Queltsom:

I woke up feeling refreshed this time, not sore or anything like that. I still felt the pain, but I was used to it by now. When that pressure broke me, it was like I had to get used to that pain all over again, but thankfully my body was still used to it. I always did my best to fight against it, and it gave me strength. Not the strength of punching things, but the strength of resolve, or something like that. I was amazed at how much I was able to hide the pain, even from Dragnoria. I wonder where she is right now. No, Void, I wonder where I was right now. How far away from her was I? What happened to her? I remember her pain from getting burned by that thing that was mixed with the ashfire.

Anyway, I felt stronger somehow. I feel like I've gained something from all this crap that was going on with me. Waking up and panicking upon not finding Dragnoria, fighting a guard who wanted to gut me, losing my Kota and getting that pressure sensing power, then waking up again with the noble who told the guards to lock me somewhere waiting for me to wake up. Then that pain—that stupid and scary pain— Then something happened. I don't exactly remember what happened, but it happened, and my brain was torn completely. Probably whoever was responsible for the entangled energy I sensed in Jane's pressure did this. I intend to pay them back for what they did to me! Why did my Kota disperse at such an unlucky time that it allowed the idiot guards to defeat me? If I only hadn't lost it right then and there, I could have escaped and found somewhere else to live. Even the wilds would be better than this crap.

But on the bright side, I could sense people now, so that was nice! I don't have to rely on the sighted just to find signs of life! I can just sense them! It will take getting used to, but theoretically, it's doable! Oh, Gelrahq would comment on me not being supposed to know how to say theoretically if he were here. I was hoping for this whole thing to be some sort of training session they did with me, but deep down, I knew I was completely and utterly separated from the only friends and family I knew. Did I even have parents? Were they dead or alive? I'm lost! I'm so very lost! I'm lost, and this is frustrating! I tried to clear my head from the deep, dark, sad thoughts by distracting myself with sensing my surroundings using my new ability.

I expanded my pressure sense and felt around me. To my left, there was no pressure at all. I found out that there was pressure in the air itself, sort of like background noise. In that direction, however, there was none. I stood up and walked that way to investigate. After a few seconds of walking, I bumped into what felt like a wooden door. I slid my hand across its surface and found a small gap to the left, which was the very small opening between the door itself and the wall, and to the right there were what appeared to be hinges. I slid my finger past the door, whose handle was metallic, and found two keyholes on yet another set of doors. This was a wardrobe with two spaces for clothes! I walked back to the bed and noticed that it too didn't have pressure going through it. That confirmed my hypothesis that solid objects and obstacles had no pressure, and I knew to avoid walking into them to minimize the chance of bumping into things.

I walked forward this time and found another no-pressure zone. But this one felt different, like there was only a little bit of that pressure coming through. I investigated and found a wooden door. It was closed, and there was a handle that swung it inward when pressed. I pushed the handle, and the door swung open with a creak. Then I closed it. So the pressure is muffled by the door. But what is this pressure? Is it my way of sensing some kind of life energy? If it is, then did that mean the air was alive here? It could be the very small creatures living in the air that not even the sighted ones could see, but that was unlikely. I focused on my hearing, and I heard snoring to the right. I walked that way, and I found an amount of pressure that was stronger than the background one. It wasn't actually stronger than the background pressure, so much as more contained and focused. Based on this pressure and the snoring sound, I surmised that this was a sleeping person. A strong sleeping person. I was glad I didn't scream when I woke up, or else I would have woken them up and probably died in the process. It could have just been my imagination, but I thought I heard a laugh from the background pressure. Could that have been the case? That was honestly strange to think about.

I heard a rustling to the right, where the snoring person was sleeping. Then the snoring stopped, and a groan replaced it.

"Good morning, mom! Oh, no one is here?", a boy's voice said. The voice sounded about my age, slightly younger or older; I couldn't say for certain. Wait, I was confused. Why didn't I think about this? I was five years old—almost six—when the dread dragons attacked us, and now I sound like a teenager, so at least 6 to 7 years have passed since then! Did I really sleep for that long? How in the Omnis did I sleep for that long? Am I 13? 14? 15 years old? Bloody holes tear everything apart; this is ridiculous; I don't know my age anymore. I don't know my age anymore! Oh man, oh man, oh man, everyone is going to laugh at me! Oh, this is way too embarrassing!

"Oh, Queltsom, you're here, and you're finally awake!", the boy said, snapping my head back to reality.

"Yeah, but how did you know my name?", I asked him.

"Uh, mom, I mean, Lady Eileen told me,", he said.

"Wait, you know Lady Eileen, and she told you? You're her son?", I asked him.

"Hmm. it's a long story, but you could say that, I guess,", he replied.

"So, what's your name? And why does your voice sound familiar?", I asked.

"Uh, maybe when you did that weird thing of yours to save her and..."

"Oh, it's you. Thanks for saving me. I didn't know what happened there. I'm sorry if I did something wrong. I don't know what happened to me there. And I just wanted to help her because she was the only person who didn't try to kill me, and I was just very affected by it. And...", I blurted out, confused and panting heavily.

"Relax, relax, man! It's ok, you saved her, I saved you, and we're here now! I wanted to thank you for saving her, even if I didn't know how you did it exactly. Oh, and my name is Kerrio. Nice to meet you!", he replied.

"Nice. Nice to meet you too, Kerrio,", I said, stuttering slightly. "

"So, welcome to our home! How long have you been awake?", he asked.

"Not long; I woke up a short while ago and explored this room a little, then you woke up,", I answered.

"Explored? Aren't you blind, though?", he asked me.

"Yeah, I am. But I can sense people, so that's going to help me a lot in exploring my surroundings,", I answered.

"Oh, alright then! I can also help you! I want to explore this world—no, this whole Omnis! And you seem like the guy I could do it with,", he said with a chuckle.

"But not now, though. I need to know about all the places near us and get familiar with this place I found myself lost in."

"Lost? Aren't you from here?"

"No, I'm not, Kerrio, I'm not,", I said sadly.

"Where are you from anyway?", he asked.

"I was living with a dragon in a small town called Dolven. She taught me how to fight, kind of, and taught me some things about the Omnis,", I started to say, but he cut me off.

"Wait a second, a dragon? Really? Like an actual dragon?", he asked, sounding awed.

"Yeah. It's fine if you don't believe me; I've been accused of lying before,", I said nonchalantly.

"No, no, no, I believe you, man. I didn't think monsters and magic were real, but I soon found out when I was transported here all the way from my homeworld,", Kerrio said.

"Your home... world? You're from another world?", I asked, astonished.

"Yeah. Another world where there are no monsters trying to eat people, no magic, and nothing like that,", he said.

"No beasts, huh? "It must have been peaceful out there!", I reasoned.

"You're wrong, Quel. Some humans are more monstrous than the monsters on this world, I tell you!", he said. "Woah, why am I sounding like Brel right now? His way of speaking must have rubbed off on me somehow,", he muttered to himself.

"Wait, who's Brel?", I asked. The door swung open as if to answer me, and a familiar voice spoke.

"I am Brel. Hello, disciple! It's nice to finally meet you in person,", he said. I was very confused.

"Wait, who's disciple? I thought only Kerrio was here with me,", I said.

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"Hahaha, he's talking about you, Quel!", Kerrio said with a laugh.

"Wait, what? I'm not disciple, though. I'm Queltsom,", I told them.

"Hahahahahaha! He got you there, old man!", Kerrio burst out laughing.

"What's going on, guys?", I asked warily.

"Disciple is a title, not a name,", Kerrio said.

"A title? That's something books have, right? Are you saying that I'm a book?", I asked, flabbergasted. He burst out laughing once again.

"Stop it, Quel, you're killing me here! No, you're not a book, man. Disciple means student. So when he calls you a disciple, it means a student. He's saying you're his student, not a book,", he clarified, still chuckling lightly.

"Oh, I get it. But... but I already have a teacher, though,", I said.

"Are you talking about the dragon?", he asked.

"Yeah, it's her,", I answered.

"You can have more than one teacher; it's fine,", Kerrio told me.

"Oh, ok.", I understood.

"A dragon?", Brel asked. Then I felt something brush against my mental fortress. Dragnoria had taught me that technique so I wouldn't get mind-controlled and could know whenever anything targeted my mind.

Kerrio:

"Who's there?", they heard him say with a growl. Then that aura of pressing force came back, and Kerrio felt it for the first time. Brel realized that it was weaker than when the essence seed activated within his spirit.

"Someone's trying to break me again. It's... that way!", he said. Kerrio saw him move at a monstrous, almost indiscernible speed, and then he began punching. It was a barrage of punches that were thrown at the speed of a machine gun.

"Path of the Cold Fist, Punchstorm!", he growled. Kerrio actually saw a little bit of frost coating the portion of Brel's chest, the area where he was just punched. Brel moaned in pain.

"Ow, my chest! What did you do to me, disciple? Ow, ow, ow, that hurt!", he whined. Then a deep, gravelly voice spoke in Brel's mind, and Kerrio also heard it, likely intentionally.

"Looks like someone hasn't learned his lesson,", Sov said mockingly.

"I bet your soul is dancing in happiness at my predicament, isn't it, Sov?", Brel said in his mind, which Kerrio also heard for some reason.

"Wait a second, did I just hit Brel?", Queltsom asked, a little shocked.

"Uh, yes?", Kerrio answered.

"Um... I'm sorry? I just felt someone try to enter through my mind fortress and thought it was an enemy trying to do something bad, so I hit the source of the mind energy without thinking, and it happened,", he said sheepishly.

"Oh hell yeah! He deserved it! Apparently, he likes to spy on people's brains a lot, so he wanted to glean information from you without asking,", Kerrio said, feeling proud of this guy. "Can you punch him again? That was awesome!"

"I generally only punch my enemies, and he's not an enemy yet, so I won't do it. If he hurts one of us or Lady Eileen, though, I'll do it many times, many many times, in fact,", he answered.

"Haha! That's the spirit! Let's be friends, Quel!", Kerrio declared.

"I thought we were already friends. Aren't we?", Queltsom asked.

"Of course we are!", They burst out laughing and clasped each other's hands after Kerrio approached him.

"Stop fooling around, both of you! We need to talk about something serious here,", Brel shouted.

"You're about to be trained as a disciple by a group of experts, Queltsom,", Brel began. "I will teach you how to fight; my acquaintance Linda will teach you some shadow arts for sneeking; and Jane Silverstar will teach you about this world's geography." He was cut off by an aura of bloodlust that flared within Queltsom.

"Enemy! Enemy! Jane is an enemy!", His body shook with pent-up fury, and Kerrio put his hand on the boy's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.

"Calm down, Quel, calm down! No one will hurt you. I'll protect you because we're friends, and we'll be like a team! Please don't break this room's wall with another one of your punches, ok?", he asked. The aura faded, and Kerrio's shoulders slumped in relief.

*Knock knock*! "Hey, what's going on over there?", a bright female voice said.

"Come in, Linda,", Brel said, after he recovered from feeling the sudden aura. The door opened, and a young woman wearing a blue blouse and a veil covering her entered the room. "Right, why did women always wear veils again? I forgot; I'd have to reread Kerrio's Omnipedia again. Why did I write something I forgot to reread?", Kerrio thought.

"Hey. What was that aura? What's going on? Is that the disciple? Did it come from him? Tell me, Brel, tell me!", she said excitedly.

"Yes, Linda, it came from him, and he is the disciple...", Before he could speak further, she walked closer to the boy and spoke to him.

"Hey there. "What's your name, bloodlust boy?" she said.

"Don't get close!", he growled like a beast.

"Who do you think you are, hm?", she asked, and he growled once more.

"Don't give me that noise. I asked you a question, and I want you to answer it. Simple as a nimbleman's stride,", she said.

"I said, don't get close!", he roared.

"Fine.", She walked away slightly to gain some distance, and his roaring stopped.

"I'm Queltsom,", he said simply, sounding wary.

"That's too complicated. Can I call you Quello?", she said, and the aura increased in intensity.

"Don't call me that!", he shouted loudly. "Only one person is allowed to call me that, and no one else calls me that unless I allow it, you hear?", he declared with another roar.

"I didn't call you that, though; I called you Que..."

"Stop!", they heard Kerrio's voice say, and all of them stopped.

"He's very mad at your sister, and I barely calmed him down. And now you come in less than ten seconds after that and rile him up all over again? What in Mt. Skyfall is wrong with you?", Kerrio screamed and moved in as if to shield Queltsom from Linda, and the former's aura stopped pressing down on them.

"Relax, Kerri. I was just testing him to see if he had any fear or not

"Don't call me that!", Kerrio copied Queltsom's earlier outburst. "And why would he have any fear of you?"

"Not everyone is a warrior, but he is one. Now that I think about it, you are one too,", she said brightly, smiling at him.

"Stop fooling around, you two!", Brel said. After a while, he spoke again, sounding very miserable. "Sov, I'll kill you one day; you hear me?".

"Wait, who's Sov?", Queltsom and Linda both said at once, with harmony and all.

"Huh?", one of them said questioningly, the other in exclamation.

"Sorry for earlier, Quel tsom,", Linda said to him.

"No problem,", he replied. "My name's one word, not two."

"It's not my fault your name sounds like that of a demon from legends,", she said playfully.

"Hey, I'm not a demon! I'll have you know that I...", he trailed off. "You want to say something to me, don't you? Something serious, I mean."

"Spot on. "How'd you know, kid?"

"Just get on with it. I can already feel that it's about... It's about...", His aura almost flared, but he seemed to get it under control for now.

"Yes, that's exactly what it's about. Listen, she didn't do that to you on purpose. She was being controlled by a mind-manipulating monster, and I can bring her right here so she can apologize to you if you only stop being angry as the winter sea at her mere name being mentioned,", she said quietly.

"I'll try, I guess,", he said in resignation. "Not now, though. Let's talk about you guys teaching me stuff!", he said, sounding excited and friendly once more.

"Sure. Brel will teach you how to punch things."

"I already know how to punch things, though.".

"You need to practice and hone your moves, because it looks like you haven't used them very much,", said Brel.

"Alright then, I guess I need help with them,", Queltsom conceded.

"And I'll teach you how to sneak on people,", Linda continued.

"Nuh uh, you won't. He's blind, so I'll learn the sneaking part, along with punching things. He can't see enemies or know if he's even sneaking well or not. He won't know what cover he has or if the outline of his image is protected from sight by anything. So I'll learn that with you,", Kerrio said.

"Both of them are the same thing, basically,", she said. "But sure, you can join in on the fun. I should warn you, though, that you're doing a lot of running, jumping, and physical training with Brel,", she warned. "Finally, you know who will teach you how this world is structured, or what we know of it anyway. You'll learn about Elva itself and its surroundings. I assume you're in as well, Kerrio? Bloodlust... I mean Queltsom, are you still with us?", she asked.

"Yeah. I understand. So we're training together, eh, Kerrio?", he asked.

"Yup, we are.", Kerrio answered.