I had already gotten up and put my clothes back on. As I climbed down the ladder, I noticed Stark sipping from a wooden cup, gazing at Nox playing around. As I walked to him, he spoke.
"Damien, that is your bond, your Ki bond."
I stood next to him, glancing at Nox.
"Ki bond?"
"You've noticed it, haven't you? The mark on the back of its leg. It symbolizes trust, strength, and how compatible you are. I have a Ki bond, but Stella doesn't; not all Ki users have one."
'I wonder what his Ki bond would be?'
"But you have one Damien. This means you'll grow together, stronger, and face many challenges. The stage you're on is stage zero, technically four. Stage one: You can summon Nox from anywhere. Stage two: he will evolve into a form based on how you raise him. Stage three: If your bond dies during the second stage, you will gain a temporary beast form based on Nox.
If you somehow manage to get to the true third stage without getting Nox killed, it will once again evolve stronger in every aspect. Nobody has gotten to the fourth stage. There have been myths about it; I'm not even sure if it exists myself.
I stared at Nox, trying to imagine him getting a cool form.
"That's awesome, I get to fight with him at some point."
Stark snapped his fingers.
"Now it's time to train your Ki stamina. Since you've rested well, your Ki has already recovered, I'd assume. So for the next six days, keep holding the Ki boulder, and you'll be close to being as strong as Stella. This will conclude our first week."
I turned to Stark with a pale expression.
"Yeah, okay. Six days! Doing the same thing over and over, I'm gonna pass out like twenty more times."
Stark turned and walked to the ladder and climbed into the crab.
'The audacity!'
"Fine."
The next six days blurred into a painful, exhausting cycle.
Every morning, I'd get up and go straight down into the underbelly of the crab and hold the boulder of Ki. Every afternoon, I passed out at least once or twice. Every evening, I woke up with Nox's feathery face hovering over mine, chirping and sometimes screeching like I was the world's biggest disappointment.
By the third day, I could hold my Ki steady for almost ten minutes. By the fifth, my hands didn't shake as badly. By the final day, I could hold the boulder for a couple of hours, almost feeling proud—until Stark raised a brow and said:
"You're still slower than Stella is."
'The audacity!'
The first week had finally been over. It was the start of the first day of the second week, and Stark was giving instructions on the next step. Stella was next to me, listening.
"Now that you can control your Ki, I will be giving you two things.
"A gift? I mean, I do deserve it."
"Something like that," Stark smirked.
Stark slipped a hand into his pocket—and suddenly, blue sparks crackled. An item dropped onto the ground, making a clanking sound echoing in the underbelly of the crab.
'His pocket/pouch thing is probably an enchantment. I hope I can get a portable storage someday.'
A raven-black suit of iron armor, with gray lines running across it, identical to Stella's. Once again, he slipped his hand into his pocket, and blue sparks crackled, and a metal hilt dropped onto the floor.
"I wonder what he's gonna make," Stella said with a hint of curiosity.
'Make?'
"Put this on."
Stella had the armour. She handed it to me. As I took it, my brows shot up.
"What here?"
Stella looked away, and so did Stark.
"Promise I won't peek." I could almost imagine her smirking, looking away.
I swiftly took my clothes off, leaving just my underwear. Both Stella and Stark glanced for a moment.
"I said no peeking!"
I suited up. The armour is lighter than expected—it was softer and comfier too.
"You can look."
They both turned, and their eyes widened. They both gasped.
"Damien, we didn't even tell you ho-" I cut Stella off.
"What are you gu-" I stopped to look down.
The once gray lines were now crimson. It looked like my armour had trails of blood flowing through it. The armour had also become a bit heavier and more comfortable.
"How do you feel? Is your Ki getting drained?" Stark said with a brow raised.
"I didn't even notice till you told me. It's barely fading. Feel like I can hold this for a couple of hours, days even."
"From what it looks like, you're body is naturally flowing the Ki through the armour as if you've already done this multiple times."
"It took a couple of hours for me to perfect it. But you did it almost instantly." Stella said, almost sounding jealous.
"I've been wondering why each of us maintain a different colour of Ki?"
Stark scratched his head.
"I'm going to be honest. Nobody knows. It's said it correlates with your soul, but we don't know enough of Ki to understand it."
'That's fair.'
"That saves a lot of time now. Pick up the hilt and follow me."
We walked over to the rack with all the different types of weapons.
"Remember what you did with boulder? Now pick what weapon you want, engulf it with Ki, and imbue it with the metal hilt."
I had already picked my weapon without hesitation. I picked it up.
"Interesting—the longsword."
Crimson light flared around the blade, crawling up the steel in jagged streaks before I dismissed it, setting the sword back onto the rack.
Then, I lifted the hilt.
A surge of Ki ripped through the air. Sparks burst out like wildfire, crimson arcs snapping and hissing as the image of the longsword began to form. The shape bled into existence—etched in living energy—until the blade shimmered into reality, solid and burning with my Ki.
Stella sucked in a breath. "That colour is amazing."
Even Stark looked shaken, his gaze lingering on the blade before flicking back to me. Stark whistled.
"I think it's time you have a rematch with her tomorrow. Same rules, but now with weapons. This will be interesting as I want to see Damien's swordplay and how he will fare against you, Stella. Depending on what happens tomorrow, we will tell you our next step in training.
Stark clapped.
For now, rest as you deserve. Dusk won't be approaching for long; you've got the whole day. Stella, you can stay with him while I prepare a meal for today.
Stark turned and climbed into the crab, shutting the trapdoor. I dismissed the sword, leaving the sparks to dim. I placed the metal hilt on the holder that came with the armor. And Stella was now alone.
"So what's your weapon?"
Stella turned to me, extended her arm, and put her finger on my nose.
"I guess we'll have to find out tomorrow."
I didn't blush this time; I revolted.
"I guess we will. Just make sure to be prepared for that ass beating."
Stella smirked and made an innocent expression.
"You're going to beat my ass?"
My cheeks turned bright pink, and I turned away.
'She turned it around! She pulled a fast one on me.'
However, usually she would chuckle afterwards, this time I didn't hear anything, in fact, when I turned back, her face was red. As we stared at each other, we both turned quickly.
I broke the silence.
"So you wanna do something fun?"
I was caught by surprise by her soft tone.
"S-sure."
Before she continued, I sat on the floor. I felt metal hit my back. She was sitting behind me.
"How about we talk. Since you came, we haven't got to meet each other as you've been busy." Stella said using her usual sharp tone.
"Sure, what do you want to know?"
As she began to speak, I felt her head resting on mine.
'What in Spirtha's name is happening?'
" Firstly, why the longsword?"
"Back where I grew up, every day we had to train our techniques. You've already seen how I skipped my hand-to-hand combat. But on some days, my father would bring out three swords. A katana, a dagger, and a longsword. Both of my brothers would always pick on the other two and say, "Looks like Damien got the boring one." So over time, I got better with the longsword. At first, it was too heavy for me, but over time, I was able to use it effectively."
"Wow, I've never had siblings, so I wouldn't know if that's a bad thing or if they did it out of caring for you.
"I doubt it."
"My second question is, are you scared of what's to come?"
I inhaled before answering.
"I'm going to be honest, yes. I won't know if what I'm doing will ever be enough. I guess I'll find out when I'm fighting for life, huh. Before you ask me another question, it's my turn."
"Go on."
"Do you love your family?"
"Of course I do. We do have our fair share of arguments, but that doesn't give me a reason to stay mad at them. Right now, my dad's been sick and hasn't gotten better. I've been worrying a lot about him. I wanna know how Stark's is dealing with it, he is his son."
"Wait, Stark's your g-grandpa?"
"You didn't know?"
"Well, you two look very similar, but Stark doesn't seem that old."
She sighed.
"I bet he'd be happy to hear that. Can I tell you something else?" She said in a soft tone.
"Sure."
"My family grew up in poverty. My dad never wanted to get my grampa's earnings from being a knight, so he spent his whole life working so we could live comfortably. And before you ask, it was just something I needed to get off my chest."
"I don't know what to say, I mean, I've never been in this situation."
'Did I just say that out loud?'
"You don't have to. I'm just glad you're here to listen.
As we became silent glowing bugs, red to green flashed around us as if they were dancing. And more started to flash.
Stella spoke, "Beautiful, isn't it?"
"Yeah, you are. I mean, yes, the bugs of light are quite beautiful."
As we fell into silence, glowing bugs—red to green—flashed around us as if they were dancing. Stark had finished the meal and came back to give it to us. He had jumped off the ladder.
"Who's ready for Froggber legs?"