After exiting my soulspace, I exhaled deeply and stretched.

With a thought, I summoned up my status and shared it with the others.

STATUS

Name: Cyrus

Race: Reborn (Felkin)

Age: ??

Tier: 0

Active Skills:

* (T:0 R:9) Summon Familiar: Verdant Healer: (Áine )

* (T:0 R:9) Summon Familiar: Resplendent Inferno: (Zharia)

* (T:0 R:9) Racial Skill: Dimensional Storage: (Chomperz)

* (T:0 R:9) Spirit Lord's Invocation

* (T:0 R:9) Summon Familiar: The Dead Will Provide (Erebus)

* (T:0 R:9) Summon Familiar: Reflective Coat of the Mirror Beast (Magnus)

* (T:0 R:9) Summon Familiar: Storm King's Tempest (Sturmrorex)

Passive Skills:

* (T:0 R:9) Etherious Blood

* (T:0 R:9) Sovereign-Threaded Soul

* (T:0 R:9) Chaotic Resonance

* (T:0 R:4) Spirit's Lord's Echo

Perks:

Legacy of the Obsidian Crown

Scion of Calstrax

Demonic Blood

Child of Mana

Dread Guardian's Apology

Crystal Synthesis

Devourer of the Deep

Whisper of the Tempest

A series of groans echoed inside the stone hall.

Isaac, the loudest offender, pointed a dagger my way. "If some alchemist found a way to synthesize your growth speed into a potion, kingdoms would burn for a vial."

"That's a bizarre thing to say, Isaac. Are you feeling okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, that was a little much," Celanae added.

"Agreed," Teddy said.

Eodyne held up a finger. "I agree with Isaac. Imagine if we could synthesize his growth; it would revolutionize a kingdom."

I had enough and stood up. "Aaaand I think I'm going to take my leave. I still don't really feel a difference, so I'll hit you up tomorrow for some practice, Teddy?"

"Anytime. You're visiting Sereza, right?"

"Yeah, got the letter finally. Not meeting her dad just yet, so we'll be visiting a family near the eastern ring."

"Eastern? Are you heading to the crafting district?" Igas asked.

"Is that where?" I shrugged. "No idea. From how it sounded in the unofficial letter, it's her closest friend in the city. Think I can sell some of the looted pelts and hides there?"

"Definitely. I got my belt from a good father-son duo there. Avoid places that smell like chemicals. If they can't afford good enchantments, usually they'll have cheaper work and offer you less."

"Noted. Thanks. What about all of you?"

"Eodyne and I are heading out to watch a play."

I turned to Eodyne with a raised eyebrow. "You watch plays? I thought you'd find stuff like that boring."

Eodyne huffed. "I watch plays when they reenact a traditional tale from my people. And if they happen to be severely wrong about it, I'll shock them free of their ignorance."

Right... that's more of what I expected.

Teddy held up a hand. "Igas and I are spending the day with my parents. They agreed to spar with us in the training room."

"If you get back later, I'd appreciate if you could have Áine heal us," Igas added.

"Can do," I replied while nodding. "Isaac?"

He stopped spinning his knife between his fingers and resheathed it. Then, he dramatically stood up, crossed his arms, and before long, his legs began to sink into the floor.

"I've got business," he said.

After a moment, he zipped into the ground and disappeared.

"Was that weird? You know what, never mind."

The other people in the room collectively shrugged and helped each other up. I waved goodbye and went to take a shower.

----------------------------------------

I spotted Sereza's tail through the crowd and slipped my way past. One woman nearly tripped, and I quickly steadied her before sliding through the gap she had created.

Sereza turned as I approached and leaned off the wall. "Hey! Finally here."

"Yeah, well, nobody warned me it'd be this busy right now. What's going on exactly?" I asked, pointing to the throng of people rushing about. The city street was jam-packed, and everyone looked like sardines.

"Oh, it's Sale day, and you came directly before lunch. People are trying to sell everything as quickly as possible before places shut down for the next hour," she explained.

A man nearly shoved me from behind, but I quickly shuffled out of the way, sending him tripping into the crowd, where he was pinballed away.

"Yeah. Okay. What do you mean by shut down? Places do that here?"

She paused, staring and shaking her head. "You're really not from here. Not all, but a few decades ago, all the spouses were tired of their husbands and wives not taking a break and coming home exhausted. It led to a pretty much mandatory hour-long shutdown. If you work, you either have a special permit or pay a fine that nobody willingly wants to pay."

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"Makes sense. So where are we heading?"

She jerked her thumb just behind her. "Right here. But wait, didn't you say you were going to meet a tailor or something? I half-expected you to be dressed as silly as the people in the square."

I barked a laugh, looking down at my plain black shirt and pants. "No. Never. And I was supposed to have some done a day ago, but when I went to visit her, she begged for an extension so she could wait for a certain material to come in. I'll visit her in a day or two."

"Huh."

Sereza grabbed me by the wrist and led me to the other side of the building, opposite the door. I let her guide me, and she eventually stopped on the western side next to a plain-looking wall.

She turned and winked before tapping the corner of a brick, then sighed in relief. When I cocked my head, she smirked.

"Illusion barrier. Soundproof, too."

"So that's why it feels like light mana. Are you about to lead me into some secret underground bunker? This is reminding me of the smuggler's den."

Her smirk morphed into a scowl, and she raised her tail behind her shoulder threateningly. "Hey. None of that. Who you are about to meet is not some low-rate thug. It's just that sometimes it's better to have a hiding place against the world. Especially when there are so few of us."

I crossed my arms. "Are you telling me people are prejudiced against felkins?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "Almost nobody is, but 'nobody' does not mean 'everyone.' And when you live in a crowded part of the city, it's better to have protection than not. Know what I mean?"

"I guess... Oh well, fine by me. So give me the names and what I'm not allowed to say."

Back to smiling, she placed her hand on a different brick and injected some mana into the stone. The stone lit up like a Christmas tree with runes before the wall rippled.

"Melza is absent today, so you'll be meeting Daergo, Ernor, and Lezka: Dad, oldest brother, youngest brother. I understand you're cool with not having a tail for your first evolution, but uh, don't mention it to Lezka. He's still dealing with it."

Right, she thinks I'm tier one still.

"Sure, no problem. And having no tail certainly helps make clothes fit easier."

Her eyes narrowed. "Aren't you getting custom ones made? Why worry about making clothes fit if you have them designed with a tail in mind?"

"Fair enough."

She snorted and passed through the wall, treating it little more than an illusion. As I passed through, I realized that wasn't the case. The stone was still there, but it moved like a liquid rather than a solid and shifted out of the way as my body displaced it.

Once on the other side, I felt the water retract back into shape before solidifying.

"Neat trick. It must have been an expensive enchantment to get done. I expected a hidden switch to pull the stone back up, not that."

Sereza opened her mouth to speak, but a deeper voice interrupted her.

"So you're the one Sereza has been talking about," said the felkin standing behind her "You lied, girl; he's cuter than you described."

In an instant, Sereza's tail moved to thwack the man in the arm, but his own tail, one twice as thick and shaped like a lizard's with charcoal scales, intercepted the attack.

Sereza growled. "Ernor, cut it. I'll make you shit blood for a week."

Ernor flashed his fangs. "Maybe don't downplay the kind of man you're going to casually bring into our secret entrance."

Sereza's tail pulled away, but I could tell from how little it shifted that she kept it tense and ready. Ernor, on the other hand, relaxed and crossed his arms in a lazy stance.

He had short grey hair, with skin the color of muted ash. Splotches of charcoal-colored scales similar to his tail lined his arms and fingers, which were left bare beside the lone leather apron he wore.

His horns were thick and short, ridged while carving upwards about four inches. His eyes were burning red and orange, looking like a flame inside the void of his sclera.

"Well, nice to meet you. I'm Ernor, as Sereza has so rudely blurted out. It's interesting to meet another felkin in the city. I didn't think there were any other families left on this continent."

I held out my arm, and he hesitated before reaching out to clasp my wrist in a firm grip. His skin was equally scaled, thicker, almost calloused. Notably, they felt warm.

"Cyrus. And no, it's just me, sadly. No hidden felkin families roaming around."

He released my wrist and sized me up once more. "Hmm. Suppose that's a good thing, then. More of us might make those idiots paranoid."

I glanced at Sereza, but she in turn, stared at Ernor. "Are they bothering you again?"

"No, but they've been coming around for the last week, taunting us about something. Not sure what, but they've been shutting down early every night."

"I've heard nothing on my end. Do you know what they're doing?"

He shook his head. "No, but they bought out our suppliers and a couple of others, buying material in bulk. It's why Mom is out, shes trying to find some cheap metal we can use to complete the orders."

"This may seem rude; I just met you and all," I started as I held up my hands placatingly when Ernor glared at me suspiciously. "I just arrived in the city. Is whoever you're talking about known for working for people in the upper ring?"

"Yeah, somewhat. At least they brag about it every chance they get. Why, know something?"

I shrugged. "Probably not, but I know one of the noble houses is hosting some big party soon. I think in fourish days?"

Ernor ground his teeth and tightened his arms. "That has to be it. The eldest taunted us when he looked around the store earlier. They gave us a backhanded compliment about how fortunate we are for having most of our stock sold out. That bastard knew something. Damnit!"

I observed the man's posture become rigid. His eyes blazed with an inner flame that turned searing red.

Sereza reached a hand out and squeezed Erno's shoulder. "I'm sure Daergo will figure something out. He's never failed a challenge."

"That would be a bold lie, girl. Everyone fails in life; it's how we succeed. And you might be wrong on this one. Whatever it is that bastard Roark is preparing for, it's big. Bigger than something we can tackle in four days."

Another felkin emerged, older and more muscular, sporting two sets of horns. Although shorter than Ernor, his shoulders were twice as broad. Thick black scales entirely covered his arms. His eyes looked similar, with a living flame glowing inside the orbs, but it started as white near the core and fanned out in a rippling wave of blue toward the edges.

He walked over and hugged Sereza while knocking his meaty fist against the taller felkin's head.

"Calm down already. With the way you're acting, you'd think you'd be a child of wrath, not envy, boy." He shook his smooth face and held out an open hand for me to shake. "Name's Daergo and I'm the father of this stub-head. Glad to meet you."

His hand felt actually hot, not burning, but it was leagues above his son's. "Cyrus, nice to meet you."

When I let go, his thick fingers stayed clasped around my much smaller wrist. He turned my hand over and leaned down until his nose nearly touched my skin.

"Father? What... are you doing?" Ernor asked, his voice tinged with embarrassment underneath the shock.

Daergo inhaled deeply and then raised his head to meet mine. "Your shirt... the remnant mana... it's divine."

For a second, he grinned, not a friendly one, but one that held anger as his sharp fangs came into view. His eyes blazed with a blinding blue light, and his muscles rippled.

In an instant, my spear materialized in my other hand, and the head bent downwards to point at the felkin's neck. With a thread of mana sent into the shaft, the sharpened blade secreted a black liquid that welled up near the point.

"I suggest you remove your hand."

The others froze; even Sereza looked stunned as Daergo seemingly forced himself to release my limb. With a shake of his head, he slapped both cheeks and lowered himself into a bow, ignoring the poisoned spear tip hovering above his head.

"My apologies, Cyrus. My emotions got the best of me. It won't happen again."

Great, now I have to lug a creepy spear around.

I willed the spear to return to normal, and the bone tip absorbed the poison. My arms crossed, but I kept the weapon pointed away and relaxed in my hand.

"I understand the feeling. Just don't do it again."

He raised his head but refused to meet my eyes. Ernor looked to my spear, then my hand, and finally at his father before repeating the process a few more times. His mouth slowly closed, and he, too, lowered his head.

Sereza's expression was harder to read. She looked angry yet unsure. Eventually, she met my eyes, and I shrugged, causing her shoulders to lose their tension slowly.

"Well, now that the awkwardness is out of the way. Daergo, why did you react like that? I've never seen you give in to your emotions."

Daergo coughed into his fist. "Ah, well. It's not often somebody comes in with fire mana that smells like that. It caught me off guard."

Fire mana, huh? I guess I forgot to wash this one.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" I asked.

Daergo hesitantly smiled. "Sorry again. It's just that the mana smells like the sun; the way the light and fire blend, it's rather incredible."

"I see," I replied, turning to Sereza. "Do you trust them?"

"I do... maybe not Lezka," she admitted, as Ernor glared, but she defiantly raised her chin. "What? He's in that awkward phase. But outside of him dealing with felkin emotional override, I'd say I trust them. I've known Ernor my whole life, and Daergo and Melza have always treated me well."

Good enough for me.

"Daergo, right?" He looked up, almost as if he was afraid of me, even though I could feel the difference in tiers based on the way his mana filled the room when he lost control. "It's probably because of my skill. It's a little special."

"I understand. There's no need to explain more," he responded, nodding slightly.

Eh, fuck it. Tiptoeing is exhausting.

"If you reveal this to anyone, I'll know exactly who's been talking. Remember that. But if Sereza vouches for you, I'll extend my trust. For now."

"Huh?" came the collective response from everyone in the room.

I chuckled and, connected to my skill, and sent mana into my channels. In a snap, Zharia emerged and flew to my shoulder to take up her customary position.

She trilled softly, and I watched as flames burned at the tip of her wings. "They smell like the forge. Thicker one especially."

Thunk!

The father and the son were on one knee, their heads down and their arms to their sides. Sereza rubbed at her temples while Zharia preened.

Maybe this was a mistake.