BEEP BEEP BEEP

Shouri ran his hands through his hair as he wrapped up bead production for the day. Despite Taika’s earlier interruption, he had produced quite a few winners today. The number of failures only amounted to about five or six while the number of completed beads had reached a clean twenty.

“Same time tomorrow?” Vienna asked.

“Probably,” Shouri replied.

“See you then.”

And with that, Shouri ended up alone with his thoughts. That and the tuner that beeped at him. Drawing Taika’s midnight black tuner from his side, he found an alert waiting.

Mente Offuscata (New!)

Pianissimo (New!)

Onda Mentale (New!)

Presto (New!)

Esaurimento (New!)

Presto (New!)

Shouri’s brows perked up. That was a lot of updates – the last time he saw this much on just one of their tuners was when they had fought the giant Scherzando back in Riva Sranvi.

He shook off that bit of reminiscence and took stock of the spells Taika had gained.

Mente Offuscata was one he recalled Albarich using before. Emily stacked it with an attack spell to deadly effect. Taika would need to work on her spatial awareness according to what he read in the field guide. Perhaps Taika’s current training would provide that?

Onda Mentale was a spell from Rynda, it was the raw form of Taika’s ad-Lib, a simple telekinetic force that was cast in the direction of the user’s choosing. It was simply a matter of whether they wanted to use Taika or Shouri’s rhythm when deciding to use this spell. There was also the thought component – Taika wouldn’t need to concentrate to cast this and sometimes all that was needed was for someone or something to exit her personal bubble, possibly at high speeds.

Finally, there was Esaurimento, another one demonstrated to them by Albarich. It was a spell that forced the target to fall asleep. From what Shouri recalled seeing of its usage Albarich had to wait until the target got pretty close to cast it and even then the afflicted Resonator had time to fight back before the spell kicked in. Would such a spell work on a Scherzando? Funghi Magici worked on them. Maybe something to test?

At any rate, more options never hurt. Mente Offuscata was a good one to have, breaking a foe’s concentration was invaluable when seconds were the difference between victory and defeat.

The Maestro rose from his seat, grunting as he stretched his protesting muscles. He shot a glance at the bead bowl. It was good progress. Tomorrow was another day.

He took his leave from the cramped storage room and meandered through the temple. It was always so quiet and empty here. It once more made the Maestro’s rhythm itch with curiosity. What had this place been like in its heyday? There must have been so many under Sarayul’s charge. How long has it been just him and his last two followers?

It felt kind of… lonely. The boy came to a stop, lowering his head. If he had ever been offered to become an Ethereal would he take it?

Perhaps if Taika and the others were extended the same offer. He couldn’t imagine the thought of just existing forever without someone to share it with. The boy trembled. It was a daunting thing to consider.

Speaking of, the peace and tranquility rippled, disturbed by some sort of commotion around the distant corner. Given the lack of clientele in this remote mountain temple, the list of suspects was scarce. Either way, he resumed his trek, now focused on the source of the noise.

It didn’t take long for him to find his precious Resonators – they were causing a fuss as usual. His lips curled up into a smile, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Dai! Dai!” Taika shouted.

“I can follow just fine! Stop trying to tear off my arm!” Rebecca cried out as she was dragged along by the enthusiastic fox.

Shouri rounded the corner to see Pacifica following the two loud vixens into one of the larger rooms of the temple. With a chuckle and a shrug, the Maestro followed suit.

“Okay okay okay!” Taika held out her bead for her captive audience. “Watch this!”

Just as Shouri entered the large room, a small dot whipped across the room, embedding itself into one of the wood beams.

“Ta-da!” Taika held her hands up as if beckoning for applause.

Her audience of three entertained the performance, clapping respectfully.

“That explains your new tricks,” Shouri spoke up, walking up to the trio.

“New tricks?” Taika perked up, her tail swishing upon spotting their Maestro.

“You got three new spells today,” he replied.

“New spells?”

Shouri flashed the tuner to the curious trio.

“What do they do?” Pacifica asked.

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“Mind attack, Push spell, Sleep spell,” he said, pointing at each one in turn with his thumb.

“That’s a lot of stuff,” Taika said, her tail still swishing behind her with interest.

“Sho, can you have her use that one real quick?” Rebecca pointed at Onda Mentale.

“Oh, sure. Onda Mentale, Presto,” Shouri called off the hip.

Taika didn’t have anything on hand to move with the spell, and what’s more, she didn’t have any frame of reference for how strong the weakest form was. She only had what Rynda had done with it before (which was reflecting a possibly Fortissimo level Nature spell like she was parting a flood).

There was a brief moment of panic as Shouri’s rhythm coursed through her, demanding she cast the spell.

“Point it at me, I can take it,” Rebecca called out.

The lunar fox didn’t think about it and extended her palm out at the willing volunteer.

“W-wait!” Pacifica dramatically fell out of the way, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire.

Despite the theatrics, all that happened was Rebecca’s skirt and hair ruffled intensely in the telekinetic breeze. She wasn’t moved or thrown to her feet. Just slightly tousled for Taika’s effort.

“Not very strong,” Shouri mused. “Makes sense for a Presto spell though,” he said with a shrug.

“I know your problem,” Rebecca spoke.

“My problem?” Taika tilted her head slightly.

“You’re like me; you’re forcing your rhythm out to maximize your output. You need to control your rhythm,” explained the fire fox.

“Exactly correct.”

The group turned to find Sarayul standing in the doorway, arms folded within his robes. “You can swing your sword, but that’s all you can do,” he said as he pushed off the frame and approached the group.

Rebecca nodded in agreement, the metaphor was appropriate in her opinion.

Taika opened her mouth to speak, but the Ethereal cut her off.

“When you’ve mastered your gift, nothing will be out of your grasp,” Sarayul stated. From his robes, a deck of cards flew out, one at a time in a rapid precession. They orbited around his form in a perfect circle like little blades. “It will be as second nature to you as moving your arms and legs.”

“Well that’s cryptic as hell,” Rebecca grumbled.

“To be fair, the lunar field guide didn’t give me much on this, it just kind of boils down to ‘it works differently for everyone’,” Shouri said with a shrug.

“Indeed,” Sarayul agreed. “We had an old saying: ‘You can lead a horse to water but you cannot force it to drink’,” said the immortal.

“What does that mean?” Pacifica raised a brow.

“Something like you can show someone something, but it’s up to them whether they do it or not?” Shouri guessed.

“Precisely,” Sarayul said with a smile. “Though once she realizes her misconception, these feats will be child’s play.” The fox man spun a finger in the air, his orbiting cards taking off.

The cards flew around, breaking off and circling the four mortals who could only stand and stare in awe at the telekinetic dexterity. The sixty-some-odd cards broke apart from their respective orbits all moving independently of one another.

Taika hummed in thought, the excited chattering of her friends muffling away as she turned her focus inward. Sarayul’s movements with his deck of cards were so clean, so precise, it was almost as if he was a perfect machine. But how was it so easy for him? The thousand years of practice notwithstanding, how did he master his powers? Was he just that much stronger than her, or something else she was failing to grasp?

Failing to grasp… Taika’s eyes widened at the realization. Everything Sarayul said had meaning, even her average social sense told her as much. The fox man was practically broadcasting his intentions on a huge rhythm billboard – she just had to read it.

And what it said told her everything she was doing wrong. This power wasn’t just a simple force to be tamed and subjugated; it was a part of her. A part of her body, just like her arms, legs, or tail. That was the truth of the matter.

When looking at it that way, what she had to do was obvious. So much so that she felt like an idiot for wasting these last few weeks in fear of her power.

From the wood beam it had been embedded in, Taika’s solitary bead flew out and began orbiting her. Not in as clean of a path as Sarayul had done. It was more of a messy oval as she focused on constantly correcting its trajectory, but it circled her nonetheless.

“She’s doing it,” Pacifica said on a hushed breath.

Shouri smirked. “Didn’t doubt her for a second,” he whispered.

“She’s gonna be a monster,” Rebecca chuckled.

Sarayul wore a thin smile. “Ah, finally… now the true training can begin.”