Late Afternoon - Late Fall : Home

"If she’s anything like you, I'm sure she'll catch on quickly."

"Does that mean I've been doing well?"

"Haha, yes. Very well."

We continued down the hall, eventually making it outside.

"Ilios, you've grown so big!" Krystallo quickly ran up to Ilios and started fluffing his fur.

"Haha, before long he might get bigger than you."

Krystallo looked back at me. "Well.." She paused as she tried to come up with a comeback. "Hmph.."

Failing to think of anything, she just pouted. -How cute..- "Well don't worry, size isn't everything. Even if he's bigger, you can still be stronger!"

Her mood immediately brightened. "Right!" She quickly turned to mother and plopped herself down. "Can we start now?"

"Haha, yes sweetie. First, we need to figure out what attribute your nodes are."

Krystallo was staring at Mother as if in a trace, already in an incredible focus.

"So let's start by pulling out some of that energy from your reserve and dragging it through any attribute node, then move that energy from the node to the palm of your hand." Mother put out her hand and created a small fireball. "Like this."

Giving a reluctant nod, Krystallo closed her eyes and moved her hand out.

*Blub* A small ball of water began to form in her hand.

Mothers face was filled with excitement like a kid opening gifts on Christmas. "So your first node is water, which one was that?"

"One of the two next to my breath gland! Does that mean I have a really good water affinity like you?"

"Yes! Now try the other node next to it."

"Alright!"

Even after watching for a moment, it looked like nothing was happening, but my aura noticed it. "It's wind!"

"Awe.." Krystallo wore a slightly saddened expression.

"What's wrong sweetie?" Mother looked a little worried.

"I wanted fire.."

"Well you still have two other nodes, and it's not like they're bad affinity either." She had a node in her mid chest and one in her upper abdomen, which are by no means bad affinities.

Seeing her looking a little sad, I decided to give her a little motivation. "Wind isn’t weak if that's what you're thinking."

"What do you mean? So what if I can create a weak breeze."

"Who said you could only do that? Wind is far more versatile than you'd expect." I turned to Mother. "Mother, hit me with a really hot breath."

She was caught off guard by my request but followed through anyway.

*Fwooosh*

"Mom isn't that too hot even for him?!"

Almost immediately after, Mother stopped the breath revealing me sitting there, unscathed.

Krystallo looked at me with wide eyes.

"See? All I did was create a small barrier around my body with wind magic and I was immune to the heat!" (A Vacuum)

Krystallo's mood immediately brightened. "So cool!"

-Mission accomplished.- I wore a proud smile since I managed to cheer her up. "So let's see what your other two nodes are."

"Right!" She quickly sat back down with enthusiasm and held out her palm.

*Crackle*

A small ball of orange flames appeared in her hand.

Mother's prediction was right on the money.

Krystallo looked around with an unbelievable amount of excitement before locking eyes with me and giving me her attempt at an intimidating look. "I shall surpass you in no time!"

"Pffftt." I tried my best to hold in my laugh, but her pure confidence was just too funny.

"Hmph, you just wait!"

"Haha, calm down sweetie, let's see what your last attribute node is, then we can get onto magic."

Krystallo immediately straightened up and focused again.

Almost immediately, a small ball of light appeared.

"Its light attribute!"

Although Mother acted all excited, even I thought light magic's use was minimal. -I guess it has a few uses though..-

"Well I got fire so I'm happy!" The ball of light in her hand quickly changed back to a ball of fire.

"Alright.. since you seem so enthused to use fire magic, let's try a breath. Gather fire attribute mana in your breath gland and blow it out."

"Hehe, you should stand back in case you all get caught up in it!" She quickly readied herself and bent her knees.

She slowly opened up her mouth and..

*puff*

A tiny flame popped out of her mouth for a moment before quickly dissipating.

I had to hold back a laugh with every fiber of my being. -Hooh.. it's not funny.. I cant laugh..-

"Don't laugh!" She quickly looked back at me like she was about to cry.

"Haah.. Here, let me give you a tip. The more you compress the flames in your breath gland, the larger your breath will be."

Her expression quickly calmed down as she changed to a serious expression again, looking far less cocky this time.

After she prepared for a bit, she let out a much bigger flame.

*puufff* But it still dissipated nearly immediately.

-It still wasn't big or hot enough..- "See if you can weave some wind magic into the flame. If you can pull it off, not only will the flame be bigger, but it'll be hotter."

Krystallo sat there as if in a trance and did her best to follow my instructions. "I'm not sure I can-"

"Just try. You got this!" With a little motivation and commitment, she could do it.

"O..okay.." She got serious again and took her time readying her mana.

*Fwooosh*

A flame several times bigger and twice as hot as the last one came out of her mouth.

It was a flame nearly as big as Ilios and hot enough to char the ground, leaving a fairly large burn mark in the field.

"See! I knew you could do it!"

A wave of excitement washed over her as she looked towards Mother. "Did you see that!! That was AWESOME!!"

"Great job sweetie! To think you can use two attributes at once already!" She ran up and gave Krystallo a big hug. "I knew you were going to be talented with magic!"

"Hehe.." Krystallo wore a smile of excitement and confidence.

"I can give you one more tip if you'd like." I gave her a smug smile.

Immediately tensing up, she got out of Mothers grasp and ran over to sit in front of me.

"With your breath this time, instead of just weaving the wind magic into the inside of the flames, spin the wind around the flames as well."

"That's too.." Mother quickly chimed in with a worried expression before she stopped herself.

"Whenever you're ready, aim for that tree over there." I pointed to a tree on the treeline not too far away.

"That's a bit far.."

"Come on, have some confidence! You've got me guiding you. Try to use the wind to compress and spin the flames."

"Hooh.." After being in a deep focus for a bit, she kept her eyes closed and opened her mouth.

*Fwoo-oosh* *Crackle*

Like a compressed beam, the flame crossed the opening and hit the tree.

The flame wrapped around the tree and once the smoke cleared, showed a small hole that was burnt into the tree.

Both Mother, Father and Krystallo sat there stunned at the sight.

"I.. I did it.." Slightly out of breath, Krystallo's face filled with excitement. "I DID IT!!"

"See? I told you to believe in yourself." I walked up and lightly patted her head.

She looked up at me with a childish smile. "Hehe"

Her smile truly melted my heart. -She's so cute..-