Kael woke to warm weight on his chest and the smell of ash. He cracked one eye open to find Ember curled up on his sternum like a tiny, glowing cat, her body temperature pleasantly warm rather than burning thanks to his new fire resistance. Vera was stretched out beside him, one massive paw draped protectively over his legs.
"Morning, team," he said softly, and both mythbeasts stirred. Ember yawned—an adorable sight—while Vera's crystalline patterns pulsed brighter as she came fully awake.
The cave entrance showed grey pre-dawn light filtering through the forest. Kael's body felt remarkably good—Divine Restoration had taken care of his injuries during the night once the cooldown expired, leaving him refreshed and whole. He stretched experimentally, feeling no lingering pain from the fight yesterday evening.
"Alright," he said, sitting up carefully so as not to dislodge Ember. "Before we do anything else, I need to check something."
He focused on his interface, pulling up Ember's information. If the system had given him an optimal growth path for Vera, it should have one for Ember, too. Sure enough, text scrolled across his vision.
[Optimal Growth Path: Fire type - "Ember"]
Aerial Agility:
Flight endurance training: Fly at maximum speed without stopping
Duration: 5 minutes per session, 5 sessions daily
Focus on maintaining speed through obstacles and directional changes
Rest 30 minutes between sessions
Flame Control:
Compression exercise: Create a fireball and compress it to the smallest possible size
Duration: 10 minutes per session, 3 sessions daily
Hold compression without allowing explosion
Goal: Increase maximum temperature through controlled density
Advanced: Multi-point compression (multiple simultaneous fireballs)
Elemental Resonance:
Practice flame intensity modulation (low/medium/high heat)
Coordinate with the tamer's abilities for combination techniques
Develop sustained burn vs. explosive burst applications
Kael grinned. "This is perfect. Ember, come look at this."
The tiny fairy floated up to eye level, tilting her head curiously. Through their bond, Kael felt her eagerness to understand, to improve, to be useful.
"Your training is going to focus on two main things," he explained, gesturing as he spoke. "First, flying. You need to build up your speed and endurance. Five times a day, I want you to fly as fast as you can for five minutes straight without stopping. We'll find obstacles for you to weave through, work on your agility."
Ember bobbed enthusiastically, her wings already flickering with anticipation.
"Second, and this is the tricky part—flame compression. You're going to create a fireball and then compress it down as small as you can without letting it explode. The smaller and denser you can make it, the hotter it'll burn. Ten minutes, three times a day."
He demonstrated with his own newly acquired flame manipulation, creating a small flame in his palm. It was pathetic compared to what Ember could do—barely a candle flame—but he focused on trying to compress it anyway. The flame guttered and nearly went out before he managed to condense it slightly.
"Yeah, I need practice too," he admitted. "But that's what we're doing today. All of us are training together."
Vera rumbled her approval, and through their bonds, Kael felt both mythbeasts' determination. They understood the stakes now. The Gorethon had been a wake-up call—this world was dangerous, and they needed to be ready for whatever came next.
They ate a quick breakfast of leftover meat from the night before, then ventured out of the cave into the cool morning air. The forest was alive with sounds—bird calls, rustling leaves, the distant sound of running water. It was beautiful and wild and completely untamed.
"First things first," Kael said. "We need to figure out which direction to go. Vera, Ember—either of you have any sense of where we might find people?"
Vera's response came through their bond—not words, but impressions. North. Occasionally, she'd sensed humans traveling from the north during her time in this forest. Rare, but present.
Ember chimed in agreement, her own memories suggesting the same direction.
"North it is," Kael decided. "But we're not rushing. We train while we travel."
He started them on an immediate routine. Vera found a large fallen log—easily three hundred pounds—and focused her psychic energy on it. The log trembled, then slowly lifted off the ground, hovering unsteadily in the air. Sweat beaded on her fur from the effort, but she held it for nearly thirty seconds before setting it down carefully.
"Good!" Kael encouraged. "Again, but this time try to hold it steady. Control is just as important as raw strength."
While Vera practiced, Ember launched herself into the air, her small form becoming a streak of orange and gold as she flew between trees at impressive speed. She wove through branches, banked around trunks, pushed herself faster and faster until she was almost a blur.
Kael, meanwhile, worked on his own abilities. He lifted stones with his telekinesis—his control had improved dramatically, and he could now manage five or six rocks at once with reasonable precision. But he wanted to try something new, something the system had hinted at.
He grabbed a fallen branch with his mind, lifting it into the air. Then, focusing on his flame manipulation, he tried to ignite it. The fire appeared on his palm first—he couldn't quite project it yet—so he brought the branch down to touch his hand.
The wood smoldered weakly before catching. Kael grinned, then tried something more ambitious. He lifted another branch telekinetically while still holding flames in his free hand, then brought the two together.
The fire jumped to the wood. It was weak, barely more than embers, but it worked. He was combining his abilities.
"Yes!" he hissed triumphantly, and immediately tried again with better results.
They moved north through the forest, maintaining their training as they traveled. Every hour, they'd stop for more intensive sessions. Vera would practice her psychic lifting, her explosive sprints with telekinetically-applied weight pressing against her body. Ember would compress flames between her tiny hands, the fireballs growing smaller and brighter as she fought to contain them. Once, one exploded prematurely, and Kael's fire resistance was the only thing that saved him from singed eyebrows.
Kael practiced constantly—telekinesis, flame manipulation, and increasingly, the combination of both. He found he could superheat stones by holding them telekinetically while pouring fire into them. Not useful yet, but potentially devastating once he gets stronger.
They encountered other creatures as they traveled. Small mythbeasts—things that looked like oversized rabbits with crystal horns, bird-like creatures with scales instead of feathers, something that might have been a fox but with too many tails. Each time, the creatures would approach cautiously, then catch sight of Kael juggling flaming objects with his mind while Ember practiced compressing white-hot fireballs nearby.
The creatures invariably fled.
"I think we might be giving off 'dangerous pyromaniac' vibes," Kael noted after the third such encounter. Vera's amusement rippled through their bond, while Ember seemed entirely too pleased with herself.
By midday, they'd covered several miles, and Kael could feel the improvement in all of them. Vera's telekinetic lifts were stronger, more stable. Ember's flight had become noticeably faster and more agile. And Kael himself could now reliably light objects on fire from a telekinetic grip, though the flames were still weak.
His compression attempts were less successful—he could barely create a fireball the size of a marble, let alone compress it further—but every failure taught him something. Control was harder than raw power, requiring a delicate touch he hadn't developed yet.
They were taking a break near a small stream, Kael refilling a makeshift water container he'd fashioned from large leaves, when Ember suddenly went rigid in the air. Through their bond, he felt alarm spike through her consciousness.
Vera's head snapped up at the same moment, her ears swiveling toward the north.
Then Kael heard it—distant but unmistakable. The sounds of combat. Grunts of effort, the meaty thud of impacts, a roar that definitely came from a mythbeast, and underneath it all, human voices shouting.
"People," Kael breathed, his heart rate accelerating. "Actual people. Finally."
But the sounds suggested they were in trouble. The combat was intense, desperate even.
Through their bond, Vera sent a question: approach or avoid?
Kael considered. These were the first humans they'd encountered in this world. He needed information, needed to understand how society worked here, how beast tamers operated. But stumbling into an active combat situation could be suicide, especially if he accidentally made himself a target.
"We approach," he decided, "but stealthily. We figure out what's happening before we reveal ourselves. Ember, can you scout ahead? You're small and fast enough that they probably won't notice you."
Ember chimed affirmatively and streaked forward, her small form darting between trees. Through their bond, Kael could feel her perspective—the forest blurring past, the sounds growing louder, closer.
He and Vera followed more carefully, using the undergrowth for cover. Vera moved with predatory silence despite her size, and Kael found himself impressed by how well she could blend into the shadows when she wanted to.
The sounds of battle grew louder. He could make out individual voices now—at least two, maybe three, all shouting in a language he somehow understood despite never having heard it before. The god's remnant must have granted him that gift along with everything else.
"—left flank, watch the—"
"I can't, mine's—"
"Just hold on, we're almost—"
A roar cut off the rest, followed by a thunderous impact that shook the ground beneath Kael's feet. Something massive was ahead, something powerful enough to make the earth tremble.
The sounds of battle intensified with every step. Grunts of effort, the meaty thud of impacts, roars that definitely came from mythbeasts, and underneath it all, voices shouting. The clash of combat, primal and desperate.
Kael's interface flickered.
[Multiple Mythbeasts Detected Ahead]
[Combat in Progress]
[Warning: Approach with extreme caution]
Another roar echoed through the forest. Metal rang against something hard. Fire whooshed through the air, followed by impacts that shook the trees.
Vera pressed against his side, her body coiled with tension. Through their bond, he felt her readiness—whatever lay ahead, they would face it together.
Kael crept closer, heart pounding, using the undergrowth for cover. The sounds were just ahead now, maybe fifty feet through the thick foliage. So close. So close to finally understanding what kind of battle raged in this forest.
Through Ember's bond, he felt her darting between trees, getting closer, about to see—
Time to find out what they'd stumbled into.