"Haha! Is that so? I guess things like this can often come from the most unlikely of places." I go, having finally gotten the full story as to how Baltanthan and Rosheney got together. She, with her mighty ego, failed to accomplish what Baltanthan did and with a little help from her brother, this Michney boy. Something came of it.

"I'm still not entirely committed to the relationship if I am allowed to be sincere for this moment." Baltanthan strangely goes and I raise a brow, swinging the box a little to keep my body occupied beyond just all this walking.

"How do you mean? You clearly said yes to the request to be her boyfriend or vice versa." I ask, not quite getting where he's trying to go with this. Or, maybe I do, Nin after all is not exactly the most focused person either even with his repeated reassurances. I have faith in him and I will give him the time he needs to properly grieve, it might just be me. I knew full well what I was getting into the day Smiling Jhurack was defeated and Nin arrived at my shop, teary-eyed and broken.

"I did, she came to me when I was at the gymnasium and demanded a relationship from me." he explains with a straight face that remains facing forward.

"So, what's the problem?" I repeat, an answer not amongst his words.

"During the Inter-House Talent Display, the one you and the others were there for. During that test of skill, I displayed a degree of supremacy that she simply couldn't match, even with her ego during the event. She ran off without a care trying to stoke it by bringing down an Exceptional, that student broke her ego like I will be one of my biscuits..." Baltanthan explains before his free hand makes a grab for my box. Spinning away, I come to a stop to the sound of sharply struck dirt. I smile and close the distance, a feeling in my tail from where I clearly grazed him.

"So you do not feel like you can properly commit to it because her reasons for staying with you are a cover for other motivations?" I ask, thinking about what I can though I am hesitant to talk about what I know little about. Unfortunate as it is to say, I have little reason to come this way anymore, most of the friends I made here have left. Only three names really come to mind here anymore and those are Baltanthan, Seigunfrei and Lorreabry.

And even then, none of them are as close as Omb, Einervaene or Vadei were.

My expression sullens as my thoughts focus on that detail, how many people I have lost... I guess I should take heart in the promise Larishazza made Nin swear. He'll get them all back together in time and I will be there when he does. Our friends will all be back together and we'll, I don't know, go on some grand adventure. All of us against the mysteries of the world!

"What I know is that I have ascended to something greater than she once put herself up to be. This feels less like me being her boyfriend and more like I am her teacher, a rival her ego won't allow her to properly submit to." Baltanthan ponders with a stiff lip and I shift my frown to something more relevant to the discussion.

"Well, speaking from experience, when you go into a relationship with a man and they're stronger than you. That is submission, you want to feel safe in their arms, you want to watch them grow. It... It adds a layer of divine mystique to the bond you share, if I get a little strange with my explanation of it." I say and his hand comes to his chin. In slow steady motions, he strokes and pulls down on his patch of facial hair, twisting it even.

"Mmmm, your point of view is helpful, thank you, Liadanann." he eventually says with a slight nod.

"Anytime." I go, grinning too.

"Oh, seeing as you are here and I can ask in person, are you perhaps going to be available around the time of the next Inter-House Talent Display?" Baltanthan asks and I gently bite my tongue, any reply being dammed off from becoming words while my head tries to gather details.

"I... I don't think I will be around to take any orders then, no. Sorry." I tell him and I still get a smile.

"That's fine, though, to brag a little. I might be entering that one as a member of Exceptional House!" he goes, puffing his chest out and letting his magic flow from him like a cape befitting only of royalty. It probably helps his magic is so rhyo' in its colour, which gives it a slight gold shade if you squint your eyes just right.

"Oh, really? Well done, I'm sure you are very proud of that." I go, pretending I can't see the smile on his face so I have an excuse to hit him a little off-footing with my tail.

"Well... Not entirely right now. I'm hoping I will be, but, I still have to pass a power test. I can't recall, the official name, but, it's to make sure I meet the benchmark for what an Exceptional Student must be capable of doing." he explains and I nod along, thinking about my time as a member of Oddity House, short-lived as it was.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

"Have you tried practicing with students from Oddity House? I don't remember a whole lot, but, I know there's quite a diverse degree of how powerful its members are. Omb Ur-Nace, if you remember him, he's an Erra-something-"

"Errakurd." Baltanthan corrects with a nod.

"-Yes, thank you, but, uh, yeah, him. He was one of the most powerful students there during my time in the school and he was Oddity."

Baltanthan looks away, his eyes bouncing about, "Admittedly, I have not considered going to and asking anyone from Oddity House about having their help. I've mostly been asking around Traditional House, the one I currently am a part of."

"I'm sure you'll find someone willing to lend you a hand, after all, they gain experience and extra muscle from it, too!" I go, quickly bringing an arm out to pointlessly flex it for the sake of a hearty laugh. The laugh ends on a toothy smile and I get the right movement of lips from my friend.

"There is actually a very impressive student right now in Oddity House. He's not a human, but he is from the Grand-Kingdom where Tiyanat comes from." he points out and my interest peaks.

"Oh, what is he, then? I've gone through a bit of a species learning spree as of late." I ask, giggling at my memories of the children from the other day.

"He's a... Tch, of course it does. Anyway, he's this big fellow, reptilian in some ways like you or a kelbalid. Only, his body is covered by this big shell and he has one mighty, snapping jaw. Solid bone more or less!" Baltanthan explains and my eyes widen when his usual behaviour makes way for almost childish exaggeration and motion. I giggle at his little act and think a little about the description. I'm pretty sure I've seen wild animals similar to what he's described in one of Thrurstradtur's many public gardens. Little things called tortoises with shells that let them disguise themselves as rocks in the craggy mini-rivers and ponds.

It's not like they need to have those shells given the guards at these parks, but, they might just naturally be shy creatures...?

"So, being from the Grand-Kingdom, that means he uses water magic, right?" I ask, recalling the powers of my two friends from that nation. However, thinking about this only makes me want to sneer at how the memory of one has Nin ensnared completely! No... no, give him time. Give him time...

"Yes, though, how he uses it has most of the other houses and even the staff terrified." Baltanthan explains, his chest puffing when he mentions how everyone else but him is terrified. Now, I know I'm no expert regarding the colour of skin, but, I know I can see that pale tint to his. Hehe.

"Go on." I tell him.

"He mixes his water into the earth and uses it to guide great pillars of mud and rock. A lot of people have taken to nicknaming him the Grand-Shaman in reference to osi-"

"Osibindah..." I go, smacking my lips clean of the uncomfortable word.

"Has Nin been alright? He hasn't come by in a while since the news broke regarding that criminal being defeated." Baltanthan asks and explains and I start to nod.

"He's been fine, a little distracted, but otherwise fine. He's on a guild job right now." I partially lie for the sake of keeping things simple. More so to guarantee my mind's safety so that I am not going on and on about the frustrating topic of his shift in work causes.

"Oh, guild work. I can use that to improve my capabilities as well." Baltanthan lets out with a slight hop in his body, the details probably filling and spilling right out of his head. Maybe if I lean close enough, I'll be able to hear the sounds his thoughts make?

Baltanthan suddenly stops and looks at me.

"Baltanthan?" I go.

"Why not pick up your armour? You, me and Nin. Maybe Seigunfrei if he's up to it." Baltanthan suggests, his eyes aglow with the potential chance to grow his arcane might.

I take a step back, "I, uh... I never once considered..."

"And now you are." he smirks over and my mind turns inward.

If I do go and get my armour, Nin won't have to worry too much about looking after me and we'd be able to go and find some well-paying work. Or, I can put on my armour, link it up with my amulet's power and I'd be able to force that annoying creature aside and stab my claws into her toes like she's trying to do to me! I don't care if the work she's given Nin is all 'official government business,' I am not letting her take him. Not one good thought will seed into him from her and I will be the one to salt the very earth she tries to do it in.

Maybe even, maybe I will be able to get my name to mean more than Larishazza's. Nin has often spoken about how Larishazza is the reason he's still alive, maybe I can take that place? The power of this amulet is primarily to make shields and protection, I can keep him safe through who knows how many dangerous jobs. And, most importantly, I'd be able to stay involved with his life, I won't just be the place he goes back to after a job...

No one will care if he's an osibindah taking on guild work, he won't be causing my business grief. It won't matter too much, I'll just have to unfortunately shut my cakesmithy down and we can make it more into an actual home. I own the building, so we won't have to worry about any legal technicalities of what it must be. But I might be getting a little ahead of myself right now.

"I suppose I will be." I say, nodding firmly within the confines of my head as an image starts to form. One of a being in a dark cloak and something distinctly more feminine in red plate, emeralds of Iderim-Ovi shining bright throughout the divinely-powered sockets.

Coming to a stop, I put my delivery down and put my amulet into both palms. Looking into the glowing sign of my god's power, my frown deepens and I look away to my red skin. My breasts come into view and small, dotty scars peppering it make me sigh. I guess I'm just like him, really, I cannot let go of the one who saved my life from utter misery.

Though I hate his people, Nin is the one who let me see the daylight again, I'm not some experiment because of him. Not tormented by shocks and voltaic teeth day in and day out while I am chained up in some filthy cell surrounded by gibbering animals. We got out of that prison together and he led me to the bloody vengeance my body craved so badly. He's been there for me for so long and even with how I've mostly known him as this single-minded, fury-driven thing...

"I'm sorry, Baltanthan, I just need a minute..." I sigh, stepping off of the road and going into the grass with a hand gripping my forehead crest.