As it turned out, the bear was close. Much closer than what was reported. It seemed to be standing in front of a cave with its arms crossed. Which was quite odd for a bear.

Kyrion was spotted the second he appeared as though the bear knew he was coming.

“Come out human.” The bear said through an orifice that wasn’t its mouth.

Kyrion proudly walked out into the open, his hand on his head. “Sorry about that Mr.Bear, didn’t notice any of the usual territorial marks that I know to look out for. No excreta or other scented warnings either. I could leave if you want.”

The bear rigidly moved its arm back and swiped it at speed untraceable by an untrained human eye.

Kyrion bent backward with flexibility that betrayed his bulk. Dodging a wave of force that cut through various trees and shrubbery near his location. A few of which fell over immediately. Sadly that movement was too sudden, and the weights on his body slowed him down too much, causing him to slip and fall on his back.

A downward slash sent more claw-like blades at the prone boy.

Kyrion rolled to the side, evading the strike before hiding behind a bust.

A third swipe destroyed the bush, yet there was no sign of the boy left behind.

Kyrion popped out of the ground behind the bear. His weights moved to his domain and a staff in his hands.

“Well. Looks like you don’t want to talk. What’s in the cave?”

“Nothing. Now die!” The bear brought down both claws forming and cross shape as they fused into a single powerful attack.

Kyrion waved his staff, summoning a gust of wind that redirected the attack to the side into a boulder. The boulder split into four uneven pieces.

“What was that?”

“So now you want to talk. Good, what’s in the cave?”

“.That body… I want it.” The bear seemed to be drooling.

Kyrion flinched as a giant wormlike creature poked its head out of the bear’s skull. It was a white thing with no eyes. Instead, a mouth full of an absurd amount of teeth could be found. The bear’s broken head morphed and shifted, wrapping around the wormlike hide armor, which looked disgusting.

“Got it. Monster. No animal left. I’ll be quick.”

Kyrion vanished from his spot as though he had disappeared.

A booming sound hit the bear as Kyrion was now standing under it. His staff connected with the bear’s heart.

The heart soon stopped beating altogether. Still, the creature kept on moving.

The bear brought its paws together to crush Kyrion’s head.

The boy moved under the attack and circled around to the creature’s back, letting loose a kick that cracked its spine and sent it tumbling forward.

The bear struggled to get to its feet. And let out a screech that pushed Kyrion back a bit.

Kyrion ran back towards the creature and swung his staff at its head.

The creature’s head wrapped itself around the staff and went to bite Kyrion’s face.

Kyrion pushed his staff forward and jumped back as the bear stumbled.

After rigging itself, it began to charge.

Vines shot out of the ground restraining the injured bear that seemed to be getting weaker and weaker. Moments later, the creature fell to its back, unable to resist.

Kyrion sent wave after wave of wind blades at the prone creature severing tendons and arteries with a surgeon’s precision.

In moments the bear’s corpse could no longer move.

“What did you do!” The wormlike head screamed.

“Severed your connection to the body of that bear your puppeting. You’re acting as the creatures brain without being fully reliant on it. You should have died when I stoped its heart but you didn’t. You did however get slower. So now that the body has been dismantled you can no longer send commands to it. You will die in a few moments. Any last words?” A sphere of wind surrounded the creature.

“I am but a pawn. The Beast Blood empire has hundreds of my kind hidden about. We will destroy this country and I will be avenged.”

“Rend.” Kyrion watched as the creature became nothing but a bear claw. After purifying the limb, he put it in a sack and hung it at his waist.

The cave seemed to be just that, with nothing special about it from a cursory scan. So Kyrion marked the place down on his map and went back to the group, being watched over by his bucks.

The boy with odd eyes approached Kyrion.

“My hero! You came back for us.” The boy said

Kyrion examined the scene, noting his squad of bucks watching over the scared humans. The slavers had been killed, which disappointed Kyrion deep down. Though since he wasn’t the one wronged, it wasn’t his place to judge.

“So. What will you do now?” Kyrion asked the people.

“We’ll take the horses and make our way to the capital as refugees. From there I don’t know.”

“Good. I look forward to meeting up with you in the capital. Mind if my friends help escort you?”

“We will be grateful if you could spare them.”

“Good.” Kyrion loaded them up with a month’s worth of rations for the twenty still alive. But, of course, he’d have to watch his food consumption over the next few days.

The caravan left towards the capital; the only people there were the odd-eyed kid and Kyrion.

“Where to next Mr.Hero.”

Kyrion looked down at the boy. “Shouldn’t you be with the rest of the people?”

“They think I’m bad luck. My eyes are unnatural and seem to scare alot of people. Doesn’t help that i’m an orphan with no relatives.”

“Not another one.”

“Excuse me?”

“Two orphans in two days. Leaving you to die would go against my own sense of justice. So come along If you can keep up. What’s your name?”

“Bastion, just Bastion.” The boy said.

“Well then, Just Bastion. We’re headed to a small town to turn in a few items. After that it’s to the capital.”

“Yes. Mr. Hero Sir.”

“Oh right. Call me Kyrion."

Kyrion and Bastion arrived at the outskirts of the town the following day, where a set of two freshly dug graves were being tended to by a girl with light green hair.

“Mr.Kyrion, did something happen here?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry about it. Actually, can you look after that girl over there while I tend to some business. Think of it as hero training.”

“Yes sir.” Bastion saluted.

Kyrion entered the town hall and walked past the secretary, who seemed nervous. Moving straight into the office.

“Welcome back Kyrion. Did your hunting go well?” The mayor rubbed his hands nervously.

“Yes. Only took a day to find and take them out. Not a fan of killing but you gotta do what you gotta do.There were a few hiccups though.” Kyrion admitted.

“I see, I see. Well Kyrion I have signed off on the completion of your mission, feel free to take the kid and run. Keep your trophies as well. Consider them your reward for all your hard work.” The mayor had a bead of sweat falling down his forehead.

“Good. Are you feeling ok Mr.Mayor. You seem a bit feverish.”

“I-i’m fine” The mayor’s eyes dipped down for a second and then back up.

Kyrion knew something was off, so he probed the environment with his mana sensing and found a foe. The boy left the building, walked behind the town hall, and disappeared.

“Good. Now that he’sss gone, we can talk businessss. Some of my petsss were ssslaughtered recently. Ssso now i’m here to kill and raissse everyone in thisss village to fuel my numbers.”

“P-please just let my daughter go.”

“So she can tell. No after I skin you alive and take your flesh I’ll be moving onto her and then.”

“Got you.” An earthen hand shot up from the ground, pulling the snake-like creature underground.

Kyrion pulled the snake-like creature’s head out of the ground and stared at it.

“So who are you?” Kyron asked.

“That isss none of your consssern.”

“I see.” Kyrion ripped a scale off the creature’s head.

“Owww! Why!”

“Who are you?” Kyrion asked again.

“I’ll never tell!” Kyrion removed another scale and poked the open flesh.

“Aggg!”

“Who are you?” Kyrion said slowly.

“You call this torture I only have so many scales you can pull off!”

“Is that so?”

Kyrion pushed his finger into the scaleless portion of the creature’s head and placed it into a coma. “I hate this.” He then encased the serpent in an earthen box and threw it into his domain.

“This is suspicious.” Kyrion sighed.

Kyrion made his way to where he’d left Bastion, who seemed to be having a heated discussion.

“Mr.Kyrion is my teacher. We’re going to the capital and he’s going to teach me how to be a hero!”

“No, he’s mine. He saved me, so I owe him my life. So I’m going with him.”

“No me!”

“You both are coming with me and first chance I get I’ll be dumping you on someone more responsible.”

“Master Kyrion? When did you get here.” Bastion said.

“You said when I woke up it would all be over. So why are they still dead?” The girl asked him with a blank expression.

“You’re still alive, and I’m sure they are happier for it. You have two options, stay here and be held back by the events that made you an orphan or follow me for a while and see where the winds take you. I’m headed to the capital. There should be a daycare there or something.”

“A daycare?” Both kids said in unison.

“I need to dump you somewhere.”

“What?”

“If you can’t keep up. I’m too young to be held back by a pair of brats that won’t work together.” Kyrion shrugged.

“But you’re like an old man!” The girl pointed at him with a gap tooth grin.

“Me old? I may be five or six years older than you.”

“I’m eight.” The girl crossed her arms.

“I’m only seven.” The odd-eyed kid looked at the girl with reverence in his eyes.

“I called it wrong. Guess I used to be a runt. Whats your name?” Kyrion recalled being shorter than his tagalongs before his magical growth spurt.

“Eden Miller.” The girl stated.

“Great. Eden, Bastion, your first task will be keeping up with me good luck.” Kyrion proceeded to walk at inhuman speeds on the road headed North.

“You aren’t getting rid of me that easily. I’ll follow you until the end of Imala!” Bastion started sprinting to keep up.

“Oi! That’s too fast.” Complained Eden.

“You gotta keep up or I’ll leave you behind.” Kyrion kept his pace steady enough to stay in sight but far enough to be out of her reach. As though she was chasing a star.

Bastion ran out of juice soon after and fell behind Eden.

When night came, Kyion set up camp by summoning a house in the middle of nowhere. Runic plumbing, running water, and climate control. An item that could spoil someone not used to camping properly. Kyrion could sleep in the middle of a forest and wake up fine. Two small children were not used to this life not, so it was better to ease them in with indoor plumbing, air conditioning, and fresh running water.

Of course, it was all for the kids. Kyrion was just being nice, he said as he got out of his bubble bath and dressed. A curious knock on the door jolted Kyrions attention, so he ensured he was dry and answered the door.

Bastion collapsed when he ran out of juice. The road that appeared as Kyrion walked kept him from getting lost, but it was quite the distance he’d run.

Eden turned when she heard the sound of something hitting concrete.

“Are you ok?” She asked the boy.

“Yeah just go on without me.” Bastion said with the light fading from his eyes.

“I will not. We’re in this together. No student gets left behind.”

Eden helped the shorter boy to his feet, and the two stumbled down the road together. Arrived at a house in the middle of nowhere where the road seemed to stop.

“What’s going on?” Bastion asked.

“This. Is. The. End.” Eden was exhausted, hungry, and dirty.

“I see.” Bastion began to knock on the door.

Kyrion opened the door with a towel around his neck, and his red hair appeared shinier than before.

“Eden Bastion, you look exhausted but I guess you managed to keep up with me for today. Need something to eat, or drink? Maybe some lemon water?” Kyrion opened the runic fridge and pulled out a pitcher of the stuff.

“What is this place?” The girl looked around in wonder.

“It’s what a friend of mine called Cecil calls a modern home powered by mana. Since I provided the mana for most of these he let me get a version for free. Ah, you wouldn’t be interested in joining his harem would you? You would probably get one of these for free if you did.”

Kyrion had told the same thing to Ander and Brion, but they were turned down. So there were some standards that Kyrion had yet to understand. Ceres and Tiffany said that they wouldn’t join out of pride. He did manage to convince Freya to join Cecil’s little group. Quality of life runes were complicated but very nice to have.

“Uhhh. I don’t want that life. I wanna follow you around, not some carpenter.”

“You haven’t seen the ice cream machine he’s been working on yet. It’s called Schrodinger’s Cream Machine. Sadly it only works fifty percent of the time.”

“We are here for you.” Eden stomped her foot down, and Bastion followed suit.

“Listen, Eden, Bastion. I am probably a bad influence on kids like you. So I want you to be trained by someone I can trust. I have some other options for potential teachers but I’m not ready for a responsibility like that.” Kyrion said in a tone similar to that of a con artist who needs an absurd amount of gold to pay his sick mother’s medical bill.

“I see. So you aren’t even going to try. You’re more spineless than you look.” Eden stated.

“You’re up to something.” Bastion said with a scowl.

Kyrion’s facade cracked. “Fine, if you want to follow me so much don’t blame me for what happens. I can only do so much for you.” Kyrion aggressively poured two cups of lemon water and handed them to the confused kids.

“Why do I feel like I’ve been tricked?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about… Did you bring a change of clothes?”

“Uhhhh…” Eden’s expression was blank.

“I don’t have any.” Bastion said proudly.

“Oh dear. I’ll be back in an hour with your things. Feel free to help yourself to anything in the fridge. You can also take a bath in the bathroom on the second floor.” Kyion left the house and sucked the thing into his domain.

“Jala, please keep an eye on the kids, and don’t tell Issac.” Kyrion told his spirit.

“I can try, but….” Jala replied.

Kyrion was already sprinting towards the small town, a second road following him.

“So… I’m supposed to get something out of this fridge.” Eden looked at the shiny rectangular box and opened it. A blast of cold air hit her, and she jumped back in fright.

“What is this thing?”

“Magic.” Bastion said while wiggling his fingers.

“I know its magic, why is everything cold?”

“Magic?”

“I’ll go ask him how it all works.”

Eden ran towards the door to follow after Kyrion and opened the door only to discover that the ground outside was gone. Instead, they were floating in an odd place with various items and knick-knacks moving about. There were quite a few homes inside this place.

A floating head made of smoke with three eyes appeared in front of the girl, causing her to jump back in surprise.

“Do not leave this place, lest consequences follow.” The floating head whispered as the door closed itself and locked.

“I’m sorry!” The girl ran into the house, looked at the strange cold box, and walked back to it.

Bastion was looking through the contraption. A large haunch of ham was on one shelf, along with a large block of cheese. There were other things as well. Plates of uneaten food were covered with lids. Bastion decided to try one of the prepared food plates since it was lighter than the haunch of meat in the fridge.

“Now, where are the utensils?” A drawer opened itself, and the boy looked inside. In his honest opinion, he found that the place was full of fancy dining utensils, many of which looked a bit funny. With a fork in hand, he left the fridge open for Eden, sat at a dining table, and consumed the cold food.

Eden followed suit, grabbing a fork and preparing a meal before closing the fridge.

The sound of water running could be heard. Eden took the first bath and found her way to a room. Her clothes were miraculously clean.

Bastion followed suit. Although the boy’s rags seemed to have been replaced by a new set of clothes. One of Kyiron’s old sets of clothes that he’d held onto but couldn’t fit anymore. One could call him a hoarder. But in this situation, he was just well prepared.

The two kids found themselves in Kyions large king-sized bed knocked out.

“Poor kids.” Jala said from outside a window.

Kyrion had made it back to the village and made his way through the room he found the girl in earlier. Unfortunately, all the clothes in the room were immediately sucked into his space. Afterward, he checked their food stores and found them lacking in quality. Hopefully, they could find someone to take over this position.

On his way through town, Kyrion noticed that someone had begun tailing him. It became more apparent the longer he walked down the trail he had built.

Kyrion stomped his foot on the ground kicking up a cloud of dust. When the dust settled, Kyrion was missing from his current location.

Minutes later, a trio of wanderers arrived at the spot of the dust storm.

“Where did he go?” Said a tall and gaunt figure.

“I don’t know. He shouldn’t have lost us.” Said a much muscular figure with a greatsword.

“If he reports us to the capital, they’ll begin a witch hunt and snuff us out.” So said a hooded figure with staff much shorter than the rest. They were standing behind the two warriors.

“We must inform our leader of this. He should still be staying in the Leaking Lemur at the capital.”

“How long will he be at the Leaking Lemur again? If we get there and he’s gone then what?” Said the staff wielder’s voice.

“You’re right there. But he’s our mole in the army. Captain Vendral, he won’t be going anywhere for a long time.”

“Ah.” That’s the captain that had been requisitioning gear from Cecil. Kyrion knew the man’s face made sense. He’d need to inform the tailors association. But first…

Kyrion coated his staff with mana and slammed it into the heads of the unsuspecting stalkers. They’d have been brained on the spot if it had not been healing mana. This, however, left them unconscious. He then injected them with sedatives before sealing their cores. Finally, he tied them up and tossed them into his domain. That made four prisoners of war.

“Why can’t a trip ever go as easy as it’s written on paper.” Kyrion found a secluded section of the forest and summoned his house. He then set up a few defensive wards around the building before entering.

“Well, the place is still intact. That should be a good sign.” Kyrion tried to turn the doorknob, but it seemed to be locked. Kyion held his hand up to the door, and it unlocked itself.

Trying again. Kyrion entered the house, locking the door behind himself. He then went to his room and noticed the kids were in his bed, with his stuffed teddy bear and nice alpaca fur blanket imported from the overseas nation of Alvaris. Pillows filled with swan feathers from Issac’s various sheddings made some of the softest things in the world.

“Maybe I should have told them where their rooms would be.” Kyrion looked into the other room, which was mostly barren aside from a twin-sized bed with no blankets.

“This is just great” Kyrion pulled out his third favorite blanket and emergency pillow and got onto the small mattress. His body curled into a ball as he squeezed himself into the bed.