After a long feast, Eronous was absolutely stuffed. He had eaten way too much, resulting in nauseous bouts every time he moved. It was slow-moving, but eventually he got back to the room he had woken up in. As much as Dalor protested, he couldn't argue with such nice, large beds. The group were all in separate rooms, as they had beds to spare. It was rather odd for Giants to have such nice accommodations, though Eronous suspected it had something to do with Riritsu.
Luckily, Eronous's dreams were blank that night, meaning he would not remember them upon waking. He had been told before that you always dreamed, but many of his tended to be blank. He was roused by a sharp knock on his door, and a light, childish tone asking if he could come in. "Yeah, Riri." Eronous said groggily, slowly pushing himself into a sitting position as the chief grabbed a nearby blanket, shaking it as it became a chair, and sat.
"Rise and shine!" Riritsu teased playfully. "I told you I'd teach you how my power works, because it's yours now, too." he said, gesturing to the chair underneath him.
"Oh, yeah..." Eronous yawned. The bed was nice, but it was not as comfortable as Rysdan's plant-mattress and blanket. Shaking himself, rubbing his eyes, he pushed his feet over the edge of the bed. "Let me just change..."
"You don't need to change!" Riritsu smiled, pointing at his clothes. "Just think of the outfit you want, and touch your clothes to change them into the respective pieces. It takes some visualization, unless you're operating on instinct, like yesterday with the sword. Instinct can be dangerous, but also life-saving."
Eronous furrowed his brow, thinking of one of his favorite childhood shirts. He touched his shirt, and suddenly felt it constrict, the fabric re-weaving itself into the shirt he remembered. He had been smaller last time he had worn it, and the fabric was skin-tight against him now. 'I...should make it bigger, it's hard to breathe!' he thought, touching the shirt again and imagining it expanding. The fabric loosened on his body, but the shirt didn't stop growing until he released it. Now it drowned him, as if it were made for one of the child-giants that had been running around. He let out a frustrated sigh as he glanced at Riritsu.
Chuckling to himself, Riritsu reached out to touch the shirt, which immediately re-sized itself in the design Eronous was attempting to match. "Not bad for a first try. At least, for a regular human. I was born with the knowledge of how it worked, and all the practice I needed."
"That's hardly fair. I wish I knew how mine worked..." Eronous said, yawning as he stretched and stood up. He tried again on his pants, though he couldn't quite get the design right until Riritsu helped again.
"We've explained it to you. It's not complicated how yours works, what gets complicated is learning how everyone else's works. At least, everyone whose powers you copy." Riritsu corrected himself. "It might be a good idea to get used to one power before absorbing others."
"How do I stop myself from taking someone's power?" Eronous asked questioningly.
"Well, for now, just don't touch anyone unless you know they don't have any special powers. Like that dwarf-friend of yours. But he's the only one it would be safe to touch. Even the cursed boy is technically considered to have a power, and curses can be quite nasty." Riritsu stood, grabbing the chair as it re-formed back into the blanket it started as, and he placed it on the shelf. Grabbing Eronous's hand, he pulled him from the room, out of the building, and to a large Colosseum-like area. The construction seemed new, and was a hodge-podge of granite, marble, different kinds of stone. There was a large amount of stadium seats, all of them giant-sized.
Eronous felt a bit intimidated by how large it was. "Will...will there be anyone watching us?" he asked, a bit self-conscious. He had never fought aside from Riritsu and Rein, who had been teaching him. He hoped this was a private session.
"I'm sure your friends and some giants will come by for entertainment. It'll be a good place for your team to test their mettle against each other, too. But for now, it's time to learn a few nuances about matter." Reaching down to touch the ground, the dirt beneath him solidified. As he raised his hand, a spear raised with it, clear and smooth as glass.
"A glass spear?" Eronous questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Quartz, actually." Riritsu responded, handing Eronous the spear. "What do you think makes up that quartz?"
"Umm...Quartz is a kind of crystal, I think? Made from rocks?" Eronous said, hefting it, looking at Riritsu questioningly.
"You're...not completely wrong. But on a smaller level, this is made of tiny strings of molecules. Molecules are made up of atoms. Atoms are made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons. These are further divided into Quarks. But this is a very simple overview of it - the understanding isn't as important as what it helps you visualize. It's one thing to imagine a completed product, and another to imagine the sum of it's parts. There are lots of different atoms, and tons more of different molecules that string them together." Riritsu paused to let it sink in, as the concepts were very advanced for the time period he was in. "And the molecules are arranged in a very strong geometric shape. The one for Quarts looks like this." He said, reaching down to form two tetrahedral shapes on the ends of a long central column. "And these are smaller than your eye can see. They are all interconnected, and form an extremely strong, and hard structure. Not as hard as diamonds, but when you create something, you'll be able to observe it's shape to make it bigger, smaller, or reinforce it. Like I've done with my skin. Hard as diamonds because I've modified it, at least my hands."
Riritsu's explanation was very advanced for the time, and many of the words Eronous didn't understand. Small particles, though, he could understand. Shapes he could understand. The rest of it pretty much went over his head. "So...if I imagine a different shape, it will change the...matter in the spear?" He asked. Riritsu nodded. He imagined the crystal in the spear breaking up, but staying interconnected by smaller, more flexible crystal, which segmented the spear in his hand to make what looked to be a crystal sword-whip. In moving it, it fell apart, though, as it was not flexible enough to hold the bendable shape.
"It will take a lot of practice." Riritsu said, patting Eronous on the shoulder. "Keep trying, but maybe on a smaller scale. Your friends are here, and I've been raring to see them compete!"
Eronous nodded, taking a small piece of the crystal as Riritsu touched it, turning it back to sand. He went to sit in the Colosseum seats while his friends filtered in. Rysdan took a bee-line towards Eronous to consult with him about his abilities. The rest went towards the center of the battlefield. Riritsu made thin, different-lengths of quarts in his hands, and had each of them draw one to see who would match up. They had discussed wanting to test their abilities on each other the night before.