The Kyrion eating a sandwich with the others watched as the headmaster pretending to be him, spoke with Amadeus. “Bastion, keep this in mind just because you can see through illusions doesn’t mean you’re immune to being fooled. Words are one thing, but there are also techniques that let one change their physical structure. Like my current appearance.” Kyrion pointed to his horns.

“So he tricked me. Yup.” Kyrion seemed to unhinge his jaw as he took an inhuman-sized bite out of his sandwich.

“Are you really a human?” Bastion asked.

“I’d say you should ask my mother because I don’t know.” Kyrion said in between chewing.

Max looked up. “Why are you tricking my sister?”

“This is the headmaster’s idea. I’d rather not fight her again, ever. He’s probably telling her how I analyzed her patterns and style of fighting before developing hard counters to everything she showed capable of doing.”

“Did you?”

“Nope.” Kyrion took another bite.

“So he’s lying.”

“No. He’s half right. I didn’t spend any extra time figuring out the weaknesses before yesterday. I got the attack pattern and reaction speed down yesterday before I knocked her out. Since she can’t change much in a day she wasn’t able to fix her bad habits. The headmaster knows this but that truth would probably break her pride more than the lie involving me being a diligent hardworking study of my enemies.”

Ander eyed Kyrion with a stern gaze. “You seem to be a natural fighter. With instincts like those, how can you not enjoy combat.”

“Yeah, natural is the last thing you can call it. As a healer I know what to break and how to exploit openings to break things that shouldn’t be broken with minimal risk to myself. There is no honor in what I do to my enemies.”

“I see. So you won’t mind if I lead the charge?” Ander asked.

“Go ahead. If they think you’re the strongest then chances are I’ll be left alone to win accidently.”

Bella scowled. “You’re going to make yourself an underdog?”

“You’ll need a nickname.”

“The starving Cyclops.” Brion started.

“One eyed Devil?” Bastion put forward.

“The Scarlet Maelstrom. Those I will protect are in my eye while everything else will be destroyed when it gets in my path. A storm does not choose to hurt but anyone who willingly charges into it wanting a fight will get what they deserve.” Kyrion said bluntly.

“Why is that?”

“My next few abilities will be weather and season based. We’re going to be hunting cores for our teammates and training before we head to Clomois in three months’ time. We will be ready then. This should also build cohesion.” Kyrion ordered.

“I second that.” The headmaster said as he sat right next to Kyrion.

Amadeus arrived moments later. “How did… Nevermind. What’s next?”

“Hunting for my second tier of practitioner cores along with anything the others need.”

“I could use my third. I’m near that level already.” Tiffany stated.

“Still on my second.” Ander stated.” I don’t need anything new yet I just need to push my limits.”

“I’m near my fourth.” Amadeus scowled.

“Second here as well. If anyone cares.” Max sighed.

“Me too. Brion stated. Well Kinda, I’m still transitioning into two.”

“Let’s discuss details later….” Bella fidgeted.

“Bella’s still at one. Her spirit is one that’s hard to find good cores for.” Kyrion answered blankly.

“What’s surprising is that I’m three thresholds higher than you yet you seem to be way stronger than me in raw strength. How does that work?”

“Did you do the thing where you jumped straight to practitioner before properly sculpting your body? Did you also do the thing where you compressed just enough to hit rank three before moving onto four?” Kyrion asked.

“What are you going on about?” Amadeus or, well, Minah scowled.

“Oh? Max? Did you not tell her about the static boost to raw power one gets when they pass through the practitioner thresholds?”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Oh I told her. She just pushed me away thinking I was trying to be detrimental towards her growth.” Max had a blank look.

“My strength was stretched to its maximum growth potential for my body type before I even entered practitioner. Before that however I compressed my core until it was as small as possible before an Injury forced me to stop and use that quality which was a bit higher than normal but not as high as it could have been.”

“My teacher did all the picking and direction. So I just followed my teacher’s orders.”

“Do you even know where you’re going with your powers?” Kyrion sighed.

“...” Amadeus didn’t answer.

“Please don’t blindly follow a path without knowing the destination or roadblocks ahead. That is an easy way to end up dead.” Bastion said.

“Where did you hear that?” Kyrion asked.

“The headmaster told me this when we arrived a week ago.”

“I do recall him saying that to me as well. So I think I’m starting to figure out what he meant.” Minah scowled.

“Great… Our supposed strongest person doesn’t know how to use their abilities while the rest need to get to their next threshold in practitioner.”

“Excuse me?” Said a quiet voice that Kyrion didn’t recall hearing.

“Hello stranger? What do you want?”

“I’m apart of this team too, you know.”

Kyrion turned his head to the person in black robes. Their masked face and cowl hid their appearance, but they were clearly fidgeting.

“You didn’t make the cut. Buh bye.” Kyrion said with a mock deadpan face and a shooing motion with his left hand.

“Ok.” The hooded person stood and began walking away.

Minah slapped Kyrion on the shoulder to get his attention.

“What?” Kyrion rubbed his shoulder. It didn’t hurt, but he wouldn’t act as such.

“Don’t use sarcasm with her. She’s a bit….” Minah spoke quietly to Kyrion.

“Can you get away from my ear? I have enough going on in my head already.” Kyrion moved away from the gold-armored warrior that he didn’t trust as of yet.

“Clearly isn’t anything important.”

Kyrion held his head as Psycho seemed to tug at something important.

“We need to talk. Also, put on your eyepatch.” Psycho said.

Bastion was the only one who tried to catch Kyrion. Luckily one of the wiser students pulled him out of the way.

The black-robed figure stopped and turned. “Are you ok?”

“Oh I’m just peachy. Who are you?” Kyrion stood with his only visible eye closed, an irritated look on his face. Though it was clear, he was speaking to the robed figure.

“Hel and I’m not ready for my third core yet.” Hel said rapidly.

“That’s a long name.” Kyrion shook his head and reattached his eye patch before letting out a deep breath as his brown robe and earrings began to disappear.

“My name is just Hel.”

“Much shorter. Is Just your first or last name?”

“What?” Hel seemed confused for a moment.

“So your name is Hel? Is that a title, surname or just your name?”

“Just my name.You won’t get my surname yet.”

“Fair enough. Three letters I think I can remember that. So Mel I know you can control bugs but how does it work? Are they conjured or tamed?” Kyrion noticed that his makeshift skirt was starting to disappear.

“Both…”

“I see. I need a minute to ch-clear my head.” Kyrion cut them off as he ran into the forest and disappeared.

----------------------------------------

“Oi psycho? What’s going on?” Kyrion said as he put on a fresh robe.

“Mana drain. Transforming like that takes a lot of mana along with maintaining it. Since you weren’t fighting it didn’t expend as much as it would in active combat. When you put on the eyepatch it altered the flow of mana and everything conjured from your mana began to be reabsorbed.”

“Ah, I need to figure out how this transformation works.”

“Yeah. Your manifestation is much different than mine. Which is odd….”

“Why?” Kyrion asked.

“It shouldn’t be different then mine as manifestations have more to do with your soul spirit only playing a minor role in that.”

“What does it mean?”

Psycho changed the subject. “I think I know who the heroes your supposed to help are.”

“Heroes? Plural? As in there are more than one?”

“There are. But only one really matters. When the tournament begins they will single handedly decimate the Grand Tetsan Academy for the Gifted in the first round. If things are the same you should see them there.”

“I see, anything else? I get the feeling you’ve been keeping some important info from me.”

Psycho clicked his tongue. “Mighty observant aren’t you. Try reading that book. You should gain something from it.”

“You’re not saying everything..” Kyrion waved the figure off.

“I only have a suspicion. If you can read that book then things will become clear. At least partly to me.” Psycho faded and re-entered his corner of Kyrion’s core.

----------------------------------------

“You know, I could write a book about how much I hate you. Won’t be too long. Around ten things, to be precise. Maybe I can get someone to draw pictures of it. And I’ll make it long and whimsical. Maybe hire Meh Thod to play me.” The boy muttered aloud as he returned to the group with a scowl.

“Are you good, man?” Max asked.

“As good as a rotten tangerine in the desert. Just need a bit to think and I have some reading to do. Nothing new.” Kyrion climbed on top of the truck and began to read.

“Is he all there? Minah asked.”

“I learned a long time ago that Kyrion is a bit of a space cadet.” Bella stated.

“Space cadet?” Tiffany asked.

“He appears to have alot of space in his head most of the time while processing hard to understand information like it’s basic math. A kid his age being able to play the role of surgeon isn’t a normal thing in any world.”

“Surgeon?” Minah did not like the word.

“Oh. Guess you wouldn’t know. Kyrion has had to perform a few organ transplants for other students while Exac is away. He’s been on call for emergency situations for a while now and even knows a guy who can get him fresh organs in three days. Kyrion has saved quite a few lives believe it or not.” Tiffany stated.

“So what he took out someone’s heart and put a new one in? Doesn’t sound that hard?” Minah stated.

Bella slapped her own forehead. “It’s a bit more complicated then that. Kyrion is smarter than he leads on. It’s why you lost today.”

“That doesn’t sound right. How would he know a guy who can get him organs so quickly?” Hel asked, only to get ignored.

“Have you tried to read a book on anatomy?” Bella tried to shift the subject.

“I don’t know what that word means but it sounds important.” Brion scowled.

Ander slapped his friend on his shoulder. “You better learn. You have a regeneration ability now. If you aren't careful you could create cancers.”

“Do you know what it means?” Minah asked in a way to provoke a response.

“The study of something related to the workings of certain things. I read a few books on the anatomy of lightning. Now did I understand what I read? Kinda. Lots of misinformation everywhere. Most of it was wrong apparently. Lightning is not divine fire from the heavens meant to strike down the wicked for example.” Ander stated.

“Close enough.” Bella sighed.

“Uh… Hello? I think you skipped over something important. Where does he get the organs?” Hel waved her hands to get everyone’s attention.

“Let’s head back. I’m driving.” Max ran off, clearly not wanting to talk about Kyrion’s source.

“Hey Brion, can I ride with your group? That truck thing makes me ill.” Ander asked.

“Ride? Oh right, we each took a horse here… I think they fled….” Brion turned to where the horses had been left behind.

“Right.”

“Is anyone going to answer my question?” Hel watched as the others left.

“Guess I’ll fly back.” Ander stood up only to stumble a bit.

“To the metal behemoth!” Max yelled as he ran off.

Bella looked down and noticed the keys were missing.

“Hey! Don’t just take the keys!” Bella ran after Max.

Tiffany sighed as Hel waited, irritation on her face. “He has a source. The source is reliable and trustworthy. At least towards him. Kyrion is someone with friends from all over, he knows people you’re better off never meeting.”

“So you won’t tell me where he gets extra organs?”

“Some questions are better left unanswered it seems. Let’s just say that the donors don’t need them anymore.”

“What?” Hel paused as she tried to figure out what they were avoiding.

With everyone save Kyrion, who was on the roof, strapped in, the truck sped off toward Drisil.