Owari was going to attempt to adapt to his new schedule during this month as he would spend three days mapping the forest and studying the patterns of the earth affinity plant types. After that he would come back for two days to take a break and visit people, a new experience for him as he wasn't used to seeing socializing as something enjoyable or worth the effort. Of course Lance had left during his last excursion, they had confirmed the mutant cloud fish existed and he had gone to tame it. Taming was a difficult process in regards to wild magical beasts due to their naturally wild temperament and refusal to submit. However it was only a matter of time and persistence to get a magical beast to accept a person as their tamer.

Of course this was under the assumption it would even be willing to in the first place. Some magical beasts were too aggressive and defiant to be tamed. Luckily the cloud fish was on the less aggressive side, while they were pretty strong and difficult to catch, once you got them it would usually be easy enough to tame them. Of course Lance had declared that he would catch and tame the fish himself, otherwise he would never get its full respect and he refused such an outcome. Naturally the Amber agency recognized the wisdom in this point of view and allowed it, however it would definitely slow the process a lot.

Owari was lying in bed after coming home from a relatively boring three days in the forest. He had found some magical beasts to kill and dismantle, but other than the meat which he ate to increase his earth affinity he only found some relatively ordinary materials. As for his work on figuring out where he would go when he went on his expedition, he would have to wait to get all the data. He had yet to find any space where there was a stronger concentration of earth affinity plant types outside of acceptable ranges. If that continued he'd just have to take a guess and head out in a random location. For now though he was relaxing while thinking of how to spend his two days off. Eventually he just went to sleep since he wasn't the type to let himself get stuck thinking about things and he was having trouble coming up with any answers. When he woke up he went to the reception desk to see if anyone had come to see him while he was gone. When he walked in he saw the owner sitting behind the desk reading the paper.

"Good morning." She greeted after glancing over at him.

"Good morning." Owari greeted back. "I was wondering if anyone stopped by for me while I was gone."

She looked over at the notes and grabbed one from his slot. "A girl called Noel did, but she didn't leave a message. After she heard you would be back today she said she understood and left."

"Alright, thank you." Owari nodded and left with a wave. Since Noel had stopped by he might as well go see her. He decided not to overthink things in regards to their relationship. Since she had stopped by and didn't leave a message it probably wasn't anything important, but he was always quick to deal with things so he figured he should just go see her.

He managed to arrive at her building a bit earlier than he had the last time he was here, a sign that he had been way more hesitant the last time he came then he had any reason to be. He thought about it and decided to just wait for her to come out on her own. Since it was still morning there was no telling if she was even awake, especially with how she slept. So instead he walked over to a light post and leaned against it as he relaxed. After about half an hour of waiting Owari heard steps coming from behind him. "You should have only just got back, and yet here you are." Noel's voice came from nearby and he turned his head to see her dressed in the same clothing she had worn when they had ridden in the car together after she changed out of her combat gear. Owari now knew after their last interaction that she wore more casual clothing to work than this.

"You were the one who came to see me first. I figured it would be rude to make you wait." Owari answered back with a teasing tone.

"I suppose that's fair." She couldn't help but accept defeat on this one.

"So are you busy today?" Owari asked offhandedly. He didn't have anything in particular to do today, so if she was free it would save him a lot of boredom.

"Not particularly. Why, did you want to ask me to spend the day with you?" She smiled as she forced him to take the initiative.

"That was what I planned on yeah. So would you?" Owari showed no embarrassment or shyness as he asked as if it was natural to do so. Noel couldn't help but feel he was much better at this than she had thought he would be given how awkward he could be most of the time.

"I would love to." In the end she just gratefully accepted the offer. There was no need to turn everything into a competition over their feelings. It was fine to just hang out together too. "I take it you didn't make any plans before you asked that though am I right?"

"Pretty much." He admitted as he stood up and stretched.

"As expected." She chuckled as she saw him brush it off like it was no big deal. "How about we just walk and talk?"

"Sounds perfect." Owari figured they could just think of stuff to do along the way. "If we don't find anything to do it should be fine. I wouldn't mind just spending the day listening to you talk after all." Owari spoke his mind as honestly and openly as always.

"Well aren't you quite good at talking." Noel hid her embarrassment by fiddling with her parasol. "Let's get walking, I certainly have plenty to say."

"Alright." Owari agreed as the two started to make their way around the city. Of course Morgana wasn't far behind, something which both of them seemed to accept quite naturally.

They walked around the city leisurely as Noel used this chance to complain about some things. It seemed she was quite bad with deskwork as she said some very colorful things about paperwork and meetings. She had however managed to cement her image as someone not to be messed with. Some of that had to do with Lance who was apparently quite sharp and as soon as he realized the image she was building had decided to vividly explain the time he personally witnessed her shove her arm through the eye sockets of one of those insects at the train crash before popping its head like a balloon. After that most of the people got the message and stopped underestimating her.

She seemed quite grateful for the help as she wasn't as experienced in this stuff, honestly she wished she could just ignore everyone and do her own thing. However she had a responsibility to her family and she didn't want to let her parents down so she took her job very seriously. She was glad to have someone willing to listen to her complaints though since she would have lost her mind had she had to bottle all this up and hold it in. Owari just smiled and listened, only occasionally weighing in with a comment about this or that. After about an hour of walking around as she poured out her grievances she finally ran out of stuff to say about that and moved on to the next topic.

The two chatted like this as they took in the sights of the city, which neither of them had really done before. Even when they went out last time Noel was too focused on talking and Owari mostly zoned out and just listened. But this time they were far more relaxed and were able to really look around. There were plenty of shops since they had managed to wander into the market district. Most places in the city were separated into districts based on their purpose like the crafting district, the housing district, and the market district. The market district was filled with shops of all kinds as one would probably expect. The buildings came in a variety of shapes and colors, some were small house-sized shops selling specialty items, some were larger convenience stores selling all manner of everyday items like cleaning products, and then there was the occasional grocery store filled with food products of all kinds.

Owari had come here when he first showed up in town to buy some stuff, and had come back recently to pick up some food so he was mostly familiar with it. However he mostly just went around doing what he needed and didn't take the time to admire the scenery. It was a much more chaotic place than his hometown. People came and went from each of the stores carrying bags and boxes filled with their various purchases. The people themselves were just as varied as the shops, with some being young hopeful hunters, some parents going shopping with their kids, an elderly couple, and so on. In a small town it would be difficult to find as many different sorts of people in one location at the same time, so it was interesting to Owari. However he didn't really think much of it other than that it was something unique to city life.

Eventually lunchtime came and the two decided to go and eat at the same place as last time. Owari had enjoyed their burger and Noel liked the fact that it was out of the way so it just made sense to go there. When they walked in the front door the same girl was sitting behind the counter as last time and she seemed a bit shocked to see them again. It wasn't all that surprising that she recognized them given how unique they were. "It looks like we have some returning customers." She seemed slightly more comfortable this time compared to last time.

"The food was quite enjoyable last time, so of course we would return when we got the chance." Noel responded with a smile.

"My father would be happy to hear that." The girl smiled as if she was the one being complimented.

"I already know what I wish to order, what about you Owari?" Noel asked as the two sat down in the same place as last time.

"I plan on having the same thing. It was good and I don't really have a place to cook burgers at my place." It was Owari's favorite food so not being able to have them often was a shame, so he decided to get one while he could.

"So there's no kitchen at your place? How do you eat?" Noel was curious since without the ability to cook you would have limited options for a meal.

"Salted meat and fruits don't need to be cooked." Owari usually just ate ready to eat foods since it was cheap and easy.

"Isn't that a little bland?" Noel couldn't help but ask as she thought about surviving on rations. She could go a long time doing it, especially if her life depended on it, but there was no need to do so all the time.

"It's easy and cheap. Plus even if I had the stuff to cook I'm not all that great. I can make some basic stuff but I never really bothered to learn more since it didn't seem important." Owari usually left the cooking to his mom after all and he didn't really mind going without home-cooked meals.

"I see." Noel just smiled as she heard this, Owari was a very simplistic person which made him easy to please but he also tended not to care much for his needs and desires. Noel decided to learn how to cook after hearing him, though what specifically motivated her to do so only she knew.

Soon enough they were served their meals and they ate them just as voraciously as last time. When they were done they complimented the meal and left full and satisfied just like last time. Owari felt the meal was even better than the last time they had come which was a pleasant surprise. The two continued to walk around town as Noel talked Owari's ear off, the two seemed to be in their own little world as they ignored the looks of those around them. It should be noted that they made quite the interesting pair, let alone Morgana who trailed behind them silently, ever the symbol of perfection among maids. Whether it be Noel and her albinism and the parasol she twirled around occasionally, or Owari who wasn't much different from before looking like a sickly young man who could be knocked over by a breeze especially with his large haori covering him and making him look smaller.

The two seemed like a couple of weak kids out on the town and it certainly attracted many gazes, mostly pity or curiosity. However neither of them cared about the opinions of others, not to mention they were both well aware of the strength the other had which would shock all of those people who judged them based on appearance. In a way this was a good method to find the difference between ordinary people and unskilled hunters and those with actual ability. Anyone who had a shred of capability in their eyes would be able to tell they weren't as weak as they looked, and such people were the only ones who'd even have a chance to catch their attention. Even then they were too caught up in their own conversation to pay attention to even those people.

Time passed by quickly and when it started to get late they went out to eat dinner at a small noodle shop they had seen earlier that day. It was pretty eastern in style, it was open to the street and they even used chopsticks instead of silverware. It was slightly nostalgic for Owari, his father had always been very traditional so he had eaten stuff like this a lot when he was very young. His mother would also make noodles on the anniversary of their marriage, on his father's birthday, and on the anniversary of his death. The reason they decided to eat here was because Owari mentioned he hadn't had noodles in a long time and Noel had suggested stopping here for dinner. However after ordering and seeing the chopsticks sitting on top of the bowl she just stared at them as if she wasn't sure what to do with them. Owari watched her for a bit as he wondered if she would ask for help, before realizing she was too embarrassed. She had been the one to suggest coming here, and being as stubborn as she was she didn't want to admit she had no idea what to do now. Owari just laughed and picked up his chopsticks, snapping them apart perfectly down the center and placing them in his hand.

"I can teach you if you want." He threw out a lifeline for her since he felt it would be a pity to waste the noodles.

"I suppose since you are offering it would be rude of me to decline the help." She looked over at him with a forced smile.

"Alright, it shouldn't be too hard to pick up if you're good with your hands. Just watch me." Owari used his chopsticks to reach in and grab a bit of noodles.

Noel grabbed her own chopsticks and broke them in two, she also managed to snap them perfectly like Owari making her feel more confident. After that was a long few minutes as Owari showed off how to use them and how to hold them and she tried and failed to do so. In the end he just grabbed her hand and helped her directly. Of course she was super embarrassed both by the fact that she had failed and because he was grabbing her hand. She wasn't really used to touching other people so it was even more noticeable for her, however she didn't say anything to stop him because she wanted to learn how to use the chopsticks.

Although it seemed easy that was only because Owari had been using them his whole life. Even if she was good with her hands it would be impossible to learn just from watching him show off a bit, if it was that easy then there would be no need for people to take years to learn and master instruments or martial arts. After he had finally showed her how to balance them and grip things properly without them sliding through he finally let her hand go and the two started eating. Although the noodles had gotten cool by this point they were still good, so they were quite satisfied with the meal. Noel was especially satisfied since she hadn't really eaten something like it before, and the feeling of eating with chopsticks was quite fresh for her and made it feel different from a regular meal. She was even more happy to have learned how to use the chopsticks properly by the end.

After they ate dinner the two decided to separate, mostly because Morgana was starting to look like she would make them do so. Of course they both realized some of that would probably be because she had yet to eat all day other than maybe breakfast. Of course as your mana reserves increased and you became stronger such things would have less and less effect on you, but it was still an important part of the day for most people. For instance with Noel's mana reserves she could go a whole day or two without eating each week and be fine, but she still ate everyday. It was all a matter of preference, and Morgana only abstained from eating due to her work ethic.

Other than the food there was also the simple reason that they had spent the entire day together. They would probably go through the night as well if given the chance and Noel had work to do the next day. Since that was the case it was fine to just separate and promise to see one another again later. Owari went home and fell asleep quite quickly as he had only just gotten back from his forest excursion and then spent the next day walking around the city. Although he had a lot of stamina and it didn't exhaust him, it was enough to tire him out to the point of getting an early rest.

Owari woke up the next day and wasn't really sure what to spend the day doing. After thinking for a while he eventually settled on spending the day going around the city and going to all the bookstores and libraries to look for reading material. He picked up over a dozen books on magical beasts, affinities, and mana. After that he spent the entire day partially meditating and partially working his way through the various books he had, cross-referencing between them to get a clearer picture of the whole situation. Although many people would think it would be better to go one at a time, Owari had a different way of thinking. In his opinion everything was connected and only by trying to see the bigger picture and putting everything together would he be able to make the most progress.

Each of these subjects played off the other and by studying them simultaneously he was able to see these connections more easily. It was these small connections that seem unimportant that he would be able to make use of in the future. Like how he used his entire body and every muscle, ligament, tendon, bone, and even his respiratory and blood circulation systems to create and improve his martial art. He couldn't afford to miss even a single part of the whole or the end result would be exponentially less effective then if he took the time and effort to do things right.

As the day dragged on he noticed it was getting late, Owari contemplated going to visit Rebecca. Of the people who he had interacted with at the train crash she was the one he had the least experience with. Since Lance was a guy and he felt more natural around him and the two were very similar it was easy to get along with him, as for Noel not only had he spent three days straight with her the two were also quite alike. However Rebecca was quite different from him. Because of this she was also the one that he had the most trouble interacting with. Thinking about it though, he decided to go try and visit her. She had already expressed an interest in befriending him and he had already said he would go talk to her the last time they met, so it would be very rude to ignore the fact that she existed just because he wasn't as sure how to interact with her.

Once he made his decision he acted immediately and made his way out of his room and towards her house. It took him less than half an hour to arrive, and looking at the building he was a bit surprised. Her home was in the residential district, and the place was actually a small two-story home. It was quite ordinary with white painted walls, a brown tiled roof, small but clean windows in most of the rooms, and a garage off to the side big enough for a single car. It could be said to be a classic family home, however it didn't seem to fit the image of a potential elite hunter that Rebecca could be considered. Owari shrugged and walked over to the door, after all he doubted she had lied to him and she seemed too clever to make such a simple mistake.

When he knocked on the door it only took a couple minutes before someone ran over and yanked the door open. Owari was surprised once again as he saw the blonde boy from the park standing in the door. When the kid saw who it was he scowled. "Oh it's you. What do you want?"

"Is Rebecca here?" Owari didn't bother reacting to the boy's clearly hostile reaction.

"Yeah, why do you want to know?" He glared at Owari as if he was suspicious of him.

"I told her last time we talked that we would talk again another time. It's another time so I came to have a chat." Owari just said what he thought and didn't mind that he was talking to a kid or that said kid clearly didn't like him.

"And what if I don't want to let you in?" The boy puffed out his chest with false bravado.

"I'll just leave and the next time I see her I'll tell her what happened when I came to visit." Owari wasn't really saying this as a threat, he was just saying exactly what he would do.

"Fine I'll go tell her you're here." The boy however suddenly became very agreeable and ran off into the house.

Owari didn't really mind the boy's sudden tone shift and just stood by the open door zoning out while thinking of all the stuff he read earlier. Soon enough Rebecca came out from one of the rooms and looked at the door with a confused face before she saw Owari and suddenly seemed to understand something. She walked over to him with a smile. "Well I didn't expect you to actually ever show up."

"You told me to come visit before, and even gave me your address. Why wouldn't I?" Owari asked with a hint of amusement, he wondered what part of him made her think he wouldn't just show up randomly one day.

"You just didn't strike me as the proactive type when it came to these types of things." Rebecca honestly gave her opinion.

"I'm used to being the one to initiate conversations with friends." Owari shrugged, he was the one among his three childhood friends who worked hardest to get them together to hang out. This much was nothing in comparison.

"Well I'm glad you would consider me a friend. How about you come in?" Rebecca laughed and walked into the house without waiting for Owari to answer.

"Alright then." Owari entered the house and followed Rebecca. He noticed that she was wearing very plain clothing, not much different from the kind of clothing he usually wears. If he recalled the other times he had seen her she was in much fancier clothing.

"We just finished dinner so I'm sorry I can't offer for you to join us." Rebecca called out as they approached the room she had exited earlier.

"That's fine, I ate already anyway. So are you watching those kids again?" Owari asked with a hint of curiosity as they entered what looked to be a living room. It had a couch and a chair to one side, and a small table between them. Off to one side were a few bookcases filled with books and in the center of the room were the three kids from before along with a fourth kid. The new kid was a young girl, she looked very average with black hair and light skin, and she was older than the others, closer to 12 or 13,

"Yeah I am. I usually end up watching them these days since everyone else had been busy planning for a large expedition coming up soon. Seems the agency found some big secret place near the city and we plan to go there. Annoyingly that leaves me with these ones all the time these days." Although her words implied she hated it, her tone indicated that she actually didn't mind it so much.

"Sounds exciting." Owari didn't specify which part of her statement he was referring to, though Rebecca had a good idea.

"Well that's not really too important. So did you come over for any specific reason or was it just to chat?" Rebecca sat down in the chair and indicated Owari could sit wherever he liked.

"I don't really think this stuff through." Owari admitted without a shred of shame as he sat down cross-legged on the couch.

"You're even worse than Lance." Rebecca laughed as she realized the two of them were quite similar, both Owari and Lance were very go with the flow type people. However at least Lance would make some plan before he did something even if he didn't intend to stick to it at all.

"Why are you sitting like that?" Before Owari could ask what she meant by that, the older girl he hadn't met before looked over and asked him that.

"Because it's comfortable." Owari answered back without being at all bothered that he was interrupted.

The girl seemed to think for a moment before she folded her legs together and copied him. "You lied." Was all she said before she went back to reading, though she didn't stop sitting like that.

"Don't mind her. She doesn't like to talk with people much." Rebecca watched from the side with amusement.

"I didn't lie, you're doing it wrong." Owari ignored Rebecca and responded back to the little girl. "Your left leg is too close to your body, it'll pinch the space behind your knee. Your bending your upper body too far forward, it'll cause your ribs to poke into your lungs and make it uncomfortable to breath." Owari instructed the girl who fixed her posture without saying anything.

"Oh, you're right." She stated plainly after a moment.

"Told you." Owari glanced at the book she was reading. It was a pretty big book and from the bit he saw it was about magical beasts.

"Well you two seem to get along." Rebecca noted from the side, feeling a bit left out.

"She's a lot like me." Owari just smiled as he remembered himself from a few years back who would sit over countless books trying to piece together even a single shred of knowledge that might help him one day.

"Is that so?" Rebecca didn't doubt what he said at all. "I hope she has a similar talent as you. She was born with a strong water affinity which is one of our agency's specialties. Unfortunately she has below average mana capacity, and that coupled with her unresponsiveness makes most of the people just leave her to her own devices. Because of that she hasn't been able to live up to her full potential." She talked as if it was a pity.

"Is that so?" Owari wasn't really good with kids so of course he wouldn't be able to help in that regard. But as he watched the girl reading her book he got a bit interested in her. "Hey kid, I see you're reading a book about magical beasts." He suddenly called out to her, however she showed no signs of responding.

"See? She doesn't even react." Rebecca sighed.

Owari ignored Rebecca and for a bit as he observed the girl. Suddenly he had an idea and his haori shuffled on one side before a moth head peaked out. After another moment the moth fluttered its wings and flew out from his haori and around the room once surprising everyone. It was quite big being the size of a person's hand, among the kids the younger girl seemed very startled as she ran and hid by Rebecca in fear of the big bug. The blonde boy backed away a bit as if he disliked the moth as much as it's master. The bigger boy showed no signs of reacting one way or the other as he played with some game pieces from a few separate games. As for the older girl she didn't react until the moth suddenly landed in front of her.

When she saw it she didn't react with disgust or fear, and instead showed a look of interest. She reached her hand out and poked the moth on the head with her finger. Owari allowed it since the moth detected no hostility from her, however it felt quite weird. By this point he had connected his mind to the moth completely so it was more like a part of him like his arm or leg than a separate entity. Because of this it was a bit of an odd feeling as she poked the moth's head, but he just shut that connection off. He was focused on the problem at hand instead of something as minor as that. Seeing her respond so positively to the moth, Owari was confident he could communicate with the girl.