"You're telling me you got these powers from a hobo wizard?"
"No, no, no. He's the one that warned me ahead of time about the originator of the Cosmic Authority. I know just how weird it sounds, but that guy most definitely had issues."
"And he had these shiny nails that were imbued somehow? That all seems beyond your level, don't you think?"
Null was finally able to interact with someone who came from the same planet as him, so he enjoyed talking and receiving replies that were not encompassed by other worldly innuendos.
"He was definitely from the future the way he spoke like he already knew me and where I would find Theef. Disregarding that crazy fact, there was also something that awoke inside of me."
He could remember that faint pulsing, almost like a faint heartbeat. Ever since he felt it however, it seemed to be slumbering inside him somewhere.
As soon as he reminisced about that experience, a purple light faintly pulsed once more inside him; it occurred right next to his actual heart and was about two sizes smaller.
"Here it is!"
It then seeped out of his skin as a purple gas that surrounded an orb of something not unlike an egg yolk and white.
The purple object soared to a nearby tree— one of the largest in the nearby area— towards a nest hidden among the branches.
Null and the rest were shocked and quickly went to follow it.
Upon reaching the giant tree, they looked to each other in confusion about what just happened. Then, all of a sudden something fell from the nest up high until it was visible to them all.
A struggling chick was attempting to fly after free falling from the heights of the nest with no regard for its safety.
Its desperate attempt to flap its underdeveloped wings was cute if not for the fact that it was rapidly reaching ground level. In response, Null leaped up to it after charging some energy into his legs.
He caught the fledgling and braced himself as he fell to the ground.
Looking at the large fledgling, Null could already make a guess that this was the reason for the ship coming under attack by the giant eagle beast.
Not one to take pity over the lives of some random babies, he returned to the group with a new friend in hand.
"I can't believe I said I didn't want to be a father, just look at this little— well, not little— guy." He held the baby eagle in his arms. It was not black like its mother was, instead being purple toned like the thing that came out of him to possess its body.
"What was that thing? Why did it suddenly come out to take over a meibeast?" Klein was curious.
"Well, we just killed its momma, why not take it and raise it ourselves. The others got it rough though," Theef lightly scratched the baby bird with his finger.
"Now there are two new babes to add on to the crew, you just pick up anything wherever you go Null," the pauper too was pleased.
"Well, since we finished the roast, let's head back to my village. I'm sure they would be glad to accept such mighty figures such as yourselves," Klein said happily.
"You've got it wrong kid," Theef started, "You ride with us, and your family is ours. Your village is our too now. We ain't letting the village stay hidden underground. Once we get back, we're gonna rebuild and make it better than this city you were telling us about."
"I second that!" Null stated readily.
"Agreed," the pauper agreed.
"Alright then, let's go!" Klein led them back to the recked Meita Village.
---
Upon reaching the area of the village, Klein had briefed the villagers on his newfound friends, and they all were skeptical at first, however, when they heard that they were not only capable of felling the giant eagle beast, but they also wanted to help rebuild the village, they all were elated.
While the bunker was renovated, and they now had all sorts of functioning rooms and features as well as an underground garden, it was not the same as a house inside the sun's light.
"Any friends of Klein's are friends of ours!" Meior declared.
And thus, the village reparation was undergone.
The forefront of the project was made by the earth manipulators along with Null, Klein, and even Theef.
They shaped the foundation of the buildings with earth mofei and chopped down some trees— something that they were reluctant to do before due to the territorial nature of most beasts.
This time however, Null and crew were prepared to take down any meibeast that threatened the safety of the village.
There were not many repopulated in the area because the eagle beast's hunting, but a few stronger beasts were bound to move into the free real estate.
Before long, the first houses were finished and touched up by the more artisanal of the crafters, mainly Null, Klein, and Meior.
Windows were made, the roofs were treated with a special earthen mixture that was then heated up to become waterproof.
Seeing the newly founded village grounds, the pauper then made his decision to craft a hefty golden wall around the entirety of the land, gated and with a watchtower to go with it.
The villagers were overjoyed when witnessing the majesty of his work; with these walls, they had no need to be so fearful of an attack like before. All those heavy, dark nights unaware of when a meibeast might be out on a hunt.
"Cheers! Haha! To see these changes to our humble village fills my heart with great warmth." Although they had no alcohol, the villagers had fresh water whenever they pleased.
"Hold on a second. I think I have something for this. You mind Null?" Theef held his hand out for him.
"I wanna see what you have in store," Null smiled as he transferred some mofei along.
Theef then completed his transformation— the villagers had gotten used to this view during the time spent rebuilding the village— and separated certain strands of it.
Some plant mofei mixed with the water mofei and reached a level where the two distinct mofei became a singular, new mofei that gave off a strong smell.
"Ha! Come now, build me a vessel to store this ale specially brewed by yours truly." Theef laughed in triumph.
"Hurry! Help me craft a suitable vase to store the ale in!" The men of the village scrambled to form an enormous vase for him to empty the ale in.
"I'm not done yet!" He was already moving on to form his next masterpiece, "For the ladies, some delicious wine."
"Hurry and build another vase!" The women screamed.
Tired, the men looked to Null as their only hope.
'They get this hyped up for alcohol. Looks like Theef outdid himself again.'
He graciously obliged and the village celebrated the new and improved Meita Village.