“Ugh, Iden… it’s too early for this,” Feather groaned while being guided around the house, having been dragged out of bed against his will by this woman who was overflowing with energy. She was always an attention seeker, she always had been, so Iden would often barge into his room the moment she got too pent up and would drag him out of bed. And now he was sipping on some tasty potato stew, head pounding from being woken up far too early for his liking. “You know, if you’re trying to butter me up for something, this isn’t the way to do it. Let me go back to sleep.”

  “No! No! Here, just add more seasonings! It’ll taste better!” she pleaded, desperately trying to change the topic as Feather pushed her hand away.

  “No, you know I don’t like spicy stuff.”

  “Hm? You don’t like spicy foods, Feather?” Achitha suddenly asked, turning to him curiously from where she’d been watching at the entrance to the dining room. Everyone looked to have already eaten breakfast before now, as Cirrus and Jayce were off doing who knows what while Kya and Leocadies could be heard entertaining Wren and Kylan in the living room. Eve was sitting right beside him, apparently taking a second round of stew as she scooped up a spoonful of chopped up potatoes.

  “Man! I could live off just these potatoes, honestly! I don’t care about Feather, gimme more spice, Iden!”

  “Haha, okay! It’s really tasty, isn’t it?”

  “It is! You’re a good cook!”

  Though Feather just sighed, dreamily thinking about what it would be like to lie back in bed and sleep for another few hours, maybe the rest of the day… believe it not, his body was still recovering from overusing the concept of anything to the point he died, so his energy was still rebuilding itself. In fact, he felt very sluggish, and merely ignored the two energetic girls and their conversation as he turned to Achitha, who was far calmer. “No. It makes my tongue burn, and I don’t like it. I think I have a low spice tolerance.”

  “Hm… I see. What foods do you like, then?” Achitha prompted kindly, recalling everything she’d seen him eat on their travels so far. “Honestly, I’ve noticed that you don’t eat very much in general, and sometimes Leo has to convince you to eat a single meal throughout the day. Though, ah, sorry if this is too forward, I’m just trying to see what you might like to eat in the future… for reference.”

  And that really made him smile, the question amusing him just a bit. It was always nice to be cared for. “No, it’s fine. I’m not sensitive about it. But I don’t really need to eat, actually,” he laughed, throwing out his reveal casually and without a care. “I have a concept that makes it to where my body never runs out of nutrients, so it’s impossible for me to starve. That’s why I don’t often get hungry. I’ll only eat if it’s a food I really really like, like cake. Or if someone cooks for me, I’ll eat that, too.”

  “Yeah!! Because Feather is a gentleman!! That’s why we should get married, I’ll never let your kindness go to waste!” Iden hummed gracefully, Eve chuckling at her as the man merely picked up his bowl and sipped more of the broth.

  “No. Rejected.”

  “Aww, okay…”

  “Anyways, you woke me up for a reason, didn’t you? Get on with it so I can go back to bed,” he huffed, Eve turning around to snicker in his face.

  “Oh, jeez… Feather, what are you, an old man?” she cackled behind her hand, leaning into his space as Feather leaned away from hers. “You need your beauty sleep? Some old man shutteye?”

  “Iden, hurry up and tell me what you want. I refuse to listen to this slander,” Feather snapped, hitting his fist on the table as Iden started fumbling with her hands.

  “I…! I will, but... I’m shy…”

  “No you’re not. Hurry up.”

  “Wahhh but it’s such an important question… I don’t wanna rush things…!”

  “I’m giving you to the count of three. One… two… thr—”

  “WAHH OKAY I WANT TO JOIN YOU ON YOUR JOURNEY!!!!” Iden bellowed, hiding her bright red face from the crowd as Feather stared at her, unflinching. Achitha and Eve also looked a bit dumbfounded, their ears having been entirely violated, but the ginger woman just kept paddling on. “I… I have three concepts now, Feather!!! Surely I can join you, right?! I’ve been training my hardest for centuries, and let me tell you I’ve improved a lot in the past year!!! But ah, of course, I’m nowhere near as good as you, hehe… you’re so amazing, and powerful, and smart, unlike me… BUT I’M STILL GOING TO BE OF USE!!!!!” she yelled again, turning back on her heels to stare Feather in the face. Except, Iden quickly got embarrassed all over again, cheeks heating up as she turned herself away. “The truth is, it’s always been my dream to one day join you on your quest!! I didn’t want to slow you down, and you always come through with such powerful companions by your side that I’m no match for, but I think I can keep up now!! All of my practice hasn’t been wasted, I swear it!!!” she babbled on and on, Feather leaning into his hand on the dining room table while he stared at Iden across from him.

  Well, he’d expected her to ask this someday. Out of all the Kavrill children, Iden had always been the one most hungry for power so that she could follow him on his path. He was flattered she thought so highly of him, truly. Though, thinking about it… he still wasn’t really sure if she was ready to take on the kind of stuff he was about to. The apocalypse and the people behind it… even if his hunch was right, and Feather really had been one of the factors that caused reality to crack, it was undeniable that there was more to it than that. Perhaps he should’ve said that to Lavimo, instead of what he had… hm. Either way…

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Okay. I’ll think about it. You up for a test, Iden?” he offered blankly, Iden’s entire face lighting up and she gave an exaggerated nod.

  “Yes!! I’ll take any test and ace it, trust me!! What do you want me to do?! I’ll do anything, I can do anything!!”

  “Alright, well first, you should calm down and be quiet for a bit,” Feather instructed, Iden zipping her mouth shut in an instant, though her body was still shaking with excitement. Her vibrant green eyes were pinned on him and she was clenching her fists tightly together as if that was stopping her from exploding. And he thought about it for only a moment, meeting her eager eyes with a slightly analytic gaze, before he eventually conceded, “Alright, there’s a dungeon nearby you can enter. I’ve already cleared it, so it’s not overflowing with monsters anymore, but the regenerative boss that’s down there should be a good fight for you. Hm, but I don’t want you to go in there by yourself…” he considered, Iden moving to bite her lower lip as she shook her fists in the air beside her, doing her best to quietly jump up and down on the tips of her toes so that she didn’t interrupt Feather’s thinking. Of course, he would’ve been able to ignore her anyway, but that was besides the point. In the end, he ended up turning towards Achitha, and smoothly requested, “Would you be willing to go in with her? I was debating between you and Cirrus, since Jayce’s personality isn’t too compatible with people he doesn’t know well, and I want to train Eve separately since we’re at another stopping point.”

  “Oh, so between me and Cirrus?” Achitha blinked, Feather answering with his unwavering stare as she began to think about it. “Well, I suppose it depends. He’s stronger than me, so if you’re looking for someone to protect her if necessary, he’d be better… though are you just wanting one of us to monitor, or are you expecting us to be her teammate? I think Cirrus would be a better monitor than me, since he’d be able to collect all the skills she’s using and how well her form is with his concept of the knowledge seeking eye.”

  “Hm… oh? That concept?” Feather stared at her, a slight memory resurfacing in his mind as he weighed those words and their meaning. So, based on this, it appeared Cirrus hadn’t told anyone he’d gone blind in that eye… what a foolish move. Feather had been able to tell the moment he woke up in that stuffy room with the stupid pond that the eye behind the prince’s eyepatch was no longer radiating power, but he didn’t think it was wise to step in just yet. Cirrus didn’t yet have his respect, after all. Feather felt pretty neutral towards the prince at this point. He didn’t quite hate him, but if he wasn’t going to make a move to try and tell even his close subordinates about the problems he was having, Feather wasn’t going to make it his business and reveal anything, either. He’d do something about it if Cirrus showed initiative somewhere. As for right now… “Yeah, well, this dungeon is going to be pretty tough for just one person, so it’s better that the two of you go with the mindset that you’re going to have to work together to fight. Honestly, I think you’re a better fit for the job, Achitha,” he smiled, the woman giving him a slight stare before she nodded.

  “Right. Then I’ll go.”

  “Great, thanks. Glad that’s settled.”

  “Mmmmm… mmmmmm…” Iden hummed, her mouth still shut tight as she tried her best to be quiet like she’d been told. But she just couldn’t take it anymore, she wanted to talk and speak and scream, and she ended up snapping while giving a deep bow to Feather, all while yelling, “I’LL DO MY BEST!!!! Can we… can we go today?! Right now?! Please, please Feather!!”

  “Hmm, no, I wanna go back to b—”

  “I’ll pack you some cake I made this morning, just for you, just the way you like it with tons of sugar and icing!!”

  “You’ve got a deal, Iden. Let’s go right now,” Feather stood up, Eve laughing at the way he switched so easily while Iden lit up. “Alright, the four of us will go by ourselves. Eve, I’m gonna enter with you as well, but we’re gonna go a different route. I know you could handle it just fine, but I don’t want your focus to be on the monsters, I want you to focus on something else, okay?”

  “Okay, you got it boss!” she giggled, mimicking what Kya and Leo called him, which only made Feather grin.

  “Right, of course. Then let’s head on our way, shall we?”

  “Ah, ah! Wait, Feather!” Iden called, quickly running around the table to be right in front of him, grabbing onto the sides of his arms as he gave her a tired look. But the woman never really had been the best at stopping herself from her impulses, so he wasn’t surprised when she started loudly pleading, “Can you train me, too?! I know you already have before, but I want you to train me s’more!! Can youuuuu? Pleaseeeee??” she begged, Feather merely moving to pat down her head with a light ruffle of her hair.

  “Sure, sure, later. Be patient and wait your turn. You’ve got a trial to ace, don’t you?” he refocused her, gently guiding the woman off before he moved to open a portal, and they all teleported to the entrance of one of the only dungeons that inhabited this planet… the dungeon of snakes. And he quickly took Iden by the arm and pushed her to the cave’s entrance, a statue of a serpent held up at the cave’s mouth with a sign that warded off strangers. “Now, let’s see how well you do in here… just the two of you.”

  He looked almost evil as he kept pushing her forward rather obnoxiously, before Iden got the hint and ran forward, Achitha quickly following her lead while the ginger woman sucked in a large breath. She suddenly looked very nervous now that she was being put on the spot, but, what can you do? A test is a test. Anyway, he should be focusing on Eve right now.

  “Hey, so go ahead and start channeling snow for the next hour. We’ll go in after that. Got it?”

  “Ah ‘course, boss!” Eve saluted again, Feather snickering at her funny display while he sat himself down against the golden statue of a snake.

  “And of course, I’ll watch… I’ll have an eye on them the entire time, heheh,” he laughed, shuffling his weight around to get himself comfortable while Eve summoned a flurry of snow around her a few feet away. What fun this would be. Of course, the dungeons they were going to enter once they arrived on a true dungeon planet would be far worse, but this was a good simulation that should take them about three days to clear and three days to get back. Not bad, right? Talk about a small dungeon! Though, as for what he wanted Eve to focus on… it was time to combine her two concepts together. She’d been doing well reuniting with the feeling of her concepts, of healing and snow, and he could see they were both fusing with her perfectly, as if nature itself so demanded it… as things should be. And now Feather would take her concept of healing and her concept of snow… and mold them into one.