The old man finished recounting his brief summary to the youngsters, so that they could better understand the story of Primis. Su-jin, pensive, didn't understand why they'd been called in if the whole thing was already resolved.

"And what exactly do you expect us to do? Isn't it to settle the matter?" asked Su-jin.

Armand remained silent, not understanding what the old man was getting at. Gaspard's explanations seemed vague, as if he wasn't prepared for this situation.

"You see, this seal is beginning to weaken and what's more, six dangerous people have obtained the powers of the king's six vassals, these people are dangerous and they could very well accelerate the weakening of the seal," Gaspard explained.

"Huh? Wait, I don't understand, there's too much information!" exclaimed Salma.

"The six vassals are, in a way, your personal enemies. As far as I know, each of them has been chosen by the king's soul, which has given them devastating powers. You'll have to eliminate them before it's too late and they unleash him," said Gaspard.

"This story is boring. What do you want us to do about it right now? We're nothing right now and you're putting all this on us," growled Klaus.

"You still have time. They're scattered all over Primis, and as far as I know, none of them know about the others. On the other hand, I've already located two of them, but you need to gain strength first before you go looking for them and confronting them. One is hiding out on the island of Cristalluna, east of the mainland, but as for the other... it's best not to think about it just yet," Gaspard replied.

"Hm, that must be a big one. And by the way, how do we use the famous powers we've been given?" asked Klaus.

"I was coming to that. Stand up and line up in front of me," ordered Gaspard.

Klaus leapt from his seat and stood in front of the old man, eager to see what it would be like to have a power like his comic-book heroes. Salma then stood behind him, followed by Su-jin and finally Armand, a little taken by surprise by Gaspard's order. The monk began to incant something, placing his hand on Klaus's chest.

"May your magic bind itself to this chosen one and be granted to him," Gaspard murmured.

"Huh?" said Klaus.

Before Klaus had a chance to say a word, he found himself enveloped by swirling waves of magic. They danced around him, then gradually began to dissipate, forming a vortex between him and Gaspard that obscured their vision of the vortex's interior. As the vortex slowly faded, a trident almost as large as Klaus himself materialized. The weapon was strikingly beautiful, a luminous blue adorned with raised patterns of clouds and lightning.

"Is... Is this my weapon?" asked Klaus.

"Indeed, this is the trident of the climate warrior angel. Your body has been freed to embrace the omnipresent magic in Primis, which has also revealed the weapon associated with your power. Make sure you don't rely solely on this weapon and take advantage of the full scope of magic," Gaspard explained.

Klaus, not really listening to what Gaspard had just said, grabbed the trident in his hands and proudly showed it to the others.

"Not bad, eh? Just wait until I find you those junk vassals!"

It was Salma's turn, and she followed the same ritual. The vortex of magic this time came to rest above her hands, which she held out as if waiting for something to fall. Two sickles with jagged blades, glued together to form a sun, fell into her hands. She grasped them by the sleeves and admired them with twinkling eyes.

"They're beautiful, I love them! I was afraid I'd have an uglier weapon than Klaus's!" said Salma, smiling.

"Hey!" protested Klaus.

Salma turned to him with a smile and a provocative look and stuck out her tongue.

"I beg you not to fight, not even in the future, and certainly not to train together, at least not against each other," Gaspard interjected.

Su-jin stepped forward, it being his turn, and asked Gaspard why they were forbidden to fight each other. The old man replied that their magics were not compatible and that a confrontation could have serious repercussions. He gave no further details, but in any case, only Su-jin and Armand were really listening, as the others were bickering away.

Gaspard then began the ritual on Su-jin. Once again, the vortex was placed in a different spot from the first two, who were watching the scene with curiosity. Indeed, the vortex of magic slipped around Su-jin's arm and then disappeared, leaving a serpentine bracelet all around his right forearm. It was adorned with diamonds and at its tip was the head of a snake opening its mouth.

"Is that my weapon... that?" asked Su-jin.

"My knowledge is limited, but it seems to be an artifact linked to your power. Surely you don't need weapons to use it," replied Gaspard.

"I see..." murmured Su-jin.

He wondered, his body seemed different, but he couldn't see anything outwardly wrong. He looked towards Klaus and asked him to come closer and punch him in the chest to check something. Having no magic in the blow Klaus was about to make, Gaspard allowed it, and Klaus agreed, even if he found the request odd.

"I hope you don't regret it!" said Klaus.

Klaus readied his fist and struck Su-jin in the chest. The latter felt absolutely nothing, but Klaus cried out in pain and withdrew his hand, stooping in front of Su-jin holding his own hand.

"Damn! You're super hard, it hurts like hell."

"Thanks for confirming what I thought. You didn't have to use all your strength either," Su-jin replied calmly.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Klaus straightened up and acted as if nothing had happened, showing off.

"I... didn't use all my strength at all."

Gaspard rubbed his chin as he took in the scene. The diamond snake characteristic seemed to have already had an effect on Su-jin. Armand was also watching with admiration and a certain eagerness to see what he would get in turn. He then stood in front of Gaspard, ready to receive his magic. Gaspard turned to him and wasted no time. He placed his hand on Armand's chest and repeated the process. All the others watched, eager to see what he would get.

"May your magic bind itself to this chosen one and be granted to him," Gaspard incanted.

Around Armand, a vortex of magic appeared, twirling with intensity, but it presented a singularity. Unlike the others, the vortex did not move, but rather intensified. He couldn't see it himself, but the others could: the vortex changed color systematically, whereas for them it was pure white. Gradually, the vortex faded, and everyone tried to see the weapon he had received.

Armand slowly opened his eyes, getting used to the light, and scanned the weapon he was supposed to get. To his surprise, and that of Gaspard and the others, he found nothing. His eyes quickly scanned his body and surroundings for the long-awaited object. But there was no weapon, no ornament, no jewel like Su-jin's. He was left empty-handed. He found himself empty-handed, with nothing. Klaus put a hand to his mouth to stop himself laughing, but it was all too obvious. The others looked at Armand with slight sorrow for him.

"What just happened? Why didn't I get anything?" asked Armand, visibly bewildered.

"From what we've just seen, your power simply doesn't have any artifacts linked to it," replied Gaspard.

"But then, how am I supposed to do it?" worried Armand.

Gaspard took a moment to think, searching for the right words.

"Armand, the nature of your magic is different. It's possible that your power resides entirely within you, with no need for an external artifact. You'll have to learn to master it yourself. This may be more difficult, but it also means that your magic could be more integrated into your being, more versatile."

Armand nodded, a mixture of determination and confusion in his eyes.

"All right, I'll do my best."

The others looked at him with expressions of support and curiosity, each wondering what their own futures held in this strange and dangerous world.

Salma watched Armand with rapt attention, noticing something unusual in his eyes. Without hesitation, she suddenly approached him.

"Tell me, what color are your eyes normally?" she asked.

Su-jin had also noticed the change in Armand's eyes, while Klaus seemed puzzled by Salma's question.

"Normally? What do you mean, usually? I have gray eyes, I think," Armand replied, surprised by the question.

Salma opened her mouth in shock, then smiled at him before describing what she was observing.

"Well, it looks like you've undergone a little change after all! Your eyes have changed color three times since you opened them! First green, then red, and now yellow! It's quite funny!" she exclaimed.

Gaspard spoke again, trying to clarify the situation surrounding Armand's mysterious statuette.

"If I remember correctly, you received a statue of a white bird adorned with multicolored feathers, didn't you? I'm sorry, but I don't have any information about it; it doesn't appear in any text by the Saint that we've been able to find so far. You'll have to explore your power and all its possibilities for yourself," he explained.

Armand nodded, a little more reassured but still slightly disappointed that he didn't possess weapons as remarkable as those of Klaus and Salma. Gaspard then gathered them all to face him.

"By the way, you don't seem to care what's on the back of your right hand," announced Gaspard.

Each observed their hand and discovered a star-shaped symbol tattooed on the back.

"What's this now?" asked Salma, her tone betraying her exhaustion at the avalanche of information received today.

Gaspard simplified the explanation: "To put it simply, during your journey, you'll need to surround yourself with powerful, trustworthy people with whom you'll need to create bonds symbolized by this star."

"What do you mean?" questioned Armand, trying to understand.

"When you deem a person worthy of accompanying you, you can use your magic to bestow upon him or her one of the four fragments of your star. This fragment will attach itself to his or her body, creating a link between you and him or her and increasing his or her strength. Of course, this doesn't work between group members," Gaspard clarified.

Klaus, with his usual sense of humor, added: "So on top of all that, we'll have allies. Whoever gets the most is a pussy."

"Klaus!" scolded Salma.

"Well, I hope I've answered as many of your questions as I can," concluded Gaspard.

Salma whispered to Klaus that she still had too many questions, which made the latter laugh discreetly as Gaspard continued his speech.

"However, I'm sorry to have to separate you despite the bonds that are beginning to form between you," Gaspard announced.

"Huh? Why's that?" gasped Klaus.

Su-jin nudged Klaus lightly with his shoulder and whispered that he should have listened carefully to what Gaspard had said earlier instead of chatting with Salma.

"I've watched you enough during this 'meeting' to know where to take each of you. Don't worry, you'll be staying within the walls of Auroria, a very large city and the economic capital of Primis, the second largest city in these lands. I'll give you two months to familiarize yourselves with your powers and magic," he announced.

He turned to Armand, his words becoming a little rougher for him.

"I expect more effort from you than from the others. You start lower than them, given that you have no weapons to catalyze your power, but I'm not too worried. I trust the person who will train you," added Gaspard.

Su-jin put his hand on Armand's shoulder, seeking to reassure him.

"We'll give it our all and go home," he assured with determination.

Armand sketched a forced smile, trying to conceal the discreet shiver of fear that ran through his body. The pressure of not having a weapon to catalyze his power weighed heavily on him.

The old man sighed slightly before continuing.

"Right, I'm going to proceed one last time with the teleportation. As I said, you'll be scattered to the four corners of Auroria," he said.

Salma, optimistic despite the challenges ahead, raised a fist to her companions.

"Goodbye guys! Let's try to become the strongest and make sure this king doesn't show up!" she challenged with a determined smile.

Su-jin followed her gesture by extending his fist towards the others.

"Good luck, I'm already looking forward to seeing all our progress," he added.

Armand, trying to look confident despite his doubts, joined them.

"Yes, I'll do my utmost to keep up with you," he replied with determination.

Salma joked lightly with him to cheer him up.

"You say that as if we're already ahead of you. Don't lose hope!" she told him with an encouraging smile.

Armand thanked her.

Klaus approached last and held out his fist in turn, grinning proudly.

"Anyway, you won't have to lift a finger. I intend to do them all, those vassals!" he declared confidently.

Su-jin looked at him skeptically. "Hmpf, we'll see. Don't be too proud, it might come back to bite you," he replied in a detached tone.

Klaus rolled his eyes. "You bet!" he replied simply.

Gaspard raised his staff towards them, and a magic circle appeared beneath their feet, preparing them to be teleported at any moment.

"I'll see you in two months. When you go out, you'll wear more sober clothes to avoid attracting too much attention with your clothes from your world. See you soon," Gaspard announced.

Salma suddenly seemed to panic. "Wait, what?" she exclaimed, clutching at her clothes as if to hold them close.

In an instant, the four youngsters vanished, leaving a strong draught to dissipate the magic emanating from the enchanted circle. Gaspard, remaining in the center of the room, turned his head slightly, glancing furtively over his shoulder as if searching for someone behind him.

"Have you seen everything? What do you think of this group?" he asked respectfully.

In the shadows, sitting relaxed on the seat reserved for the lord of this court, a figure watched the scene with interest.

"It's a very interesting group. I can't wait to see how they develop," replied the shadow in a calm, confident voice.

End of chapter 3.