The meeting with the headmaster was enlightening in that Kyrion could now see the resemblance both Gamodren and his father shared. Now he had two unawakened students and would have to meet with Dr.Exac to discern if they should use a tablet or go spirit hunting. The former would make life much easier, but Kyrion didn't hold his breath.

Illanda had already gotten a room in the dorm building adjacent to Kyrion's. She didn't have a roommate, and while it was a bit smaller than Kyrion's suite, it was still quite big for someone her age. The odd part about the arrangement was that he owned all of the buildings. He was paying himself. Hopefully, he could leave Eden in the care of Tiffany and or Ceres for the time being. Bastion could stay in his spare room as well. Kyrion didn't want to leave any of them on their own this early because he didn't know their habits.

The arrival at a lecture room was a bit underwhelming. It was currently empty as there were far too few healers in the school, and even among them, most had taken his required classes and ran off. Kyrion was one of two students taking the practicum level of these classes. This was also one of the few teachers whose classes Kyrion never skipped.

Kyrion stepped into the room and swiped a shoe that had been flung at him faster than most eyes could track.

Moments later, Kyrion was gone from his spot, rapidly reappearing across the room as the impacts could be heard where brief trails of movement could be followed. The chairs and desks seemed untouched. However, a smear of blood decorated the floor in a rather macabre fashion. After about two minutes, Kyrion was a heap of dislocated limbs.

"Ahhh!" Eden ran off.

Bastion was frozen in his spot, his legs a bit warm for some reason.

"Hey. Bastion. Mind taking a few steps back?" Kyrion asked, looking up at the kid?

Bastion fell back as the corpse he was observing spoke to him. "Y-your dead."

Kyrion popped his bones back into place and stood as he popped everything else for good measure. He'd be lectured if he couldn't ensure every bone was corrected and every joint was positioned correctly.

"No. Just disabled. He's the one who taught me how to use my body for combat. Strikes that disable an opponent without killing. He's also a healer. Not that his demeanor makes it obvious." Kyrion shook his hands, felt something was off, and examined his wrist. A joint had been sealed backwards near seamlessly. But he hadn't healed a wound over there.

Kyrion snapped that joint where the ends didn't line up and moved them into the correct place. A maneuver that could break more than just someone's bones done without flinching as the split healed properly.

"So, the shoe thing. You stole that from him?"

"Oh that? Yes, if you're worried about a shoe hitting you then you're not paying attention to the healer who could be doing anything.Including carrying an injured ally away." Kyrion stated.

"Like turning the arena floor to sand? A healer wouldn't waste that much mana on something so frivolous. Though as that was a formal match and it led to your victory I can't dock you for methods. On a battlefield however, using that much mana at once would leave you open to an attack. Unlike everyone else I know how you nearly emptied yourself out. How much did you have to eat?"

"Is he powered by food?" Bastion hadn't gotten back up.

"Pretty much. It's converted into energy rather effectively and rather quickly as well, very little nutrition is lost. Poison enters his veins faster and does its damage just as fast as well. It has upsides and downsides. It's a good thing he has an ability that can counteract poison, when he's aware of it." Exac slapped Kyrion on the back.

Kyrion caught on and consumed a blue pomegranate seed, the minor poison in his body flushing itself out.

"So thats why I thought you were moving faster. You slowed my perception down." Kyrion squinted.

"When did I do such a thing?" Exac played dumb.

"When I caught your shoe, something cut my hand. Unfortunately, I was too distracted to notice as the wound was healed over. My regeneration has become more effective but…."

"Good. Your teacher asked me to mix in a few tricks to make you think more so you know. That's why I hinted it out to you. From here on, you may not know when you've been poisoned."

"So you'd let me die?" Kyrion's eyes widened.

Exac pulled out a green vial and shook it. "All this one does is make your skin turn a sickly shade of gray. That's all it does. It would be a potion if it didn't also numb your tongue and slow your perception for the duration of the effect. Which are three hours, by the way. So, symptoms appear immediately for you, and the effects entirely fade in thirty minutes.

"That's why you thought I was dead." Kyrion told Bastion.

"I am lost right now." Bastion stated

"Hi lost nice to meet you." Exac said to the boy.

"Huh?"

Kyrion dropped a blue lotus into Bastion's hands and ran off to capture Eden.

Eden was taken back a minute later, a bit confused.

"Now it's time for you two to get tested."

Exac blinked twice. "Oh so you didn't come for a refresher course. Did you already pay to use the tablets?"

"Yeah. Two thousand points paid in full. It's a shame that it's so expensive."

"Says the person who makes fifty-two A.P., or academy points, a year off a student living in the dorm he helped build. Heck with the amount of students currently living there you should be swimming in wealth." Exac stated.

"I should be. But I'm not… Well I guess I am. Why is Gamodren being so generous now?" Kyrion adjusted his robe.

"You are too young to become a miser Kyrion. Now help me prep the circle. We're going to need to start early if you want to make something of your investments. These two will need all the training they can get."

Kyrion drew a circle in blood, his blood, as it had a high concentration of mana and was as cheap as a snack to replenish. Upon adding the runes, the circle sunk into the ground and became one, with the floor glowing a platinum hue.

Exac returned with a stone tablet and sighed. "If your blood was half as effective as it is I still wouldn't get on you about being frugal. That stuff could bankrupt an alchemist if it was sold for auction. Did it increase in purity?"

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"If only there weren't spells that could track the source of said blood. Spells available to those rich enough to afford it and hire mercenaries to capture me and use as a blood bank." Kyrion sighed.

"Yeah, it's a controlled substance. But think of what you can do for science!"

The circle started to settle. "Eden you first. Step into the circle and touch the tablet."

"M-me? B-but why?" Eden shuffled away.

"Because you're older. Shouldn't you lead by example?" Kyrion used reason.

"But Bastion's a boy. Shouldn't he take charge?"

"He could. But wouldn't you rather not have to stand in a puddle?" Kyrion motioned to a blue lotus that seemed to be absorbing moisture.

"Oh ewww. I'll go first then." Eden stepped into the circle.

"Mr. Kyrion…" Bastion looked betrayed.

"What. You need to dry off. You also need to stop eating so many sweets and drink more water."

"Fine. Wait what?" Bastion crossed his arms.

Exac entered the circle, tablet in hand, and stood in the center. "Place your hand on the tablet, young one and gain power over your own fate."

"Okay…" Eden prodded the tablet questioningly.

A jolt zapped her finger as she was flung out of the circle by mana.

Kyrion caught the girl and placed her on the ground outside the circle, which now glowed a purple hue.

"A pure magic affinity mixed with order. Above average mana capacity with room to grow with training. Great potential with great effort."

Eden was frantically blowing onto her hand, trying to stop the burning sensation that seemed to be growing. Finally, a circle with runic symbols floated out of her hand as a pentagram began to form above.

An explosion of raw mana knocked Bastion prone and moved a few adjacent tables as the light began to shift into an object.

In moments a long wooden staff appeared in her hand. A straw bundle tied together by runes was attached to the end of said stick.

"It's a broom. My spirit is a broom."

"A magical broom."

Eden laughed to herself and sighed. "Is that it? Do I just go home now."

"At least you have a spirit from the get go. It's shape doesn't matter, what you do with it does. I know a dragon slayer whose spirit was a hoe."

"Like the thing used to farm?" Eden asked.

"Yes."

"He killed a dragon with a farming tool."

"In one mighty swing. I didn't say they were a he, but you are correct." Kyrion swung an imaginary stick at the wall, and a blast of pure force crashed into it, reverberating.

"So I'm not weak?"

"Oh no your very weak. That's just where everyone starts. Although you may be better of in the care of someone who could teach you."

"Did it hurt?" Bastion asked suddenly.

"Huh?" Eden blinked twice, not understanding the question.

"The blast. Did it hurt?" Bastion asked again.

"For a second. Now I feel better than ever. Like a shackle has been taken off of me."

"My turn." Bastion accidentally stepped into the circle, ready to get awakened.

"Place your hand on the tablet young one and gain power over your own fate." Exac repeated to the odd-eyed boy.

Bastion slapped his hand down onto the tablet with gusto.

Crack

A shift in the world around them followed by a rift appearing in the world around them. Then, a creature made of eyes left the circle.

"An eye tyrant… But what kind." Exac was surprised, but no fear appeared on his face.

Eden was gone.

The creature looked at Kyrion for a long minute. "I sense great mana in you. Along with a familiar aura. But it wasn't you who called out to me."

"That would be him." Kyrion pointed to Bastion, who, for the record, did not produce another puddle.

Then again, by the way, his legs were utterly still in terror. He might have just passed out.

"He's quite odd. Don't see too many humans with mismatched eyes. A chaotic gift for a kindred spirit I suppose."

"..." Bastion didn't move.

"Hold still." A blast of light froze Bastion in his place.

Bastion was screaming internally when the eye poked him on the forehead. It then embedded itself into his flesh, leaving behind a diamond-shaped mark that shifted and entered his green eye, altering the shape of the pupil until it was diamond-shaped and pure white.

Black fire filled the circle as Bastion began to glow, his body going through a transformation. Or so they thought. When the fire left, the only other thing different about Bastion was that there was now a black glove on his hand that didn't go with the clothes.

"Huh. It didn't hurt." Bastion patted himself down and noticed that everything was in place.

"Good, it took to you well. I'll be watching your progress." Another crack opened in the world and the creature left. The circle vanished altogether with it as though the materials keeping it open had been stolen.

"What just happened?" Kyrion asked.

"Interesting. Your blood was used as a catalyst for that creature to come here and it came to personally hand the boy his gift. Lets use proper materials next time it seems overpaying has it's side effects."

Bastion grabbed Kyrion's arm with his gloved hand. "Get it off!"

Kyrion turned and noticed that the kid's nose was bleeding profusely.

Exac pulled Kyrion free and poked the boy on his head, knocking him unconscious. "Don't heal him. He absorbed some of your mana on accident. It seems that the glove can take mana from those he touches. As he's below average in capacity this is to make up the difference. Healing him will just do more harm than good."

"Then what can we do?" Kyron asked.

"The hokey pokey. Block his mana circulation in positions 42 and 49. I'll hold him still and then remove the glove." Exac directed

Kyrion poked the boy in a few select places that temporarily cut off the Bastion's access to mana.

Exac broke the boy's wrist and removed the glove, which caused it to disappear. The doctor then healed the wrist using the mana already present in the boy's body, a technique Kyrion couldn't master.

Kyrion poked the veins again, and mana began to flow as the bleeding stopped.

"Interesting."

"What is?"

"He's using your regeneration ability, abilet it's a bit weaker, all I need to do is direct the flow."

"So he can steal powers. That's. Pretty awesome if I do say so myself."

"It means he doesn't have an innate power of his own. The headmaster will love this kid." Exac sighed.

"Was that sarcasm?"

"Nope. A talent that allows one's actual ability to be hidden is one that those two look for in a pupil. Kyrion, if you thought Gamodren was tricky, you don't know…." Exac paused as Kyrion turned his head towards a mirror on the desk in the back of the room.

"Oh I do. The headmaster is worse and a lot more subtle. In fact I'm eighty percent sure he's been watching us since we came here."

"Maybe he'll be your student then. Didn't realize you took to their lessons so well."

"The headmaster will probably be the one training him while I'm away. Eden could probably learn under Cecil. Since he's probably the most qualified to teach her. I like Ms.Nox and all but it's obvious that there are gaps in her knowledge."

"To be fair, Cecil has an eidetic memory and has memorized a lot of magical theory and compiled it within his own head. If he decided to mass produce a book on his discoveries and current knowledge he'd bankrupt old Invan."

"Ah right I'm sure they'd get along well. They both like books. And science and junk."

Exac shook his head. "The world doesn't always work like that, Kyrion…."

"Is that so? I'll think about it." Kyrion left the room, leaving Bastion behind.

The headmaster appeared in the room moments later. His eyebrows raised.

"How'd he figure out I was here?"

"That boy has some imbalanced training. I wasn't scared when a creature that could kill me easily entered the room. He picked up on that and from there deduced that we either had countermeasures or had someone capable of stopping it in its tracks."

"And Gamodren was worried he wasn't taking the lessons properly."

"In matters of the heart he is as dense as a brick."

"His mother's a sociopath. Always has been. He isn't used to affection. Given that he imprinted onto a tree before his own mother…." Caeden sighed.

"He imprinted onto a tree? How does that work?"

"You did read the file I gave you right?"

"I did. Doesn't mean it made sense."

"A tree was the first thing he saw when he woke up after being born."

"That doesn't seem right."

"Shouldn't it be the first person he saw?"

"I'm pretty sure a dryad tried to steal him and failed. That or they had a method to wake him up."

"Why would you think that?"

"The mark on his back is led by a tree, everything else is subservient. You do know Imala is trying to use him for something. Wouldn't using one of her dryads be prudent?"

"So Kyrion's a few planks short of a bridge because the goddess tried to kidnap him."

"Pretty much."

Exac laughed to himself. "This makes no sense. I know you know why people want him. I also know you can't tell me. Not out of mistrust but an oath. Can you say with whom?"

"Lok is adamant that I keep what I think the big players are after, a secret. When a seer tells you a maelstrom of power will gather around one person. You bloody listen to the request to stay silent about the important stuff."

"I see. That makes things complicated. Will you be taking Bastion as a direct disciple?"

"If he can really borrow powers from those he touches, speed and adaptability will need to be drilled into him above all else. He could be a powerful warrior if given half the chance."

"And Eden?"

"If she can learn half of what Cecil can teach her then she'll grow to be a powerful mage."

"Not a spirit master?"

"No I mean mage. The elven kind from long ago. Masters of controlling external mana."

"I see. Maelstrom indeed. Where he goes a storm follows." Exac sighed.

Bastion squirmed in Exac's arms.