Saiya was struggling to make her way through the city with Rayna leading her by the hand towards the Waynd estate and Snowbelle gliding after them. It had only been a few days since her abnormal ascension and she still hadn’t quite gotten to the point where she could shut out the influx of emotions from people and objects she touched.

  She could already tell that she would eventually get to that point, having needed to do so when she first got the odd perception ability, but it was still an unpleasant adjustment period. Once they were done with these bonding rituals she hoped to take a few more days to hide in her room. Or maybe she would see if Lord Waynd had a spare room somewhere in the building away from the mass of neighbors seeming to shout their feelings at her.

  When the twins entered the ritual room, they found Paul and Phoenix chatting as the Wayfarer’s Mentor was showing his Protégé what a Sapphire Caste ritual of Spirit Gem bonding actually looked like. They wore reflected smiles that made Saiya instantly feel better as she sensed the strong familial bond that had already formed between the two—both feeling comfort, pride, and hope towards the other.

  It was a surprise to her when Paul turned his gaze towards them and the feelings seemed to remain. She felt her heart swell slightly and she almost wanted to cry again. The Emerald Caster’s emotions had been a closed book to her before, her Crystal Caste perceptions having been unable to penetrate the aura two Castes above her no matter how hard she might try.

  She realized after a few moments that it wasn’t that her powers had suddenly overcome that Caste barrier, it was that he was actually letting her in. He was trusting her with a peek into himself; that did cause the tears to fall as she stared at him.

  With his higher Caste, she knew that he could likely sense her own emotions through her aura as easily as she could the others, and his features softened as he spoke, “Now, now, Lady Saiya. Today is a happy day, remember?”

  Phoenix and Rayna both turned to focus on her and seemed instantly concerned again as the Wayfarer asked, “Was it the door or something?”

  “No way,” Rayna protested, “I made sure to open them all for her!”

  Paul chuckled and shook his head, then gestured from Phoenix to the twins, “Don’t you have something to give them?”

  “You too!” Phoenix shot back before bouncing up to them and holding out a matching pair of bracelets, “We finished them up. So, now you should be able to just wear them and sense both of our directions.”

  Saiya nodded and gingerly took the proffered jewelry, relieved when the happiness and hope from the items flowed into her. “Thank you, Phoenix,” she murmured, slipping the item onto her wrist and moving deeper into the room towards the ritual diagram Paul had just finished as he stood to meet them.

  “I have a gift for each of you as well,” he said to her and pulled a pair of presents out of the hip pack he often wore but she only ever saw him pull a journal or potions out of, “Congratutions on reaching Sapphire Caste.”

  Rayna excitedly bounced on cwed toes and gratefully took one of the small boxes as she gushed, “Aw, Paul, you totally didn’t have to, but that’s so awesome of you!”

  “Thank you, Lord Waynd,” Saiya said as she took her own proffered gift. She heard Rayna’s additional squeal of delight as she slipped the top of the box and peeked inside to find a Spirit Gem sparkling like a polished jewel as the light hit it.

  “What is it? Something awesome I bet?” her twin spouted excitedly, lifting a bright yellow half-rose cut gem up to get a better look at.

  Paul chuckled, “One of the perks of being a noble is getting access to some pretty good ones. Yours is the Burst Spirit Gem. I figured it might py into your style well.”

  Saiya was once more surprised when the normally stoic padin let Rayna practically throw herself at him to wrap her arms and tails around his waist in a hug while thanking him repeatedly.

  She gently lifted her own pale green round cut gem and Paul answered her unasked question, “I picked Sustain for you.” Then he gave her an almost apologetic smile, “I figured with the rather reckless group you ended up with that this might help see both them and you through difficult times.”

  Saiya returned his smile with her own gentle sincerity, “Thank you again, Lord Waynd.”

  “You can call me Paul too,” he pointed out, then added, “I mentioned this to your party leader before you all left, but even though I don’t pn to cim any more Protégés, I see all of you as one and want you to know you can feel free to ask me anything. I want to see all of you succeed in your goals.”

  She could feel the sincerity emanating from him and she nodded gratefully as Rayna said, “Then after we finish absorbing all these Spirit Gems can you show me how to do that Steps of Light meditation technique?”

  It was Paul’s turn to look surprised at her, “I thought you already have a technique better suited to your style?”

  “The Dune Path works okay, but I saw how fast you moved while fighting against that crazy evil priestess,” Rayna stated with excitement, “I want to see if yours works better for my mobile style.”

  “Rituals first!” Phoenix called out, and Ta gave a couple of excited cheeps from her perch in red curls, “We’ve got a dozen to get through and it will take quite a bit of time.”

  “Not really,” their mentor spoke up as he turned back to the ritual diagram on the floor and asked Rayna, “How many exactly do you have?”

  “We each have six now, including your gifts.”

  Paul nodded then bent back down to use the magically infused chalk to add an outer ring around the outside that had six evenly spaced smaller circles intersecting the line and connecting it to the original diagram.

  “Are you pnning to do a combination binding?” Saiya asked, having never actually witnessed one before.

  “Yes,” he replied, then expined for Phoenix’s benefit, “Not only is it quicker but the results are usually better as each gem seems to become aware of the other in order to determine which abilities would be best to bond to.”

  “Shouldn’t we wait for all ten then?” Phoenix asked quizzically.

  “A lot of nobles have the means to do so,” Paul admitted with a nod, then gave her a pointed look, “However, some people don’t like the idea of just buying their gems.”

  “Nobody likes pay-to-win,” Phoenix retorted with a pout, “It’s totally cheating and completely ruins the fun.”

  “That’s fine,” Rayna interjected, “It took us years to collect and save these up. Even if we’re considered nobles, our cn lost most of its wealth when it was destroyed. This blood moon has been a boon in both cultivation speed and steady Adventuring income, though, so maybe we can buy a few more ter, but I don’t want to wait to start progressing my abilities again.”

  Paul nodded again and said, “That’s the other reason a lot of people don’t wait to get all ten. Until the ability bonds to a Spirit Gem of the new Caste, it can’t cultivate properly again and will be stuck at level one.”

  “Doesn’t that kinda create an unfair imbance to people who can’t afford the gems?” Phoenix questioned with a frown and Saiya wondered if the surge of concern coming from her went more towards the poorer members of their party of orphans. She would admit that she was also slightly worried about procuring proper gems for everyone in their party even with their looting advantages.

  Once the blood moon ended, there wouldn’t be nearly as many missions to go around. Aside from personal motivation, the thing that slowed down the speed of cultivation for most people was finding proper challenges. Fewer monsters meant fewer missions and less loot which transted to slowed progression.

  Paul gestured for Rayna to approach him and said, “Go ahead and tell me the type of Spirit Gem then set it in the circle after I add the corresponding rune to it.”

  Rayna nodded and set the one she was already holding atop the rune he had already written for Burst. Then the bard pulled a small pouch from her hip satchel, withdrawing another shiny gem from it, and stated, “Repetition.”

  “Good choice,” he said with an approving nod, then finally returned to answering Phoenix’s question as he wrote, “And while it can create an imbance, getting Aspects in the first pce is the more common cost barrier. Once you’re a Caster, it becomes a whole lot easier to find work or sponsors that will help you procure the Spirit Gems.”

  Rayna pced the Repetition Spirit Gem down in the next circle and said, “Disruption.”

  Paul gnced up with a raised brow, “Do I even want to know where you got that one?”

  “Yeah… I know it’s not exactly… approved,” she said with a slightly awkward gnce away from the Padin.

  “It’s not banned either, though, otherwise this conversation would be going very differently,” he said with a shake of his head and wrote the rune down.

  “You won’t need to worry about your teammates,” Paul added, once more returning to the previous topic, “Most people make a very good income as Adventurers and between Phoenix’s [Guide Book] and the kid’s [Tribute], you all are making a lot more than the average Adventurer with the extra loot.”

  “Shout,” Rayna interjected after pcing the Spirit Gem down and moving to the next one.

  “Besides,” Paul continued while both writing and speaking, “If you finally break down and want to procure some for everyone without relying on Bits, we can always raid my family’s vault,” he added with a smirk.

  Phoenix rolled her eyes, “That’s basically the same kind of cheating,” she argued, “We didn’t earn them.”

  “Well, you can leave things up to fate,” Rayna argued back, “I’m more than happy to buy what I think will fit me best if I come across it. Like this one,” she stated happily, lifting up another of her precious Spirit Gems, “I found this piece of perfection at a swap meet in Viimeinen.”

  “Where’s that?” Phoenix asked.

  “It’s the capital of Epa Toivo,” Saiya replied, having moved over next to her friend as her twin prepared for the ritual, “We stayed there for a while. It’s one of the very few permanent settlements in the region.”

  “Yup. Anyway, this one is an Acceleration Spirit Gem,” Rayna informed, “Do you have any idea how hard it is to find one of these and have it be the right Caste level?”

  “Hard?”

  “Practically impossible! Honestly, I’d consider it fate that I was able to even have the chance to buy it.”

  A mess of red curls tilted to one side as Phoenix seemed to contempte the point of view and begrudgingly said, “There might be something to that…”

  Rayna nodded and Saiya could sense her twin’s rising sense of victory at having won the minor debate as she told Paul the final one, “Then Echo is the st I got for now.”

  “Those were all fairly good selections for your particur powerset, Rayna,” Paul acknowledged as he stood. He then surprised Saiya yet again by pcing a hand on top of Rayna’s head the way she had seen him do to Phoenix once in a while as he stated, “You are an excellent Striker for knowing yourself so well.”

  Rayna beamed at the praise and the three tails were practically wagging with happiness. Saiya spoke up before her twin entered the ritual circle, reminding them, “Wait, we’re still missing some friends.”