The journey to Rispalt was the most straightforward journey Kyrion had ever been on. Monsters didn't attack, bandits didn't make themselves known, and carts didn't lose wheels. Unfortunately, the stability had the bald, one-eyed young boy so paranoid that he was stress eating.

The boy pulled out a haunch of meat. But unfortunately, it was the last bit of food he had for the trip.

"Kyrion. Don't eat that now or you'll be hungry during your test." Said a man with dirty blond hair.

"But I'm hungry now." Kyrion finished his haunch of meat.

"Don't blame me." Gamodren shrugged.

"Master will be just fine. Though we could stop to hunt something."

Gamodren looked at the predawn sky. "We are on a very tight schedule. We're already late."

"What! How are we late already?" Tiffany asked.

"I told them we'd be here a week ago. Didn't account for adapting to a missing eye." Gamodren sighed.

"You expect him to fight with one eye?" Tiffany asked.

"I expect him to lose in the first round as he is now. I even bet good money on him sweeping away the competition."

"Is that so? That might be a good idea." Kyrion said after he finished his pre-breakfast snack.

Tiffany sighed. "What are you up to?"

"Thinking about breakfast. If I pass all the tests, Gamodren, will you pay if I win?"

"If you pass all three trials then I'll pay for your dinner. But if you fail even one then you'll pay for your own food." Gamodren said.

"One of these trials is a trap." Kyrion said matter of factly.

Gamodren smiled and stayed quiet for the remainder of the trip. Which lasted a whole two hours. Kyrion hadn't known it was possible to keep him that quiet.

A man with gray eyes and long orange hair looked out to the worlds below from one of the tallest points of a mountain. The man's eyes saw many things at once. First, Imala's lands were being damaged, which meant war was on the horizon and at a horribly awful time. Then, Icaron summoned a whole bunch of criminals from another world through the medium of a plane crash and gave them powerful abilities. Then there's Almira, with her theocracy and summoned heroes.

"Just eight more years until the conclave begins. The rulers should know this and yet they start fighting each other. So much bloodshed over something so pointless."

A young-looking man with a scar over his right eye and short red hair approached the orange-haired man. His height was over eight feet tall, and his build was muscular. "Greetings, great one."

"Ah, young one. Looks like not even time can stop your incarnation, yet you took so long why is that?"

The red-haired man scoffed. "Sorry. Been so long since anyone had called me young. Great one."

"Do you know what's going on in the lower worlds?"

"My grandchildren are causing trouble. Or being the targets of trouble. That one seems to have lost to his younger counterpart. Something I find hilarious in its own way."

"That one lost to a child. How fitting." The orange-haired man laughed.

Another man-made it up the cliff. He, however, seemed exhausted. His skin tone was darker than the man who came before, and his height was around six-five. Yet the hair color and eyes were the same. On his head was a straw hat.

"Great one?" The shorter one said.

"Welcome back to the faction, Guardians! The Great Tree has missed you both. It's time to get you up to speed." The orange-haired man held out two golden bracers, which he passed to his two guests.

A boy, a girl, and a cat stood in an audience chamber. Their physical features mainly were gone as they were currently just outlines. The only color in the areas belonged to a tall, lithe woman with hair whiter than snow and eyes that held blue, green, and brown within. Over her body was a green dress.

The silence was awkward, so the boy spoke first,

"So are you supposed to be the key person in my harem? Or am I misreading this." He said to lighten the mood.

"I have an offer for you, Cecil. Become a warrior under my banner and I'll lead you down a path where women all over will come to you."

"Can I get a hard number?"

"As many as you can handle." The goddess said.

"Four, plus the girl right here, can you take away my common sense as well? I want to be dense."

"Four is easy, I have many priestesses' after all."

"One priestess is enough. What I need is some variety." Cecil pulled out a notebook.

"People have free will. I can't just override it for your flights of fancy. How about a guarantee? Women will come to you as long as you're with the person I want you to watch over."

"Is this person a girl?" Cecil asked.

"No he is not, he has red hair and green eyes. He does have an older sister around a year older than you though. Can't make any promises but if you play your cards right." The goddess raised her eyebrows.

"Hmmm." Cecil held an oddly happy look on his face. His eyes shone with more life than they had on earth.

"Cece, you're being manipulated." The cat warned.

"More like womanipulated." Bella crossed her arms.

"Nonsense, I only wish for you to do a simple job. You'll be compensated as well."

"How old is this boy." Cecil asked.

"Ten, though he's mentaly eight."

"Who are you?" Bella asked

"I am the Heavenly Body Imala, creator of the world you will be going to." She said, crossing her arms.

"Top tier harem material. If I do this, I want you to join my harem."

"If you make it to my level along with the boy then sure. I'll gladly join your harem if that's all you want." A grin went across her face.

"Well. I want magic. I don't know how all this stuff works but I want magic. Maybe something that will allow me to control my weight as well." Bella said, crossing her arms.

"So a gravity spirit."

"A whosa whats it?" Bella was confused.

"Spirit, it's a forign being that binds to your soul giving you powers. Had you been a native I could have done an awakening though given your age I'll need to raise you up to Practitioner at the very least."

"I want magic." Bella said.

"Just take it Bella. I think it's like magic, just slightly different."

"Much easier to learn and accessible to everyone. The path I prefer, actually. I have a gravity elemental spirit. Doesn't have much of a mind, but it can become powerful. Your first core will give you the ability to create fields of controlled gravity. Your foundation will be weak, but the potential for strength…."

"No for the core, yes for the spirit. I won't hold my best friend back because I'm weak. I know about foundations so I'll train hard."

"Fair enough. I want you to become a practitioner by your seventeenth birthday. Can't have you fall behind."

"Do I get a spirit too?" Cecil asked.

"No, you're on a path different from the majority, those who practice the black arts tend to come from the Linvir continent, or land of the elves. Even then very few remain, who can call themselves true mages. On the other hand, I'm sure many will do anything to learn what you know."

Cecil's face darkened for a moment as his grin faded into a scowl. "Can I just say that Sammy here is my spirit and call it a day?"

"Sure, just say he gave you the order and magic affinities. And that brand on your hand hides your core from sight."

"I see. I would like a mirror of planar communication." Samadreal yawned.

"That's a tall order for a mere feline."

"Oh trust me, I know it's well within your power." The cat started to groom itself as though the matter was settled.

"Fine." The goddess grit her teeth as a mirror with purple edges appears in front of the cat.

The mirror then molded and shifted into something that resembled a locket before finding its place inside the cat's hat.

"Now where will we drop?" Cecil asked.

"The town of Rispalt, in my chapel. I can have you enrolled in the school there quite easily. But you will need to train hard." The goddess waved her hand, and the three visitors vanished.

A man with a black blindfold that covered where his eyes used to be. With long hair just as dark stood in front of another man sitting on a throne. This man had a sour expression on his face. Around them lay the corpses of his best guards, killed in a mere moment.

"What do you want Eyeless. Why do you betray me?" The man spat.

"Oh, this? They were just in the way. You were the one who tried to betray me first." Eyeless, juggled two blue eyes above his hands with psychokinesis.

"Those are Leon's eyes. If you have those then you must have killed him. Which means you betrayed us."

"Yeah, your plan wouldn't have worked anyway. My abilities dwell within my mind and soul possessing my body would be a waste. Oh I also know you never intended to give me one of your eyes. Just here to tell you that if you plan to renege on a deal again I will cut your head off and take those green eyes of yours."

"What of the brat I asked you to capture?" The man used his willpower to stay seated.

"He's safe and down one beautiful eye." The Eyeless pulled out an emerald green eye that held a glint within it despite no longer being with its owner.

"You blinded my vessel, you bastard!" The man was now out of his seat. His arms grew bigger, and as one became chitinous like that of a crabs claw, the other was furry and had sharp claws resembling a bear. His head morphed into a horned abomination resembling a bull and goat. His legs, torso, and neck grew to support his body as cloven feet emerged from his shoes.

The green eye in the hands of Eyeless began to morph as mana hardened around it. A green hilt appeared, with an eye in its center in a burst of green light. A pommel grew from the bottom of the handle, resembling a plant yet to bloom. A multicolored blade grew from the hilt, stopping before the edge was complete. That was when the corpses around the two warriors vanished, and light flew into the remainder of the blade. The colors had converged into a bright white light that shot off into a black point.

"What the hell was that!" The abomination said as he instinctively took a step back.

"Aggg!" The eyeless pulled off his blindfold and winced as two new eyes began to grow where there had been nothing.

The abomination thrust its pincer at the man in an attempt to decapitate him and end the fight now.

The black-haired man moved through the attack like mist. Unphased and unaffected, arriving behind the monstrosity.

Slashing the sword across, he bisected the man's torso.

"Agh!!" He winced as he tried to hold himself together. Only his guts were not spilling out. Though the pain was still there.

"A sword that can't kill. Interesting." He brought the sword across his opponent's body, reducing him to nothing but a curled-up heap on the floor.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm…" The abomination was curled up on the floor, his mind shattered at the torture that went beyond what a mind could and should handle, and then refused to go into shock.

"So it heals just as quickly as I cut, and it regenerates my own lost limbs. A true treasure in its own right, any other sword can do for killing, this one is my ticket out of here." The Eyeless eyes had finally regrown as golden discs that seemed to rotate clockwise in his left eye and counterclockwise in his right.

"I imagine you'll be up soon and back to ruling your kingdom, but send anyone after me or my faction and I will be back." The Eyeless flew out of the throne room somewhere far off to the east.