Kamar strolled up to where Varino and Fiamma were waiting.

“Your up, Varino,” Kamar said.

Varino chimed happily and slid off the rock she had been sitting on.

Kamar laughed.

“About time!? I’m trying to save my mana. Do you see how many more challenges we have left?” she replied, gesturing to the large group of recruits eagerly waiting.

Varino titled her head, eyeing the group, then looked back at Kamar. Her silver and blue eyes looking uncertain.

“You forgot who you were fighting next…right,” Kamar said, grinning.

Varino chittered.

“We do not all look the same. And don’t try to use something Bronte said,” Kamar teased. Varino sighed and chimed, giving in and admitting she didn’t remember.

“Alright!” Kamar called over the rumbling of conversation. “Who was Varino’s next challenge?”

There was shuffling till a girl shoved her way forward.

“Me!” she said, looking down at the spirit eagerly. Varino’s challenger was a human girl with golden hair, silver-blue eyes, and a medium build. Varino’s instincts told her she was maybe mid D-rank and could be a fun fight.

Oooh, but she didn’t know that today was when everyone would learn to fear the words Zappy zappy. Also, that Kamar and Varino were not the ones to challenge. Spar sure, but challenge? Hell no.

Varino chimed and whistled her rules for the fight as the one being challenged.

The girl’s smile faltered, and she looked to Kamar, who hadn’t stopped grinning.

“She said hand-to-hand with magic enforcement and movement only,” Kamar translated.

“Umm, but she’s tiny,” the girl said.

“I’m fun sized! While you’re flat, with thinning hair,” Varino chittered not realy understand either of those insults just knowing they were insults…right? She remembered hearing that from one of the books Zerine had read aloud to her. Or were those from different books? Either way, take that. Wait, the girl didn’t understand! Ugh!

Varino turned to Kamar and burbled, but her friend was laughing at her insult.

“Varino, that isn’t nice. And where did you even hear anything of the kind?” Kamar whispered, still chuckling.

Kamar nodded along as Varino whistled softly.

“Ah, the books with the peasant girl who was actually a noble, the prince, and merchant love triangle. That series?”

Varino tapped her chin and nodded.

“Good grief, anyway-”

“Wait, did she say?” the girl asked.

“Nothing,” Kamar said, as Varino chimed quickly. Fiamma was making crackling and popping noises, his form of laughter having heard everything.

“Come on! My fight with Kamar is after this!” someone called out.

Varino and the girl -she probably should know the name of- headed to the arena. Hmm, if she did well in this fight, maybe she will be worth remembering. Or more likely, she will still forget, as everyone she truly knew was like burning pillars of potential or rare power. In the case of Kamar, she literally was a blazing powerhouse. She could hardly wait to see what Zerine would blossom into. It would be special. She just knew it.

This girl had felt like a large fire of power, but nothing Varino hadn’t faced before.

Varino stood across from the girl and they both bowed to one another. Kaz stood in the arena and glanced at them. When he got nods from both of them, he held his hand up.

Both ready themselves.

“Fight!” he yelled.

***

Zerine floated on her back, letting the rejuvenating waters soothe her aching, tired body and mind. A sloshing sound reached her submerged ears as Vinessa’s shape came into view through the steamy clouds of the pool. Soon, the naked form of the fairy came into view, and Zerine closed her eyes.

She had never gotten used to the community magical baths, but these waters were absolutely worth it. And there were some benefits as well. She had gotten some peaks of both male and female forms, while here. Most were unintentional except for when Kamar had convinced her to peek at Keldrick without him knowing. It had been a rather interesting experience and the first time she had seen a naked man around her age, which left her curious more than anything.

“If you’re just going to stand there, I will think you were a bit of weirdo,” Zerine said, her eyes still closed. She had seen Vinessa naked before and totally wasn’t jealous of the sheer beauty that Vinessa was. Zerine was still growing and knew getting a crest would help. It was just taken forever for that to happen. But she didn’t really think much about her appearance, but for times like this when she was acutely aware of just how having a crest refined someone.

Vinessa chuckled as she sat in the pool next to her.

“I just had to find you in the clouds of steam. You floated off before we could chat.”

“I’m really not in the mood for a breakdown of my fallings or areas of improvement,” Zerine replied before putting her head back, letting the water muffle the sound. With a focus of will, the surrounding water shoved her away. She only got a foot away before pumping into a barrier.

“I’m not here to lecture, but listen,” came Vinessa’s voice. She was using some sort of magic so Zerine could understand with her ears submerged.

“Well, you're welcome to listen to the sounds of the forest. I plan on just relaxing. Quiet is just what I need,” Zerine said.

“Hmm, for someone who is supposed to be relaxing you forgot to will your dragon scale armor to vanish, or do you normally wear it when you come here?” Vinessa commented.

“What?” Zerine’s eyes snapped open and looked down at herself and she groaned. There was the light blue scale armor. She was too tired to care and left it on, so instead of willing it away, she took a deep breath then submerged.

Vinessa waited patiently till Zerine came back up for air.

“Right, now, turn around, and I’ll brush your hair. It’s a mess currently,” Vinessa said, holding up a brush she had brought with her.

“Umm,” Zerine stared blankly at the brush for a moment, then shook her head. “Um, that would be…great. Thank you,” she said, sounding a mix of surprised and uncertain.

Zerine turned her back to Vinessa, who worked on the current tangled nest that Zerine’s hair had become.

“So tell me, what has been bothering you?” Vinessa wondered.

“Here I was, thinking you would be delighted that I’ve been struggling,” Zerine replied dryly.

“Hmm, and here I was hoping you would be a conversationalist and not a stubborn ass,” Vinessa replied brightly.

That got Zerine to chuckle.

“Sorry, it’s just been…” Zerine trailed off and changed the subject. “Marigold asked me on the first day what my drive is and I’ve been thinking about it. And have some ideas, but they don’t feel right.”

Unseen by Zerine, Vinessa raised an eyebrow. Marigold had laid some ground work clearly. It being the first day meant it was when she was fighting monsters to clear her mind and regaining control after sensing and seeing Zerine for the first time. She must have missed this little conversation. An oversight on her part, but something she would add to their training.

If Zerine were to discover this, then her willpower would be terrifying when she got her crest and getting to S-rank would be a guarantee. Take it a step further if Zerine truly figured it out so early, then she could focus on Gold-rank’s revelation far, far ahead 9f anyone her age.

“Yeah, finding the reason you push yourself can be difficult. It’s normal to have many reasons, but there is usually something that ties them all together. But that can’t be the thing bothering you.”

Zerine sighed.

“I miss Varino. I miss home,” Zerine said softly. “The plan was to have me get out of my comfort zone and this village has done that, mostly.” Not wanting to insult Varino. “There are six my age and we all are so busy now. And worse, all of them will leave to other fairy lands to continue their education, training, and prepare for some trial of adulthood. I…”

Zerine let out a shaky sigh.

“Why do I get along with fairies, spirits and dragons better than I have ever done with other people like me? Why am I alone?” at the end, Zerine’s voice turned into choked whisper.

Vinessa had been fully prepared to discuss Varino’s situation, but…the end. Zerine not having her crest was the main reason the connection between them wasn’t fully formed, or she would have known how to approach this. Or she would have been at least prepared for it.

Is this what parents normally feel like? Vinessa thought to herself ruefully.

“The plan was for you to get more training, experience new places, and socialize a bit more. But you feel more isolated than you were at home, right?”

Zerine only nodded, taking shaky breaths.

“And you're a bit homesick on top of it,” Vinessa said, thinking out loud.

“I was hoping to go with Marigold on her first trip, but I haven’t even done that,” Zerine said, her voice full of self loathing.

Vinessa silently sighed. They hadn’t intended for her to go, using it as a way for Zerine to realize that she would have to put genuine effort into the lessons if she truly wanted to go. If Zerine had by some miracle surprised them in the realm of high society decorum and breezed through their lessons, then she would have gone. But Zerine was introverted and, much like herself, viewed all the formalities as annoying. But unlike her, Zerine tried to avoid such things and responsibility, while Vinessa had excepted it.

It will be a good lesson and hopefully incentive, Vinessa thought. But with her accelerated thinking, worked against her. Was she supposed to fix this? Or should she just give advice? Maybe she should just be an ear and supportive? Or…all of the above? That last one sounded perfect, so she did her best.

“Homesickness will pass, and is something everyone goes through at some point. All I will say is that home isn’t a location, but where the people you care for are. You can have many places you call home. As for loneliness… that is harder. I’m honestly glad you and Varino are as close as you are. And the rest of your friends seem close and the type of relationships and people that will last years even apart.”

Now it was Vinessa’s turn to sigh.

“As you get older, you have to schedule time to see your friends just to have tea. Which leads me to a kind of solution. Like everything, it’ll take effort. And effort on both parts, which sucks. I’ll be honest, I wish it could be like when I was younger, where we could all just meet up and go drink or explore a new area of the forest. But we are all busy.”

Vinessa ran a brush gently through Zerine’s hair, not truly seeing it. Many of her friends weren’t fairies and so died, few having reached Iridesium-rank. She knew all too well what Zerine was going through. This year and half was to be a bright spot where she could travel more, see more, and even get to meet new people and make friends.

Zerine, however, had another issue on top of feeling alone. She could sense what people truly felt and being around people who didn't want her around, distrusted her, or had out right hostility towards her would fray anyone's confidence while making her close off from others that didn’t feel that way. Vinessa suspected Zerine’s…instincts were too strong and the feelings of others may have unexpected influence the girl.

She made a mental note to harden Zerine’s mental defenses to ensure the impressions from others didn’t affect her mood without Zerine knowing.

“But it’s something we all have to find our way to overcome. And I suspect you know better than anyone that your situation is a bit more unique. Fairies, dragons, and spirits all share one thing in common that may make it easier for you to be yourself. Can you gues what that is?”

Zerine sniffled and took several breaths before answering. “Th-they all have a very different view of the world than the other races,” Zerine said. Vinessa could easily guess without seeing her face that Zerine was trying very hard not to cry and was failing.

“Oh? Only a different perspective?” Vinessa questioned.

“They all feel so-so open, wanting nothing, just being themselves no matter what. Sure, there are norms and formalities for both dragons and fairies, but they are just themselves outside of that. I feel like I just fit. No, stupid stray thoughts of manipulation or judgment.”

The dam inside Zerine cracked.

“Yeah, there are dragons and fairies that are judgemental, but they aren’t the majority. Even then, they judge my actions, not my appearance, or being crestless,” Zerine’s voice growled out the last words. “J-just I feel like I fi-fit or I-I don’t know. I don’t know where I belong anymore.”

At the end, the tears and shaking were in full swing and Zerine sobbed, turning and hugging Vinessa. Vinessa reacted quickly, a shirt appearing on her. She held Zerine, silently grateful that Zerine had forgotten to will her dragon armor away, or it would have been awkward.

Vinessa rubbed Zerine’s back. Letting the child…her child, release everything she had been holding on to for who knew how long. Vinessa held Zerine tighter as the child squeezed her tighter, pressing her face into Vinessa’s shoulder. It made her wonder if Zerine’s mood was also partly because of Zerine’s age and the hormones that she remembered absolutely hating at that age.

That was when she remembered just how old Zerine was. So, young. Too young to deal with these impressions without letting them affect her own internal thoughts and feelings.

The stupid hormones probably only acted as an amplifier of her emotions, like it did with all children, but Zerine’s feelings were definitely real and based on what she sensed. To make it even worse, she was, after all, not really a Celarian, so not fitting in might be part of that. Add her instincts into the mix and the emotions only validated Zerine feelings, making her spiral.

The recruits, trainers, and interactions with others made her over think everything and left a rather fragile confidence, while creating an introverted personality.

No wonder why you feel the way you do. What are we going to do about all of this? Vinessa thought. She needs confidence in her interactions, while also needing to catch when her instincts were influencing her emotions. Tricky. Very tricky. We will need to be careful so she doesn’t become an unfeeling person.

She mentally sigh.

Clearly Zerine has picked up on the fact that she feels more comfortable with beings that few rarely do, so our training will need to be with the other races. Hmm.

The riders’ negative reaction will lesson, although some would certainly be more active in targeting Zerine after the tribunal. Power plays were always annoying, and the fools thought they found a weak spot in Callahan’s armor. It sadly will only blow up in their faces, especially if Varino had her way.

Training there would be out of the question and not back at her home, either. Tricky, she thought, making mental notes to discuss with Marigold and Ava.

Vinessa rubbed Zerine’s back again. The child was gaining control once again.

If Varino heard about this mental breakdown of Zerine’s and the riders being one of the primary reasons for it. Vinessa held back a shutter. That spirit would probably explode in her own breakdown, but instead of an emotional one, the spirit would literally break everything and everyone that made Zerine feel this way.

Hmm, we should work on some maturity lessons with Varino. She is old enough and practice in the simulations could be good for her, Vinessa made a mental note.

“I-I’m sorry,” Zerine said, bringing Vinessa’s attention back to Zerine.

“Don’t worry. You needed it. But-”

“I’ve gone through this even at home. It’s just…why can’t I just fit in being myself? Even bending backwards for some of these people, riders, classmates, you name it, it feels off. Instead of them being fake or petty, it’s me and I feel awful doing it. I might as well be a Mind Bender with how much better I’m at interpreting those impressions. What can I do?” her voice cracked at the end.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Zerine’s eyes were puffy, but sharp as she met Vinessa’s gaze.

“We can’t simulate people to help you train those instincts. By the way, why instincts?”

“Pardon?”

“Why the name instincts?”

“Umm, it helps me avoid danger by alerting me to something that could harm me. And I just react sometimes without thinking just like battle instincts. Or at least that is what uncle Gary called them when I was little,” Zerine replied, fidgeting under Vinessa’s gaze.

“Ah, I guess that is better than no name. But you worked with Zara and Sashi on it, right?”

“Yeah, I don’t get as overwhelmed as I did when I go home, but it’s still pretty bad. Oh, but I need to talk to Sashi. She is supposed to have ascended, but no word yet, and what about the intersection?”

“Both have delayed. Ascending isn’t as predictable as we would like. My bet is Sashi will ascend after the intersection ends or very close to it. As for the intersection itself, it was just a guess it would end in a month’s time. Figuring out ley lines is an art, not a science like alchemy. But give it a few more weeks. It’s already changing and the emerald sky is starting to fade, too.”

“That’s a relief. I didn’t want to miss it. And I still get distracted by the sky being blue when we are in the dragons’ lands. I just expect it to always be emerald,” Zerine said, turning away once again.

Vinessa smiled and brushed Zerine’s hair once again.

“It’s a rare thing to see both an ascension and this intersection in the same century. You think the emerald sky is impressive. Just wait. There is another intersection in this cycle that turns the sky purple and teal,” Vinessa commented. “I won’t miss it and neither will you. But let’s talk out those feelings of yours and discuss training we can do on those instincts.”

***

Varino stood next to Kamar, the remaining group of challengers arrayed before them.

“Right, so to save all our time,” Kaz called over the crowd. “A group fight will have to work. So the rules are Kamar and Varino are restricted to only magical body enforcement and movement. With Varino using her staff and Kamar, her practice glave. The rest of you may use any and all magic and weapons. Do try and avoid hurting one another too badly.”

“You two try to not break them,” Cassel added, his gaze locked on to Kamar and Varino, who nodded, both wearing bright smiles that, to their opponents, looked predatory. To Cassel, it looked like they were both looking forward to the fight. He just hoped the fight to come would be enough of a lesson to stop something similar from happening in the future.

Kaz stood in a large gap between the two groups.

“Bow,” he called.

Varino had to stop herself from laughing out loud as the group of twenty had to shuffle a bit, so they all had room to bow to them.

“Ready!”

Everyone got into fighting stances.

Varino held her staff in the ready position. The tip had a storm gem, which glinted in the light of the setting sun. She gave her opponents one more bright smile. This was going to be fun.

“Fight!”

Phoom!

Kamar launched herself forward with a burst of flames. Her enhancement movement reminding Varino of a comet, but one made from crimson and gold flames.

Crack! Boom!

At the same time Kamar moved, Varino became a streak of blue and silver lightning, thunder following her.

Varino chittered at Kamar, who laughed.

“Yeah, I get half you get half!” she shouted back, already sending a recruit flying into the barrier around their fighting area.

Varino cheered, having already defeated two recruits who were groaning crumpled on the ground.

Varino flashed avoiding spells, weapons, and even what looked like a metal flower that shot its petals out at her. It was either a spell or a really strange weapon. Varino made a mental note to ask Vinessa or Cassel about it. The petals forced her to change directions and smash into a Scalekin’s chest feet first.

Whoosh!

The poor Scalekin was blasted back, knocking four others aside.

Varino paused. There was something in the back of her mind. She felt loneliness, self loathing, and depression.

Strange.

She tapped her cheek, stepping aside to avoid an axe swing, then spun and jumped, avoiding several spells.

What was that?

She checked with Bronte, who was currently playing with other hatchlings his age. Then it wasn’t him. Then…then what?

“Varino, I’ve beaten half of mine,” Kamar called with a cheerful challenge in her voice.

Varino whistled her own challenge in response, then trilled her war cry, rocketing towards her next victims…ah she meant meat bag. No! Challengers? That wasn’t right, either. Ah, fellow recruits that weren’t totally going to have nightmares about this. Perfect!

As she moved, Varino tried to mimic Zerine’s flowing dance-like movements. Her usual fighting style was more punchy punchy and thwacky…thwacky. So short, powerful, precise attacks.

Zerine’s attacks were precise, but her movements were mesmerizing to watch. Her fighting styles all flowed with combat like a storm following the currents of mana and the winds. Being honest to herself, her way of fighting was see the target, beat the target up. If they do x, then create awesome lighting and blow it up.

poof! Problem solved…mostly.

Simple. Straight forward. And absolutely not subtile and more akin to a Metal Head Brute charging through several builds. Vinessa and Cassel said it was time for her to think on her feet and not get used to using the same strategies all the time and to mix things up.

So…she would…absolutely not worry about it and just have fun. Like Zerine! And if she could mimic how Zerine fought -which always got praised because it was insane- maybe then she would get the feel of it all. Once she got the feel for it, then Varino could truly be a chaotic storm, just the way she liked it.

Varion grabbed on to the haft of a spear. The wielder, which she couldn’t remember the name of, swore and spun the spear.

Varino laughed and cheered, enjoying being whipped around, still easily holding onto the spear.

The spearman, realizing that swinging Varino around was doing nothing, and the spirit even seemed to be having fun, decided to change it up. Unfortunately, it only gave Varino more momentum. He swung the spear at a barrier of mana a mage nearby made.

With a happy chirp, Varino let go. What proceeded would be described by the recruits as a blue, smiling lightning bolt bouncing around laughing hysterically.

Varino bounced between the remaining eight opponents. From the outside observers, a streak of blue and silver lighting bounced like a ping-pong ball off each person in a ring around the spear wielder. Every time the spirit bounced off a person, she would strike decisively. She broke through mana barriers, elemental barriers, and shove aside shields. Each bounce was another challenger knocked out of the fight.

The spear wielder had been turning quickly, trying to track the spirit. He grunted as the blue devil slammed into his back, landing face first on the ground with a crash. His dueling barrier broke, taking him out of the group battle.

Varino landed on the man’s back. Gleefully, she punched her fists into the air and cheered.

“That was so much FUN! Lets do that again!” she whistled, then realized her attack had knocked the spear man out.

“Hmm, whoops,” she burbled.

Loud crashes made Varino looked to Kamar’s fight, who was fighting the remaining three recruits. Time for a little fun then.

Varino chimed a taunt.

Kamar scoffed.

“You could help...you know,” Kamar grunted out as she blocked a powerful downward strike from a broadsword. With a burst of fire, she avoided spells launched from the two backing up the melee fighter.

Varino cheered Kamar on, clapping and whistling. Even doing a little dance, still on top of the unmoving recruit’s back.

The remaining fighters glanced towards the spirit, but focused on Kamar as the fairy closed the distance in a blink.

Lashing out the blade end of her glave, Kamar used an internal boost, making her strike a blur. A barrier of ice appeared, but shattered under the strength of her attack. Unfortunately, the brute of women took the blow on, blocking it with her massive blade. Kamar smiled, ducking to avoid a spear of stone fired at her from one mage, while the other was building up their mana for something.

“That isn’t the kind of help I was expecting, you know!” Kamar shouted.

Varino whistled a question.

“You know what kind of help! Moral support is all great and…crap!”

Kamar avoided a bolt of lightning that blasted out from the sword wielder.

With a flare of flames, Kamar clashed several more times with the sword wielder. Their attacks were blurs to anyone not a D-rank or above.

She could sense the buildup of mana. The attack probably would be impressive, but it didn’t matter. Kamar’s plan was in play. A burst of fire spun her, avoiding the anticipated counterattack from the sword wielder, who obliged. A wind guest made the oversized blade a blur. The horizontal strike would have sent Kamar flying if she hadn’t already moved.

The women’s eyes went wide as her strike missed. The sheer size and weight of the weapon made the women spin nearly a full circle.

Meanwhile, Kamar’s spin had the blunt end of her glave smashing into the mage who was building up the large spell. They clearly needed more practice at multi tasking as the mage didn’t get time to use their willpower to create a mana barrier or other any spell for that matter.

Thunk!

The mage gasped his barrier broke, and he fell to his knees wheezing. Kamar had struck his stomach. The barrier may block lethal blows and reduced damage, but you still felt impacts. If the power was great enough, it would feel like…well like getting gut punched. She moved to the other mage, but had to use a burst of fire to launch herself aside to avoid blades of air shot by the sword wielder.

Behind her, she heard the man on his knees retch.

Kamar mentally sighed. These three had clearly practiced with one another to have such coordination. Compared to the others, it was nice to have an actual fight. But too bad it was about to end.

Kamar pushed more mana into her body, cycling it into every part of her being. Until this point, Kamar had only infused her mana in to her arms and legs. What she was doing now was called full body enforcement or enhancement, depending on which continent or school you came from. Either way, Kamar’s strength, speed, agility, and control over her body doubled in an instant.

One powerful step sent Kamar in a red blur, appearing the perfect distance to strike with her glave at the remaining mage. Her strike didn’t land.

Crack!

The glave smashed into the swords wielder’s practice blade. Kamar grinned as the woman’s legs buckled from the sheer strength difference. The sword wielder had been doing full enforcement this entire time just to keep up with Kamar, but now the difference in their power was obvious.

THe women’s eyes went wide before Kamar’s boot smashed into her side. The sheer impact from Kamar’s kick threw the woman to the side, causing her barrier to break, accompanied by a shout of pain as she rolled along the ground.

“I-I yield!” the last mage said, falling to his butt when Kamar appeared ready to strike with her glave.

Kamar smiled and leaned on her glave turning to Varino, who was still standing on the unconscious recruit, dancing and cheering.

Varino hopped down and skipped up to Kamar and whistled.

Kamar looked over at the group of recruits gawking at the two of them. Some had fear in their eyes, while others had respect, and some with envy.

“Yes, you won by beating your half first,” Kamar replied, shaking her head with a smile.

Varino began flexing, which got a startled laugh out of Kamar.

Kamar pitched the bridge of her nose, trying to hold back her laughter. The spirit’s antics were new and absolutely unexpected. What was even funnier was the fact Varino’s spirit body had no muscles to even make the flexing show anything off.

“Gods, where did you see-,” a giggle slipped out, “see this.” She gestured to the spirit.

Varino chimed and whistled.

“Y-you saw Gary, Neil, and Naro do this!” At that Kamar’s control fled and she laughed.

“I’m going to hold this over Neil and Naro’s head,” Kamar laughed.

Varino chimed a question.

“N-no. It’s not a way to flex that you won. It’s to show off…” Kamar laughed, tears leaking from her closed eyes. “To show off muscles. Muscles you don’t have.”

Varino taped her chin and giggled. Then laughed. The two lost it and laughed. A harsh bark of a laugh joined them.

The recruits had been giving the laughing pair strange looks, but when a harsh laughed joined them, their expressions turned to shock finding Cassel laughing. The notorious strict and harsh instructor’s laughter left the recruits speechless.

“Well, now that is done any of those that need healing Bob will take you and the rest we are done for the day,” Kaz said to the group as Cassel walked over to the still laughing pair.

“Great job today. I hope these challenges have shown just how much you all have grown and where you can grow further. Oh, and please, no more mass challenges. We all have things to get to after our group training.”

***

“We will break the down fights later. We have physical training to get to, so come on, you two,” Cassel said.

Varino whistled.

“Hmm, let me check on the exact date,” Cassel said. He mentally connected to the Gold-rank watching over their group. His question had a surprising response.

“It appears that the tribunal’s date has moved up. Your parents will arrive in a two days and it will begin in the morning,” Cassel told the two whose smiles were now gone.

Kamar sighed.

“That is either good news or bad news. Either way, let’s go Varino,” Kamar said, looking down at the little spirit whose gaze was distant, probably talking to Bronte. Although Bronte was too young so she wasn’t sure how much of a conversation they truly had.

Varino nodded and chimed brightly. Her usual smile was back.

Cassel nodded approvingly. “Once Bob is back after teleporting the group away, we’ll head off.”

***

Vinessa watched a physically and emotionally drained Zerine stumble into her room before going to bed.

She had a thin smile on her face. Zerine’s instincts were literally the best willpower training Vinessa could ask for. Feeling those negative emotions targeted at her plus with some out right suppressing her tiny aura were doing a great job training Zerine’s willpower. Even if the child didn’t realize it. With her willpower being more refined was already making Zerine more powerful than a mid E-rank in combat abilities. Mainly due to how Zerine used her willpower.

Few truly made their willpower a weapon outside of spell craft or conceptual control. Telekinesis was something everyone could do, but Zerine was crafting a fighting style that was rare and unique. She hoped it would work with her affinities when she got her crest.

Thinking of Zerine getting her crest made Vinessa frown. The soul was a mystery, but Zerine should have gotten her crest far earlier. Was it because of their heritage? Bloodlines? Or was there something else at play?

A mental nudge on her defence made Vinessa lose track of her thought. Recongizing Marigold, she allowed a mental connection to be created.

“Vinessa, the tribunal will happen in two days. Ava and Cal will be here tomorrow and observe Zerine’s training here, then go with you to the dragon lands,” Marigold thought to her.

Vinessa pursed her lips. The Tribunal’s rapid progress meant they would require the final pieces of their investigation, even though the rest had been completed. Varino would not be happy about sharing the reasons she wanted to bond with Zerine. Then there would certainly be an in-depth conversation about Zerine’s ability, but Vinessa had already put her foot down on that. Ava and Cal would share everything they knew. But Vinessa would not allow them to do a full examination of Zerine.

She didn’t want them to discover anything about what Zerine truly was. First, it would be a headache and half if they did. It was already annoying that Escanar had figured it out. But that was mainly due to him knowing both Indra and herself, so few could figure it out. Although if the world spirit took a peak, they would know just because of how goddamn old they were.

The second and worse scenario would be if they examined Zerine and discovered what she was. Vinessa would have to explain things to everyone and to Zerine’s while Zerine’s entire life would be flipped upside down. Many would want to study Zerine, while too many would track everything that Zerine was doing. That wasn’t something Vinessa wanted.

Fate breakers weren’t something to track, make an enemy of, or just mess with. It usually had a way of blowing up in everyone’s faces.

“Vinessa?” Marigold thought to her.

“Hmm, sorry. That’s fine. I’ll get to catch up with them. Does Marcy believe Zerine will be ready for the first trip?”

“Yes. After not being allowed on my trip, it motivated her. But it will have to wait for after this tribunal and Sashi’s ascension.”

“That makes sense. Has Ava and Cal started to prepare for the influx of people?”

“The entire city has been preparing for weeks. Many dignitaries have already arrived. It’s going to be even more rare of an event as it appears her ascension will aline with the end of the intersection.”

“It will be interesting to see how that affects the insights and mana during it. But either way, it’ll be a perfect time for Zerine to practice with you before going off on a trip. Oh, I also would like you to pass a message along to Ava and Cal that Zara should come along as well.”

“You want the Reaper’s Balde to keep working with Zerine? Are you not enough?”

Vinessa laughed.

“She goes by many names, but yes. Her training has heavily influences Zerine’s fighting style. Plus, I want to work with her to make some truly devious training.”

Vinessa would not say that she wanted Zara and her to take Zerine to several cities to work on her instincts and work on spy craft. Better she didn’t know what the two expect the path Zerine would follow.

“Very well. I’ll have our last spare room set up for her. She may be off on missions, though.”

Vinessa’s gaze went distant.

“No, right now she is training Shara and Milli Gravefield. But they aren’t following her path. She is only working on movement and battle awareness. It appears Zerine is the only one that has followed her training.”

Marigold’s mental sigh made Vinessa grin.

“Very, well. I’ll pass it along. It’s going to be a full house for a while.”

“Won’t that be more fun?”

“When Varino comes back, those two are going to be hand full.”

“And they weren’t before?”

“Good point. But I’m curious. What do you know about the tribunal?”

“It’ll come down to the dragon council. The sub council will be where all the politics is and you know the dragon council doesn’t care about their power struggles.”

“So, the dragons have already decided then?”

“That’s possible. But I suspect they changed the date to make sure Cal and Ava couldn’t gather more support in the Lord Flames territory. Or gather evidence of others playing games.”

“Hmm, so not good.”

“Nope,” Vinessa thought back cheerfully.

“What of Zerine?”

“She won’t be there. They’ve been following her for months with, and I’m not kidding Marigold, four mind specialized mages and one monitored Mind Bender.”

“They didn’t influence her mind? Or try anything else?“

“Oh, they did try to influence her mind, but she just shrugged it off. Should have seen the mind mage’s face. Oh, she was furious, then scared shitless when I appeared and dragged her in front of Escanar. She now has a soul bound contract forcing her to behave along with warning to the others. It was so funny. Ava and Cal did a wonderful job training her on mental defenses. Still could do with some refining, but I’ll get to that soon.”

“And the Mind bender?”

“A perfectly behaved man. But this tribunal will be entertaining. They have no clue how Varino is going to act during it.”

“Oh…no. That spirit won’t cause an incident, will she?”

Vinessa snorted. “Probably. But they pushed her towards becoming an independent rider so they won’t get their hands on a powerful bonded pair.”

“And what if they rule against Zerine?”

“All their so-called evidence is circumstantial. Varino decided. I even talked to her and the little storm took time and reaffirmed her feelings independent of Zerine. A month in a simulation really can help think about such important decisions.”

“That’s…huh. Good idea. Why haven’t I done that?”

“Because you don’t want to spend the mana on powering these devices. Whereas I, the greatest of all queens, view the mana as nothing more than a drop of water.”

“You realize in mental conversations theatrics just make you look ridiculous?”

“Yes…yes I do. But there is no fun staying serious all the time.”

Marigold’s resigned mental sigh only made Vinessa’s grin grow.

“Well, let me know if we have to put out some political fires with the dragons.”

“We won’t have to worry. If anything, it’ll only remain local and Escanar will handle that.”

***

Kimi was meditating. Neon green runes floated around her as she levitated above a pillow. She had kept up with Varino and Zerine over the years. It was strange to think that a few of her sisters were now moving into the Heartstone kingdom as a joint project with the kingdom. All of it only possible because of their friendship.

One of her sisters was in the Emerald forest, which was unfair. She still sucked at writing letters and just wanted to see her friends. Why couldn’t the runes she made just write the letter? Instead, she had to use telekinesis to control pens. At least her friends were doing alright.

Two more years until she could leave the hive and explore some more. She only hoped that Zerine would be alive. Varino would be alive, so there was at least that, but she wanted to explore with both of them. Her sisters were… more skeptical about her friends. At least her mother and the other high queens were open-minded. But those new queens Kimi’s age, not so much. To make it worse, she was a strange or rare variant of a runic queen spider. They were still figuring it out years later with some progress.

Threads of green mana spun around her, joining the floating runes as her meditation deepened.

Karmic threads appeared in Kimi’s mind. The golden threads wove intricate patterns, telling stories about the people she focused on. Currently, Zerine seemed to be stressed recently. From her letters, it was something to do with how people miss understood her and Varino’s friendship and were hostile towards her.

It made little sense to Kimi. Varino’s will was like steal. Trying to manipulate her wouldn’t end well. In fact, trying that with either of her friends would quickly be dealt with.

A silvery golden thread connected to Zerine, which was new. The thread shone brightly. It felt familial in nature, but new. Did she get a new sibling or something? No, Zerine’s kind had far fewer children than their kind did.

Hmm, odd, she would ask in a letter about it.

She shifted her focus towards Varino's massive knot of threads. Zerine’s threads were few, but strong, while Varino had many more bonds, but none as bright as the ones connecting her to Zerine, Bronte, or herself. The spirits karmic threads had somehow gotten even more connections than the last time she had checked.

Varino always seemed to make friends everywhere. Kimi felt a twinge of jealousy, but it faded quickly. She had friends. They just found her odd because of her admittedly different perspective on things. Her sisters accepted her fully, so there was no need to be jealous.

“Kimi, it is time for some testing of your thread concept,” came her mother’s voice, pulling her out of her mediation.

Kimi’s eyes blinked open as her spider body drifted down to the pillow. Her mother smiled down at her.

“Good work. I believe that is the quickest time you’ve been able to see karmic threads. But it’s time to push your willpower and concept, so come along.”

Kimi scuttled after her mother, making a mental note to ask about any letters that might have come in this week. She hoped her friends were doing well. Although she suspected their training was just as hard as hers. After all they were all being forged into monsters of their generation.