It was time to see what the ring was supposed to do, so Orion focused his mind to feel the flow of magic in it.

After finding flow, he lifted his right arm high in the air, and activated the new ability that formed in the ring, Corruption Search.

The ring began to glow a purple light. A small beam of purple light, almost imperceptible, moved toward the sky.

Everyone thought for a second that it was either broken or that the most corrupted place was the sky, but then the beam fell toward their right, to their north-east.

Since they were in the forest, there was no way to know which direction it really was.

Drania began to point in the same direction as the beam, and with a buzzing sound and incredible speed, flew high in the sky.

She looked in the direction of her finger, and returned down after making sure of where she was pointing at.

Her feet touched the ground.

"The ring seems to be pointing at the desert."

Orion, who still had the map opened near him, glanced over it.

"There's only one desert on this continent. It's the Parsmata Desert."

Amelia and Karteira seemed to not like that.

"The sand, the heat, the lack of water... I almost don't want to go."

"I'm more concerned about my armor overheating too fast."

Those were their concerns, which were legitimate. No one should venture in a desert unprepared.

"Drania, was there a village on the horizon before the desert?"

Orion asked her since she was the one that saw what could be on their path.

"I'm pretty sure I saw some light, so I'd say yes."

"Thank you."

Orion packed his things, and sat on the ground.

"We're camping here tonight. Tomorrow morning, we'll leave in direction of the next town. Is that fine with the two of you?"

"Why here?"

Karteira asked. The one answering was Amelia.

"This forest is special, it repels all kinds of animals, which makes it scary for humans. It means we won't be bothered staying here."

"I see, it sure is helpful. I don't have any problems with it then."

She gave her approval, which left only Amelia to agree. Orion looked at her until she answered.

"I don't have a problem with it. I don't like to move at night to begin with."

Since everyone agreed, he glanced at the two sisters that were fidgeting, wanting to ask something but refraining to.

Just by seeing them, he thought about what they could want, and went for it.

"I know we've already said our goodbyes, but, do you want to stay the night with us?"

Drania beamed from ear to ear.

"Can we?!"

"Of course, I wouldn't want you two to leave like this anyway."

Drania sat next to him, and Dramia followed a moments later. When she sat next to her sister, she whispered.

"Thanks for having us."

He heard it, but stayed silent, gently smiling at her.

Amelia walked a bit further away, to the place where the big tree stump was, and used her earth element.

Stone walls began to form, creating a place where everyone could sleep peacefully in. She created a small room on the other side for Orion, since he refused to sleep with the girls.

Outside, she created her own cooking place. It became more advanced thanks to the earth's metal component.

"Alright, I'm done. If you want to sleep, you can."

Orion walked to Amelia.

"Thank you. Don't overexert yourself though, we have a long road ahead of us."

He tapped her head gently and walked past her, walking inside the rocky house to place his bag in his room.

Everyone stayed outside, talking and enjoying the night, before Orion walked outside the house.

"Someone want to train with me for a bit?"

"I'll pass."

Dramia and Amelia said at the same time. He understood that they both weren't all about sweating right now, and Amelia had to prepare food, so he turned to the remaining two, Drania and Karteira.

The first was deep in thought, thinking if it was alright to train with him now, the next one smiling wildly.

Drania turned to her sister, as if asking for her permission.

"Why don't you fight him? Do it over there though."

She pointed opposite to their position, further away on the other side of the lake.

"Of course!"

Orion walked to the two girls sitting and stretched his hands toward them. He helped them get up, and said with a wild smile.

"Two against one?"

Karteira nodded, already prepared for it, while Drania nodded, excited to fight Orion for the first time.

"We'll be back the moment you call for us."

The three walked away, leaving Amelia and Dramia together after waving.

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~

"Look at them."

Amelia said, watching the three fighting on the other side of the lake.

"Even Drania got swept by him."

They both sighed and walked together toward the kitchen spot.

"Do you cook often?"

Amelia asked her, since she never saw her cooking before. To begin with, she didn't know much about the sisters.

"I used to cook for the three of us. Drania can't cook without burning something, and Noah was a disaster in the kitchen. Whatever he cooked was good looking, but disgusting."

She laughed remembering the past, which made Amelia smile too.

"This seems pretty similar to what Orion does."

"Is he a disaster in the kitchen too?"

Amelia picked up the ingredients and condiments from her bags.

"Did you know it was possible to burn pastas? Charcoal like burnt pastas."

Her jaw slightly dropped.

"He can make the most horrible mixtures in existence. At least he doesn't burn the place down when he cooks, but still."

Amelia laughed, remembering all the failed meals he prepared during their three years of training.

"I was sure Noah was the sole case of cooking disaster. I guess nobody is perfect."

The two laughed together.

"So, do you have something in mind for tonight?

"I do. Do you want to prepare it with me?"

Dramia nodded, opening herself to Amelia during that time.

~

Drania flew away after being deflected by Orion. She found herself flying over the lake's calm water.

Karteira took this opportunity to attack Orion while his posture was disturbed. She spun and tried to slam her tail on his side.

While remembering that her tail was actually fragile to any rough movement, Orion thought about grabbing it and throw Karteira away, but instead, he bent backward, and watched as the tail grazed his face.

Now, Karteira was the one with her balance broken. He placed his hands on the muddy ground, preparing to kick her by doing a backward wheel motion.

Drania arrived just in time to grab Karteira and drag her away from Orion.

"Thank you."

"Don't mind it. He's strong even without using magic, what do we do?"

They both looked at Orion stopping his movement. He remained standing on his hands, before throwing his body forward. His feet touched the ground, and just like that, he was back up.

He removed the dirt from his hands, and returned to his fighting stance.

"Whatever you have, bring it to me."

Orion taunted them. He always wanted more experience fighting, while bringing the full potential of his opponents by training with them.

After discussing about their strategy while Orion was preparing, they both nodded.

Karteira moved first. She only had her gauntlets since this was a simple training session.

She ran to him, exchanging hits with Orion for a minute, before Drania plunged on Orion from above. She tried to kick him, but instead, he grabbed her foot and threw her in the lake. She once again found herself on top of the water.

But that was her plan.

"Orion, do you know what elements I can use?"

While exchanging blows with Karteira, he glanced at Drania that called to him.

"No, I don't. I never asked. Are you going to show me?"

Drania smiled, placing her hands on the water's surface.

"I didn't live two thousand years without learning anything!"

Karteira took this opportunity to move away.

Three water columns began to elevate from the lake's surface, towering over five meters.

She moved one hand in Orion's direction. The water columns began to shoot an absurd amount of water bullets toward him.

"Interesti- Shit!"

Orion realized too late. His feet were enveloped in a thick layer of mud and dirt, stopping him from running away.

'She said 'elements', I've underestimated her. I fell right in her trap!'

He gritted his teeth, and used Calm Analysis.

'I won't let myself be hit by any of those shots!'

With a smile that showed all of his teeth, Orion watched every single water bullets coming at him. Everything was coming straight to his upper body, which was lucky for him.

He watched each and every water bullets closely, and moved his body in various angles to dodge.

For two minutes straight, Drania and Karteira were witnesses of Orion's impossible prowess, dodging the water bullets.

*Huff* *Huff*

That took all of his strength, but he was still standing.

"That's all... *Huff* you have for me?"

Drania's water column crashed back into the lake.

Both were shocked, their mouth agape. Even Amelia and Drania watched this from the other side, showing the same reaction as them.

"At least you're tired."

Drania shrugged.

"I'm done for today, I don't want to continue after seeing something like this."

This display and Orion's exhaustion made her battle addict trait calm down.

"Wait a second."

Orion caught his breath, and stop Karteira before she left.

"What? I won't fight you anymore."

Drania released the trap on Orion's feet, which gave him back the freedom to walk to her.

"Are you able to defend against this kind of attack?"

Drania, a bit tired after using so much of her magic energy, walked to them.

"I think I can?"

Karteira imagined herself in his place, using the true Cerulean Aegis form.

"Drania, are you able to use that ability again? I would like you to try it on Karteira."

"Well, I can't use it as long as I did on you. Is that still fine?"

Orion nodded.

"Do you mind trying, Karteira?"

"If it's only that, I don't see a reason to refuse."

Drania flew back on top of the water's surface, and created the three pillars of water again.

"Cerulean Aegis."

All the plates on Karteira began to move, covering her body. Once everything was in place, the plates on her arms moved to her forearms, creating her two long shields.

She placed one arm on top of the other, linking the two shields together to form a bigger one. It was now protecting her whole upper body. If she wanted to protect her legs, she had to crouch.

The slightly curved shield was ready to receive the water bullets.

"Thirty seconds, that's all I can do right know. Get ready."

"I am ready!"

Karteira crouched, sending the signal for them to start.

Orion was watching from further away, his back on a tree.

'She managed to hit me.'

He touched his rib, where one water bullet hit. He was sure it was broken from the impact.

'I can't believe she tried to kill me.'

He laughed in his mind, because he knew that there wasn't enough power behind the bullets. She didn't put everything on this attack, he shouldn't have received such an injury. His faster movements were the cause of it, which is why he hid it.

'She would have panicked and apologize over and over again. I don't want that for her.'

He glanced at Drania who was breathing heavily on the water's surface.

'I'm glad that excuse worked. Now I can heal it without anyone finding out.'

He began using his light element to heal his broken rib. Thirty seconds was more than enough for that kind of injury.

While Karteira was getting pushed back because of the impacts, the end was getting near. The shots stopped, Drania completely drained of her magic.

"I'm done! I can't continue!"

"Good thing, because we're done with the cooking."

Dramia caught her tired sister's arm, and helped her get back on land.

"That hurt!"

Karteira released her ability, and looked at her arms. She managed to protect her whole body, but her arms took the blunt of each impact.

Even if her plates managed to stop everything, the damage it did from the shock still remained.

"That's some bad bruises, let me heal that quickly."

Orion, having healed himself, walked to Karteira and took care of the bruises.

"Thank you. Good thing you suggested that, I need to find a way to negate this effect from happening. This is a weakness I can't have if I want to protect everyone."

"Glad you found another thing to work on. Thank you Drania."

Orion turned to Drania, who had a tired smile on her face.

"I'm hungry. Sis, let's go back."

"Yes, let's do that. Both of you too, come quickly."

The sisters walked away, toward the temporary house, where their dinner was waiting.

"How are your arms?"

He asked worriedly.

"Better thanks to you. I can't believe I let such a weakness be. The shields work against striking and slicing weapons, but not against projectiles. I think even smashing weapons are a problem for me currently."

Orion nodded, he also thought of that when he watched her being pushed back a moment before.

"Alright, if you're good, why don't we go eat. Thanks for training with me."

They walked together, following the sisters.

Once they arrived, they ate the food Amelia and Dramia prepared with a smile.

To apologize for exhausting her, Orion proposed to massage Drania's shoulders, which she accepted. This became a terrible experience for her.

It felt so good that many things almost leaked from her other than her moans.

As her sister watched her sister turning to this sorry state, she immediately separated the two of them while angrily shouting at Orion.

He grabbed her and forcefully massaged Dramia too. She became quiet, doing her best not to moan like her sister before her.

Then, Amelia became jealous of them, and asked a massage too. She lost herself in bliss, and fell on the ground lifeless after asking for ten minutes of massage.

Karteira tried her best to become invisible, but got caught in the end. Everyone ended up finding that she had the cutest moans of the four girls.

One after the other, they fell victim to Orion's fingers.

They all fell asleep satisfied, relieved of many stressful emotions.

The next day, it was time to finally depart, to the Parsmata Desert.

~

"That's my boy!"

Was the only thing that came from Orianne's mouth, while Reon simply looked away, his face bright red.

They both got front row seats watching the girls melt in his hands before he went to bed.

While Orianne thought about asking his son to massage her in the future. The bracelet's screen turned dark, and they moved to their bed, because the device stopped working when Orion fell asleep.