Kyrion and his friends had to take three trucks off the campus. One was driven by Max and Bella, another by Cecil, and the third by Berry, formerly known as Raven. He wore noticeably less black now and had a bland look about him as he carefully drove the vehicle he helped develop. His passengers were Bastion, Illanda, Cordelia, and the Headmaster.

The path was bumpy and long, but they arrived before noon. A feat unmatched when compared to the speed of an average carriage.

Clast was a large port town, primarily slums with large houses belonging to various officials. Many of the buildings were in disarray. Years of no repair became more and more apparent the longer he looked.

Kyrion smelled something delicious.

“Hey don’t wander off.” Minah tried to grab him. But the boy passed into a crowd and disappeared.

“We need to go after that idiot.”

“He’ll be fine. Knowing him, he’ll come back with either a kid or a friend.” Tiffany eyed Eden, who flinched, then Bastion, who shrugged.

“If he finds a kid here then. Then all hope is lost.” Cordelia squinted.

“Why is that?” Max asked.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Kyrion entered a stall selling gyros and placed his hand in the bulky pouch on his hip, opening up his domain and withdrawing two gold coins for a Kyrion-sized portion.

“One of each, and whatever extra this gets me.”

“High rolling aren’t you.” The cook said.

“I manage.” Kyrion took his food and noticed someone carefully approaching. They proceeded to snatch the pouch off his hip and ran off. Quite smooth. A normal person wouldn’t have noticed the maneuver. Sadly they robbed Kyrion, and he made it his prerogative to teach them a lesson.

Kyrion long ago stopped keeping money on his person. That bag contained various wood chips coated in contact laxatives that would give anyone practitioner rank and ill-prepared a bad day. Anyone under-practitioner would have a bad week. After that, he loaded his bag with a few other seeds and pouched the mixture dubbed his last surprise.

With his haul, Kyrion sat on a bench next to a sizeable brown-haired boy sleeping. Since people seemed to actively avoid that bench.

Opening a wrapper, Kyrion began to take a bite when a large growl could be heard.

“Hey man, let me get a bite.” The brown-haired boy said in a trance.

“Take the whole thing. This one is mine. But.” Kyrion tossed his neighbor a different gyro.

“Ah, thanks.” Both gluttons consumed their snacks.

“Well I gotta go, stranger. Headed overseas for a while.”

“Name isn’t stranger, people here call me Sloth, though my real name is Sinbad.”

“Names Kyr. Nice to meet you. Until next time. Also, watch out for pickpockets. I’ve run into quite a few lately.” Kyrion stood after carefully disposing of his remaining sandwiches and headed to the port. Hopefully, he won’t get into any trouble along the way.

“Is that so? Shame a nice guy like you was robbed.”

Hmmm? Oh no, I didn’t lose anything important. Although the place may get a bit loud for a while. Nice to meet you, Sinbad.” Kyrion walked away. He didn’t want to be left behind after all.

Sinbad watched as Kyrion left, laying back on his bench.” Who was that weirdo?”

The ship was a relatively small vessel capable of transporting minimal equipment. The trucks were too dense to go on the boat. And the captain would prefer it if the ship wasn’t cramped.

This led to all three trucks getting rolled into Kyrion’s domain.

Cordelia bid them farewell as she boarded another ship. One of a noticeably larger size.

“Now my young impressionable students, let’s board the ship for training awaits.”

A very unenthusiastic cheer was let loose from Ander, who seemed to be sweating profusely.

“You don’t want to train?” Brion asked.

“I don’t want to get on that thing.” Ander looks at the ship with disdain.

“You’d think that someone like you would love ships.” Brion sighed.

Minah approached. “Is there a problem?” The former rank one asked.

“I don’t think I can make it.” Ander stated as he looked to the ground.

“Is that so?” Minah made a face that resembled a smile.

Max recognized it immediately and decided to get on the ship before being targeted.

“Let me help you on board.” Minah grabbed his shoulder.

“Wha?” A fist was embedded into Ander’s stomach, and the green-haired boy lost consciousness.

“Great. Now I gotta carry him on board.” Brion sighed as he tossed him over a shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“Oi! Save the fighting for when we’ve docked!” Kyrion yelled from the top of the main mast.”

“How did… Nevermind.” Brion shook his head as he boarded.

Eden and Bastion were talking with Mildred, who had apparently come along for diplomatic reasons.

Cecil was drawing up blueprints while Bella and Tiffany discussed joint training exercises.

All and all, this trip was going to be good.

“Hello?” A buzzing sound from behind Kyrion almost caught him off guard.

“Oh. Hel. Shouldn’t you be literally anywhere else? There are other masts to stand on.”

“Shouldn’t you be with your friends. Conversing?”

“I will, eventually. Just came up here for some peace and quiet. I like to climb up high surfaces to clear my mind. It’s relaxing to me.” But, truth be told, that was a lie. Kyrion wanted to see the fallout with his own eyes.

“I get the feeling that something else is wrong? You’re watching everyone like you’re not sure if you should be trusting them.”

“That is a wrong observation. I’m making sure things run smoothly. As captain it is my duty to make sure nothing too crazy goes on. Do you happen to know if Minah is a punch first, think later kinda person?”

“Yeah…She isn’t one for forethought or planning. Is that going to be a problem?”

“Ugh…Do you mind looking after the girls’ side of things? You seem to have a clearer head than most.”

“Is that an insult?” Hel asked.

“No idea. You seem to be responsible so…” Kyrion got into a meditative stance and sent out a wave of his mana. Spreading his consciousness to the pouch containing seeds.

“So what?” Hel scowled.

“So worth it.” Kyrion had a smile so cold it could freeze the ocean.

Boom!

A yellow cloud of smoke rose up from an area near the slums. It wasn’t in any dilapidated building. No, it was in one of the estates that Kyrion learned belonged to a local crime lord. Figures of all kinds began fleeing the building as the windows were knocked out by a gust of something inside. Then bugs from all over seemingly began to flock towards the estate, so numerous that they could be seen from a distance. They were after something in the estate.

“What’s going on over there? My bugs are acting up,” Hel asked.

“Don’t worry your pretty little head. I’m sure what’s going on has no connection to anyone still boarding the boat. And I’ve been up here this whole time talking with you and being seen.”

“Pretty?” Hel flushed.

Kyrion pinched the bridge of his nose. “You stopped paying attention there didn’t you.”

“Huh?”

Kyrion reentered his meditation and found that there were still people in the building, so his next attack was a big one. He released spores that caused shortness of breath and confusion with a side effect that added purple spots all over their skin.

Screams erupted from the port city of Clast as people tried to escape. Now that the building was empty, Kyrion released the termite bait.

Among the series of bugs, termites became the most prevalent. That building would be lost in hours. Had it been in the slums, he wouldn’t have gone that route, but this was organized crime, and they thought they could get away with robbing him.

Eventually, the local spirit masters arrived in a wave, some protecting the civilians and others dealing with the infestation of countless insects. If they wanted to save the building, then they couldn’t afford to go all out, but if they didn’t go all out, the termites would get too far into the building to be detected. That was when Kyion felt pressure. Someone was starting to trace his mana. Kyrion smiled when he realized who it was and killed his connection to the chaos he had caused.