Nix stepped onto the riverbank of a densely forested area. The clear water of the brook flowed gently, immediately Fajii stepped toward it.

Nix grabbed her elbow gently. "It looks harmless enough, but remember to check your surroundings before relaxing."

Fajii bent closer and watched the clear water flowing; after a minute she spotted the nearly invisible silverfish that darted back at forth under the surface. There were hundreds of them, coordinating their movements by instinct. Her hand flashed and a moment later she held one of the fish up to the light. It was only the length of her hand and quite narrow, it had both upper and lower teeth meant for the tearing and rending of flesh. "I've never seen anything like this."

Nix took a closer look, its teeth looked suspiciously like those of a pirana. If his Aquarion partner didn't know what it was, then it was likely native to Shangri. "Me neither, let's avoid the water if we can."

[Flaming Rock Wall]

Fajii has placed a protective barrier of rock and fire around you.

[Scorched Earth Shield]

Fajii has given you a Scorched Earth Shield

"Thanks, Fajii." Nix smiled at the weaponless Aquarion. "What kinds of weapons can you use?"

Fajii shook her head, "I haven't used any combat weapons. Unless you count spearfishing, I did bring a spear."

"First Tier Defenders don't have a heal, so basically you are a buffing class that is equipped with a BR." (Battle Rez) Nix glanced at his health bar, it was substantially longer than it was before the buffs. "Are the multipliers fixed on the target's original health points? Or does it use the buffed hitpoints?"

"It uses buffed health as the multiplier."

******************

[Example: For information Only]

Target's unbuffed HP is 1000. Rock wall adds protection up to that amount. It does this by increasing your HP to 2000. Earth Shield adds protection up to twice your current HP. If Target is buffed with Rockwall, then adding Earth Shield multiplies that number by two. (2000HP x 2 = 4000HP) Since the buffs stack, the resulting HP should be 4 times higher than the initial. This is the reason why Tier 1 Defenders don't have a heal.

******************

"A small heal would be nice, maybe that's included in Tier 2." Nix took a moment to examine their surroundings, while Fajii rummaged through her bag. "We should do some scouting."

[Summon: Ducky]

The Siren appeared before them an instant later.

"I need to talk with you Ducky."

[Appear Human]

Ducky shimmered and took on a near-human form. "Yes, Nix?"

"We are looking for Spirit Companions. Could you do some scouting?"

Ducky nodded, "What type?"

Nix scratched his cheek, not sure what she meant. "Type? Like Water or Fire?"

Ducky shook her head. "Control type like me, or flying type like Fey."

"Oh I see, something sturdy like Soup but not a sea creature."

Fajii listened to the Siren speak and then made her own request. "I would like either a flying type or one that heals."

Ducky disappeared a moment later.

Nix was smiling at Fajii, "You want to fly? I can get you a manta."

Fajii wrinkled her nose in disgust, "they smell funny." She handed him two small bottles from her pack.

Golden Elixir: Potion

Description: Heals half of your

health immediately.

Nix held them up, the liquid inside looked like honey. "Guess you don't need heals if you can make these."

"Those are really expensive and difficult to make. I only made those two for research." She equipped her spear, "may I ask you a question Nix?"

"Sure, let's head north along the river bank. I want to explore a bit until Ducky gets back." He equipped the spellsword hilt and focused his emerald flame into it, a moment later the cackling blade sprung to life.

Fajii followed along, fascinated by the flame blade. "Why are you so strong Nix? I don't mean the flames, your physical strength seems impossible for humans."

Nix glanced sideways, "I'll tell you the story. If you let me buy you a pair of earrings." With her pointed ears, the temptation to adorn them with shiny things was overwhelming. Aquarions never wore anything on their ears.

"Hmmm, I shall consider it. Tell me the story first."

He laughed at her expression. "Fine. I assume you have criminals in your world?"

Fajii nodded, "Normally if someone does bad things, they are sent away or in some cases beaten badly or killed."

"I was an arsonist on my world. I destroyed many valuable properties and in the process killed a number of people."

Fajii didn't say anything, she understood there was more.

"I was a fugitive for a long time when I was finally caught and sent to trial I ended up being sent to this world to work for a very powerful organization as a crafter." Nix felt it was okay to only touch on the highlights.

"And the strength?"

Nix shrugged, "I was supposed to spend my life as a Tailor at the Gladis Hub in Tunis. We were all given special enhancements that are unavailable to others. I didn't realize this until I escaped the Hub and started down a fighting path. I'm a mistake that wasn't supposed to happen. The people who paid for my enhancements have since decided I'm not worth the trouble of recovering."

They walked in silence for a few minutes, as they headed north the forest grew thicker and the river wider.

"Why did you do those things Nix?" She stopped and grabbed his arm, her face showing curiosity, not judgment.

"My parents owned their own Tailor shop. In all honesty, it's something I never aspired to, nor did I have any real talent for it. We had a nice life in a small town. I was attending school out of state when people in our town started getting really sick."

"Why were they getting sick?"

"A large corporation built a factory near our town about two years before I left. They were dumping waste directly into the river. Later on, we discovered that they buried toxic materials in landfills without proper containers."

"It started slow? The illness?"

Nix nodded, "the first case was actually my younger sister Lisa. Hers was the most severe, she died four months after she started feeling bad."

"And your parents?"

"By the time my mom was sick, there were already a dozen cases in town. The factory was forced to shut down so they could correct the pollution problem. They hid the buried toxins from everyone. That didn't come out until my trial."

Fajii listened quietly, "and your mother?"

"She was sick for a long time. I guess she got tired of it because one day she killed herself, no note or anything." Nix had long since locked only the good memories of her. She loved to bake him cookies, and always called him sweet Nicky.

"And this started you on the path of fire?"

Nix nodded, "my dad moved out west to live with my older sister. They never spoke or contacted me again."

Fajii raised a hand, the smallest amount of power radiated from it.

[Charred Rock Blade]

Your weapon has been modified to do Scorched Earth damage. One poison counter is added to each successful attack.

"You loved your family Nix."

Nix nodded with a small smile. "Still do, even the ones who aren't alive. That doesn't change the fact that I did many bad things."

"Bad things to bad people."

"Not all of them were bad. I was dealing out vengeance, not justice. There were innocents who were caught up in the crossfire." Nix frowned at the memory, "in the end I was no different than the ones who killed my sister."

"And now?"

"I've been lucky. Somehow I managed to let go of my anger and retain the good memories of my loved ones. There's a certain freedom with that, I probably don't deserve it."

Fajii laughed at his expression, 'Is that why you do whatever you like?"

"Who says I do whatever I like?" Nix opened his hud and brought up the map.

Fajii's smile widened, her hand gripped the spear tighter. Her hand flashed forward thrusting the spear towards his chest.

Nix caught the movement from the corner of his eye and managed to lean to one side, the spear impaled his shoulder, the point punching through the other side. "F*CK!"

Fajii's expression turned cruel as she jerked back on the handle, before she could tear it from his shoulder he clamped both hands on it.

[Charm}

Ducky has charmed Fajii.