Uriel cringed back a little. He knew that he had it coming. Had he told his father about Feyfey's matter, this would have never happened.

Now he was certain that his father was going to be mad at him for a few days.

"You see, it's nothing to worry about, he's fine-"

After a while of back and forth between him and Cassius, the formidable king finally managed to calm his unfathomable father.

Uriel could finally explain what had transpired.

"I see . . ." Cassius caressed his goatee. He was going to say something when another figure chimed in the view.

"Tell me about the boy," Kal, Cassius' friend and the former king of dragons, asked with unprecedented seriousness.

"Kal! For God's sake! Let me talk to my son in peace!" Cassius roared in frustration, glaring at Kal.

"Oh, shut up C-ASS-ius, let me talk. I know what I'm doing." Kal roared back.

"YOU"—a vein bulged on Cassius' forehead—"You are not going to get tired with that pun, are you?"

Raising his middle finger, Kal retorted back calmly, "Never."

Silence ensued.

'He's gonna lose it, isn't he?' Uriel thought as he soon heard the sound of sleeves being pulled upwards.

". . . Alright. So be it." Cassius said, monotonously amidst Kal's snickers.

He lunged at Kal.

"Huh? Wait! Stop! Stop! I give! I give!"

Kal's panicked voice resounded from the other side of the Communicod.

Uriel didn't need to see to understand what was happening.

"Can you stop, father?" Uriel said in exasperation as he massaged his forehead. How could they act like children? They were way old for that! Uriel was not sure what he was supposed to make out of this situation.

"No, my son. As you can see, he's been taken over by a dangerous parasite. This parasite is dangerous in that it makes you stupid. So I have to beat some sense into him- "

"Did you just call me stupid?! You ass!?"

"Did you just call me ass!? you moth—"

"WILL YOU TWO STOP AND FOCUS!?" not being able to take it anymore, Uriel bellowed, slamming his fist on the table.

Both Cassius and Kal stopped at the same time, turning and looking at Uriel.

They coughed at the same time and opened their mouths.

"Yeah, yeah, sure-" Said Kal.

"Of, course, you can continue-" Said Cassius.

"Thank you." Uriel heaved a sigh, hoisting the cube-like object off the table.

Coiling it in his hand, he pressed in the middle of the cube. The visage of a young boy around his thirteens appeared atop the cube, on a blue hovering dust-like light.

"He's the one," Uriel said, taking a first look at the boy himself.

The boy was handsome. Unblemished, pale skin with white hair resting on his shoulders. Two orbs of golden, down the shadows cast by his eyebrows. Some small scale-like skin on the upper side of his right cheek.

Kal and Cassius visibly squinted their eyes to take a closer look. After a moment, Cassius parted his lips, caressing his goatee.

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"Nay, never seen him." He replied, much to Uriel's disappointment.

Kal, however, looked at the picture weirdly, then chuckled lightly.

"Heh~ You don't have to worry about him, Yuri. I know the boy." Kal said, smiling lightly.

Ecstatic and relieved that Kal knew the boy, Uriel leaned forward, towards the Communicod.

"Who?"

"He's my future grandson-in-law."

Cassius had a sudden look of enlightenment whereas Uriel's brows crinkled in confusion.

"Grandson-in-law?" Uriel leaned back on his chair, "Since when."

Kal smiled like a gossipy neighbor and chortled.

"Ah, he got engaged to my Evallyn more than four years ago."

"But, why him though. Surely there were many good candidates than a nobody." Uriel said.

Kal raised an eyebrow, "He's not a nobody, mind you. Sure, he'd been out of sight for a while but he isn't a nobody. As for why him . . . Well, let's just say one thing led to another and Eva bit him, sucked his blood. That wouldn't have been a problem, but the boy bit her back-"

"You Blood Dragons and your messed up customs . . . " Cassius mumbled.

"I know right," Surprisingly, Kal agreed. "We have the most f*cked up customs, in my opinion. Just imagine, marrying someone you don't know just because, In the heat of the moment, you sucked each others' blood.Though I'm grateful Eva and Aidan were there; got me one hell of a grandson, didn't they?" he grinned toothily.

"Anyway. Don't worry about him. Let the boy rest—ah, his name is Aidan Cyrus by the way—I'll come and explain personally. I want to meet him as well." Kal sighed.

"Anyway, goodbye, I'm tired." Kal said.

"OK, goodbye." Uriel nodded, pushing the "X" button on the Communicod.

He slumped back in the chair, gazing upwards at the ceiling while he rubbed his neck.

Tomorrow was going to be a long day, like always, he could tell.

***

"Yeah, breath in, hold it in as long as you can, then breath out." I instructed Feyrith.

He had, kind of, become my official student—I'd get paid for teaching him.

Gazing at him sitting down as he breathed in and held his breath, I continued.

"Burning Dor and using the steam generated by burning it for Pyromantic applications is strictly bound to breathing techniques."—I said, while I sat in front of him as well, downing a piece of Dor.—"After consuming Dor, when you breath In, with the intent to burn, the Dor will burn inside your stomach and generate steam, this is the first half of each cycle of burning." I said, as I inhaled, and felt a tingling hot sensation in my stomach as Dor burned and steam generated.

Then, as I held my breath—which was, by now, second nature to me—I continued.

"The steam is not your normal steam. It's different. The steam is the source of our power, while burning Dor provides that power. When you hold your breath, you can, theoretically, use the steam inside your stomach to do anything. From enhancing strength and senses to defense-" I stopped, noticing that Feyrith had not been able to hold his breath long enough.

But it mattered not, it was just the beginning and he'd eventually grow as time passed.

"But more importantly, you can use your spark." I said as a flame puffed into existence just atop my extended hand.

"Sparks are essentially supernatural powers bestowed upon us by the Eternal Flame while Dor is the fuel that we need to use them." I said, extinguishing the fire.

"You need to know something important too." I said, exhaling all the remaining steam—which was a lot from the smoke that coiled out of my mouth.

I had not used the steam, it could be used more, but I needed to teach him one important fact, two actually.

"Remember two things," I raised two fingers.

"The Dor you consume will remain dormant inside your stomach as long as you don't burn it but when the cycles of burning start, you can only complete the cycles and wait untill you run out of Dor to burn, extinguish it, or exhaust the steam. Otherwise, it will keep on burning."

"Two, exhaling allows the steam to escape. This is the second half of the cycle. When you breath again, you burn Dor and generate steam again. Thus, the cycle returns to its initial state. In essence, the amount of steam stays the same after each complete cycle, but how we use that steam is what matters. A perfect balance needs to be made—an equilibrium between inhaling to burn, and exhaling to exhaust."

I stopped, letting the boy take in what I'd said.

"This is where the breathing techniques come in. They help us in this matter. In order to use more steam and avoid exhausting, breathing techniques are designed. The only thing they help us do is maximize the conversion of steam into Pyromantic applications and exhaust less steam In the environment." I explained, quite bored actually.

Teaching wasn't as fun as I'd thought it would be.

"But, what happens if I don't breath out and just use the steam generated in the first half of the cycle?" Feyrith interrupted.

"That's what I was getting into. You see, you can't really hold your breath for too long now, can you?"—seeing him shake his head, I continued—"the steam is harmful to the stomach if left inside for prolonged periods. That is why I said you need a breathing technique to for that 'equilibrium' for generating and exhausting steam."

"In basic terms, the breathing techniques help generate a set amount of steam; you use what you can, and exhaust before it harms you in any way possible." I explained but stopped when I saw his expression.

"What is it?" I asked, leaning back slightly.

"But, what happens if I let the steam stay inside for a longer time?" he asked. "Would I die? Or will my stomach be burned?" he said with uncertainty and a tinge of fear.

"That . . . " I paused and sighed. "Yes, death is possible but an unlikely scenario—that is, if you don't consume a higher tier of Dor than your stomach can handle." I said.

"It can be detrimental. It's like, you'll get sick, a disease if you will. Slumber. That's what it's called." I explained but refrained from divulging any information on the slumber lest he becomes hasty and does something stupid. The slumber was as much a blessing as it was a curse.

Noticing a figure in the corner of my vision, I dismissed Feyrith.

"Anyway, this is it for now. Go practice holding your breath for now."—remembering something, I continued—"Ah, before I forget. Engrave this in your mind: the steam is only used when the breathing technique is applied, otherwise, it remains inside the stomach and is exhausted in the environment at a much less temperature. The steam is useless without a technique. Don't consume Dor until you get a breathing technique, you don't want to get hurt now, do you?" I advised and stoop up, walking towards the figure with a calm gait.

"You have never taught anyone, have you?" Rebecca said.

"Nah, never." I said, walking beside her as we beelined towards a balcony.

When I saw the scenery, my breath got taken away. It wasn't the first time this had happened. But what could I do? This place was just too beautiful.

A turquoise-blue stream carved its way through the sky-kissing trees.

Chiming with the sounds of babbles and burbles, it sprinted past the trees, over the rocks in its way.

Pebbles shimmered about in the depths of the crystal-clean water. Like the soul of the forest, the watered floated away, towards a single tree: a magnificent heaven-piecing tree.

Chords of golden light seeped from above, bathing the tree's surface In an ethereal golden glow. It was glinting with little sparkles.

A galaxy of Elkra—beautiful golden birds special only to Elvon—scuttled through the beams of light, their translucent wings aglitter in the sun.

Elves rode on their spirit beasts—again, something only special to the elves—from one branch to another, then, from one leaf to another. The leaves were big enough as the elven kids could be seen playing about atop them.

(A/N: Spirit beasts are akin to weapons and can only be used/wielded by elves. half-elves are not capable of using one; only purebloods)

Distinct elven houses dotted the trees, from the bottom to the top.

The branches were carved and made into fine paths, leading to the other trees, which all connected to the golden tree in the middle. They were nothing compared to the greatness of that one tree.

"Beautiful, no?" Rebecca's proud voice brought me out of my revere.

"Hmm." I nodded in affirmation; it was the most beautiful place I'd ever seen in my life till now. Though there were rumors about some places even more beautiful in the Pandemonium.

We stood there, silently enjoying the scenery painted before us.

After a few days of resting and teaching Feyfey, I explained what had occurred in Graymore to the king and took my leave—of course, with rewards and lots of Dor in the bag.