The night grew old as the world was thrown into a deep slumber.
Stars in the night sky frolicking above as though ethereal lamps. However, in one room, there was a parade of magic.
Penta was seated around thirty tusks. Each one glimmering with a strange light.
"I should get some rest. I might need it tomorrow." Penta told himself after having finished thirty. Each one was attributed with a very simple totem.
The light totem.
It was a completely basic totem of the light system and was to use its base(the tusk) and symbol(totem) to absorb the energy of its system.
The light was an energy that radiated.
Each horn glowing could shoot a short burst of light that lit up an area. In essence a flashlight. Such a simple thing would never have been possible to Penta before but from learning with the crystal, he started practicing something quite obvious.
Energy condensation. How to structurally control the energy that is within yourself.
The power that is absorbed through meditation was a truly frightening thing as it allowed one to ascend and grow beyond.
However, to control that power you must persevere and harness it with your own spirit and will. That was the basic requirement to start using this skill but obviously, there was much more skill to this technique. Showing from the rough and sometimes obviously slanted lines, Penta was still a newbie at this.
Nonetheless, the roach did get each one to function as his energy was available and he poured enough to get them to be officially rated as "trash that works". The power behind the totem is that now that it's active, as long as it somehow gains enough energy these things can become flashlights so leaving them in the sun helped.
They would recharge a few times depending on the quality of the person inscribing his energy into a totem.
The more clear the energy circulation on the totem, the better equipped the item is.
Penta got so excited as this was a skill that seems to have some crazy applications. The more learned of it, even though it was only for apprentice grade creations, the thought of holding the Rank 1 version of the knowledge orb.
Penta finally decided to rest and greet the new day with plans for the group.
--
Sunlight shining through the windows, chasing away the shadows that were held within.
Two cute little girls could be seen lazily dragging their way to wash and start the day. They were groggy this morning due to an abrupt wake-up call from their honorable brother.
'Not looking honorable, waking up two poor girls to that.' Kaya thought while holding her little sister as they headed on their way.
Outside in a small field in the Inn's courtyard, three men were sweatily exercising while looking like they received a beating.
A few of the early risers also noticed this and couldn't help but smile at what they saw as dedication. "It's good to be young," The innkeeper chortled before returning to his duties.
On the bodies of the three men, you could see odd metal wrapped around their arms, torso, and legs. They were wearing simple training uniforms as well. It was a plain brown color and was sleeveless.
"What are you slowing down for! Get your butts moving! I want three laps around the village and I will have this guy hear watch you." Penta shouted at the trio while pointing at a dog that was part of the Inn.
The dog barked as though it understood but Penta simply sniggered at the response.
The trio couldn't help but lament their misfortune this morning. As they recalled it, they held expressions that were stuck between crying and laughing.
That morning, as they were simply sleeping peacefully and digesting the gains and food from the day before. Penta had barged into their rooms and simply picked them up.
They didn't even understand what was going on before they were suddenly thrown out the window towards the field in the back. Imagine waking up to a lunatic throwing you out of the building you were staying in.
Though there was no malicious intent as two-story heights are a joke to apprentice shamans who were worth their title.
As they still managed to land, Penta suddenly three plain uniforms before requesting them to change. They were fuming and asked for an explanation. Sadly, the only explanation they got was a beating and that had woken up quite a few people but it settled down once they knew who it was.
The metal grips around their body was also another addition that Penta had gotten done in a very short period of time.
Once they were changed, Penta had dropped those metal hoops that was black in color. Once they put it on. They noticed that it was heavy, not to the point they couldn't move but that they moved extremely slowly.
What was a simple step forward became a snail's step.
Worst to come was the fact that they were expected to do a hundred squats, push-ups, and a jog. A stick was also held in Penta's hands for whoever used their apprentice grade powers.
As they continued their training. The girls finally appeared on the field. Curiously looked at Penta while seemingly munching on some cookies. Kaya looked curiously at the contraptions on the trio's bodies and asked.
"Oh, those? Yeah, I managed to get some refine ore off the blacksmith here. Got him to give me these heavy but malleable bars. Turned them into weight training for them." Penta replied while a smack hit Faren who thought he was being smart.
"Train too!" Little Sana shouted seeing that the trio was getting trained by her brother.
"Oho? Little Sana wants to get strong?" Penta teased.
"Yes bwutha!" Sana replied cutely.
"Aww, then you should get into the habit of meditating in the mornings and train your energy control. Don't want you shocking the friends you make later, right?" Penta smiled and said.
"Yay! Frinds! Ok!" She happily smiled and ran off to a box seated nearby and started meditating to sense her energy.
"I'm gonna read. Let me know when we go to eat!" Kaya replied and went over to a bench.
Feeling the company around him. Penta couldn't help but breathe a breath of fresh air and smile for a moment. He wasn't alone anymore.
Months of darkness really does affect one. If it wasn't for Old'Ban. He wouldn't have ever thought of having people around him like this. Meeting these people had been a random occurrence but he nonetheless stayed with them.
"Honorable brother! Why are we to do this, I don't understand why we are being forced into this!?" Karu finally asked as he was so lost as to what all this was for. Nothing was planned.
Even last time he just trained them but it felt more like they were being tortured.
"Got energy for questions eh? Fine. The reason I am doing this is that isn't there a tournament coming up? I want to get some good scores to get good resources." Penta replied.
"That's true but shouldn't that just concern you?" Faren retorted.
"Hmm? It seems you three need some motivation." Penta said as he scanned their reactions before grinning.
"Tell you what my little porters. How about I allow you to get three moves on me without retaliation if you can follow my training for the next few months?" Penta said with a provocative gaze as though he wasn't worried in the slightest.
This caught the trio's attention and especially their pride. Any human could only handle so much when treated so roughly as though an object.
The fire in their eyes lit up and was thoroughly ablaze.
Griss even had a few strands of red sparks around him before settling them down. "We agree!" They solemnly retorted in unison.
"Good! Now we can compete for the top together." Penta mumbled.
"What did you say?" Karu asked looking at him oddly. He was doubting what he heard.
Penta looked his way before shouting: "RUN MAGGOTS WHERE ARE MY THREE LAPS!? GO AND IF YOU FAIL TO BE BACK IN AN HOUR THEN NO BREAKFAST!"
The shout shook them as they started running away.
As the trio were making their way into the first lap of the jog, Karu couldn't help but ask the other two.
"You think he actually likes us?"
"What the hell does that mean?" Griss replied.
"You think he's into guys?" Faren asked scared.
"No! I meant you think he considers us friends?" Karu explained.
"No way! That sadistic bastard does not think that!" Faren immediately replied.
"Well, I mean aside from the rough treatment. He does provide massive amounts of energy food & now training." Griss considered.
"What? You're taking his side? Karu, what do you think?" Faren retorted.
"I don't really know. I admire his strength but I also find him crazy. He hasn't truly given a reason for this training nor why he keeps us around. It was originally due to that scuffle but thinking back now, who would turn a scuffle into such prolonged torture unless they didn't really take offense the first time." Karu replied while starting to heave from the weights.
All three considered these words for a moment.
"Enough. We won't make it by breakfast if we go on like this. Rush ahead!" Griss finally declared before putting some force into his steps.
As the trio were running their rounds. Penta had actually started walking around with little Sana and Kaya in tow.
They were going to wait for the trio before eating so they had decided to take a stroll.
"I really want to visit the apothecary. I haven't really known much about all those herbs and pills they got." Penta said which also turned into excitement for Kaya.
"Yaay!" She muttered while balling her fist.
"Adventure!" Sana shouted and waited for praise and as expected.
"You can say big words now eh?" Penta patted her head while smiling at her growth.
"hehehe yay!" Sana loved her head pats.
Along with the jokes and laughter. They finally arrived at the apothecary from the directions they got at the Inn.
A simple storefront with two window panes and a simple door stood there. A signboard was written "Floca's flower shop".
"Huh, I thought it would say, apothecary. " Penta mused as they pushed the door to enter. A heavy scent of herbs and wildflowers assaulted their senses.
"Woah!" Sana and Kaya grabbed their noses while Penta looked a little unstable for a second before regaining his composure.
"Oh, who might it be at this time of day?" A lady entered the room while wearing a thick robe with floral patterns and green designs.
"Oh if it isn't you three? Welcome to Floca's Flower shop. It's me Floca, how can I help you youngins?" Lady Floca smiled as she greeted them and made a professional introduction seeing as they were at her shop. She then kneeled down to the girls and pinched their cheeks while mumbling praise at them.
"Hahaha, Lady Floca, we are actually here to see if there is anything you have that might be helpful to the girls for their training?" Penta asked as he also got small surprise gasps from the girls.
"Oh, what kind of training?" Lady Floca got up and asked as she went behind her counter and started sorting out some boxes and papers.
"Well, little Sana is gifted with lightning and Kaya with nature," Penta replied while curiously glancing at the different things around them.
"Hmmm, lightning-related items are a little rare but here how about this considering their age and affinities." She replied while taking out two pill bottles from apparently nowhere. Making Penta shocked at the wealth this small village apothecary had.
'That was a spatial item' He thought but couldn't pinpoint which accessory it was though he was caught by Lady Floca who just smiled.
"It's not as fancy as you think young man. This is an alchemist's pouch that can keep pill bottles and only that. It's not that expensive to buy but considering its limited use, it is quite affordable if you join a union." Lady Floca replied to which Penta wore a confused face.
"Union?" Penta questioned but saw Lady Floca smile and push the two pill bottles forward.
'Shrewd' he thought.
"We can discuss that later, how about finishing our business first. This first pill bottle contains 20 pills that are called Nature's dew. It has the ability to recover fatigue and strength while also marginally helping one's body circulation. It should be great for little Sana after exercises like running, hiking, sparring. "
Lifting up the other bottle.
"This contains 20 pills of Nature's essence, it's used for recovering and healing. While its bonus effect is that it also marginally increases one's vitality.
These pills are pretty average grade but the benefit is that it doesn't leave side effects and can cause minor improvements especially on such young people."
Lady Floca introduced while she waited for them to digest the information.
Pills were quite good and useful in one's path to ascension as it can assist with healing, strengthening, and assisting with bottlenecks due to the medicinal ingredients in them. Seeing the bottles, Penta smiled as he simply agreed to purchase them.
"Well glad to hear it so, about payment, I'm wondering if you are willing to spare with a few of those tusks you took. I know of some people I can trade those for decent medicinal ingredients. How about it?" Lady Floca requested when Penta was reaching for his pouch.
"I don't see why not? Thank you!" Penta happily agreed to the bartering.
As their trade concluded, Lady Floca simply led them out while giving some simple advice.
"If you want to know more about unions, I suggest you enroll in one at the tribe!"