"Alright girls, see you in bit."

"It shouldn't take too long right? That Nylon guy said Logran wasn't that far from Turric."

Orion, Karteira, and Amelia were chatting in the portal hub.

"That 'Nylon guy' is Dylan's son, the person who taught Orion everything related to fights and abilities."

"Oh, sorry. I wasn't trying to be disrespectful."

Karteira ended up a little embarrassed.

"I'm sure he won't mind. I'll be back in an hour or two."

He turned around and waved with his back toward them, before vanishing in the portal.

...

'It's colder today.'

Orion stepped out of his portal, and looked at the blue sky slightly covered with white clouds.

He wasn't cold, but he still felt the difference, just as much as the heat of the Parsmata Desert was unable to affect him.

Maybe that was an attribute of his mixed blood, or maybe his trained body could endure the harsh environments, but he didn't know the answer to that.

'So, I'm supposed to wait for Nylon? Or should I go out of the city?'

Currently, he was in front of Eric's house. He was about to walk away aimlessly, when May came out of the house next door in full soldier uniform.

'Red hair, white uniform, a nice contrast.'

There was a certain appeal that Orion appreciated.

Comparing both of them, there was less than twenty centimeters of difference between them, with Orion at 192cm (6.3 feet), and May at 175cm (5.7 feet).

She did not notice Orion standing there, and locked her door before walking the opposite way.

For some reason, that made him a little frustrated. He wanted to do something while waiting for Nylon, so why not talk to someone else.

Though, he knew she had her duty as a high ranking officer of Eric's army. She was also his aid, though Caroline already took care of that part, so she only had to care about giving orders to the men under her, and it was good enough for her.

Orion forgot about his need to talk to her, and walked the other way. Until he walked on the snow.

An ominous smile appeared on his face as he scooped a bit of the snow with his hand.

On the other side, May was thinking about what to do.

'These past few days... were tough. First the invasion, and then this group of people. Another fire user, Amelia. I still can't accept how easily she managed to understand me.'

She brought her right hand out of her pockets, and placed her index and middle fingers on her lower lip, thinking harder than she usually allowed herself to.

'From what I've heard, this man, Orion, might be trustworthy enough to help, but I don't want to make a wrong move. Who knows what would happen the moment he gets to learn more abou-'

May couldn't finish her thought, because of a snowball that exploded on the back of her head.

"Ah, I have never played with snow before! I should bring everyone next time to make a training using snowballs to fight! What a great idea!"

The voice of who she recognized as the culprit was heard behind her. She did not take the offense of having a snowball thrown at her lightly.

Angry, she turned around to see the person she was thinking about making a pile of snowballs.

"You... what are you doing? Aren't you supposed to move out of town today?"

Calming her fury to a tolerable level, she walked toward Orion.

"As you can see, I've never played with snow before, and I though it would be great for training. Do you mind giving me a hand?"

Orion picked up half of the snowball he made, and forcefully gave them to May. He picked up the rest and walked past her, while May remained there confused.

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"What are you waiting for?"

"Huh?"

When she turned around, she saw Orion looking at her with expression saying 'Hurry up!'.

May's legs moved out of her control, joining him out of the city. She couldn't stop thinking about why she was following him.

After a few minutes, they were out of Turric. When Orion found a good spot out of prying eyes, he placed the snowballs on the snow, and picked one from the pile.

'What am I doing following him? I still have my job to attend t-'

"BFFFA!"

Once again, she couldn't finish her thought. Another snowball crashed on her, this time directly at her face.

"What was that for?!"

Angrily, she wiped the snow off of her and stared at Orion.

"You're thinking too much. Pay attention to what's around you, or you will build bad habits that could potentially bring harm to you and others around you."

'What is he talking about now? Why is he trying to teach me?'

Orion picked another one and prepared himself to throw another one at her.

'Not this time!'

May opened her hand, creating her pale flame in her palm. When the snowball closed in on her, she swiped at the snowball with the flame, melting it instantly.

"That's better, now you're paying attention."

Satisfied, Orion stopped throwing snow at her, and went to the main point.

"I would like to request your help for a moment. Only until Nylon find us."

He bent over and picked up another snowball, before putting a lot of strength into his arm. With his natural strength, he threw the snow fifty meters in the air.

"That's... quite high. I can't even see it."

"I can."

Orion released his magic, making his hair change color. In his left hand, Alcyone appeared, which he used to aim at the air.

*click*

The crossbow fired when he locked on the target. The arrow traveled rapidly, and pierced through the snowball that was falling back down.

Particles of snow fell back on them.

"I already knew you were powerful. If you are trying to impress me, you are losing your time."

May stared at him with mocking smile. To that, Orion shrugged.

"As if I wanted to impress anyone. I simply want you to throw snowballs in the air so I can shoot at them."

He picked another snowball and threw it in the air.

"As you can see, it is quite inefficient by myself."

"That's... it? Really?"

She couldn't believe it.

'I knew he loved to train, but to this extent? Why did he not call one of his companions?'

Watching Orion aim and pulverize another snowball, she could only remained confused.

"You just want me to throw snowballs in the air? I can't threw them as high as you though."

She picked up one and threw it slightly above the tallest tree.

"Threw them randomly in the air, that will be enough."

Orion stayed still while aiming. His focus was now unbreakable.

'I guess I can do that.'

May brought her arm holding the ball behind her, and threw it with average strength.

The snowball traveled in an arc in front of Orion, and before it was pulled down by gravity, exploded.

The same process was repeated again and again, until May felt like asking a question.

"Why do you train so much? Do you like it? Or is it an obligation maybe?"

Two snowballs entered Orion's field of view.

'Interesting. But I've done worse fighting Amelia.'

Though he needed the Arm Overdrive to fire repeatedly, he could still fire arrows rapidly. And now that his crossbows are firing automatically, the process of firing volleys was easier.

*Click-Click*

Two light arrows pierced the snowballs, continuing in the air until they vanished.

Orion dropped his arms and turned to May.

"A little bit of both. I like to train, and it is an obligation."

"I've had two things while in the orphanage that kept me entertained. Books, and my old crossbow. I could only fire efficiently once trained, because believe it or not, pulling the string is harder than you would expect."

He pulled on Alcyone's string lightly, effortlessly moving it backward.

"The moment I learned who I was, I had two choices given to me. Flee from my problems, and forget about it, or survive in this chaos, putting my life on the line."

"That man is not someone I can hope to defeat without proper training. I am not necessarily pessimistic, but the chance of winning is pretty slim."

With a sad expression on his face, he stopped playing with Alcyone, and turned around.

"Does that answer your question?"

Alcyone disappeared, and Orion walked under one of the trees, before looking up.

"I'm done, sorry for making you wait."

Up the trees was Nylon, silently waiting, but once he was noticed, he jumped down.

"Since when did you notice?"

As Nylon's feet touched the snow, he asked.

"From the fourth arrow I fired. I believe it was easy to find me?"

He smiled, knowing that firing light arrows in the air could only indicate one thing for the beastman. His location.

"I thought I was well hidden."

Nylon shrugged.

"Anyway, if you are ready, let's move out."

Both men walked past May, who was thinking about Orion's answer. When she noticed that Orion was leaving, she turned in a hurry, barely missing the perfect opportunity.

"W-Wait! Can I ask you something else?"

"Hmm?"

Orion glanced at her, his back turned toward her.

"Could you come back later? I would like to tell you something important. Something very important to me."

"..."

The idea of ignoring the woman certainly crossed Orion's mind, but by doing that, he could injure the new friendship Amelia seemed to have formed with her.

'I have no reason to accept, yet refusing would only leave Amelia in a bad spot. Listening to her is all I can do though.'

He turned his head forward, and answered.

"I don't know what you would want from me, but sure. I'll listen to you once my visit in Logran is done. I'll check with you tomorrow, same time, same place."

Without waiting for an answer, he left the forest.

"G-Great."

May nodded, a little shocked he accepted so easily. Now that her mind was set on telling him her secret, she could only commit to it.

Once she regained her composure, she returned to Turric. Luckily, no one said anything to her being late. Instead, a weird rumor began to spread around the soldiers that May had been seen with a tall man going out of the city, playing with snowballs.

~

Nylon and Orion exited the forest.

"Logran is this way."

Pointing his finger north-east, he looked eager to return home.

"Do you think you can keep up with me?"

He stretched his legs, and left Orion behind. A trail of powdered snow followed behind him.

"Who are you taking me for?"

Orion shrugged, and caught up with Nylon by using his Second Gear.

In the end, it was Nylon that had to keep up with him.

Thirty minutes later, they both arrived at Logran, the beastman village protected by their 'Savior', Dylan Ravale.