had still proved to be quite a handful.

Third had happily named the foe for him, calling it The Seneschal of Stone. It was a tall statue of about two and a half meters, depicting a severe-looking woman in a beautifully sculpted robe of office, albeit with a design foreign to Kite with its straight lines and angles. The seneschal wielded a heavy staff capped with a cubical head, and was currently repeatedly thrusting the butt end of the staff into the stone stairs beneath her.

Each strike sent out a wave of the aforementioned stone spikes which erupted out in a fast-moving line. Kite was currently scrambling for options, as he had first tried leaping over the lines only to be intercepted by a fast and accurate stone projectile shot by the head of the staff which threw him backward and cracked part of his armor. As he had been airborne, he had no longer been protected by his ability.

It was only through Fortune's providence that he had escaped with only that injury, as his aura had caused the spikes to break down faster as they closed in, keeping him from being impaled as he landed.

"Isn't it great for the theme that it is so good to bring its opponents back to earth? I thought it very fitting. Almost poetic, if I ma-""A bit busy, Third. Later!" Kite almost snarled as he dodged one more stream of spikes, thankful that they did not sway or turn to follow him. Third had become a more enthusiastic commentator over the past days, now taking to giving Kite details about its design philosophy in real time as Kite had encountered new features.

It was rather endearing how proud it was of its work, at least when the situation was not as dire as his current one.

"I miss Dragonfly." Kite thought as he was working out a new line of approach.

"She would probably just have run through the spikes and come out all the stronger for it." He had, in a mix of realization and hope, figured out that actually reaching the statue should be the greatest part of the challenge. So far it had him mostly running in a wide circle, gaining little ground. His walls had not worked either as the spikes were erupting through the ground, the line not hindered in the slightest.

His personal barrier was equally hard to employ, as directly downward would require him to jump and face the accurate stones shot at anything even remotely airborne. He was formulating a plan though, trying to incorporate a combination of the two and more, drawing upon master Stone's many lessons of merging his power set into a whole. As he felt his wall-spell become available again, he decided to enact it. Kite veered off straight toward the stairs, chanting"wall".

He did not go for a single pane of force but ten of them, each one meter wide and positioned in a rough, staggered line leading up to the stairs. Positioning himself with one of the walls between him and the stone seneschal, he continued to close the distance. As the expected stone line shot toward him, he jumped over it. He had not left the ground by more than a meter as the grounding projectile shot at him, spreading a huge wave of cracks across the barrier but leaving Kite blessedly unharmed.

While continuing his dash, he swerved slightly to the side to line up another fresh barrier, a strained smile on his lips. What had earlier felt like an impossible barrage had suddenly become an obstacle he could at least hope to overcome, and Kite managed to repeat the feat nine more times as he passed each wall of force. This left the final stretch which was the stairs leading up to the bronze-rank statue.

Kite's walls of force would remain unavailable for at least twenty more seconds, and the strength of the attacks leveraged by his foe completely removed staying in place behind a barrier from the list of possible solutions.

"I guess I'll have to follow Dragonfly's example then." Kite thought as he dashed out from behind the last barrier. He scattered a line of spikes with a wave or resonating force, courtesy of his latest weapon, and took the steps upward two at a time. Leaping over the second, he brought up his personal barrier to block the follow-up. While it left him unharmed thanks to his timely barrier and the racial gift evolution which had strengthened it, it still almost completely robbed him of momentum.

He grit his teeth and realized that the final stretch would be painful. Conjuring another barrier, he activated his belt to charge forward. As what would hopefully be the last line of spikes came at him, he also fortified himself by activating the damage-reducing part of Unyielding, keeping up the charge as the spikes started tearing through parts of his body before shattering.

His iron-rank armor was of less help against the bronze-rank attack, but fortunately the combined effort of his two passive abilities, Implacable motion and Unyielding, kept him moving forward instead of being thrown back by the stone constructions. This did not help against the actual injuries, as the sharp implements had savaged his legs and torso.

He almost faltered only two meters away, but a light bringing vigor back to his bloodied body carried him the final stretch as Kite used his strongest contingency, the power of Immortality allowing him to bring the charge home. Restored in health, mana and stamina, Kite was ready for the actual fight to begin. As he swung his greatsword in a sideways arc, the darkness of the void outlining the heavy blade, he found his assumption from earlier at least partially correct.

The stone seneschal was not very fast once up close, and his blade bit into his target of choice; the stone staff. However, the bronze-rank damage reduction was no joke and his strike failed to cut through it even with the resonating force of the spatial tear. As the statue brought the staff up again, Kite had to use another of his stronger cards which he would have liked to keep for a bit longer.

As he ducked to the side, Sage was left floating where he had stood and fired his white beam of force where his initial strike had left the staff cut through about half of the way. Just as the stone shaft was about to descend, its lower half separated from the top as the beam cut through it and was also able to damage the body of his foe a little bit with what power still remained.

Kite cheered inwardly as the downward motion of the now severed staff did not bring about more stone spikes, but immediately had to drop that line of thought as the top of the staff was instead swung down toward him. A melee ensued, as the statue could still very well leverage its bronze-rank strength and crush Kite to a pulp. Fortunately, it was slower than many iron-rank monsters he had faced, which allowed him to more easily fall into the relentless style of attacking taught to him by mistress Dew.

One of the barriers of Heaven-and-Void Warding, if timed properly, was enough to take on one such strike as they were made without other augmentations, and Kite wove them into his ceaseless attacking as he leveraged his greater speed. While he mixed it up a bit, the katar was the weapon he returned to the most. It's blade had easily pierced the stone opponents so far, and did noticeable damage even through the bronze-rank damage resistance, especially when triggering sundering rifts inside his foe.

The seneschal was quite tough though, compensating for its lack of speed. This meant that Kite for once saw the effects of his more long-term skills, such as the combined mana-draining from Chakra implosion and vortex of Spirit Singularity. A monster such as his foe did not use mana in the same way as an essence user, meaning that headache and unconsciousness did not occur.

The lowering levels of mana did seem to make it even more sluggish though, and added to the mounting levels of physical damage the seneschal seemed to have had enough. In what Kite hoped would be a final deathrattle, it lifted what remained of its staff and released the cubic piece of stone which capped the top of the symbol of office turned implement of blunt-force trauma.

The cube floated up and Kite could see a visible pulse as loose stones from all over being attracted to the cube, quickly forming a growing boulder above them.

"Oh no you don't." Kite said under his breath as he threw a throwing star humming with dispelling force toward the cube. Unfortunately, the impact only loosened some gathered stone rather than bring the ability to a close. His dispelling wave which followed had even less impact, as the effect was too active and did not seem to count as a magical projectile.

"Fortune preserve me!" Kite half-shouted as he instead took a different approach. His foe seemed wholly invested in shaping the huge stone above, so Kite took a risk. Bracing a foot against a sculpted fold in the stone robe, he climbed up its torso and was left balancing one knee on its shoulder with an arm slung around its head. Kite raised his other hand, the katar appearing as he punched down straight into the top of the statue's head.

As it pierced deep, Kite unleashed Potential of Stolen power into the sundering attack as a massive amount of spatial tears churned down from the blade and into the body of the statue. Not stopping to look up, he instead immediately followed with the activation of his katar, causing a conical blast of resonating force to shoot down into the statue's insides which had mostly been turned into a cracked mess by the previous attacks.

Like a drop of water bursting, the statue's body exploded in a cloud of gravel, causing Kite to unceremoniously fall to the ground on top of what chunks of stone that had remained below it, still clutching the top of the seneschal's head. Kite fell on his back, which was fortunate as it left him to see that the boulder forming above had come apart as well, the magic keeping it all together dissipating.

It did not dissolve or otherwise affect the gathered stones however, some the size of Kite's head, and gravity had quickly resumed its grip on the small earthslide now falling back toward him.

"Oh gods- Void!" Kite managed to get out as the dark gate manifested above him. Some stones rattled around the protective hole in the world, but the stones which disappeared into the gate gave off no sound. Kite channeled mana to keep it steady for a goodly amount of additional seconds, only stopping once he felt his reserves of mana start to dwindle. Seeing only the cloudy sky with its slight green tint above him as the gate vanished, Kite relaxed back onto the pile of stone with a sigh.

An orb floated into view, stopping directly above him.

"Congratulations, trial-taker! You have defeated one of the six rulers of this realm. Only five left to go before you have completed the trial." Kite groaned. Frost among Morning Dew stood unseen just outside of the clearing which housed the Jade-Sky gate, watching the initiates handle the waiting game rather differently. Most were relaxing, one young man was mostly training and meditating while the last, the one who had been defeated by Kite, were in different levels of anger and worry.

It didn't look like the former disciple had slept properly lately. Dew was curious if it was one of them which had sent the messenger construct, a rather costly contraption no less, to the Adventure Society to inform them of the situation. Branch director LanCaire had sent a personal request for her to put her current contract on hold and resolve this situation.

She did not know exactly why young Kite had warranted silver-rank intervention, but suspected it to be more about how the branch director detested any outside organizations intervening like this, especially the sects. Kite had apparently been inside the gate for a week. Time would supposedly tell if she would be needed to intervene when and if he came out, but Dew was a patient woman. And she would be paid either way.

Kite felt a bit silly at the depth of the sadness he was currently experiencing as he watched the charred remnants of his wooden armor laid out on the ground before him. It had been the second manifestation of his rather peculiar looting ability, and the armor had felt like an old friend as it had been with him this whole time from his first trip to Gilded to the battle against the bronze-rank wraith and through his long time on the road with Dragonfly and Serene.

Its strong self-repairing ability had always made it recover from any damage he had suffered, at least up until today. After his victory against the stone seneschal three days ago, he had pressed on into a domain clearly linked to the element of fire. Instead of dark, gray streets the platform had formed chaotic camps not unlike those Kite would associate with more wild, primitive people.

The dwellings were a lot smaller and made of blackened wood still burning in places, although the flames never seemed to devour the logs. His enemies had mostly been formed around the same white threads, but unlike in the realm of stone they merged with the fires which burned around the platforms, shaping it around them to form bodies and weapons of flame. They had the same humanoid shape but employed more aggressive tactics, being a lot faster and numerous.

Fortunately for Kite, and to Third's great dismay, his barriers and dispelling abilities were very effective against the flaming foes who had little physical substance and dealt their damage through their flames. His dispeling wave could almost snuff out the flames of all it passed through, leaving the very vulnerable white threads to be cut down before they could reform. He fought through waves of flaming silhouettes, axe-throwing ambushes and one time even a bull of solid fire.

The flame ruler, or Warlord of Cinders as Third had proudly named it, had been a bit more of a challenge. It had wielded a single-bladed heavy axe glowing of brimstone, and its fiery form had been encased in obsidian armor. As the rest of the flaming domain, Kite had still been blessed with an easier time as it too relied on a few special attacks and waves of flame for damage rather than physical force and resilience.

A few sundering attacks had cut away enough of its armor for Kite to start dispersing the flaming body. He would not call it easy, as striking above one's rank rarely was, but he had been in a lot less danger than when facing the stone seneschal. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. However, the battlefield had been ablaze in bronze-rank flames which the warlord had unleashed, many which covered a wider area not unlike the ability frequently used by Dragonfly.

Those attacks could often partially spill around his barriers, and both frequent and sometimes more intense exposure to the flames had ruined the wooden armor as the self-repair enchantments had literally and figuratively burned out.

"Thank you for your service." Kite somberly said to the remains of the armor. He had kept one of the gauntlets as a memento, it being relatively intact. The rest he left there to be consumed by the flames. The domain of fire had not been without its rewards though. As he had begun to search each platform rather thoroughly, he had thought that he had managed to find most of the secrets hidden by Third as it had created this realm.

They were often guarded by more unique foes, and the quintessence, awakening stones and essences they guarded would sell for a good amount if he managed to get through the trial. He had asked Third why the treasures were almost always a variety of those kinds of items, and the orb had been happy to explain.

"Well, trial-taker, I have to make do with natural manifestations for those as my limited capabilities only lets me manipulate the manifested monsters. While I have the requisite knowledge for crafting, anything I made would be way too valuable and unique to be used for such a purpose."

"So you are simply too skilled?" Kite had asked, curious.

"Well, yes. In a way. My memories and skills are limited to my task. I believe that my creator would have been able to adjust after specific needs. Unfortunately, my scope is too limited. I have, however, been able to repurpose some of the equipment left behind by trial-takers who failed so there might be some variety for you to find!" it had finished on a cheerful note. Kite thought that he might have stumbled upon such an item now, as the axe wielded by the warlord had not dissipated along with the creature.

He had tried picking it up to get a feel for it, but it had quickly grown uncomfortable due to the item being of bronze rank. Kite didn't fret though, as he already had a use in mind for it in the future. What he did fret about was his sudden lack of armor. He did not come entirely unprepared, carrying a simple set of iron rank armor in his bags, but he felt that simple would not be enough in a place like this. Before he started bringing it out of his bag, he took the time to meditate.

This helped him noticed something he had pushed to the back of his mind as he had mourned his faithful wooden companion; his looting ability was ready to manifest again. Apparently, defeating two dangerous bronze-rank opponents in addition to the slew of iron-rank ones had filled it to capacity very quickly. Kite was torn between a hope that the ability would once more oblige to his needs and incredulity that fortune could be so kind to anyone, least of all him.

That was why he almost fell over in a mix of surprise, disbelief and elation as the rainbow vortex first produced vambraces, followed by a helmet and then the rest of the pieces of a suit of armor in a steady stream as they clattered to the ground. He took out the token he received just before starting this very journey, rubbing it with his thumb.

"I know you can't hear me in here, but know that I remain ever grateful." he said in a mumbled prayer. He couldn't help imagining how such an action would have Dragonfly teasing him for his so-called earnestness while Serene would give him her most dignified approval. Putting the token away securely, he started piecing together what his ability had produced.

WWJS: [Item] Armor of Earthen Flow Iron rank - epic [Effect] Increases the wearer's physical strength [Effect] May absorb stone and similar materials to self-repair, even from near total destruction. This includes stone-based attacks of the same rank. Attacks of a higher ranks may not be entirely absorbed. When this armor would repair above maximum integrity, excess material is converted into an ablative protective barrier up to a certain limit.

[Effect] Increased durability"It does look quite impressive, at least for such a paltry rank." Third observed as it and Kite looked at the armor. It was a suit of heavier armor seemingly made of matte stone in the familiar gray shade of the stone domain. It looked solid, if plain and its design felt a bit foreign from the often brightly painted armor and colorful tassels which was favored in the lands of Hua-Xi. At least among those who wished to be noticed.

"And it looks heavier than my previous armor. But one should not inspect the feathers of a gift chicken. I better try it on and get a feel for it." Kite stated. It was fortunate that his power had so far only manifested items that would fit him in regards to size. Kite quickly recognized that the inherently magical nature of the armor had it trim down on certain aspects in favor of integrity, such as buckles and hinges.

After familiarizing himself with its magic, something he was only able to do instinctively with the items created by his power, he channeled a touch of mana into the breastplate which he held against his chest. The stone became almost liquid and flowed around his torso before hardening into position once more.

"Donning it should be a quick procedure at least. What ever would we do without magic?" he mused with satisfaction as he continued. While the stone armor was indeed heavier than his earlier set, it also seemed to enhance his strength. Kite could feel a low hum of power through his body as he donned more of the pieces. The end result was a pleasant surprise, as the increase in physical strength allowed him to move easier, landing at around the same level of mobility as previously, if not slightly better.

While his boosted strength was not close to the equal of someone like Dragonfly with an essence ability, it still was a noticeable difference. Kite mused that his previous two manifestations had felt noticeably more powerful than many of the earlier results. He concluded it must be a result of the ability ranking up and reaching some kind of threshold, as it almost felt too good to be true. But in the dangerous life of an adventurer, there was no such thing as equipment too good.

After performing some practice motions, lunges, leaps and rolls to get a feel for his movement, Kite tried activating its stone-absorbing ability. Small fragments from the stone around him seemed to liquefy and flow to him, glowing slightly with heat before settling over his armor. Where it settled, it formed into black obsidian ridges not unlike scales. He kept absorbing as much as it could handle, until every piece of the armor had been reinforced.

It had added some weight, but not enough to hamper him noticeably.

"This looks rather imposing. Almost sinister." Kite stated with a mix of awe and trepidation. The smooth, glossy scales ended in rather sharp points.

"I will have to ask Serene for advice in accessorizing, unless I want people to assume that I am some tyrant's knight from a story. I would not want people to begin calling me 'the evil one', after all."

"Heavens, I wonder whichever of the domains this could be?" Kite asked aloud in amused sarcasm. He had fought through two more platforms in the fire domain, whose ruler had resided on its central platform as if in the middle of its clan encampment. From afar he had seen that the territory seemed to connect with multiple others, and had mostly chosen a path at random. He would need to get to each and every one, after all.

This had now left him standing in front of a slightly curved wall of water, the outer edge of a liquid dome which covered the whole platform. The water was murky, and Kite could only see the vague outlines of what he assumed to be buildings made of huge seashells.

"Fortunately, I at least came prepared." Reaching down into one of his dimensional bags, he produced a thin choker made of blue jade with a big lapis lazuli adorning its side. It was one of the more situational magical items Kite had purchased before leaving on the trip. The choker, when clasped around his neck, would allow him to breath underwater for time, which could be extended by Kite actively channeling mana into it.

He did not wear it all the time to save on the item's internal mana reserves, which was absolutely the only reason. Not at all because he thought that the item made him look like someone's pet. Pragmatism did win in the end, as the item had been affordable due to the simple enchantment.

Fortunately for Kite, his resistance to movement restrictions through Implacable motion also alleviated a lot of the awkwardness of moving through water, so he was able to save a good bit of money by not having to account for that need. That money had been well-spent elsewhere. After putting on the item, he pushed in through the wall of water. It was pleasantly warm, to his surprise, but he quickly realized that was probably the only pleasant aspect of what was to come.

The water was as murky inside as it had looked from the outside, visibility quickly dropping. As he moved cautiously into the domain, faint lights started to become visible around him. His armored weight stayed comfortably on the stone floor of the platform. There were apparently plants growing down here, all of them luminescent to some degree.

He could see long strands of seaweed gently swaying, covered in tiny dots of lights which were strong enough to be seen from afar but not strong enough to light up their surroundings. Small glowing jellyfish floated here and there as well, along with a myriad of other slightly glowing but ultimately harmless marine life. The whole experience was very fascinating to Kite, as his part of the autumn lands was far away from any major bodies of water.

He had been to a few lakes, but his experience of water was mostly the myriads of small streams and rivers out in the forests. The alien dark landscape dotted with small, gently moving lights had a dangerous and mystical beauty to it. The danger was quickly highlighted as Kite was brought out of his reverie by a series of the small lights which suddenly swirled and flickered, only noticing it properly due to the wide field of view provided by his perception power.

He did not even have the time to bring up a barrier before multiple tentacles had wrapped around his face, shoulders and left arm while a painful pressure clamped down on his armored shoulder and multiple stinging points could be felt all over half of his face. Reacting half in panic, Kite's punching dagger appeared in one hand and started to stab wildly at whatever it was that had grappled him while his other hand, half restrained, tore at the long limbs that had wrapped around him.

There were some furious seconds of struggle, as Kite's rather panicked special attacks started to affect his assailant. Not knowing what his foe was, he simply went through them all. As he struggled, he could feel a burning sensation spreading through his body as well which only made his efforts more frenzied as he could feel his limbs weakening slightly. He managed to choke out " wall!"

, before he started slamming his assailant into the force wall through repeated tackling in addition to the rest of his struggles. Finally, the limbs grasping him released their hold as whatever it was attempted to retreat. Frustration, fear and fury guided Kite's hand as he brought his spear out in a swift motion and skewered the fleeing creature before it could get too far.

It was only then that his panicked mind started to remember the many meditative techniques he had been taught to use in these very situations, and Kite was inwardly chiding himself as he turned to whatever had attacked him. Floating in the water was something akin to a squid, Kite recognizing some of the traits from pictures in books. It was about the size of his torso, with a body slightly dark green and covered with glowing spots.

Ten tentacles hung from its body, now limp, each of them having small suction cups covered in needle-like teeth. In the middle of the body and circled by the tentacles was a circular mouth also filled with larger teeth, looking sharp and rugged enough to carve through steel if they got enough time. On top of its optimal camouflage and disturbing physique, Kite was now fairly certain that it was venomous as he still felt weaker than he should. A prolonged grapple would not have gone well for him.

All the beauty of the alien landscape had suddenly vanished to Kite, as the swaying seaweed now only promised danger. Backing up against a stone, he continued trying to calm his mind as he produced a small pill to counteract the poison, thankful for his dimensional pouches keeping his items safe. His thoughts went to Adelaide who had always thought the pills of the region to be weird, much preferring potions.

Kite had always liked the portability and quick ingestion of the pills, but he had to give her some merit as unprotected pills probably would not fare as well in the water as a glass bottle. Another thought, this time in thanks, was sent to Auntie Dove and the large quantity of such pills she had made sure to fill his bag with before they had left Starberry peak. As the cleansing effect washed through his body, in addition to some healing from another pill, he slowly started to relax slightly and take stock.

This domain would require a lot more caution, to be sure. If his path had been different he might have felt at home there in the darkness and murk, but alas it was not for him or the training he had received so far. Kite continued to creep along the more open areas of the watery domain, trying to stay a lot more alert and always have his back against something solid. Fortunately, the stealthy ambushing squid was not the most plentiful foe he would come to face in the dark.

As he felt a pair of iron-rank auras approach, Kite almost sighed in relief as the familiar white streamers came shooting through the water, stopping a short distance away as the water started solidifying around them and encasing them in ice. The end result was some kind of crustacean-centaur, the lower body sporting multiple legs as the more upright torso only had two arms ending in a vice-like pincer.

They did not sport heads in the usual sense, instead only having a cluster of eyes and antennae where their shoulders met. Kite thought that they were so far the largest form manifested by the strange, white threads which was the actual creature, and hoped that this meant that they wouldn't manifest in great numbers. Still, he thanked fortune for a straight up fight as he charged at the creatures, boxing one off with a conjured wall while engaging the other in a more measured melee.

Their pincers were powerful and they moved surprisingly well from side to side, but it was ultimately an easier and more controlled fight. As he was shattering the last of the pair, he felt a bit more of his earlier confidence and steadied himself. His path had to be harder to shake than that if he were to survive this trial.

"I wonder how Kite is doing. It has been twelve days since he left. Is that good? Or bad?" Dragonfly was musing as she idly chewed on the grilled lizard leg which Master Force had handed her. The mentor-student pair sat in their camp somewhere in the wilderness, on their way to hunt down a bronze-rank sodden shambler which had manifested in the rice fields of a village south of Gilded.

"From what little I have heard, it varies wildly. Some have emerged after but five days while others stay inside for a month. The trials apparently vary quite a lot in scope and shape." Force of Raging Torrent, Dragonfly's master, responded calmly from where she was meditating. Opening one eye, she affixed her student with her gaze.

"Speaking of Kite, have you told him yet?"

"No…" Dragonfly sighed.

"Why?"

"You know why. It makes me sad."

"Sometimes sadness-""-is a part of all paths. I know, master. But I will miss him. And Serene. And Glint too."

"Then all the more reason for you to tell them. Besides, it will not be for that long that you will be separated."

"But it could be years!"

"What are years on the long path towards the heavens?"

"That's easy for you to say. You have already lived through so many of them compared to me." Master Force sighed.

"In that, you are correct, dear Dragonfly. And if all goes well, I will soon have many more. Silver rank is close now. The next step feels almost inevitable. But take the advice from someone who, which you correctly pointed out, have lived for longer than you. Giving them the chance to mourn a separation and cherish the time up until it occurs is a lot more merciful than the pain of a sudden loss." Dragonfly sat hiding in her mass of pink curls, but still nodded her assent after a moment of silence.

"You are right, master."

"Come, dear student. I sense a group of monsters nearby. Ogres, I think. Better to find that strength you have always strived for. If only the strength to tell them when you next meet."