“S-s-sorry! I hope you get better soon!” Leah yelled out, watching a girl run away with a broken arm, cringing and possibly crying from the pain, not that Leah could see that.

“You know, I’m wondering why I was even worried about Leah in the first place.” Edward said bluntly, sipping his milkshake while that girl’s classmates glared at their table.

“Leah is strong, I thought you knew that.” Hiiro asked with narrowed eyes at the prince, said prince raising his hands defensively.

“Now easy Hiiro, I knew she was strong, but she shows that strength better in a team, I don’t think it’s quite fair that she has to compete alone when she fights at her best in a team.” Edward pointed out, getting a roll of the eyes from Hiiro.

“Not always together.” Liza pointed out, nibbling on a piece of chocolate mousse, glaring at Hiiro when Hiiro attempted to take a spoonful without her permission, then her expression softening as she tried to feed him herself, the want for chocolate mousse warring with Hiiro’s desire to not be seen as ‘lovey-dovey’ with Liza…

Hiiro clearly lost, given that he was enjoying a spoonful of chocolate flavoured sweetness.

Leah, returning from her fight, looked at the scene with a blush and frown, vanishing to get something from the cafeteria before she returned with some lemon meringue cake, one of Hiiro’s favourites, drawing the attention of the boy.

“S-s-say… ah…” Leah tried, and Hiiro winced, immediately able to recognize what was happening…

But the allure of the cake was too good, blowing away all of Hiiro’s resistance as Liza and Leah glared at one another.

“Happy bastards…” Edward clicked his tongue watching Hiiro’s reluctance while the two girls glared at each other, leaving Vince chuckling at his side.

“Regardless of how others might enjoy that situation, Hiiro doesn’t bro. No doubt he knows what’s going on, but would much rather remain blissfully ignorant.” Vince pointed out, taking a sip of his coffee, the seven plates stacked in front of him not doing any favours when it comes to hiding his eating habits.

No matter how politely Vince ate, he still ate too much for most people to deal with, and that’s even considering Sages eat more than normal humans on average.

“I get it, but Hiiro’s going to need to pick or just tell them both no, it’s getting to the point where I feel like I need to look away.” Edward complained, thinking about how he couldn’t be with his own fiancée, as she was studying at Valour.

“Does he really have to pick just one? He could, in fact, date both of them if they were open to the idea.” Jade pointed out, even if she wore a steaming blush on her face as she admitted that bit, and the two boys actually thought about it.

Tony just sat quietly nearby having some really spicy ramen noodles while watching the group dynamic… as usual.

“Oh? Look at that?” the group looked over to the nearby third years, and, to their surprise, saw a third year from one of the other classes standing in front of Julian.

“Well, this might be interesting…” The second year S-Class turned their heads, looking to the three students standing nearby with raised eyebrows.

“June, Dean, Barry, long time no see.” Hiiro spoke, nodding to the three top students of the second year… bar the S-Class of course.

June Hallows, Dean Constantine, and Barry Nim were the first, second and third ranked students of the A-Class last year, and were the main competition for Hiiro’s classmates within the Inter Class Tournament.

“Ah, i-it’s good to s-see you all!” Leah spoke out, nodding at the three who nodded in return, Barry sporting a blush at the attention…

Ah right, Leah had actually fought all three of them, Barry she had fought alone, and with Hiiro’s assistance she had faced Dean and June in a tag-team match.

“You too Leah, we saw that fight just now… idiot was from our class and she thought we were weak for losing to you last year.” June scoffed at the idea while Leah began to stutter out apologies, getting a wave of the hand from June.

“Don’t worry about it, I acknowledge you as strong, and most of our classmates know that I wouldn’t say it if it weren’t true…” June started, and then frowned, a hand on her hip.

“It would be more helpful if you could actually act as strong as you are though. With the stuttering and cutesy look, it’s hard to convince people that you’re actually stronger than I am.” And there the complaint was, leaving Leah blushing and stuttering out apologies once more, getting a sigh from June.

“She’ll figure it out eventually, and even if she doesn’t, she wouldn’t really be Leah if she wasn’t shy, right?” Hiiro reminded with a wry grin, getting a tired smile from June and Dean, Barry still remaining quiet at the side.

“Good point… you mind if we sit here, it’s a bit closer to the action after all.” June pointed out, and Edward chuckled, gesturing for them to take a seat.

Each of the three S-Class tables had ten seats after all, as the max amount of S-Class students at the school at any one time was thirty, ten in each grade…

Though Jonathan claimed that he had never really heard of a time where all thirty spots were taken.

Even now, out of a max of thirty, there were only twenty, six first years, and seven each for the second and third years.

With June, Dean and Barry seated at their table, they had a full ten, watching as Julian sighed, standing and following the third year to the fighting area.

“So, how do you think this will go? That’s an A-Class student, probably one of the top in the entire school, and the other is the new top student, Julian Benjamin right?” Dean asked, watching the two students intently.

“Yep, that’s him alright… though I can’t see Julian losing.” Hiiro pointed out, watching Julian shed his blazer, concentrating his Essence and summoning his blade while his opponent summoned an axe.

“Oh? I know he’s the strongest student in the school right now if we look at ranking, but why the confidence?” June asked, watching as the two further concentrated, Julian summoning two greaves, his opponent gaining a shield in his off hand.

“Well firstly, it’s because Julian is actually pretty strong, as a dual Earth-Light Sage he has quite a bit of versatility… trust me, I know how scary Earth Sages are…” Hiiro shivered, knowing his mother was probably smiling somewhere.

The fight began, Julian’s legs not even moving as the Earth itself pushed him forward, a slash of his scimitar sending out a blade of Light at the other Sage who blocked with his shield, countering with a slam of his axe on the ground, an inferno bursting forward from the blade in an attempt to attack Julian.

“Secondly, I know Julian doesn’t exactly give off the aura of the strong, he’s kind of similar to Leah in that regard, but that’s because he only shows his true strength under certain conditions.” Hiiro added, watching a wall raise from the ground to protect Julian, the flames washing over the wall while Julian actually flung himself into it, his body sinking into the Earth seamlessly while his opponent couldn’t see.

“And as for the third reason, well… Julian won’t lose against axe-users.” The A-Class Sage swung his axe, a thin flame cutting through the wall and yet not hitting Julian, getting the boy confused until Julian appeared from behind him, bursting out of the ground and attacking.

The Fire-Sage tried to turn, only to find his ankles being held by the ground, hastily moving his shield into the way of the attack awkwardly, the shield being knocked back from Julian’s heavy blow, leaving the student open for a follow-up, Julian’s scimitar held against his neck, ending the fight in a simple exchange.

“That really was quick… why wouldn’t he lose against axe users though?” June asked, a bit curious as to the reasoning behind that statement.

“Well Julian, from what he shared with us once, has been aiming for only one Sage, the previous top student, Bobby ‘the Tyrant’ Dore. Julian has been training with his goal being to defeat Bobby.” The A-Class students shivered at the reminder of the Tyrant, the three actually having been defeated by the monstrous Sage during the School Wide Tourney when he took over the central courtyard of the school.

In fact, Bobby probably didn’t even know he had defeated them…

Bobby had the unfortunate habit of forgetting the names of those who were not strong by his standards, and usually not caring about them either… though he never forgot how they fought.

The man was odd like that.

“Bobby has extreme strength, and his weapon was an axe, his Elements were Lightning and Metal. Any factor that Bobby possessed, you can bet Julian trained with the intent of defeating it… he didn’t succeed when he faced Bobby of course, but no one here is currently stronger than that guy.” Hiiro added on with an awkward smile.

Bobby really was monstrous, the Tyrant only having one rival in the school during his tenure, that being the Prince of Wind, the Maestro Yusuf Grant, son of their teacher Jonathan and the King of Wind Rabia.

“Oh. That makes sense… if he was aiming to defeat a ten, a six wouldn’t really be an issue for him, in his mind right?” Dean pointed out, getting a chuckle from Edward who was watching Julian and the A-Class Sage talk for a bit, shaking each other’s hands before walking away from the fighting area.

“One of the most important parts of a fight is the unseen things that go into it. The amount you’ve trained, the many times you’ve fought, the challenges you have faced and overcome, the affect your psyche over time, building the mind-set you enter a fight with.” Edward pointed out, repeating words his older brother once spoke to him…

Words he hoped to one day share with his younger brother, if Gregory didn’t say them to little Martin first of course.

“If you are to win, win in the mind first. Nothing happens in the physical without first happening in the mind.” Tony spoke, drawing attention as he looked at everyone staring at him, looking back to his ramen with a faint blush on his face at the stares.

“Uh, yes, that. Mentality is a major part of a fight. Yes, the physical is important, a one Star Sage will never defeat a King. But within the same realm, rather than just physical ability, it is mental. You must have confidence in your ability, and use it.” Edward added on, explaining the idea.

“Julian, with his focus on defeating Bobby, trained to defeat aspects of Bobby. He never did so, but Bobby never lost to anyone other than one person. So in Julian’s mind, no one can match the Bobby he faced, so everyone else is much weaker in comparison.” Hiiro explained, watching Julian sit down, his classmates patting his back with smiles at his victory, expected as it was.

“And if he maintains such a belief, well, he’ll be confident in a fight, not enough to be arrogant, but Julian will have that edge in mentality.” Vince shrugged after the statement, hearing the bell signifying that lunch was over, the students standing up and moving to their classes while the staff of the cafeteria picked up everything.

“I hope you’ve all been training though, the Inter Class Tournament is going to be interesting this year…” June smirked, hitting Leah in the arm with her elbow, getting a sheepish chuckle from the shy girl.

The students left their fellow second years as they reached their class, sitting down while Izuki and Miya walked in.

“You all know the deal, move towards the training grounds. Edward, you need to make your Lion Gauntlets unbreakable even if Liza hit them with her staff. Hiiro, your Monochrome Spear has something strange about it, figure it out.” The ‘working’ names of the two Armaments still had Hiiro a bit annoyed, his spear getting such a boring name while Edward got something like ‘Lion Gauntlets’ instead, with the full armour eventually going to be named ‘Lion Armour’.

The armour was named that because on the back of the fists were stylized images of a lion’s head by the way.

As for Hiiro’s spear, its name was self-explanatory, the entire spear being white except for the ink coloured blade which, despite maintaining a fixed shape, actually flowed, creating a buzz-saw effect.

“As for you three, step it up, none of you are weak, all three of you can get your Armaments if you work on it before the month is through.” The three students nodded, knowing that it was possible, they just had to work on it.

Within the next ten minutes the students were all in their training ground, working on their Armaments individually.

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Holding his spear in hand, Hiiro sat in a lotus position, his hands on the spear and looking at it, then closing his eyes and feeling his power…

The Essence he felt, as an Essence Sage, was overwhelming, radiating from others, especially his parents, but he had long since learnt to become willingly blind to distractions such as that, instead focusing on his own power…

Normally meditation was used to compress power, focusing on it and learning how to optimize it, but in this case Hiiro was trying to feel the spear in front of him, and his connection to it.

It was… admittedly vague, but Hiiro could indeed feel the spear, obviously, it was created with his power, a rather large portion of it interestingly enough…

The amount of power in the spear was almost five times more than the power Liza used to create her staff, and that was a bit more than what Edward used to create his gauntlets even…

The general rule to all abilities, the more power it took, the stronger it should be… and if Hiiro’s spear took up so much energy, it had to be powerful.

But so far, it was just a spear, a weapon that felt completely natural in his hands in a way his original spear never could, and an incredible cutting edge, but still, just a spear.

“Or is it?” Hiiro asked, noting a faint trickle of energy passing between himself and the spear, a representation of their connection, and as long as he held the spear, he would still be able to use his full power, it was a focus for it after all…

Looking at the thin strand of energy entering and then exiting the weapon, Hiiro did he most natural thing.

He tried to increase it… a difficult thing to do considering he hadn’t even noticed it was happening until now, and trying to specifically do such a thing after just discovering it, it was difficult…

But then he recalled what he had been speaking about in the cafeteria.

Mind over matter… if he didn’t believe he could do it, then he wouldn’t… just because he believed he could wouldn’t magically make him capable of the action, but it was a start.

And so, focusing on the energy… slowly but surely… Hiiro managed to increase the amount of energy he gave the weapon… little by little… the strand would increase in energy, it’s glow becoming brighter until-

“Hiiro! What is happening with your spear?” Hiiro blinked at being shaken out of his meditative state, and looked at the spear…

It still looked the same. White, with a black blade, but… it was larger.

To the point that Hiiro considered that he wouldn’t be able to use such a weapon freely on the ground, the weapon looked more like some war-weapon used to attack multiple enemies at once now with its size.

“Huh. Maybe that’s the unique ability of the Monochrome Spear? Size changing?” Edward asked, looking at the larger spear, his own gauntlets shifting between being on fire, covered in dirt, and releasing a cold mist.

“If it is, that’s really interesting.” Izuki said, appearing near the students from where he was just a moment ago complaining to Vince that he should just try creating a bow with his Essence.

Vince was still being obstinate, but Izuki was certain that the boy would learn eventually, and that was when he noticed Hiiro being shaken awake by Edward, and the larger spear.

“Why? Other than it being useful against larger Mystic Beasts of course.” Hiiro immediately considered the application, and Izuki laughed, glad that he had trained his son’s tactical mind when it came to applications of weapons and abilities.

“Well of course that’s a good thing, but a size-changing weapon is… well, not impossible to find, but it’s rare. I know the most famous size-changing Armament is the King of Lightning’s own Ruyi Jingu Bang. And like your weapon, it’s a pole-arm weapon, though yours is a spear and his is a staff.” Izuki said with a hum.

Ruyi Jingu Bang was the strongest staff based Armament known to most Sages, the weapon was, as mentioned, capable of changing size, but the King of Lightning could also duplicate the weapon, and combined with his Diversity letting him make weaker clones of himself, he could arm each of his clones with a weapon just as strong as his own.

“I’m certain it’ll be great, though you might want to figure out how to shift sizes without needing to meditate to cause it. It’s useless in battle unless you can do it at will.” Izuki warned, getting a roll of the eyes from Hiiro.

After slapping Hiiro’s head, Izuki walked away, knowing that Hiiro understood the idea…

Izuki was also wondering if he could figure out a way for Hiiro to get training from the King of Lightning, but he wouldn’t be able to do that. The King was very picky and whimsical.

While the second year S-Class students attempted to grow in strength, a certain Maestro was in Beijing, looking around the capital with an appreciative hum.

“Well, this is interesting…” Yusuf hummed, looking around the conservative people of the capital, some pointing and whispering before quickly walking away from his group of three…

Understandable, Yusuf was still dressed as some ‘Old Empire noble’ and that wasn’t common clothes here in China, some even going so far as to glare at him.

At least Su-Li and Kim fit in, their dresses bought in Hong Kong helped them fit in, though Kim didn’t match the Chinese racially, it appeared that her dress was approved.

Su-Li was from China originally, so she didn’t count.

“I hope you aren’t going to stay that nonchalant the entire time we’re here.” Su-Li poked Yusuf’s side, letting him know that the way he seemed to just look around without care was not going to fly, especially not here.

“Yusuf, be polite, we need a place to lie low for a bit, and being this conspicuous is not helping.” Yusuf sighed at Kim’s words, agreeing that his usual apparel, while accepted elsewhere, was unfortunately not looked at favourably here.

“Alright, alright. Su-Li, you said your parents stay around here? I’d like to greet them… plus I’d be able to change there.” Yusuf added on, and Su-Li smiled, nodding as she gestured for her partners to follow her through the capital.

It was a needed respite for their group, having been chased all over China by the assassin’s sent by Yusuf’s family, they really couldn’t do much…

Yusuf was against fighting the assassin’s, stating that he’d become a head of the family if he kept killing them, and that it would undermine his mother’s authority if he did this.

Yusuf liked being in control of everything, it showed in how he was a technical fighter, and that his ability with Atmospheric Lock was so amazing…

So the position of a family head was tempting to Yusuf, knowing that he’d be able to command his powerful family to do certain… unpleasant things.

But he also knew that taking that position would take control from his mother, and he respected her too much to do so casually.

It would be two hours later that Yusuf sat in the backyard of Su-Li’s parents’ house, the Li’s being a bit annoyed that their daughter was essentially a concubine, until Yusuf proved his ability to the five Star Sages.

That, combined with his pedigree as the son of a King, ensured that the Li’s didn’t actually mind what happened with Su too much, instead viewing it as honourable that their daughter was one of only two chosen by such a powerful Sage…

Their Emperor had many concubines to go with his strength after all, so they could understand why the strong would have many followers.

Sitting in a dark green top, baggy pants and those slip-on martial arts shoes, Yusuf considered… that he really didn’t work with them. The top was a bit long for his tastes too, why even go down until his knees, it was like a bloody dress were it not for the fact that it only did so at the front and back, the sides being open enough to allow him free movement.

Complaint in his mind complete, Yusuf looked at the sand in the yard and felt a breeze ruffle his hair for a moment.

“Mom… do you think I should fight back? Or just run?” there was a stillness in the air, and suddenly the sand moved, words appearing in the dirt.

“Huh. So either way, you don’t care? What if they try to put me above you in the family hierarchy?” Yusuf asked, incredulous at the idea of his mother giving up that much power.

“It would be fine? Mom, I wouldn’t be able to stop them from taking on assassination missions like you did… I don’t think I’d be able to stop myself from ordering to continue actually.” Yusuf pointed out with a frown, aware that doing so would go against his mother’s wishes.

“…What.” Yusuf said blandly, looking at the writing in the sand, unable to believe what he was looking at.

“…Did you just… give me permission to become a Rogue Sage?” Yusuf asked, looking as the words were swept away by the wind, and the words that replaced the shocking things he had seen.

“…So I’m… free to do as I please?” Yusuf asked softly, the words changing in the sand, drawing a scoff from him.

“Of course I know that actions have consequences… but… you don’t mind, if I be selfish?” Yusuf asked, and the words in the sand were swept away to leave just one two letter word drawing a smile from Yusuf.

“Thanks mom… I know exactly what I want to do, but, I don’t think I’ll be comfortable doing what I want until I’m strong enough. Until then, I’ll need help… I’ll need to fight back.” Yusuf stated, watching as more words appeared in the sand.

“I know, I know, fighting back means accepting that label… mom, where are you right now?” the words in the sand were replaced by a simple statement- the Empire.

China was considered an Empire by those who lived in it, but the rest of the world only knew of ‘one’ Empire.

The Empire.

“Oh. Mom… can I come see you one last time, before I do something bad?” the winds whipped around Yusuf for a moment, hitting the back of his head softly before the words in the sand changed, chiding Yusuf for the stupidity of his question.

“Right, silly question mom… I’m going to stay in Beijing for a bit, their fighting styles will be a bit interesting to learn… I’ll… I’ll be in the Empire… probably from June to December.” Yusuf stated, watching the sand fade into new words.

“Yeah… it’s difficult, but I’m actually happy.” Yusuf said finally, the words fading into a greeting, Yusuf nodding with a smile.

“Goodbye mom, I’ll talk to you again.” Yusuf felt the wind brush his cheek for a moment before he stood, looking to where he knew Kim and Su-Li to be waiting for him.

“So, you have a plan of action?” Kim asked with her hands on her hips and a raised eyebrow, getting a chuckle from the Maestro as he walked past her, gesturing for his two girlfriends to follow him.

“Of course I do. Su-Li, you said that there are lots of martial arts schools around here, right?” Su-Li nodded, wondering why this was relevant for only a moment before her eyes brightened.

“Oh? You plan on learning from the schools here? They aren’t much compared to any of the four Academies, and they only focus on fighting without much weaponry.” Su-Li pointed out, there were very few martial arts styles that included weaponry here.

“Bah, who cares if they aren’t as great as any of the Academies? Think about it, before they were around, what was there to learn from? Nothing.” Yusuf answered his own question…

The statement got a few confused looks from the girls, when they heard a voice ring out.

“Exactly, what seems like a brilliant thing, is simply a path laid out by those before you… but before they were around, it was unexplored and mysterious. Walking along the path is truly simple, but if no one ventured from the path the world would be unfortunately small.” The voice drew the attention of the three graduates, seeing a man standing there.

A wide brimmed hat covered his face, a sword at his waist and wearing clothes similar to the ones Yusuf currently wore…

And no one seemed to even notice him as he spoke to the three graduates from Elem, immediately putting the three on guard.

A wind blew, and the man huffed, pulling his hat further down, only his mouth revealed.

“I would not harm them… the interest me though.” The man spoke, and that made Yusuf even more worried, the man somehow knew his mother.

“If I may ask, who are you?” Yusuf’s question was met with the man raising the hat a bit, his piercing, animalistic eyes an almost acidic green.

“I find names to be a burden, I’ve long since thrown mine away… I am a simple Hermit, staying in this capital for a bit before I once more enter seclusion… and in doing so, I’ve managed to overhear your conversation.”

The man, calling himself a Hermit, not that Yusuf understood what that meant, then looked to the three for a moment, then turning so that his back faced them.

“Perhaps this is fate? Your words interested me at first, and then your connection to the Wind Child furthered my interest… If you live, and progress, to the seventh strata… return to this land. I can teach you quite a bit.” The man said, a black line being drawn in front of him, confusing the three young Sages as the line split open, revealing a field of green on the other side as the man stepped into the opening of space, the hole sealing itself slowly.

“…I think we just got offered training by someone around the level of Kings.” Yusuf pointed out… the two girls by his side unable to do anything other than nod.

Shaken, and literally shaking, by the encounter, Yusuf and the two girls turned right around to go back to Su-Li’s house, not wanting to deal with registering at some martial arts school after an encounter with someone who could have easily killed them…

And possibly the entire capital given that the man called Rabia Grant nee Baqri, the King of Wind, ‘Wind Child´ of all things.

Standing amongst the rolling plains of Mongolia, the ‘simple Hermit’ stood, breathing a deep sigh from the clear, crisp air, thankful to be away from civilization once more.

Though the clothes they make were a nice comfort, the man could admit.

“Oh? To what do I owe the pleasure, sir?” the ‘simple Hermit’ spoke, looking to a place a few metres behind him, where a man stood, with monochrome hair and a white jacket.

“Please, stop referring to me as sir. It’s annoying from someone almost as old as I am.” The ‘simple Hermit’ scoffed at the complaint, but nodded.

“Alright, Faire, what’s going on? I thought you were wandering around the mortal world again.” Faire sighed at the accusation, rolling his blue eyes behind his shades.

“Nothing much, I just ran into an old friend a few weeks ago and felt like checking in on everyone. It was a whim.” Faire added on at the end, and the ‘simple Hermit’ sighed.

“Faire, everything beings like us do is a ‘whim’ at this point. I sharpen my blade because it is my essence, but beyond that, anything else I do is simply because I feel like it.” The ‘simple Hermit’ added and Faire chuckled, a sound that those who know him always liked to hear…

It was nice to hear that a man burdened like him could laugh. It gave them hope that they could do the same…

“Right, right… still… I must admit, while I like being among normal humans, what you have going on here is nice too.” Faire said, looking to the clear blue sky, feeling the wind brush his skin…

Then Faire was gone, his palm pressing against the sword of the ‘simple Hermit’ while a bleeding scratch marked his cheek, and a bruise formed on the ‘simple Hermit’s’ off hand.

“That was not an invitation, Sword God.” Faire pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

“I know it wasn’t, just checking to see that you aren’t going soft.” The Sword God spoke, sheathing his sword even as the wind began to move peacefully once more, no longer under the strict control of the man, the Hermit known as the Sword God.

“Of course I’m not, I haven’t been around Alice in a few decades.” Faire pointed out with an almost comical pout, his hand returned to his side slowly.

“Ah, the Sweet Queen… I’m glad to stay away from her, even if I could defeat her, she makes my sword dull around her.” Faire laughed openly at the idea of the Sword God getting weaker around a woman who simply made sweets.

“I’ll have to visit her sometime… I was actually over by the Titan for the last few weeks… they still haven’t gotten over their superiority complex.” Faire complained and the Sword God scoffed.

“Again, if they don’t understand their strength, they don’t deserve to be a Hermit. You need more votes to let them into the group anyway, and I doubt you’d get enough.” Faire sighed, internally agreeing with the Sword God’s view.

The Hermits, the strongest ten Star humans in the world, were an exclusive group after all…

“It’s still a shame that we only have eight of us… well, seven if you consider that the Miser left.” Faire complained with exaggerated sadness, leaving the Sword God to roll his eyes.

“I’ll never understand how you still manage to appear so… overly human, considering our power.” The Sword God did have a point.

Each of the Hermits were beings so unfathomably powerful that in general their only other competition were other Hermits and Elementals… okay, there was a few other beings that could challenge them too, such as Oberon of the Fae.

The idea that such a powerful being could be so… human…

“It’s because unlike you and the others, my power didn’t separate me from my roots, it drew me closer… or to put it simply, I’m not antisocial like all of you.” Faire eventually concluded with a nod, as if discovering some great truth.

“So, am I the first one that you’re visiting?” Sword God finally asked, wondering at the movements of Faire.

“Yeah. The Bartender didn’t appear before me, he’s the only one who can take me to the Librarian, the Miser is in the Old King’s Empire for his funeral, the Sweet Queen is still over in the Northern American area, the Demon Lord won’t move from his home in Russia, the Witch is still in Ireland and the Beast God is still in Southern America, so you were the closest.” The Sword God frowned, not having wanted the whole rundown of the Hermit’s from Faire like that.

“I didn’t need the explanation on why. I just wanted to know who you’re visiting next.” Sword God pointed out, and Faire thought about it before smiling.

“The Miser.” Oh dear… that wasn’t going to be fun.

She hated Faire.

In the Empire, Claire Salem sneezed.