Crone’s death did not bring him guilt, nor remorse, or regret. It had to happen for the peace of mind of his partner. That is the world he came into, the world of Aimon. His time here has been a Hard tutor so far.

Syl looked at Myron and answered the question in his mind. “She was very close to withering. Maybe hours even, or minutes. If we wait long enough she will turn to dust and disappear, only leaving her crystal behind.”

Myron nodded, then hugged Mery once more and took a seat on a rock to rest, just for a little bit.

He dove deep into his soul, where now 12 Aether points lay. That was a massive bump and it indicated a clear correlation between Aimon satisfaction and interaction with Aether growth in Humans.

He still didn’t have the chance to ask what this Aether pool was exactly and how it worked, but he felt like he could parse out both its calculation and some of his uses on his own.

He let the battle play out in his mind a bit. His mistakes, which were clear spots in his mind. It all started when he called for that first [Headbutt], instead of opting for distance. He had plenty of control with the [Water Whips] and could have kept at it, wearing her down till Crone had no more to give. She was weakened, that much was certain, before the battle started, and a bit winded as well. He froze up when Mery’s shoulder cracked and forgot that she would heal right away.

At the end the only reason they won was because Crone was inefficient and alone. Throwing her opponent to the sky was a mistake if there was no follow up with ranged attacks. She didn’t have fluidity between one type and the next, and the combinations of abilities she used were choreographed to say the least.

Myron shook his head. He opened his eyes and looked to Syl, who was talking with Mery. “Syl, thank you for protecting me.”

She couldn’t even chuckle to mock herself. She walked up to Myron and bowed down. “I’m so sorry.” She said and he rose from the rock he had let his body go limp on.

“Don’t be. Like, really.” He said and then shook his hand in front of her. “I’m serious. It has nothing to do with things working out. We’re a fresh team, formed only 16 hours ago? You’ve been running for, I assume, days on end. You have no right to be so harsh on yourself. I am too young to this whole - Aimon Trainer - deal. Didn’t know what they would want, didn’t know how they would try and get it, didn’t know to order you to stay by my side and run. You saw a threat you could take on and neutralized it. You did your best, and I thank you for diving into danger for me in the first place.”

“How do you know I did it for you? Not for myself? My life hangs in the balance, if you die, I die.” Syl shook her head, working against herself to find faults in Myron’s defense and prove herself unworthy.

“That is true. You could have.” Myron couldn’t deny that. “But it’s not wrong to be selfish anyhow. You were good to me, because you wanted to save yourself, and I can take that however I wish to take it. I see it as a win-win. I believe you did both. So don’t try to create a problem with your actions taken.”

She took that in, and didn’t respond in any way. She simply stood back up. Myron did the same and patted her silver - silky smooth - hair. “So what now? Do you suggest we trek through the night?”

“There isn’t much night left for that matter. The sun is almost on the horizon. I say we get a head start. The sooner we are out of this region and into the Duke’s Territory the better.” Syl said and Myron obliged. The three of them got a move on, marching through the squelching field of tall grass and wet dirt, sparse with short and thin trees as well as the occasional boulder flat on the earth.

So they marched on. Sometimes the ground was a dry bed of fallen leaves crunching under foot, with big slanted trees of flat and wide leaves towering over them, and other times those trees gave way to tall rocks, jutting out of the grass that grew taller with ever step, no hiding Myron completely in their thicket, where the ground turned into slop and his work shoes into brown balls.

A hot wind blew them over and threw them into the ground. A ball of fire rose into the sky and smoke billowed outwards before being engulfed in a the trademarked mushroom that only the hottest and most major of explosions could accomplish. Myron stood into a crouch, Syl and Mery did the same.

Over the field of grass screams rose and fell, and then the earth started to tremble. “Quick, on the boulder!” Syl said and rushed forth, cutting with her massive steel blades for arms through the thicket and clearing a path for the other two.

Mery grabbed Myron and pulled him atop the massive rock before jumping across to another and reaching even higher. They stood now, high above the wetlands that spread before them, to the North and West. While to the South East lay the Entrance to the Emerald forest. The land swooped down to the south and made way to a river that split up into tributaries and fed the grassland that spread from there.

Fire, so much fire, melting the world in its relentless hunger. The sky was soon covered in a black clouds, strokes of purple lightning thundered inside the gaping maw, and then illuminated with its red light the flakes of ash that rained down from above.

The cause of the trembling then became apparent, as dear and fawn, rabbits and pig, sheep and boars, beasts of pray and predators alike, rushed away from the fire in a great stampede of madness. Uncaring of who they stepped on, or which type of terror ran right alongside them. Myron’s eyes stuck with a young buck, which a scared wolf shoved into the mad. It yelped and its legs kicked its young body deeper into the quagmire. Before more and more animals stepped on it, pushing it down. It craned its neck up trying to breath, to call out, to save itself.

A mad shriek broke through the cacophony of stomps, of cracking skulls, and drowning animals. A pink bubble rose up and pushed away all those near her, tearing up the plants and earth as well. Leaving a little Aimon floating, short and fluffy with pink wool on her head and bosom, back, arms, and legs from below the knee.

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She settled into the ground, and stepped atop the young buck’s head. Bubbles burst floated to the top at she helpless animal drowned in the mud, submerged completely, never to be seen again, unless it turned into oil some millions of years in the future.

“A Psychic, Down.” Syl whispered and Myron ducked his head behind the rock. “Quiet. Calm.” She continued and her eyes went hazy. Myron let his thoughts leave him, he just felt his own heart beat, his lungs expanding as they took in deep breaths. He grasped Mery’s hand and sent her a comforting smile.

The fire that was so far away until just now, suddenly took a turn, and as if alive it flew through the land straight for the Psychic sheep.

It jumped up, and from a humanoid form it morphed while in the air. It grew shorter and longer, four legged with a long snout, a fur of pure darkness, and two eyes of burning red. A Jackal slid to a burning stop, the land behind him now a smoldering mess of dry land caked in burning coals. Just a few powerful lunges away from the Psychic Aimon.

They faced of in silence, not paying Myron and the rest any attention. Palpable hatred oozed off the Psychic sheep in fractals and radio waves of pink energy.

Flame; a searing yellow, spewed out of the jackal only for the sheep to disappear. It touched the ground behind her opponent, the Jackal flew up into the sky, shrouded in a pink mist. Before slamming back down. It’s bones broke and healed, the pain causing the Aimon to shriek. Flames discharged all around it and mist rose from puddles disintegrated into steam. The ground tore up at the shear force of the expanding heat.

Through the smoke and ash the Jackal spun, a flaming wheel of murder heading straight for the sheep. Which raised a resplendent wall of pink crystal that stopped the attack in its tracks. The flaming wheel spun in place, stopped by the wall, digging itself deeper and deeper into the burnt ground. It stopped and lunged around the wall, which had clear borders, and a stream of concentrated flame cut through the air. The heat so intense Myron could feel it even form his positions tens of meters away.

The Jackal yipped in pain, its ability stopped. An unseen ability causing it to writhe in pain. It limped and the Sheep took this chance to smash its opponent into the dirt once more. It groaned and lifted once more, this time putting its whole body into the supernatural power. But the Jackal did not rise from the cloud of dust and ash. It blew out the Ability with a sneeze of flames and smirked, rows of sharp teeth glinted with blue fire and a ball of it slammed into the Sheep searing its flesh. The Jackal belched out smoke and covered itself. The Sheep tore gaps through the smoke with pulses of Psychic energy yet none found purchase.

From the ground below the Jackal spawned and chomped down on the Sheep’s leg dragging it into the earth. Then it was gone once more as the Earth pulsed with the discharge of psychic energy released by the Psychic Aimon stuck in the earth. The Jackal remained hidden, swimming through the ground like a fish.

“You coward! You rotten Bastard! Give me back my family!” Screamed the Sheep, actually speaking for the first time before pushing at the world with a sphere of pink dark pink energy. The Jackal yelped as it was pushed out of the ground and straight onto the boulder atop which Mryon and the rest hid. Syl held onto Myron as he almost slid off the back and onto the hard pack earth.

“Yihihi! Blind fool. If you had just listened to my Master’s proposition, they would all still be alive. Your freedom cost you your family.” The Jackal said, its monstrous maw moving unnaturally to speak the human words.

“Get out of this land!”

“Never. It’s ours now!”

“By whose right!? The Gods!?” The Psychic Sheep bristled and the land fizzed up like a carbonated soda around her.

“The Emperor’s! Damn troglodyte. What Gods!? They don’t exist!” The Jackal yipped and laughed. Before spitting a glob of lava-saliva at the ground.

“Do we help?” Myron whispered when he saw Syl tense up just a bit at the exchange.

She turned to him, a complex expression on her face, one he couldn’t quite parse through. “If you wish so… it would get us in trouble with this Aimon’s trainer. If she has one Aimon at the Second Tier she may have another.” Syl whispered back.

What is the correct choice? Myron couldn’t help but ask himself.

He had no ties to this conflict. To the region being burnt to cinders, to the Psychic Aimon and its lost family, to Irnet’s tribe that had discriminated against Mery and their impending doom, nor whatever other Aimon tribe, sentient or not, existed in this place. For whatever reason, this land was being conquered by Humanity, and cleared off its populace to make room for something else. Meanwhile all he needed was to get to a room, eat a warm meal, get some good sleep on a soft mattress, wash himself, get some traveling clothes and see where to go from there. He could hunt Aimon and sell their parts for money? Or he could become a professional Aimon Battler? Maybe he could set up a research base and find out what made Aimon moves tick? What made them tick? He could become a dietitian and exercise expert. With modern practices and methodologies adjusted to the local fauna and flora, he hadn’t always been thin.

Myron shook his head, and just barely held in a chuckle. What dogshit. He thought, and he shouted inside his head. It’s just his first day here and already, the habits of his old world had settled in. What the future had in store for Myron he did not know. He knew nothing about this world. To assume anything past the right now, to try and plan for tomorrow in his current state was the epitome of stupidity.

Right now he was faced with a situation. A woman fighting for her home and her family, and a conqueror trying to put her down. A burning land and a damaged ecosystem. The beauty of this world was undeniable, compared to what Myron had lived in for his whole life, a maze of steel, glass, and concrete.

Thus Myron came to a simple decision. He wanted to stop this destruction, he wanted to learn more about the reasoning behind it, and he wanted to help this Aimon. Nothing more, nothing less.

[Water Whip] He called out and slid down the rock. Syl and Mery did the same as the slap of the water tentacle knocked the Jackal off balance. ‘Again.’ He whispered through the bond as he ran around the rocks.

The Jackal’s nose was slapped into the ground, torn open by the fierce crack of the water. Myron felt the pulse of energy before he saw it. And he dove to the ground his face caressed by a soft lick of the wind. The Jackal was torn to shreds as the boulders behind it, standing as tall as a three floor apartment building, were pulverized into small rock chunks.

All together, the gore and the crushed cobble, that could have now been used to pave a road, flew over the muddy grassland and back, all the way into the emerald forest.

The speaking Sheep with pink wool gasped for breath, her eyes darting from Myron, to Mery - to whom she nodded with appreciation - and finally landing on Syl with shock and a bit of apprehension.

“I am Syl, this is my Trainer Myron, and this is Mery. It is a pleasure to meet you. Oh bearer of Truth.” Syl paused before adding the last bit, and acknowledgment shone in the sheep’s gaze.

She stood straighter as she responded. “I am Ylo. Local of the Region, never Bonded, never captured, Worshiper of Kewe. You, Syl?”

“I worship Ilana, and I have never heard of Kewe. It is nice to learn of another name lost to Humanity and lost to time.”

“It is a pleasure to be of help then. But I am afraid I have no time to converse with you, who bares the Truth that has been cast aside. I am afraid I must go. The battle is raging, Taher must be stopped.”

“We want to help.” Myron stepped forward. He noticed the way Ylo’s face darkened at his approach and words. She looked to Syl for confirmation, the woman simply nodded.

“Pay us no mind, Ylo. We shall follow you from afar. I just want to know, what is going on… Why all this destruction and death? I’m going to find out.” Myron added and Ylo acquiesced understanding that Myron was going to be stubborn about this.