During the next wave, Liam and the others made sure to have their Mana Sight activated before the Sand Flea Crabs approached. Instead of getting surprised by their sudden emergence, they were able to watch the creatures swim their way up to the surface of the sand. As the creatures made their way up to the surface, Liam looked at the others. He noticed Roman watching more intently than the others. To Liam this was unusual for the Kitsune to be focusing so hard.

After the Sand Flea Crabs emerged the group swiftly went into action. Like last time there were a dozen of the creatures. Artem and Blair tried their best to attract aggro from them, but like last time a few dove back into the sand and swam around to catch the group off guard. However, unlike last time they were ready for this.

Liam used his hammer to attack one of the Sand Flea Crabs that tried to jump and attack Mercer as he shot an arrow at the underbelly of another who jumped at Artem’s side. Avery swiftly spun around, ducked, and stabbed her rapier through the middle of the underbelly of the Sand Flea Crab that tried to attack her. She drove her weapon deep enough for some blood to spill out and tried to manipulate it. She was successful in pulling a small amount of blood, but not all of it.

Mercer and Liam turned to make sure the other side was fine, but were shocked as they noticed Roman was distracted as he stared at one that was running across the sand and didn’t see the Sand Flea Crab that had jumped out of the sand behind him. Before anyone could react though, a small pocket of air collided into the shell of the creature and knocked it through the space between Roman and Artem.

Roman, realizing something was wrong snapped out of the trance he was in and spun his attention around. Liam and Mercer looked at Ariyana and were surprised to see a small smokey emerald, green toad with deep purple eyes sitting on her right shoulder. The toad took in a deep breath, its throat growing with the air it sucked in, before firing another small pocket of air at another Sand Flea Crab that was running towards Roman.

“Get your head in the fight Roman!” Ariyana shouted. “One of those nasty creatures almost got you!”

Frowning, Roman turned around and punched another right on top of the spot where its head was protected. The shell cracked at the sudden use of force causing the Sand Flea crab to cry out in pain. Roman grabbed the edge of the shell, where the cracks were starting to form, with both hands and pulled the broken pieces apart. With more of its skin exposed, Roman reeled his right fist back and threw another powerful punch into it, knocking it out.

Liam watched Roman’s movements before looking at Mercer who looked back at him. There was both a look of concern and slight confusion written on his face just like Liam’s. Without saying anything, Mercer gave him a shrug before getting back into the fight.

This round didn’t take as long as the last, but once it was over they quickly made it back to the rocky terrain to recuperate and restore the lost stamina. After confirming nothing was going to emerge while resting, Ariyana whirled on Roman and asked, “What the hell was that about?”

Roman stared at her. For once, he didn’t retort or say anything back. Instead, he looked to be thinking. This gave everyone pause as they watched him. No one said anything as they waited for him to speak. A minute had passed, and Ariyana was about to ask again, but stopped as Roman said, “I’m sorry. I was lost in my own thoughts watching those Sand Flea Crabs.”

“Watching those Sand Flea Crabs?” Artem repeated as he grew curious. “Why are you watching them when we’re supposed to kill them?”

Roman looked conflicted as he looked away. “I don’t know,” Roman sighed. “I just feel that there’s something I can learn just by watching them. I thought I was on to something earlier before Ariyana saved my rear.”

Everyone stared at Roman with a shocked and surprised expression. Feeling some annoyance starting to build he asked, “What? Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Because you just admitted that I saved you,” Ariyana swiftly responded before a teasing grin formed and added, “Is it my birthday? Are you feeling sick?”

Roman’s face flustered as he sputtered, “I didn’t say you saved me. I said you saved my rear as in you covered for my mistake.”

“Uh huh, sure,” Ariyana teased as her grin widened even more.

“An…Anyways,” Roman started back up as he turned away from her. “I felt like I was on to something right before getting that moment. I lost it after that though, so I can’t really say what it was I was thinking.”

Liam listened to Roman and thought about what he was saying. He then thought back to the look Roman had during the fight before the Sand Flea Crab tried attack him from behind. He couldn’t put a finger on it, but the focus Roman had on his face reminded him of something. Something he had both felt and done a couple of times before.

“Roman,” Liam started. He waited for the shorter male to look at him before asking, “When you were watching the Sand Flea Crabs did it feel like your body was both in control and not at the same time? Or did it feel like all sound around you was getting quieter?”

Mercer stared at Liam for a moment as he asked the question before watching Roman’s expression. His question tickled the back of his mind on something he had read once but couldn’t remember what it was. He saw as Roman frowned and opened his mouth before closing it, bringing a hand to his chin, and muttered, “Did I feel like I was…?”

With a frustrated expression he said, “Yes, no…kind of.” Roman let out a frustrated sigh before continuing, “I felt like I had control over my body…but there was a brief moment where I felt like I couldn’t move my body. Almost like I was in some sort of…trance? I’m not sure if that’s the right word.”

Mercer’s mind instantly locked on the word as soon as Roman said it. He remembered there was a few books on different types of trances people could get themselves into without realizing it. He then looked at Liam and saw he was starting to draw some conclusions of his own. Before Liam could say anything Mercer quickly asked, “You’ve experienced it before haven’t you?”

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Liam looked at Mercer, surprise on his face. Curious, Liam asked, “What do you mean? Experienced what before?”

“A state of trance,” Mercer asked. “Its when a person becomes so focused they lose themselves. Another definition of it is when a person brings themselves into a semi-conscious state where they are not fully aware of themselves or their surroundings. There are also instances where a person’s body moves on its own while their conscious watches the movements their body makes to show them what to do. Other instances help bring out the person’s mind so they can spot errors easier and make corrections before they happen. There are other things that happen when a person enters a type of trance, but I’ll only use those couple as examples.”

Liam looked even more surprised at Mercer’s words. While he did have moments where his body moved on its own and left him to watch have happened, along with times where during a crafting session he had spotted issues as they arose and had to correct them on the spot without really knowing how, he never had an answer to what they were.

“I came across a few books on Trances and the different types of trances,” Mercer continued. “There is a Crafter’s Trance. A Trance that those who are crafting get that gives the crafter a chance to make a better quality item or a successful chance at making an item on the first try. A Battle Trance. A trance a person can get into while in the middle of a fight that helps them make less errors and minimizes wasted movements. That is not to be confused with a Trancer’s magical spells that can place people or themselves into things like a Berserker’s Trance, Fighter’s Trance, ectara. There are plenty of other trances, but the one I believe you were getting into Roman,” Mercer pointed at Roman before continuing, “Was called a Mystical Trance.”

“A Mystical Trance?” Roman asked, repeating the word.

“It’s a type of Trance where a person who is fixated on learning something that deals with magic slips into when they come across something that resonates with them or are dead set on learning and they are on the cusp of grasping it,” Mercer explained. “I think what you were experiencing was the beginnings of entering that type of trance.”

Everyone looked at Roman after Mercer finished explaining. While they had a good laugh at him when Ariyana had teased, the sudden realization that Roman was truly beginning to learn something instead of making a battle mistake was eye opening. Not only did this understanding meant it was a sign for Roman to grow in power, but they took it as a sign that they too could have this happen to them.

Liam saw the realization on each of their faces and the hopes they held. He was going to say something to them, but stopped as his eyes fell upon the newest member of their group that was still chilling on Ariyana’s shoulder. During their time talking about Roman, Liam had completely forgotten about the strange looking toad. The toad realized that he was staring at it and looked at him. The toad croaked once and then again before placing a webbed hand on Ariyana’s cheek, grabbing her attention.

“Hm?” Ariyana muttered as she looked at the toad. Liam watched as the toad croaked a couple of times before looking at him. He was both amazed and surprised as he realized Ariyana understood what the toad was trying to say to her by looking at him with a confused look.

As soon as she saw Liam staring at them she let out a laugh and said, “Don’t you know its rude to stare at a lady Liam. Its even more so that you’re doing so without introducing yourself. Can’t you see she’s a shy girl?”

Liam was flabbergasted as he watched the smokey emerald green toad shift is body to move slightly under Ariyana’s hair. Lady? Shy? Liam thought as he noticed the others’ attention start to shift towards them. Stuttering a bit Liam finally said, “I am sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude. I was just surprised. I’ve never seen a to…”

“Young lady,” Ariyana interrupted.

Liam paused for a moment before continuing, “A young lady like…” He waited for Ariyana to fill in the blank that even the others were waiting for.

Ariyana let out a sigh before saying, “I’ve mentioned her name before. However, since I know crafting probably takes up more space in your brain I’ll give you a hand.” Ariyana reached for the toad and pulled her to her lap as she sat down. The toad stepped back against her stomach before slightly looking away from all the eyes that were now on her. “This is Tabitha the Echo Toad. Or Tabby for short.”

Liam’s eyes shone with recognition. He remembered her talking about her. However, since Uncle Naro was in a hurry to get them going with their training she didn’t reveal her. With as much of a welcoming smile as he could muster, Liam said, “Hello Tabby, I am Liam.”

Tabby’s eyes shifted to looked at him. After a few seconds she let out a soft croak which made Ariyana giggle. “Tabby, you are going to have to get over your shyness sooner or later. This is the team I told you about. The ones who were there when Barty and I met each other.”

Liam watched as Tabby responded to her in her own way. He then watched as the others introduced themselves one by one. She looked to be more responsive with Avery and Blair than with Mercer and Roman, but it was Artem that had received a different reaction.

After Artem introduced himself, Tabby shot out a small pocket of air that hit his left chest area. This made Artem confused as concern grew on his face. The others laughed at him as Ariyana stated, “Tabby, what was that about? Artem is a nice guy that stands in the front to protect us.”

Tabby croaked several times as Ariyana picked her up to face her. Everyone laughed as they watched the interaction go between them. During the laughter, Roman stated as he elbowed Artem, “Maybe she did that because she likes you.”

Artem stared at him as both brows furrowed. As he said something to Roman and Blair smacked the back of his head, Mercer asked, “Can you understand what she is saying?”

Ariyana, pulling her attention away from Tabby and placing her back on her lap, looked at Mercer before giving him a smile and said with a lot of confidence, “Nope. Not at all.”

Mercer chuckled a bit before saying, “That’s too bad. You seemed to be able to with the way you’ve been talking to her.”

“I cant understand what she is saying. At least not right now,” Ariyana went to correct. “One of my Tamer abilities from the Focus Point Creature Husbandry called Creature Empathy is supposed to eventually allow me to understand what they are saying, but that won’t happen until we grow as a Tamer and Tamed Creature as well the ability reaches a higher level. For now I can get a sense of what they are saying through their feelings.”

“Oh?” Mercer muttered as he wrote this down. “That explains how you were able to understand she was feeling shy when Liam was being rude.” Liam frowned at Mercer after hearing that, but kept quiet as Mercer continued, “But were you able to understand why she attacked Artem?”

Ariyana looked puzzled as she said, “She didn’t attack him.”

Everyone looked confused as they heard that. Avery quickly said before anyone could say anything, “But she shot that weird air bubble thing at him. If she wasn’t attacking him then what was she doing?”

“Its called Air Pocket not air bubble,” Ariyana corrected before looking down at Tabby. “To be honest, I am not sure why she did it. She did the same to me when I first met her and asked her to allow me to tame her. The small Air Pocket didn’t hurt when she did it to me.” Ariyana looked at Artem before asking, “Did it hurt you?”

Artem shook his head. “No, it more surprised me than anything.”

“Hm,” Ariyana muttered as she looked back down at the creature. Tabby was looking at Artem before shifting her body around and looked back at Ariyana. She then hopped back to her shoulder and wiggled her way under her hair and out of sight. Ariyana let out a giggle before saying, “Alright. Alright. I wont pry anymore into it.” She then looked at the others and said, “She’s done with the line of conversation. So let’s move on to what we are going to do next.”

“About that,” Roman started back up as the others turned to look at him. He looked a bit uncomfortable as their eyes landed on him. He then looked resolved as he announced, “I would like to step out of this next wave.”