As they climbed the mountain, Akasha observed the large, leafy trees in the meadow.
"We've arrived!" exclaimed Veldanava, inhaling the fresh air at the summit.
Enjoying the peace radiating from the place, Akasha turned to Veldanava.
"Go find some firewood," said Akasha as he prepared his cooking utensils.
"Alright," Veldanava nodded and walked off to search for it.
Akasha raised his hand and made a slash in the space to his left, creating a rupture about a meter and a half wide. He took out the meat he had stored and withdrew his hand, causing the rupture to seal itself.
Veldanava returned several minutes later, bringing several logs in his hands. He placed them on the ground and sat on one.
"What do you think of this gathering place, Akasha?" Veldanava asked as he leaned back on one of the logs.
"Beautiful and peaceful; I could consider living here," Akasha replied.
Veldanava nodded in agreement and said, "The others won't be long. I'll prepare the fire, and you finish the meat; Veldora and Ramiris will surely come hungry," he added with a smile.
Akasha nodded with an indifferent expression as he continued slicing the meat into precise pieces, each movement of his knife meticulous, almost ritualistic. But as he cut, he heard noise coming from the north.
Looking in that direction, he saw a black dragon being chased by a red and a white dragon, who were launching bursts of fire and ice at him.
Sighing, he turned to see Veldanava spreading the fire among the logs.
"That's Veldora," Akasha commented indifferently. "I assumed Velgrynd and Velzard had outgrown the stage of using Veldora as a punching bag."
Veldanava shook his head.
"Veldora causes many disasters, and they have no choice but to correct it," he said, dismissing Akasha's concern.
Akasha agreed but still didn't like watching the blows. As he set down his knife to go stop the fight, he turned just in time to see the black dragon hanging by its hind legs, staring at the sky while the other two pummeled him.
Akasha blinked and could only sigh at such an act.
"Forget it, I'll just finish preparing the food."
After half an hour, the three dragons arrived, dragging Veldora along the ground. The red dragon transformed into a beautiful woman with blue hair.
The white dragon turned into a lovely girl with white hair and blue eyes. The latter waved as she approached.
"Big brother, brother Akasha! I can't tell you how much I've missed you!" exclaimed Velzard, a bright smile on her face.
"Little Velzard! We missed you too, haha, but don't worry, Akasha has treats for you all," Veldanava said, leaving everything to Akasha, much to his displeasure.
Velzard's eyes sparkled like stars as she reappeared next to Akasha, looking at him while waiting for confirmation. Akasha looked at her with an unchanged expression and finally nodded, bringing joy to Velzard.
Releasing Velzard, Akasha looked at Velgrynd, who was still hitting Veldora while the latter played dead. He approached her and patted her shoulder, causing Velgrynd to turn around.
Akasha looked at her with an almost emotionless face and pointed to Veldora on the ground.
"Did you have to be so hard on him?"
"Necessary! Of course!" Velgrynd and Velzard answered from a distance.
Shrugging, he returned to the kitchen and prepared the meat while Velgrynd came closer and looked at him.
"What do you want, Velgrynd?" Akasha asked without taking his gaze off the meat.
A smile spread across Velgrynd's face.
"I hope you can tell me more about the heroic spirits during dinner," she requested eagerly.
Akasha's hands paused, and he blinked before resuming his work, nodding at Velgrynd's request.
"Alright, I accept. Now go wake your brother to help."
Nodding, Velgrynd went to wake Veldora, setting him on fire. In the end, Veldora was singed and transformed into his human form.
He was an adult man with blonde hair and tanned skin adorned with various tattoos. Akasha ignored everything as he carried the meat to the grill that Veldanava had prepared.
---
After a while, Lucía, Rudra, Guy, and Ramiris arrived.
Lucía was Veldanava's wife; she met him after traveling to the newly established Eastern Empire, where Rudra was the emperor and Velgrynd his protector.
Velgrynd and Rudra were... well, Velgrynd was madly in love with Rudra, and Velzard was interested in Guy, although it was unclear if he felt the same.
Ramiris was the queen of the spirits and almost always resided in her spirit realm. Akasha met her by chance while traveling, stumbling upon the entrance to her abode.
She is a beautiful woman with honey-golden hair.
Akasha had been traveling, adventuring, and studying the various civilizations that inhabited the many universes. However, something as primitive and mundane as love was incomprehensible to him.
His thoughts were interrupted by Lucía, who approached him.
"Hi, Akasha! How are you?" Lucía greeted him with a naive smile on her face.
Akasha gave a small smile upon seeing her and nodded in return.
"I'm alive. And you, how is your pregnancy going?" he asked, noticing how her belly grew day by day.
Lucía sighed and shook her head as she took the knife from Akasha's hand and began chopping onions.
"It's horrible, the pains when it kicks and the things it makes me eat..." Lucía said, her voice turning to terror at the end.
Akasha raised an eyebrow, wondering what could be so bad. With some curiosity, another knife appeared in his hand, and he began cutting peppers while asking.
"I don't understand, what could be so terrible that it terrifies you to eat?"
Lucía set down the knife and mechanically turned her head to look at Akasha, a haunting whisper escaping her lips.
"Cheddar cheese with dark chocolate..."
Akasha halted his actions and looked at Lucía, who hid her face in her hands out of embarrassment. He blinked and shook his head.
"Did you suffer any stomach issues afterward? Because aside from the horrible taste, I don't think anything major happened."
Lucía deflated like a balloon upon hearing Akasha's words.
"I'm lactose intolerant," she mentioned with a nervous laugh.
"Ha... haha... haha." A stifled sigh escaped Akasha's mouth, followed by another and another, until he could no longer contain himself and burst into laughter.
It took several minutes for Akasha to stop laughing and return to his indifferent demeanor, as if he had never laughed at all. Everyone looked at him in astonishment.
"What?" he asked, confused by why they were all staring at him like that.
Veldanava pointed at him with a trembling finger.
"You... laughed... for the first time..." he whispered, finding, like everyone present, the fact impossible.
And rightly so, since Akasha had never laughed. Of course, he had his small moments where a smile would surface, but laughing like he did... never in the eons they had traveled together.
Velzard clapped her hands as she came out of her stupor. "This discovery is undoubtedly valuable! It means that brother Akasha finally knows what joy is!" she exclaimed with a smile.
Akasha looked at them, not understanding why they were so amazed, and decided to continue cooking. "What's so impressive about finding something funny?" he scoffed at the thought.