Haiki, despite her small stature was very energetic, if it wasn't for Seth and Rorel holding her back, she might have gone and done something uncalled for.
While Flow and Ufriel were just coming over, Ufriel was actually just running over with his sword up in the air and a smile on his face while Flow was atop her miniature floating Whale, taking her time...
Seth was still quite not used to the sight. He turned to Haiki who was pouting. "You know the aliens could be dangerous right?."
"They look so coll and strange, I just wanted to go say hi." Haiki's pout deepened but the next second she sighed and crossed her arms, her fingers tapping on her elbow.
Rorel gave her a glance and laughed. Hearing the sound, Haiki immediately snapped her head towards him with a fierce glare. Rorel coughed mid–laughter and shut up immediately.
Soon Rorel and Ufriel had already come over and the group all began to talk about the Aliens.
"I know they call themselves the star race but they look like humanoid albino lizards with horns and burning wisps of flames as halos." Flow spoke lazily, laying atop her miniature whale with no worry behind her clear blue eyes.
Ufriel titled his head with an enlightened look on his face. "That was very specific but seeing the existence of other intelligent creatures in the cold vacuum of the void is interesting. I wonder if they have any rare materials i can use to forge."
Rorel's shoulders slumped and he let out a sigh. "They look like a bad matchup for me to go against. They will limit the range of my control if they light their surroundings on fire."
"Why would we need to fight them?." Seth asked curiously. "I mean unless one of the family heads offend the ambassador of that race and they declare war on us, I don't really see a reason to fight them."
Ufriel patted Seths back in pity. "Seth, it's not about fighting just lik²e that, it's to see who is the strongest and who is the most muscular!!."
"Don't listen to the muscle brain Seth, it's obviously to see who the fastest is." Haiki spoke out with her eyes brightening every second, her gaze never left the direction of the two alien youths who were now looking at the group with interest in their eyes.
Ufriel raised his sword and laughed heartedly, he has to say, Haiki's personality was refreshing. "That too, Power is the thing we should all compare."
"Eh...I don't think it's something I have, I am probably the weakest here..." Seth lamented embarrassingly.
Haiki turned to him and gave him a smile, momentarily forgetting about the Aliens. "It's easy to become strong quickly with enough resources but there will always be a bottleneck." She then placed a hand right where his heart was. "So if you reach that bottle neck, just make your heart go gast and then you will cross it. Being weak is temporary if you put your mind to getting stronger."
While that was some good advice the way the two said it was weird...which if he thought about was expected. "Thanks for the support?."
Haiki pulled her hand away and placed them on her hips with a smile on her face. "No problem as friends we should all help one another."
Seth smiled then stared at the two Star race youths. "What rank do you think they are."
Flow gave them a glance and her eyes glowed before answering him. "The boy and the girl are both at King and Queen Rank seeing as their energy levels are the same as ours but they may not use Axis energy, uh maybe something like Star energy since they are called the star race."
Rorel nodded and pointed out. "Yeah and unlike us their abilities seems to be tied to fire or something similar. Though the pressure they give up is...closer to that of a Calamity Class beast which are a bit stronger than King or queen ranked Humans."
Seth tilted and thought for a moment. "Then does that mean these star race have cores?."
As he asked that question the pink haired girl began walking towards them.
"Oh she's coming here." Haiki's eyes lit up with excitement. She was visibly shaking, in fact Ufriel even thought she had turned into a drill mole for a moment.
'So, are we going to stay out of what's about to happen?.' Thally asked, sounding bored in his mind.
Seths lips twitched, he was at pawn rank, he definitely could not compete against beings that are at King or queen ranked. 'Yeah, we're still weak.'
'Ugh that again, we are weak, yes, but our ability depends more on the environment than energy or power.' Thally advised with a sagely tone. 'As a plant parasite you need to use your roots to fight. Spread them deep into the ground and expand them for days, parasitising any plant you can and you will naturally have the advantage over others.'
Seth raised his brows and asked curiously. 'Don't I need to stay there for that amount of time.'
Thally answered with a pout though Seth couldn't see it. 'I mean yeah and you would need a large amount of energy to continously spread the roots but if you can it will surely be useful against enemies....that is if you become more proficient in controlling plants or paratising them.'
'My control isn't that bad.' Seth said.
'It definitely is.'
'Come on, I can atleast control multiple vines now.'
'That's bad control, I can completely take over a plant by myself.'
'That's because you are a literally parasitic organism that mainly targets plants.' Seth retorted.
Thally made a small sound that sounded like discontent. 'Oh really, why did I target you then? Is your mom calling you a little bean accurate?.'
Seth had no words to defend himself after she said that. She called him by his nickname which he quiet literally cringed everytime he heard it and calling her anything else won't offend Thally. If she was outside he would have just flicked her head which would have made thinks much easier.
Hearing his thoughts, Thally naturally sent a displeased image of herself through their mental link before she muted him and went off to do her own thing in his body.
Seth was dumbfounded by her actions but soon regained his composure when he felt somebody staring at him.
A shadow was cast on him and he could see the figure of someone taller than him...which unfortunately is one of his weakness, to be exact he is the second shortest person of their group.
Seth looked up and saw that the pink haired girl was upon him. "Hey, your eyes turned emotionless for a moment, did my cute appearance dazzle you that much."
Seth blinked then tilted his head. The girl was indeed ash she said cute, her skin was pale white, white ad anything he had or will ever know, she had pink hair and two horns.
Above her hair was a wild pink flame that seemed to move with no restraint and the X shaped pupils in her pink eyes also gave her an Otherworldly aura but set did not fell any sort of feelings for her...except that the flame on top her head would make good fertiliser.
Wait? Fertiliser what was he thinking, he shook his head to distract himself from that thought and smiled at the alien girl. "Uh not really, I just disassociate from the real world once in a while."
The girl nodded. "Oh that's understandable, when you're bored it make sense to enter your imagination and create some fun scenarios. Why not fight me, maybe that will get rid of your boredom."
Seth awkwardly scratched his head. "No thanks, I'm weaker than you by a lot."
"Well that seems true...very well i shall just introduce myself, my name is Feire, nice to meet you humans." She said with a sharp smile, this time looking at all of them.
"My name is Seth Williams." Seth introduced himself with a smile.
"Well Seth I heard some pretty interesting things about your Human race from Akriel, is it true you guys gain characteristics of the beasts you have absorbed
"Sort of," Seth said, thinking of the easiest way to explain it. "We absorb the cores of beasts and over time their traits can manifest in our abilities. It's not that we transform into them, it's more like... we learn from them and our abilities evolve."
Feire hummed, tilting her head with visible curiosity. The pink flame above her hair flickered. "Interesting. In our race we are born with our flames and spend our lives learning to refine them. The idea of absorbing an external being to strengthen oneself sounds... barbaric, but also efficient."
"Says the people who shoot stars at their enemies," Ufriel fired back cheerfully, stepping forward with his sword resting on his shoulder. "I'm Ufriel El Ambrosia, the one who will one day forge the greatest weapon in the universe, nice to meet you."
Feire stared at him for a moment. "...You are loud."
"Thank you."
"That wasn't a compliment."
Ufriel grinned wider as if it was.
Rorel pinched the bridge of his nose and stepped forward with far more composure. "Rorel Umbra. I apologize for him."
"Haiki Hikari," Haiki chimed in brightly, her yellow eyes practically glowing. "Your horns are incredible. Do all Star Race members have them? Do they grow? Can I touch them?"
Feire blinked, seemingly processing all three questions at once. "Yes, yes, and no."
Haiki deflated slightly but recovered almost immediately. "Fair enough."
Flow raised a hand without sitting up from her whale. "Flow."
Feire observed the miniature whale for a moment longer than the others. Something about the creature seemed to pull her attention. "Is that a beast?"
"Mm," Flow confirmed, unbothered.
"And it obeys you?"
"We have an understanding."
Feire looked genuinely impressed for the first time, her sharp smile softening into something more sincere. "Our race does not have a tradition of beast companionship. We consider them beneath alliance." She paused. "Perhaps that is something worth reconsidering."
Seth quietly noted that for a race that had just arrived in a warship the size of a small town, Feire was surprisingly easy to talk to. Either she was genuinely curious about humans, or she was very good at making them think she was.
Rorel looked at his shadow then thought of a great idea. "We still don't understand the strength of the star race and seeing as how we could form an alliance in the future. I propose we test each other's strength in a friendly match."
Feire's eyes glowed with interest. "Oh that's sounds interesting, to make it fair in numbers, I can invite a few of my friends who came with us, though you have to forgive us a bit, we may nit hold back.'
Not Hold back...Seth was not a match for such ppwer freaks so he wont be joining this competition. "Uhh, hey so I'm just going to warch you guys, I'm not Str—"
"—Don't worry, we have someone that is also weak, do you can fight him." Feire said, cutting him off.
He was bout to reject but Rorel nudged his shoulder. "Come on Seth, you'll gain a lot of experience and you may even enjoy it."
Seth stared at Rorel with flat eyes. "You just want to see me get beaten up."
Rorel didn't even flinch. "I want to see how your abilities hold up under pressure. Those are completely different things."
"They really aren't."
Haiki clapped her hands together. "Either way it's decided, Seth is fighting the weak one." She said it so naturally that Seth didn't even have a chance to protest before Feire had already turned around and gestured toward the Star Race ship.
A moment passed. Then another. Then a boy shuffled out from behind the landing ramp like he had been waiting there the whole time and hoping nobody would notice him.
He was slightly shorter than Feire, with pale white skin and a single small horn that tilted slightly to the left as if it had grown in crooked and orange hair. Above his head floated a dull orange flame, noticeably smaller and dimmer than Feire's wild pink one. His eyes were orange with the same slit pupils as the rest of his race, but his expression had none of their natural sharpness. He looked like someone who had been voluntarily volunteered.
He stopped in front of the group and stared at Seth.
Seth stared back.
The boy slowly raised one hand. "...Hello. My name is Tern."
"Seth."
A pause.
"Do you also not want to fight?" Seth asked.
Tern's shoulders dropped with visible relief. "I really don't."
"Tern." Feire's voice had a particular edge to it.
Tern's shoulders rose back up immediately. "But I will do my best." He said it like a man accepting a mild punishment.
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AN:(^-^)/