The grasses around Baska Town were far taller than the type in Worth Woodsea, because they didn’t reach his knees at all, but instead covered the ground across the fields and hills like a thin coat. It was… oddly uncomfortable. Having lived in a dense forest for the most of his life, Hyōen didn’t recall using much time in such open areas like this. There were no taller trees that caught his attention, and with the few bushes as shrubbery, the entire land was grass and hills. The green colour was obviously brighter than that of his jacket, a sleeveless type that reached down to his knee joints. His sand-coloured trousers covered for his legs all the way down to his ankles where his spiked boots were. His necklace, the form of a drop with blazes on top as if it was an atom of fire, was hung around his neck as he looked up at the sky. It was quite brighter today as the sun could finally shine directly down at him, not being blocked by the thickening clouds that dominated the stratosphere.

Perhaps he was going to recheck his spells again; after his spar with Alisa, he suddenly grew more interest for his own magic and capabilities. And in the depth of his heart, he truly wished to advance from where he was at the moment, in which he had chosen to get out here at the plains with space enough to mess around and train. His eyes were closed for a few seconds as he found himself safe from any obstacles or interruptions that could intervene, and he began gathering his mana. A hand was lifted up to his right eye, and in a brief second, a small burst of minor blazes travelled across his iris without harming him at all. It was the indication of his new spell that would let him focus his sight on other sources of heat at his visual field, and using it out here in the cold yet sunny afternoon, he couldn’t see much other than the dark contrasts that indicated both the cool ground and the heatless air around him. Coda, his beloved raptor, perched on his left shoulder and looked around for him as he tested this out.

Well, he did see a few signatures, but they were so small that he couldn’t concentrate on them enough to convince himself that they were anywhere nearby. Anyway, the spell worked fine; it didn’t include small temperatures in the way that, when he looked at his own hand, it was shining yellow and red and other warm nuances given by the level of heat that his body produced. Then, comparing it to the grass, the shrubbery expressed cold nuances of colours like blue, purple and black. Sighing out loud in relief, the blaze in his eye quickly began to flutter as an indication that he was about to cancel the spell, but it stood on for a bit longer as someone else caught his attention… with a bark…

Turning his head to the left, he spotted an extremely shining creature, the description due to the heat signature that skyrocketed when looking at it. “Ooohhhhh,” he let out in fascination whilst having his eye on the small dog, “What a warm creature! It must be fiery..!” It didn’t take more than a moment for the owner of this canine to show up, a jet black-haired girl with rather cute bangs and a very polite and friendly attitude towards the stranger. “Agni… nice name, don’t you think, Coda?” he complimented, throwing a glance at the raptor on his shoulder who flew down to the canine in a friendly manner. Whilst trying to socialize with the new creature, Hyōen looked back at the lady again. She had asked him a question about his doings, if he was practicing a spell of sorts.  “Actually, yeah… I’m just, you know, testing out a few spells of mine… nothing big or anything, just curious about my limits and all,” he explained, turning his face diagonally up to the sky and with a heavy feeling in his stomach, “So… you seem to be interested, so tell me this; are you a mage as well?”

While Coda nuzzled the Agni creature with her peak in curiosity, Hyōen listened to her words as she noted the ‘limit’ part in his earlier words. They were inspirational, and seemingly from her sister as well, which inclined that this girl truly looked up to her sibling. Otherwise, she wouldn’t use quotes from them like this. Sadly, he couldn’t relate with his life as an only child, so the sibling thing was also quite distant for him. Nonetheless was it touching to think that she loved her family member like that, or so he concluded given by this limited knowledge.

“… Your sister sounds clever,” he replied frankly. To have given such advice to her little sister was, overall, a smart thing to do, given that it would most likely do for an inextinguishable source of motivation. About his question of whether she was a mage or not, it appeared to have amused her a little as she told that it was the second time that someone asked her that very recently. “So… you have the means, but… you’re not… very… experienced, I guess?” he tried to summarize her answer. It sounded much like it, but there was also something else refraining her from using magic often. He was faintly curious about that too, but she quickly complimented his adaptation with the use of arcane. “Oh, really? Well, that sure makes me happy to hear..!” he expressed whilst scratching the back of his head with his right hand, “… I’m Hyōen.”

Coda had begun to stretch her wings out in pride towards the Agni dog, which gave the Fire Mage an idea. Pulling his head back, he made a notion to Esperia that he was about to pull something off, in which a burst of fire erupted from his mouth. However, its purpose was far from harming; instead of spreading out like an attack, it formed a sort of thick hand made of pure blazes as Hyōen watched Coda land on it with complete trust in her master. “I don’t know if your sister has ever told you, but… magic is strange,” he explained with a little mumbling due to the fact that the fire was coming out of his mouth, “My magic manifests fire, and despite that… look at Coda. She’s not even feeling any pain, not at all.” It sure appeared so, after all; the bird was just sitting on the fire hand like it was Hyōen’s very own hand, enjoying the attention.

Still having the flames come out of his mouth, which troubled his speaking a little, it was confirmed that Esperia truly held her sister dear. However, as he had listened to more of her from the lady, he also realized that the sister must’ve been a huge source of grief given that Esperia only talked about her in past tense. Had she experienced loss of someone so close to her as well? Realizing that, the flames that Coda stood upon died out, causing the bird to be caught by surprise and flap her wings immensely to prevent from falling. “… She must’ve been amazing,” he replied rather silently. He had no doubt that she would agree to that, due to what she just told about her.

A girl out in the world with that memory as a sorceress… it was no wonder that he was a little interested in what kind of magic that she had at her disposal. However, it was seemingly clear that she had some issues with experience of her own use of magic, or so it appeared to sound by her response. Nonetheless did she know a thing or two about magic as a whole, and that was due to her next reply to his little performance. “… It sounds contradicting, but I guess magic doesn’t apply to logic in the first place,” he commented whilst cracking his neck by placing his right hand on in, then rocking the head to the left. Agni was pretty excited by his showcase of magic, and on top of the dog’s heat signature, he had an idea of what kind of dog that it was… it could, most likely, be a magical companion of sorts. She also stated that, because of her inexperience with casting spells, Agni was much more efficient to do the trick for her than she could herself. “… So your friend here is really stronger than one would think?” he asked with half a convinced mind on the fact that Agni had a few tricks up its sleeve than just biting and barking, "... That's awesome! I bet Coda wouldn't stand a chance against that beast..!" The bird was obviously still flailing her wings in annoyance, but the joke was formed with a friendly spirit. Hyōen knew very well not to mess with the female manifestation of feathers and talons.

His belly growled, once again in the middle of a conversation. However, unlike last time, he used a part of the night to go out and gather what types of cattle that he could find, slaughtering very few and preparing meals for later. Being a hunter at heart, his work was almost flawless as he pulled out two spiked pieces of raw meat with a few dots of spices from different herbs that he found near the larger hills outside of Baska Town. He didn’t know if Esperia had an appetite for something like that - he was well aware of his weird habits - but maybe Agni was hungry? With that in mind, he reached out one of the branches with meat to the canine out of politeness. Coda was already pecking some of the other meat that he was holding. “Being a guardian, one needs a lot of energy,” he stated, “Wouldn’t you agree..?”

Growlithe… now that he thought about it for a short moment, wasn’t Coda some kind of Rufflet when it came to species? He barely remembered fully, but hey, at the very least, he got to be confirmed that Agni was, indeed, a special creature that could use magic. Hyōen concluded that the canine must’ve been using some type of fire magic given by its high heat signature. Heat and fire weren’t far from each other, after all.

The Fire Mage couldn’t but sweat a little to her suggestion of having those two animals fight each other; he was well aware of Coda’s utilization of wind magic back in the day, but it had been so long since he trained her, and wind was relatively weaker against fire. It looked like a one-sided battle for him… he quickly replied: “Ahahahah… I’m sure they’d both enjoy it.” His insecure voice combined with the sweat that trickled clearly told more than that.

Agni was pretty happy for the meat as it assaulted it, ripping the spike from Hyōen’s hand as the canine jawed into the flesh. As Esperia noted that she had eaten already, he continued to rip pieces of meat into his mouth himself, satisfying his thirst for protein. “*munch*… wait, you said earlier that you didn’t use your magic for some reasons… *munch* I wonder what kind of magic that you even possess…”

Hmh… she sounded a bit insecure about her magic. He could conclude that it was some kind of Light Magic as she stated herself, but the way that she said it… it felt as if there was something specifically unique about her case of arcane utility. He continued to listen to her explanation as she compared her case with the example of Ice Magic with the property of burn, and Fire Magic with the property of freeze. So her magic was Light Magic, but… perhaps the property of its counterpart, darkness? That would be weirder than his own, harmless fire spells, and it surely caught his interest as his eyes widened a little in amaze.

Her physical example was later shown as a ball of mana was formed on her palm, but instead of emitting light that would befit a Light Magic very, very well, it pulsed with black colors and a cold feeling. It didn’t even look like Light Magic at all, due to its totally black theme and appearance. She called it Akudō Hikari Mahō, or Tainted Light Magic. At first, he was surprised that she called it ‘Light Magic’ at all due to its obvious, dark spectrum, but later when she mentioned her family and their strong ties to religion, he kind of understood what situation that she was in. Imagine being in a holy family and possess something contradicting to their holy theme, that was what he had in mind. “… I guess that they don’t take Dark Magic very lightly,” he commented with a short sigh, “I guess that it’s been a pain to keep it hidden… but… hey, it makes you one of a kind, right? Like, in a good way, I mean.” Coda had begun to nuzzle his hair a little with her beak in boredom, not paying much attention to magic in general…

Huh… Hyōen was briefly reminded that not all adventurers out there were practitioners of magic like himself, for instance. It was concluded that Esperia fit that category as she did have Agni with him - and the Fire Mage was confident that the canine would have been a big help for her throughout her time - but she didn’t have much experience with her own magic. Then again, having got the story about her family, their almost denying attitude towards her magic and her reasons to cover it, it couldn’t be helped immediately, could it? “Well, I’m certain that you don’t have to worry at all. You do have Agni with you, and she’ll take good care of you; isn’t that right, buddy?” he stated, looking down at the adorable Growlithe with a playful look on his face.

The dog was very thankful for the meal that he offered it… and it was then that the noble girl asked him if he was some kind of hunter. That was, indeed, the case; he hunted down his own daily bread and everything, and that was how he was raised. With a nod, he replied proudly: “Correct! Ain’t a lot of things out there that I can’t hunt down..!” He would rapidly stick both hands into his jacket’s pockets, seemingly searching for something to show her. When he pulled them up again, lots of crafted items such as flint daggers, beads made of string and marble, tools made of bone and branches as well as other fancy stuff. “I’ve been hunting for as long as I’ve been breathing, naturally,” he elaborated whilst holding the items up for her to see, “And it’s essential to gain use of everything at your disposal! Take a look..!”

”True. I live in the wilderness, eat there, sleep there, hunt there and everything else that I can make up in daily life..!” he continued. Yeah, Worth Woodsea was his home, a large scape of forest and shrubbery for biome and hills and valleys and all that stuff. Ever since he was born there, he had learned all that he could about the trees, the roads, the animals and the weathers that occurred around. It was critical for him to choose the right decisions when he would later live on his own as a hunter. He wasn’t sure if Esperia could relate any of that to herself given her very noble appearance, but… looks could deceive.

“You got to be ready for anything… I bet Agni already is,” he spoke with a grin on his face. It was, though, still a bit worrying to hear about her sheltered life and how… well, how safe that she had lived compared to him. Thinking about that, a brilliant idea enveloped his mind as he put it out in words: “… Hey! You could learn a few tricks to put up your sleeve for next time! Who knows when it’ll be necessary to knit a rope or survive on raw material..!”

Her voice indicated something… she was doubting a little about her capability of being a good student in this kind of subject. However, Hyōen didn’t want to force too much on her, and he gave her a few seconds to think it through whilst his hands had put the items back in his pockets again. As he messed around in them, he began thinking of what he could offer to learn this beautiful lady, but… it kind of made him pause a little. What would his mother learn first… that was his first thought after her words had reached him. He couldn’t but think of what his mother would do, because she was the greatest source of inspiration to him. His books, his small studies, his experience, none of that could compare in the end…

“W-Well… say, what if you found this astonishing gem that rivalled the radiance of the sun-“ he began exemplifying, “and you wanted to make it into a necklace?” He slowly moved a hand under his own necklace, a silver one with a feathery tear in the middle that looked more like a miniature wing than a whole-bodied bird, and took it off as he held it up in front of Esperia, feeling the rays of the faint sun above shining on it. “Or what if you got bored and wanted to play with your creativity?” he elaborated, “I mean… I don’t know about your way of living, but I’m sure that you’re missing a lot if you can’t even knit. Hehehe…” Yes, the coal-haired boy even knew how to knit leather and string clothes; his mum really put him through all kinds of work back then.

“Sometimes, creativity can help you out of life-threatening situations… so it’s about honing it, just like you’re honing Agni’s obedience to you,” he explained, “To be honest… it would be way more efficient if you had the same kind of lifestyle as me. But I’m just a foreigner…”

Books… Hyōen was fairly familiar with them, having read at the very least a couple dozens during his lifetime, but for him, learning came naturally. Although, he did expect a different way of thinking and acting from a person with a different lifestyle - like her - so it still connected to his earlier thesis. It appeared that Agni thought more like him, too, given by the canine’s wildish instincts… did he just compare himself to a Growlithe? Was he that primal? Coda would begin pecking his head furiously as if she could read his mind, but he didn’t mind much as he looked back at Esperia. Her face had changed… she looked more eager to try it out now than earlier. That couldn’t but bring up a smile on himself…

“Something simple… I guess that I could show you a few skills,” he replied, quickly pointing towards a nearby bush in the distance, “You see that bush over there? Pretend that it’s an aurochs for a moment…” He would then begin approaching it with rapid but very soft steps, almost as if he was sprinting on his toes. Combined with the grass beneath his feet, it sounded like a squirrel crawling about. “A snapped twig is quickly forgotten by us hunters… but long remembered by the prey,” he mentioned to Esperia, “Just a quick tip to have in the back of your head.” He would find himself freezing as soon as he suddenly stepped on what felt like a flat rock, causing a louder noise to emerge. “Often, deer or wild cattle will think that it’s just a mouse walking around, and that’s when you have the first hand on the game. I have three of these small steps in everyday hunting, but… let me see your sneaking.”

Esperia looked as if she had the basics alright when it came to the sneaking. Her posture and body movements matched those of his own, and it was a fascinating start. The speed was a bit off, though, but he barely gave that any thoughts as he was aware that things wouldn’t go smoothly the first time. Looking at her, he gave an amazed smile that clearly showed that he was confident in her capabilities. He quickly nodded as she wished to be confirmed of her completion of the requirements, and it turned out later that she had a good reason to do so easy with the way that she sneaked; having one’s toes up in such a fashion, even with different types of shoes, would take a bit of time to adapt to.

“Huh… you got a good grip of the basics,” he stated, “I guess that I can move on to the next step. It's a small step that's mostly words to remember, but nonetheless is it a step, okay... Now, this pays off the most when the target is plural, so… I’d like you to sneak around the bush, and let Agni sneak around it as well in the opposite direction.” He pointed with his fingers how he imagined his objective as they formed a circle in front of him. “I’ll tell you the reason later,” he continued with an assured look on his face.

Watching her gesture the canine to do her bidding for this moment, Hyōen got several flashbacks to the times where he was training Coda here. The bird was a hard nut to weld, but they had a special bond from day one, and he knew that she was meant to follow him for the rest of his life. He held up a finger to stroke her soft forehead with as Esperia appeared to have caught what he meant, even though that he insisted to tell her the purpose later. She really did have some background experience, after all. Having watched her chop the bush as if it was a real animal, she was fairly well with sneaking up to the prey. Now, now, deers weren’t the only types of prey; from other birds to aurochs to what other wonders that Worth Wodsea had in store for him, he hunted them all down.

“Oh, you’re really getting used to it..!” he commented proudly, having heard her assumption of what he was trying to learn her, which was, basically, on point, “Yes, that’s right; out in the wild, preys often rely on their ears in the deep shrubbery, so if they hear multiple sounds around them, then there is a good moment where they will be too confused to act on their instincts. That’s when you strike..!” The next thing that she told was that she did have some type of training, even if not directly related with hunting, and combat wasn’t totally foreign for her. That was good as well, because then she might’ve had the capabilities to execute the last step.

“If you do know a little combat, then you’ll surely find usage in this last step; the striking part. The moment where time stands still for many hunters, a moment that you can never miss,” he continued, while he approached the bush. Lifting up his right hand, he wouldn’t hesitate in dashing his two fingers into the vegetation, mimicking how to stab it down using a weapon or another type of execution. His movement, though, was in an arc and not static, and when his two fingers drilled into the bush, then he rapidly bent them. “This, however, is more up to you how to kill the prey. I prefer using handmade axes and my magic…”

Then again… she just explained to him about her condition with magic, didn’t she? He had a thought in the back of his head that she wouldn’t use her magic in a combative or offensive way just yet, or maybe never. That was, until she appeared to have gotten an idea, and he could see it in her enlightened face and in Agni’s excitement. When she finally spoke about this idea of hers, he brightened up just as well. “Ah… that’s right!!!” he burst out shockingly, “A weapon! That’s genius; without magic, you could always get used to wielding an axe or a dagger! Agni can’t have all the fun for himself, am I right?” He even grinned excitingly, but truth be told, he didn’t know if she really preferred a weapon herself. Also, what type of weapon, exactly? He used axes the most, but he yearned for something different… that reminded him of when he saw that bow in the weapon store back at Crocus. Damn, if he had his hands on such a splendid piece of equipment…

She sounded grateful for the lesson, and it made him chuckle a little. “No issues… to be honest, it’s the first time that I’ve taught anyone,” he replied to her with a laugh that followed afterwards, “I often feel as if I’m the one who needs to learn, you got me?” He hadn’t even realized it, but a fair amount of time had passed him, and the sun was about to set. The light that crossed the particles towards his eyes… it reminded him of something that he wanted to ask earlier. “Say… your family,” he calmly spoke to her again, “Are they that famous? I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard of them… but I’m the one to blame, either way. I’m cut off from the world at most…”