I told Mex and Nushi to head back to the Keep and let everyone know what was happening. Before they left, I asked Hydie if I could talk to her.
I wanted to pick her brain about Beeno and see what I could do to make her more comfortable. Clearly, she was very stressed out, and I don't think she understood what was going on.
"Yes?" Hydie asked after she joined me in the back storage area I had used to enter Dao's tent.
"I wanted to ask you about Beeno. She seems distressed," I said to Hydie, but she rolled her eyes to my surprise.
Not the expression that I assumed I would get, and then Hydie took in a deep breath. After letting it out in a long sigh, Hydie shook her head and then looked back at me with a grin.
"Nushi told her about all of us and our relationships with you. Now she thinks that she is going to be standing in a long line. The girl just wants to be able to spend time with you, and I get it, so I think you could maybe do some stuff with h
Before leaving, I went through a couple of the boxes until I found something to put on. The shorts I found were red and had some bloodstains, but it gave them a textured look, and I really didn't care what they looked like.I left the storage area and backed out into the central tent area, but the place was deserted. I looked around, and I didn't see Beeno at first, so I closed my eyes.I immediately felt her and opened my eyes to look in the direction that I had sensed her. The raised hexagonal dais that was surrounded by stairs blocked my view, so I walked forward.I looked around as I did, the place looked much different and empty, but most of the arenas did. Without the people and the energy that came with them, the place was just a tent.Beeno was squatted at the end of the stairs, and she was using one of her long fingers to draw in the dirt. As I got closer, I was surprised at what I saw in the dirt.She drew a picture of me fighting with on
I smiled, but I also activated my Fire Aspect, and fire slowly covered my body, but it didn't cause Beeno to pull back from my chest.I grinned down at her and lifted into the air slowly, not wanting to set everything below me on fire. Once I was about fifty feet in the air, I turned on the heat, rocketing forward to my destination on the map.Now that Hero was back in my head, I no longer had to rely on doing everything myself. I knew that Hero helped me out a lot, but having him gone made me realize just how much I relied on him.[It's about time that you noticed, but I am just glad that you were all able to make it back safely.]*Wataluga: You were talking about the table?*I didn't have far to go, so I relayed about Arthur Pendragon and his Knight, and it was well-received by both Elementals. Of course, I didn't really explain that much; Hero had to explain most of it because reading wasn't really my thing.*Fireden: I like the sound of
Fireden was right, and I didn't want to waste too much time with this. I still had the demons that were still gathering to deal with, and I wanted to get home to see my girls."Okay, let's go check it out; I am not sure if we will even find anything. I had just found it very suspicious that the Gnolls didn't try to attack me when I found them all heading down here. If I had had more time, I would have checked it out then, but it is probably better now that we are all together," I explained to everyone and then waved Fireden ahead.I let the others go ahead and offered Beeno a hand, but she only looked at me strangely. I resisted an eye roll and reached down, taking Beeno's thin hands in mine."Are you sure you want to hold my hands?" Beeno asked me shyly, and I looked down at the hands that were in mine.They were thin, long fingers and a bit rough, but there was nothing wrong with them."Yeah, let's get going. Who said your drawings were stupid or
[I know that you don't want to push her, but maybe it is something that was done to her, and she is scared to talk about it.]'I don't really think that this is the case here. I think I might have been something along the lines of someone important to Beeno disapproved, and she crushed it down. It happens all the time with kids and young adults.'People at young ages were always more impressionable. The disapproval of someone they looked up to could easily cause them to stop doing something they loved.Sometimes it was attraction, the need for friendship, attention, or getting to a place you wanted to be. Some would do anything in order to impress others, and with gangs and other groups that would be sometimes pushed to the limits.I let go of Beeno's hand and turned from her, and started to talk casually, "I feel like these passions people have could be the things that help if that is what was taught from a young age. Passions are important, and if peopl
Lights streamed around me, and I fell onto soft ground, but the lights were still spinning around me. They were starting to clear, and I could see a massive Gnoll in front of me sitting on a throne made of weapons of all sorts.The rest was space; we were on a single island floating section of land that floated in the vast void. The colors were starting to slow down now, so I waited to see what the massive King of the Gnolls was going to do or say.His face was long like a hyena, but his body was covered in muscle and iron jewelry. He had no weapon, but the claws on his gigantic hand and the steel cord muscle on his arm said he really didn't need them."So, you are the big shot that is making waves out there? Everyone came back and said some scary guy was here now! I guess they weren't wrong, but you are so strong to be on this island. What brings you to the island?" The Giant Gnoll asked."I stepped into a Challenger Gem and got extra training, but I onl
"Don't be mad just cause you know that I am going to outshine you one day!" I called over to Fireden as I walked back to the group."Seems like everything must have gone very well, but I expected you to come out with a partner," Wataluga said as I came over.He was looking bright, and I nodded, then said, "Yes, but he is looking for a certain type, more brainy than brawn. He has a very long list to comb through, but I told him not to rush it; hehe, not like I don't have enough people to worry about at the moment!""True enough, but let's get going; everyone has gathered at the center of the island," Grogvel said, and I nodded and recalled the elements into my body.This type of thing was getting more like second nature to me now. I was becoming far more comfortable using my ability, and it was starting to help build my confidence.One thing that I needed to work on was my temper. I was getting overly frustrated and sometimes rude to people I had ju
Once I was outside with Beeno, I picked up the pace and started to glide across the terrain. It was a lot different traveling across the island now.It felt more like a casual stroll rather than traveling across an island filled with dangerous monsters.[That’s because you are the most dangerous monster on the island right now. I honestly question if the monsters could even rampage now with just how strong that you have become. If you spent a week meditating, you could fill up your energy reserves. everything on the island would be eating out of the palm of your hand.]‘Not really what we want, but my presence should help keep the other monsters on the ocean at bay. I am curious to see what the Demons want to do.’[Do you think that they will want to come with you?]‘Not very likely. From the sounds of it, Doa was told to leave and never come back. I would guess that it was meant for everyone with him, so I can’t see t
I smiled at Jilly and looked around at everyone else gathered in the center of the canyon. I could even see people up high up on the cliffs, but I wanted to lift us up so everyone could see.I pulled at the stone around me and forced us all up into the air on a thirty-foot-wide stone platform. I lifted it up about ten feet in the air, and then I moved directly into the center of it, lifting a three-foot section up another five feet.This placed me above everyone's head and in view of the ocean of blue Demons and the three rivers that poured into it. I could see the path leading to the northwest had more creatures that must be the Orcs.Hard to say what they looked like other than hairless monkey-pig-men. Some did look like women, but I don't even think my system could do enough work on those ones![Maybe you could get Hydie to do a post-evolution touch-up?]'Or maybe I don't have to screw everything that moves!'[Really? I was under the impr