Damien had a lot to think about on the way back up to the surface that he forgot to take care of Cal. Cal struggled the entire way up, and even Kemo came out trying to help him. The little figure tried its best to keep him balanced by pushing his leg from behind. It was a sincere and comical sight that no one paid attention to.

Once they reached the surface level, Cal melted down to the floor, smothering Kemo.

‘Oh shoot, I was thinking so deeply that I didn't even notice Cal!’

Damien pried him off the floor saving Kemo from eternal imprisonment. Cal was so completely drained of energy that Damien had to carry him by piggyback. Kemo followed suit and jumped on top of Damien’s head. Yuki was indifferent to the ridiculous sight she witnessed and led him out of the house. Cal had the strength to stop wheezing and was able to speak out to Damien.

“Hey, since it is my father covering the celebration, I still wanted to give you a gift. I want you to have Kemo. He’s very useful and can do a lot of things. I already rescinded my ownership over him so please, take him.”

Damien was taken aback at the sudden offering. He wanted to deny him, but Cal was adamant. Seeing that it would be rude to reject him, Damien accepted it. He imprinted Kemo on the spot, who now recognized its new owner. Damien felt a warmth deep inside of his body and reveled in the feeling. Cal buried his head into Damien's back hiding his lost and downcast face. Cal’s thoughts were something only he could deal with. They finally reached the end of the house ready to feel the sun’s warmth again.

Yuki opened the door letting rays of golden natural light embrace them. The familiar sunlit warmth casted away Damien’s fatigue and nerves. He felt his energy levels rise back from being in an icy environment.

‘I feel so much better now! Is it because the cold drained my strength or the sun naturally gave me strength? Maybe both…. I don’t know. I’ll keep it in mind to test it out.’

The once blue sky was now painted gold by the setting sun. The surroundings were peaceful and full of lush landscape. Yuki and Damien walked side by side down the path they took. The sound of children playing had long disappeared into the wind and all that was left was the rustling of their footsteps. No words were spoken between the two, but Damien felt serene by her side.

‘This is my first time being somewhat alone with Yuki! Wait why am I thinking about this. I need to relax…’

Every now and then you could see older adults training by themselves or with others. They would wave from a distance greeting Yuki. Damien’s mind was melting into the atmosphere getting transported into different scenarios. As he mustered some courage to speak to Yuki about random things, Cal began to snore loudly. His snores vibrated Damien’s back killing the entire atmosphere he believed he was in.

‘I’ll let you off this time, but just because you’re treating me!’

Damien quickly lost his delusional mindset and focused on the road before him. It was a simple but beautiful walk amongst the sunset. Beside the fact that Kemo happily swung his feet kicking Damien’s forehead every so often and Cal having obnoxious snoring.

Cal woke up by the time they reached the gate. Will was there as they expected and saw them off happily. He watched them walk back into the streets until he vanished into thin air.

Cal and Damien mainly conversed amongst themselves about the fun they were going to have tonight. As they walked toward their destination the sun set completely. Darkness devoured the sky allowing the infinity of space to shine brightly. Lights automatically turned on in the streets paving the path in front of them. The atmosphere became gloomy as the shadows became darker and deeper. Fewer people were seen in the residential districts and Guild District as they were becoming increasingly isolated. Damien stashed Kemo in his pocket, leaving him in his cube form for now.

‘I can’t act scared in front of them! C’mon Damien, you are a Sky Realm Swordsman! Now I need to make note to not come out by myself at this time, it’s quite creepy. At least I got company today.’

Eventually they arrived in the commercial district with no issues. Lights were blaringly bright destroying the gloominess that they had experienced. The streets were filled with beings enjoying their night. Bars were packed as they drank and sang to the top of their lungs while others seemed to be involved in shady activities. No one dared to mess with them as there were city guards on every corner looking out for mischief.

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As the only children in the area, they received many glares and grunts. The city guards took notice of their presence and one of them approached them.

“This isn’t a place for students like you. Luckily the sun just set so no one is drunk enough to cause you any trouble. Do me a favor and leave quickly before you make my job harder.”

Yuki was the most composed of the three so she assigned herself as the representative of the group.

“We are just passing by, but if anyone were to try something we could handle it ourselves.”

Her tone was sharp enough to cut through the air. The city guard mildly flinched and felt quite embarrassed afterward. He didn’t care what uniform they were wearing, he just wanted to reclaim some of his pride. He drew his non-lethal baton to try to intimidate them.

“Now listen here. You are only childr…”

His lecturing words stopped midway as the air around them went to chilling levels. Frost appeared on the guard's face slowly numbing his functions. His mouth could not move any more and was only able to watch as they walked away.

“Sorry, but we can handle ourselves. You will be fine in a minute or so.”

Yuki continued walking without care, leaving the poor city guard behind. The onlookers went about their own business without making any further fuss. The city guard’s colleagues rushed over to investigate the commotion with grave concern, but they did not pursue the matter further. A notiticeabld path opened in the road allowing them more than enough space to pass by safely.

‘Just how strong is she, even an adult city guard was no match. I don’t recall ever finding out.’

“Hey Yuki, just curious, but how strong are you?”

Yuki gave him a sidelong cold glance without any answer. For a moment before she turned her head, Damien swore he saw a condescending smirk appear. He felt attacked in a way he did not understand nor how to react.

“Don’t worry Damien, she won’t tell me either. She likes to keep it to herself for whatever reason. But I do know the requirement to be a city guard in the City of Gats is at minimum the Sky Realm. It’s a considerably higher requirement than most places because this was traditionally a war fort. To this day they carry this tradition and impose a strict system on the guards. However, some bad apples will come along…”

“Thank you Cal, I understand that Yuki is stronger than I could’ve ever imagined, grandpa.”

‘She made a Sky Realm guard seem like nothing and I thought I was talented. This world is full of surprises.’

The longer they walked past this area the more the atmosphere slowly changed. Fewer city guards were seen patrolling as the shady dealings became less prevalent. The buildings appeared less run down, upholding a feeling of cleanliness. They received kind greetings from the people occupying the streets. It was a complete change from before that came with its own repercussions. The advertised prices significantly shot up leaving the poor Damien dumbfounded.

‘It would’ve been nice to have been left with some money too, you darn cheapskate of a grandfather!’

Damien could only curse his grandfather for leaving him without a lot of things. The bright side was he gave him complete freedom to become who he wanted to be, and so far he wasn't doing so bad for himself. With the help of his newfound friends he was able to integrate and adapt himself to a whole new world that he wasn’t a part of. All of his mental fears diminished considerably after finding his place. Now he could enjoy his time among his peers as he should have done in his early childhood.

“Hey buddy, we’re almost there! Northstar Restaurant is just up ahead!”

Cal awoke Damien from his bittersweet melancholy. The streets were now filled with many academy students. This was the preferred and well known spot for academy students to gather. Many young noble children came dressed up hoping to garner the attention of elite talents. It was an effective tactic as many were intermingling with the students. Even more so Cal was brazenly ogling and waving to many dolled up teenage girls. Although all of them were older than him by a couple years some reciprocated positively.

“I’m going to carve your eyes out if you continue.”

Cal shuddered in response to Yuki’s threat so he forced himself to behave. Before long they arrived at the entrance of the restaurant. The entrance was grand with its own greeters who would open the doors for you. Once they entered the refined establishment they were attended to immediately. A plain faced waiter came to check them in. The only notable feature he had was his frivolous pointy mustache.

“Welcome esteemed guests into our humble establishment. Where would you like to be seated today?”

Cal peaked behind the waiter to see what tables were available. His eyes landed on an empty balcony table overlooking the entire restaurant.

“We will take a balcony table and it will be just us three.”

The waiter distraughtly scrunched his face and went through a book full of reservations.

“Ah yes, that last balcony table was already reserved earlier today. Might I recommend another private setting within our establishment?”

“No, we need that table. Who reserved it?”

Under the constant pressure the waiter revealed that it was reserved under Erik Fierstone. With quick thinking Cal slid a gold coin across the podium placing it on top of the reservation list.

“We reserved that table earlier today. You overbooked Erik by accident.”

Cal watched the waiter stare at the gold coin with a malevolent smile. He knew that it had to be at least half a year's wage sitting right in front of him. With a pronounced gulp the waiter slid the coin into his pocket.

“I’m sorry, I made a mistake earlier. The balcony table is ready for you. Please follow me.”

Cal winked at his accomplices before following the waiter to their table.

‘Hopefully everything turns out okay, but I’m not too familiar with their booking process. I’m just excited for my first time at a restaurant! It should be fun!’