Kyrion awoke in the mansion surrounded by Tiffany and Gamodren. Kyrion eyed Gamodren before asking the question. “How long was I out?”

“Depends. What is the last thing you remember?” His master prodded him.

“I was somewhere weird and my head started feeling fuzzy. It was like a dream honestly, I met a dragon who offered to be my servant. It felt a bit too out of my control. I remember a house shaking and then pain in my head before everything went black.”

“I see a little more than four hours then. So that girl over there is a dragon?”

Kyrion sighed, looking to where Gamodren pointed.” Yes.”

“Master Kyrion, are you alright?” Ceres asked.

Kyrion groaned.

“Young Master…” Ceres was cut off.

“Hey Tiffany, thanks for beating that thing. I don’t know what came over me.” Kyrion scratched his head.

“No problem, I had a feeling something was off about you then. Your help would have been nice in the fight however.”

“I felt Like I did enough.” Kyrion pulled out the sack at his side and began pouring out his proffered loot.

Weapons, armor, art, and trinkets.

“That’s my boy!” Gamodren said, embracing the child.

“You’re not my dad.” Kyrion pulled himself free.

“But I am your master. I’m too young to be your dad.” Gamodren waved a finger.

“Are you now?” Kyrion squinted at him before crossing his arms.

“Can we use this?” Tiffany asked, picking up a gauntlet.

“I’ll go get this appraised hold down the fort. Ah and Kyrion this wasn’t cursed though it is a tool for earth and metal affinity spirit masters. So it wouldn’t suit you. “

Kyrion looked at Ceres and sighed. “Give it to her. It would probably suit her better.”

“There are a few staves here, maybe one could suit you perfectly.”

“I want something with a blade,” Kyrion mumbled.

“You don’t seem like the sword and shield type.” Tiffany told him.

“Bull!” Kyrion pouted.

“I can truly have this mas….” Ceres started.

“Ah, bup bup. None of that master stuff. I already have a spirit that teases me with that title. I’m tired of it.” Kyrion pouted before looking to his master for assistance and saw that Master Gan had already left. In his place was a confused guard captain.

“I’m here to hold down the fort until your master. Though I do not know how I got here. We were just getting ready to leave.”

“I’m sure you’ll be getting compensated for your trouble.” Tiffany told him.

“Captain, do I really look like someone who shouldn’t use a sword and shield?”

“I mean no offense but with your build and innate Brute strength and endurance, a normal sword and shield would prove counterproductive. A greatsword would work if that was all you had, but you’re a healer with elemental control, your position in a fight should change to suit the encounter.”

“I just don’t want to stand idly by while everyone else fights.”

“You had the right idea by using plants remotely to limit your enemies movements. Being able to control the flow of a battle is a great thing to have mastery of, healing is great but not having to heal is better.” The man told Kyrion.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Kyrion noded

After staying in one place a few hours, Gamodren returned bearing gifts.

Tiffany received slightly better armor and a gauntlet with a shield symbol emblazoned on it.

“Whats this do?” Tiffany hefted the gauntlet.

“When you infuse mana into it, you should be able to conjure a shield. It also works as powerful armor for your arm even when the shield isn’t up.

Ceres was given a full suit of plate mail and a necklace.

“Why am I supposed to wear this armor?”

“Your job will be as a defender, first line of defense against the enemies to come, as a dragon, your power should at least be practitioner tier.”

“Dragon?” The captain asked in surprise.

“Oh right.” Gamodren waved an arm, and the captain vanished.

“So you call yourself a dragon expert then?” Ceres eyed the man with suspicion.

“I am an expert in many things and a master in others, I believe dragons fall into the master category.”

“Ah bup bup. Ceres I order you not to fight with Gamodren.”

“Yes master.” Ceres changed her posture and did not push any further.

“Why did you just order her around?”

“For the sake of brevity. Gamodren is a monster in his own right and what he just said resonated with what I’ve seen. I’d rather not have my new friend lose heart by starting a fight she can’t win. He’s also not likely to hold back very much either.”

Gamodren appeared behind him. “That is true. I did manage to sell a good amount of the stuff obtained. Here is your share Kyrion.”

Kyrion received a feathered headdress and a staff made from a special type of oak he hadn’t seen before.

“Weren’t you going to explain what Cere’s stuff did?”

“She’ll figure it out.” Gamodren said plainly.

“Your stuff is next, first off we have the spirit core dropped from that backpack gremlin.”

“What? I don’t see a core anywhere? I’m also not rank five yet” Kyrion looked around.

“Rank five and practitioner zero are one in the same, once you reach rank four your body begins to infuse mana of a higher quality, rank five is when you fill your vessel completely and gain the ability to use mana from the world around you as a weapon. You did that in the fight against the giant gremlin yesterday, and again today when you poured mana that was not your own into the plants. While you were unconscious you used your space mana to pull in an absurd amount of raw mana that did not enter your core. Jala is ready for this evolution, and so should you.”

Kyrion nodded. “I’ll go speak to Jala then.”

Kyrion entered his core and found it had grown by quite a bit. The sprout was now a full-grown tree with walnut-like seeds starting to grow above the blue pomegranates. Issac’s island had grown. Now resting above an ocean of water mana. Jala had grown a bit since the last time she was summoned. Her area was now a forest that was larger on the inside than appeared on the outside. Upon entering it, there was no direction, only purpose.

“Jala!” Kyrion called out as he entered the forest, his body appearing in a familiar clearing.

“Kyrion. You’re ok.” Jala seemed surprised.

“What did you do?” Kyrion eyed the fox.

“What do you mean?”

“I didn’t notice before, but ever since I used that big attack yesterday, things have been slipping into my head, memories that are mine but don’t belong to me. I’m sure psycho has something to do with it as well.”

“Oh that. You were confused. The shadow gremlin that hit you left behind a curse that removes limiters on your mana. When you used all your mana, you used more than just wind, you used space as well. Which broke quite a few floodgates.”

“What do you mean.”

“The Cycle asked me to store the excess mana in your body and keep it from running rampant. I don’t know where the knowledge come from but I was just trying to keep you alive.”

“I see. So you used, that mana today as well.”

“How did you know?”

“It knocked me unconscious. Do you know who was controlling my body?”

“The Cycle used the opportunity where you were unconscious to prevent the spawning of more gremlins.”

“What is that Psycho really?” Kyrion muttered to himself.

“No idea it’s spending most of its time messing with our pocket space at the moment.”

“Pocket space? Is it like a backpack?”

“No, it’s where I’ve been keeping the fruits that fall from that tree. Inventory and the like.”

“You should tell them that I’m going to be absorbing that backpack gremlins core.”

“What are you doing here then hurry up and absorb it!”

Kyrion found himself kicked out of his core. “Well. She said yes.”

“Great, this will probably hurt quite a bit,” Gamodren said, a bit too cheery.

“What?!” Kyrion and Ceres seemed aghast.

Tiffany did not fall for the ploy, just waiting for the two to settle.

“Not much, though any changes to your body may cause some mild inflammation which is nothing to you.”

“Just do it.” Kyrion looked away from his master as something cold touched his shoulder, and he felt a pinch and flinched.

“And done.” Gamodren said vaguely, wiggling his fingers mischievously.

Kyrion examined his arm in confusion, noticing a small weird whelp on his arm where he felt the pinch.

“Is that the core? Gross.” Kyrion held his arm and watched as it healed and returned to normal.

Tiffany squinted. “Are you done already? Everything got foggy all of a sudden.”

Kyrion looked around, noticing that the fog was dissipating. “I don’t feel any different.”

“Really. Try summoning a pomegranate.”

Kyrion did so, and the blue pomegranate appeared in his hand along with some information.

“Huh. I have ninety two of these things now along with eight walnuts. Though it feels more like a small world than a backpack.” Kyrion’s mind entered the space as he saw that the world mirrored what he could find in his core. Kyrion checked on his core and found that it was now vacant. He also noticed considerably more mana at his disposal.

“That is new.” Kyrion summoned Jala.

Jala appeared much bigger, her silver fur more lustrous, and the image of a partially open eye appeared on her forehead. She was now the size of a wolf and carried a new type of intelligence.

“What exactly happened? Why does it feel as though my core now has more mana than it did before?”

“Because we moved to your extra dimension space. Do you mind putting a few houses in there for us by the way? Before staying in your core took up mana, and staying out of your core restricted it. Moving there is still within your core but with the influx of mana we got, its self reliant. We don’t need to take up as much space in your core anymore.” Said a soft voice that came from the fox.

“I am confused. Did you say that out loud?”.Kyrion looked to his master.

“Yes, yes I did. It’s a new ability.” Jala lied.

“Is this normal?” Kyrion asked his master.

“Kind of, it’s more they moved their homes from your core to a miniature world. Both are connected to you.”

“So they no longer take up as much space.”

“Correct, the connection is still there and they don’t have to take up space unless you fully summon them.”

“Can I use their elements while they are in that place.”

“Yes. I recommend doing so when you need to fight someone alone or you find that they have been heavily injured in a previous fight. The space grows with you, as you grow stronger the space will grow larger and you can also absorb raw mana from the world to fill it up, preferably from large sources like that gremlin hatchery. I do not recommend trapping enemies in your world as that puts more than just your spirits at risk.”

“I see. It is not a shortcut to defeat enemies. But it can be a tool… I wonder if I can teach them how to farm.”

“That is a recipe for disaster.” Jala replied

“.What about the other stuff? Kyrion asked.”

“The staff is a training tool; it weighs around ten times as heavy as a normal staff and is very hard to break. I’d say it’s impossible but I have no doubt that you will find a way to do so.”

“And the headdress?”

“Oh that just hides your face and has a minor enchantment that alters your voice as well. It will make you sound older, so don’t go abusing it now.”

“Why would I want to be older?”

“You wouldn’t be questioned when ordering alcohol in most countries. Certain establishments will let you in without a second though..”

“So I could drink spirits with this mask. I don’t need it right now.” Kyrion pulled out a pale white walnut and handed it to his master.

“What’s this?” Gamodren asked his student.

“I do not know.” Kyrion said matter of factly.

“Why are you giving it to me.”

“I want you to eat it and tell me what it does.”

“I’ll hold onto it then.” Gamodren made the nut disappear,

“I appreciate it.” Kyrion stood up, sent Jala back home, and did some practice swings with his heavy staff. It was too heavy to use in a fight, but it would help him grow in strength during training.

“What now?” Tiffany asked.

“Since I’m here now I say we head straight for the boss without stopping.”

“Actually I need to retrieve a few houses before we get there. Then I’ll be ready.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Tiffany agreed.

After they left the mansion, Kyrion decided to put it in his world and was surprised by how easy it was.

“Just how much space do you have?” Tiffany asked.

“Too much.” Kyrion replied.

The group arrived back at the ditch Kyrion, easily pocketing fully intact buildings. But, as they stopped and waited, a group of ten gremlins of the various kind attempted to ambush them.

Gamodren stood there doing nothing, not so much as lifting a finger as the gremlins scratched at him.

Tiffany was dancing with a nimble shadow gremlin, the two exchanging blows as Tiffany was making sure she didn’t get hit by its claws.

Ceres was chasing a stone gremlin down with her halberd, managing to run it through after exhausting it. She was not trained in using the weapon, but she was effective nonetheless.

Kyrion fought using his newfound quantity of mana and conjured a spear made from water. He then used wind mana to freeze water, turning it into a brittle ice spear that he launched at a surprised, stone gremlin.

Instead of melting when it died, the gremlin shattered like a clay pot.

The process took a while to do, but it seemed effective against the stone ones.

“Kyrion don’t experiment with new moves.” Gamodren ordered.

“Fine. I’ll figure it out later then.” Kyrion stuck to conjuring well-timed wind walls that disrupted the enemy’s movements and led them into traps meant to slow them down so that the others could take care of them.

The fight ended quite quickly as the gremlins discovered that they were outmatched.

“Kyrion, how much mana did that ice eat up? “Gamodren asked.

” A little water, but a lot of wind, getting the water that cold was hard. Shouldn’t it be easier?” Kyrion said, a bit winded.

“I want you to practice freezing and boiling water, with just your water mana you should be able to alter the temperature. Using wind can only do so much.”

“More practice, yay….” Kyrion said in a monotone.

A thought struck him. “Why would I need to boil water?”

“To purify it of course, people need to drink water to survive, albeit spirit masters don’t need it as often.” Gamodren lied.

Kyion looked at his master in shock. How did he know his master was lying? “That’s funny… but my water mana should be pure enough as it is. Why else would I need to boil water?”

“You caught me, I want you to be able to boil enough water for a hot spring, you have the mana for it. It’s rather lucrative and I can even teach you how to create scented soaps that we can sell.”

That didn’t feel like a lie, Kyrion thought. “I can’t get a read on you at all.”

“Have any more questions?” Gamodren cleaned some gremlin debris off his staff and looked at the boy with a tired expression.

“Tons but I’ll ask them when we’re out of danger.” Kyrion motioned to the entire area but left his arms lean in a direction a bit longer.

“Silly Kyrion, as long as you’re within ten feet of me you’re never going to be in danger.” Kyrion felt that was a partial truth. The number felt a bit small for what he’s seen his master do.

“Any more?”

“What exactly is your power?”

“Now that is a good question.” Gamodren started walking forward towards the next batch of gremlins ahead.

Kyrion shrugged and followed. “Had to try anyway.”