After waking up the next day, Teiko went to show off her new bag. Even though it looked like a rat, the material was strong and felt good. No matter what was stored in it, she never felt the weight. The two had been so excited last night, they almost couldn’t go to bed. But Melakios was really exhausted, so they called it a night.

So far, Teiko had put so much stuff into her bag, her own room would have fit. How much was this able to hold?!

Takumi decided to send a message to the Main Clan as a report. He was just going to gloat, but he didn’t realize what he had actually done until later.

Melakios was still asleep when lunch came around. Teiko wanted to talk with him, so she decided to wake him up. She was also a little ticked seeing his happy face as he cuddled next to the gigantic Gryphon.

So she decided to prank him.

She pulled out a strange looking stick with a single feather on it. She used it to slowly tickle his nose. Watching him toss and turn and swipe at the feather in his sleep made Teiko giggle. It was like playing with a little puppy.

But soon his face began to contort as he looked like he was having a nightmare. She felt a little bad, but it was his fault for staying asleep for so long. She was about to walk away and leave him alone, when he started to thrash around, even waking Clair up.

Clair began to freak out for some reason, flapping her wings and squawking really loud. But still, Melakios didn’t wake up. Teiko began to grab him by the shoulders as she tried to wake him up. All she could think of was that this was her fault. She began to have tears trickling down her face as she tried and tried to wake the boy up. She was scared and didn’t know what to do.

What she didn’t know was that the extraneous activity Melakios had done last night was pretty much giving him muscle spasms. His Seed was fluctuating from performing like before for the first time. Some attendants walked in and also started to freak out, bringing in buckets of water and medicine. They ended up bringing Takumi who called for a doctor.

The doctor arrived shortly after, but soon left saying he couldn’t tell what was wrong. Suddenly, a thunderous boom shook the mountain. Everyone was startled. Soon, a large elderly Tengu walked in and took one look at Melakios and laughed.

“Hahaha! Feeling it today, aren’t you, boy?”

“Grandpa!”

“Father!”

“”””””Master!””””””

Yes, it was Shouta, the Leader of the Tengu. He approached Melakios’ sleeping body and gave his forehead a flick, startling all the people in the room.

Alkelios had felt the tremor during his 172nd run-through of his normal routine. He rushed to the site to see a large man ‘attacking’ Melakios.

“Why you! Get away from him! Don’t touch my son!”

Everyone in the room stared wide eyed at the Wandering Sprit, as it held a spear and shield threateningly at the Clan Head.

Shouta just looked over and laughed even more.

“Hahaha! I can see where the boy gets his recklessness from! Don’t worry, I’m just waking him up.”

Alkelios looked around and noticed all the maids and staff surrounding the man. They were trying to help him. Feeling relief, and little embarrassed, Alkelios slumped down to the ground.

It didn’t take long for Melakios to awaken. While he was asleep, he was having a dream where he was attacked by some sort of tickle bird when it suddenly switched to the Seed as it resounded throughout his body. It was like a bell, with the vibrations wreaking havoc inside of him.

He opened his eyes to see Clair, Alkelios, Takumi, Teiko, and some old man he had never seen before.

Clair and Alkelios were happy and relieved, Takumi looked a little nervous, glancing at the old man now and then, and Teiko was actually tearing up again and started sniffling, but the old man was staring at Melakios with his eyes gleaming.

“Good day, boy! I’ve heard a lot about you!”

At this, the old many glanced at Takumi who began to shrink away.

“I am Shouta, Leader of the Tengu Clan, Father of Takumi, here, and Grandfather to Teiko. Nice to finally meet you!”

“mhm Likewise. Sorry about not getting up, I’m kind of tired.”

“That’s for sure! You had a rebound! You weren’t used to such an action. Looks like I’ll have to teach you personally.”

Everyone in the room gasped and looked shocked. Why would the Clan Head do such a thing for a human, even if he had an amazing ability?!

Melakios knew enough by now when someone wanted something. He thought of the many different reasons why this large man wanted his abilities. He could sense that Shouta was far stronger than Valafar, probably someone from the Ruler Stage. Probably at the Prince Level. But if the Tengu were also Soul Masons, that meant Shouta would definitely have some Soul Items on him, increasing his danger level.

But there was something different. The man before him felt strange. Instead of his soul acting like a flame, it acted like armor, cloaking his body in an incandescent light. Melakios was bewildered as he followed the flow of the soul around the man’s body. How did he do that?

“Admiring my body, eh boy? Hahahaha!”

“Sorry, sir. It’s just that your soul looks funny. Why does it move around in such a way?”

“Hehe, because I made it do that.”

“You can control souls, too?!”

“No, I just trained really hard. I use a martial art that changes the flow of the soul. I can teach you my methods, if you want.”

Coming back to the suspicious feeling, Melakios cautiously asked,

“What do you want?”

“Hahaha! I see you understand! Some would question why would I want to tell you, a human, of my great abilities? It’s obviously because I want something from you!”

The old man kept dancing around the answer.

“What is it?”

Melakios was getting a little angry. Seeing that, the Shouta decided to answer.

“I want you to marry my granddaughter!”

What…