Enri had always been a confident girl. Whenever someone would ask anything of her, she would up her nose and answer without a hiccup. However, all that changed when the person in front asked her question.

“Um, Miss Enri, where do I sit.” Asked Koren of the red-faced Enri.

Kaph, Enri’s big brother, was seated in the corner, laughing his ass off. He noticed the little boss turn red every time she saw Koren, and made sure to tell Koren that she was in charge of the seating arrangement during dinner.

“Um, y..you can sit with my stupid adda (Brother).” said Enri, almost blowing steam from her ears.

Koren, who was a little thick headed, simply thanked Enri and walked toward kaph who was cackling like a bird, and sat next to him.

After a few minutes the little boss came and sat down apposite to them, she kept looking over at Koren from time to time. Koren, who had already noticed the odd glare, wondered if he had any enmity with her.

In the desert, the whole family usually eats together, on a jute rug. As the three were seated, a sound came from the door as a young man walked in. This young man looked almost completely similar to Kaph. The same desert tan, the same height, and the same brownish hair. However, there was one difference. This young man was wider and looked to be stronger than kaph.

“Torp, this is Koren, he will be staying with us.” Said Kaph as his twin brother walked in.

Torp looked towards Koren, smiled and nodded. “Nice to meet you Koren, I’m Torp, the responsible one.” said Torp as he sat down on Kaph’s right.

“pufff, just because you are inheriting fathers blacksmithing, doesn’t make you the responsible one.” said Kaph who was seated on Koren’s right.

“Oh really, then what about you, you chose to become a potter just to get close to the girls, what’s your next profession, knitting.” Rebuffed Torp as he looked at kaph with a sly gaze.

Just as Kaph was about to snub Torp, Enri coughed. The earth under the two brothers moved just a tiny bit, enough to awaken a painful memory. They both straightened like well-trained warriors, and screamed from the top of their lungs “Yes Boss!!”.

“Stop arguing adda, I don’t like it, hmn” said Enri in her Pixie voice, but she was trying to sound less bossy.

Koren, who was looking at the sibling’s chemistry, felt a nudge from his right, and heard a whisper in his ear.

Koren looked towards Enri. “Um, Miss Enri, should I call you boss as well?” asked Koren as told by Kaph.

Enri, who had almost reached the boiling point due to her stupid adda’s bickering, blushed when Koren asked her that question. For some reason, every time Koren called her name, she felt happy.

“n..o..NO, just call me Enri. My name means brave, my Abba (Father) gave it to me.” Said Enri looking rather proud.

“OK, Enri.” Said Koren with a light smile. The brothers, Kaph and Torp, were both left slack jawed from the casual exchange between Koren and Enri.

“The beast seems so tame” whispered Kaph to his brother Torp.

“I know, it seems we have discovered her weakness” whispered Torp to his brother Kaph.

“Her fate is in our hands now. This boy will become our ultimate weapon against the Evil Pipsqueak, hehe haha” whispered Torp in unison with his brother Kaph, followed by an evil laugh.

“What are you boys planning now” said Lady Zena as she walked in with the food.

“Nothing, nothing, we were just wondering when father would be home.” Said Kaph quickly.

“Oh, here he comes now, dear, this is Koren, I’m sure you heard about him from Sappa” said Zena as she looked towards the man who had just walked in.

Tanru was Zena’s husband, as well as the village’s most skilled blacksmith, hence he was told the truth about the move to the border, as well as Koren’s tragic story. He was almost as huge as Sappa, but his arms muscles even put Sappa to shame. Blacksmithing requires tremendous strength and endurance, something Tanru had in abundance.

Tanru looked at his wife and nodded, before walking over and sitting next to her. “Koren, its an honour to meet you, my name is Tanru, I’m the village blacksmith.” said Tanru as he gave Koren a smile.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Uncle Tanru” said Koren with a light bow.

“Well since everyone is here, let us pray to our ancestor’s and, enjoy the meal together, as a family.” said Lady Zena with a smile.

Haruki was quietly resting on a giant Rafa pie, next to him was Sumi, her beautiful hands were holding a tray full of violet grapes, a luxury food from the Raavi Empire. Sumi smiled and put a handful of grapes in Haruki’s mouth.

“Ah Sumi, I love you, become my woman.” Said Haruki as he moved towards her for a kiss.

“Wake up Haruki, U..u rascal get up NOW!!” said Sumi in a Manly voice.

Haruki was awoken with a well-placed punch. His elder brother Sappa above him, fuming.

Haruki finally realized who he had tried to snog, he started to make hurling sounds, as if all the food from yesterday was going to come out.

“Get up, you will help the chief with training the new spiritualists.” Said Sappa as he wiped the wet kiss marks from his bald head with his shawl.

Haruki got up just as his brother left the tent. “Ahh, is this my fate, making out with that baldies head. No there must be more, I will not give up my pursuit of the ‘Ladies’.” Screamed Haruki with his arms open wide. It was at this time that he noticed he was completely naked.

Ipnak had been very busy, he had to write letters for the chieftains of the other villages, he had to make sure that food rations were in order for the migration, and he had to lie to many of his fellow villager’s to suppress any possibility of panic.

And now, during the morning, he had to train Enri and Koren. Thankfully he had his wife Hera and his student Sappa, otherwise he would not be able to keep up at his age. The village had a training ground, where all the warriors learn the skills necessary to hunt sand beasts. Not all sand beasts have spiritual powers, hence they can be hunted by individual warriors, and if a spiritual beast does pop up which is rare but happens from time to time, an accompanying spiritualist is able to keep it occupied, while the hunters retreat. If the spiritualist can manage to kill the beast, its shard can be used for cultivation or traded for goods with other villages.

Today Ipnak planned to teach Enri and Koren about Earth Spiritualists and some battle tactics, however he was still waiting for his other pupil Haruki to show up. When it came down to pure talent, Haruki was far superior to Sappa, but he was too lazy, and never made an effort unless pushed to do so. It left Ipnak confused as to how he should train him. After a lot of struggle and some motivation using food, he finally managed to train him up to level 6.

After standing in the field for 10 mins, he finally saw Enri walking over briskly, followed by Koren, who looked a lot better today. Enri walked over to where the chief was standing, her nose puffed up with pride and joy. She seemed very excited to be learning with the chief. The boy, Koren, looked a little more reserved then Enri, but he too was blazing with energy, ready to learn.

Ipnak welcomed the two by patting them on their heads, he often did that to children from the village. Koren didn’t seem to mind it, but Enri quickly moved her head away. “I’m a spiritualist now, head pats are for kids.” Said Enri in her usual bossy tone before noticing that Koren didn’t seem too fazed by it. “But since Koren is fine with it, then I’m ok too” Said Enri in a whimper as her cheeks turned rosy.

Chief Ipnak looked at how Enri was behaving in front of Koren and smiled “Ok missy, your wish is my command” said Ipnak in a jolly tone.

After 30 more mins, Ipnak finally saw Haruki walking over. “Hm, that little monkey sure is taking his time.” Said Ipnak as he noticed how slow Haruki was walking.

Chief Ipnak smiled, and then he made a thud on the ground with his foot. Suddenly Haruki’s feet sunk in the ground and the whole ground started to move towards the chief like a river flowing downstream.

“AHHH, You crazy old man you’re going to get me killed” Screamed Haruki as he came to a stop in front of the chief.

Ipnak smiled, and turned towards Koren. “This is my student Haruki, he will be your sparring partner” said Chief Ipnak as he made another thud with his foot and Haruki feet were free.

“Wait, you want me to fight this kid, have you finally lost it, he looks the same age as Kaph’s sister Enri, have them spar each other.” Said Haruki as he thought it was absurd for him to fight a novice kid.

“Haruki if you win, I will give you the whole day off.” Said the chief as he looked at Haruki’s arrogant look.

“OK I will spar with him, no take backs” said Haruki speedily.