"what the zaltess and zalts every loving story is this!!" Hadar blinked at the thing floating before her. all her guards were pointing their weapons at it. but it didn't move, she wondered if it was a beast of some kind. she silently signaled for one of her guards to get closer and investigate, reaching for her own weapon.

"no reaction," the guard reported tapping the object with her blade. it showed no reaction and didn't mean a good thing, if it was a loving thing it didn't consider the sword a threat. when she swung with force her sword broke causing them all to step back. whatever it was, it was durably. stronger their weapons, when she tried to step back, the object moved with her 'it's here for me, but why?'

knowing only one way to get answers she stepped forward, hand never leaving her weapon. when she was in reach, the thing opened revealing a large pile of cloth. slowly ready to retract her arms she grabbed one of the bundles pulling out and examining it.

"clothing?" this left the ruler more than confused, who on Augustine would send her clothes? who could send her clothes like this? was it some kind of threat, a political move? she considered it as she pulled out the rest of the strange clothing. it was genuinely nothing she has seen before, but she didn't think it was in bad taste.

"still bring the question of who sent you?" the object didn't respond, she doubt it would and believed it was some kind of delivery thing. all it did was float out of her office and into the sky, into the stars. "space? it came from outer space?" was their life in the stars?

"guards have some wine and other drinks brought up to my room, I believe I'll need it." she could already feel her mind going into overdrive. she was going to find out who was the cause of this.

"Why did I just get a bad feeling?" several hundred thousand miles away aero blinked some a sensation flooded his body. he considered it more annoying as it wasn't the feeling of a creature about to attack. 'my lord, it may have something to do with the deliver happening today.' aero blinked before deciding that they were probably right, it wasn't guaranteed the leaders of Augustine would react possibly to his gift. some of them would react negatively.

"I don't believe I can take an army at this point, so I guess that leaves evasion right?" he thought to himself, wondering how he could gain the ability to take an army. the helper suggested area-of-effect melodies, aero knew a few of those but didn't use them as he didn't usually go on missions that need such a wide area of damage.

the mission with the babbits was a different matter, he used all of them that day and still lost. if the mission hadn't been taken care of when he left the hospital he would have gone for round two. which probably would have included a forest fire.' probably a good thing, so what kind of melodies should I look into?'

he turned the thought over in his head as tzilla practiced her swings trying to get her axes to move faster. progress wasn't visible, but from the way, her pride fluctuated she was happy with how it was going. so it wasn't a problem for him, he counted to silently watch. not saying anything as the day passed, idit arrived at one point and he spared with her.

she was getting better at keeping a beat, but much work was to be done. he himself needed some work, teaching has helped him spot a few flaws in his ability. which he could figure out how to cover so he could get better at fighting.' i could also add some versatility to the melodies I use!', going over past battles he preferred through that moved fluidly with him. which was also implied in how he danced, "so I guess something of the earth would be good practice."

taking some space from the rest of his team, closing his eyes he went over the notes in his head making sure he knew them before he started moving. with each note played in a matter of movements, he felt the power building around his hands. mid-motion inspiration struck, and he used his recent dancing lessons to transfer the melody from his hands to his feet. with a stomp, the stone broke and rearranged.

a stone wall rose before him, but he didn't stop there, another melody was quickly crafted. the power moved with him as he struck the way, each hit shooting off a chunk of the wall. they feel a few feet before breaking against the ground. he was able to get off 6 shots before the backlash of the melody became noticeable, he stopped there. no point in hurting myself while training.

after confirming he hadn't cracked his bone he worked on another melody. this one attached rocks to the end of his staff turning it into a hammer. a medley he learned in case he needed to crack open some thick shell. the change in weight almost knocked him over. but years of training kept his feet flat while he adjusted his hold. 'okay this is something is should practice with more.'

thankfully this medley didn't need to be kept up, the makeshift hammer would fall apart when the damage reached a certain point. then he would have to do it again, "the change in weight changes my center of balance when I swing. I can't change directions easily with a hammer." mumbling to himself he practice swinging until his arms were tired.

swinging his staff at the ground he shattered the makeshift hammer, "okay that's good," he stretched out his limbs trying to register something other than a pain in his arms. "might have been a bit overboard."

"oh certainly overboard," he commented the next morning when his arms were sore and tender. grumbling he knew he should take it easy on them today or they would be tender for while. it didn't stop him from practicing his footwork or kicking Galia during a spar. though she blocked hard and his feet ached, along with the carapace in the area. he looked it over after the spar and saw that it was fine. though it stung.

'ah this is just bad isn't it,' either way he rested the next day, taking the time to maintain his gear looking over his cart and a few other small tasks. "everything seems to be in good order."

"That's good," aero didn't jump but he did almost knock out idit." you know personally I forget to do that sometimes or pay someone else to take a real good look." aero rolled his eyes and told her he didn't need anyone to look over his things. "your really sell reliant, I'm kind of jealous. but also worried," she paused notching the way aero tensed. she rolled the next words over her tongue for a moment.

"for anyone to be so untrusting in the smallest of things, it's kind of scary."

"well I don't like it either, but you've seen how people treat Me despite the fact I've been in the news. despite my years of training, and the mission I've completed. people still think I need protection! I am strong why won't they acknowledge that!" his pulse was racing, his fist clenched, and his pride energy was fluctuating ready to act. but he didn't let it show, forcing himself to look as calm as he could. while doing to best to reign in his emotions.

'i refuse to let the actions of people whose names I can't care to remember! make me lose control!' idit watched aero, her leader himself said he was prideful. she couldn't imagine how much it frustrated him when the skill and power he healed at such a high value was doubted by everyone he meet.

'no wonder he doesn't want to spend time around people, I wonder how close he's been to seriously hurting someone?' she already saw aero was willing to use violence, but if he was patient or short-tempered she couldn't tell. he definitely had self-control, but one day it would be enough. he's been expelled for violence, which made her wonder if people were too interested in his life for it to end up in the papers. "proving yourself be getting old."

"it's been old for years! but as long as they keep doubting me I'll keep fighting!"

"would you mind if I helped as well?" aero didn't hold back his suspicion. he reminded idit of a creature that's scented a threat. ready to jump into fight or flight at the moment. idit didn't back down from the suspicion. instead," I don't feel too safe if our team leader tires himself out proving himself to people. we need that energy for our missions right?"

right," he huffed before standing up and away from his cart. "alright you can help. leading a team is difficult, but I do know my limits!" then he headed up to the room leaving idit to roll her eyes but with thoughts. 'this is going a lot different than I thought it would,' but she did choose this in a fit of boredom.

the next morning idit was watching her leader a bit more, especially how people acted around him. 'i don't know if they're cautious because he's shown violence or because he is different from the average guy. maybe it's both?' it was something she thought a bit more than necessary. but it was fun to think about even as the conclusion she came to was that it was both.

"so how do I help?" idit asked herself," do I tell people to respect his skills? or give them a warning when they come close to something that might cause him to blow?" both were possible options. but field testing them would be the big matter, "thankful were traveling so plenty of people to test with."

as if the Zaltess were listening to them. that afternoon, someone came around while half the team went into town to grab some hygiene products. of course, while getting these products the seller in an attempt to make small talk asked why aero had his bodyguards at this moment. "wrong," idit quickly injected while Aero grabbed his staff." he's our team leader, does he look like someone who needs protecting?"

"well I guess not," the seller said, her eyes locked on the staff aero was ready to pull out. "sorry for the assumptions." now aero was stopped, trying to decide what move to make next. idit assumed that he decided to not cause trouble, in truth, the helper talked him down.

But this event up idit on guard about this matter, though something seemed to bother aero when she corrected people. she didn't ask while in public, though she did keep an eye on him. 'can't have him blowing up about,' she was unaware of the young lord venting to the helper.

"no matter how many times they've tried to talk to them, people rarely believed me! but this woman says it once and people are ears!' while he was mostly frustrated to the point he couldn't unclench his fist. but a part of his was relieved, now he didn't have to explain himself so many times.

aero eventually decides to give in to the part he rarely did, the part of his was that tired. it was nice to not have to deal with people, and it a nice to not have to correct people several times. they were able to get their shopping done in a relatively good time frame.

"Okay that's everything and in a few days the new weapons should be done," Idit's mixed expression returned. aero paid more attention to it this time, but he didn't say anything. he didn't know what to say. 'only experience can tell you what to say in these situations and even then your words might not always be right!' the helper's words cut into his thoughts.

'but most at least appreciate an attempt to comfort them, a reminder that they are not alone.' their words rang true and aero would appreciate the attempt though most did it wrong. but his mother always knew what to do. she had plenty of practice with him.

'well, it's time to improve myself!' aero's determination faltered silty when he came face to face with idit. "something is bothering you!" it was blunt and sounded very forced but he got his point across," can I do anything about it?"

"wow you sound incredibly awkward," aero huffed but didn't say anything," and not really I'm just thinking about today and a lot of it is bothering me." aero blinked, then he asked what part trying to get a better idea to bring the conversation. "when you said people doubted you, I didn't know the scale until today. based on your experience how bad was today?"

"mild in terms of doubt, but only because people believed you and didn't push." aero took a deep breath to push away the emotion that rose at the words," I don't know if it will make you feel better, but people ask out of concern. not that it needed."

"you are strong," idit has fought him. his strength was clear. "I think they're just going with what they know when they deal with you."

"then it's time for them to learn something new! still interested in helping me?" idit huffed, "you don't make it far as a hunter without strong determination!" aero felt his expression twitch out of control for a moment. but he quickly pushed it down. "let's talk about something else, your new weapons how are you doing so far?"

"yes, it was a bit more complex than I thought but I'm getting better."

"then you can join the rest of us in training, let's hope you don't look too as bad as before." idit made a face at the comment, she clearly wasn't looking forward to it, and internally she was considering how she could train continue in secret until she reached a decent level. "tzilla's still working on her swing?"

"she's getting better, less time for you to dodge!"