The Game is On

Sparking Thunder raised his head, looking around. He didn’t remember why he had a headache or why everything seemed so… strange. Colors and lights were brighter, smells were stronger, and the gentle, cool breeze that slowly passed through his feathers felt, somehow, different.

When he was a bit more lucid, he began to notice small things. There was a cool refreshing breeze… but he remembered they were in winter. The breeze blowing slowly through his feathers wasn’t only on his wings, but all over his head and chest. He positioned his hooves so he could get up, only to feel them part in four at the contact. Looking at his hooves, he had instead found four sharp-looking talons at the end of his bird-like fore-legs.

Looking around the room, he noticed it wasn’t his: a wooden room not very large, enough for a bed, a wardrobe and a small table at the center, but still large enough for him to stretch his wings, or so he hoped. Looking at the window at one side of the room, Sparking Thunder noticed it was opened and was ample; there was a door that took up the span of the wall, allowing him to reach the balcony. Careful not to stumble on his own new body, Thunder walked to the balcony to take a look around.

The city wasn’t one he knew. Mostly wooden houses and buildings with plenty of griffins walking here and there, but a few other races also appeared once and again. He then noticed that his vision was a lot keener than before, enabling him to notice details he wouldn’t normally, like how many ponies walked around with armor and weapons strapped on their backs.

Stretching his wings, he noticed he had full control over it without problems, but instead of taking off, he folded back his wings and walked back inside. Inspecting the wardrobe, Sparking Thunder found what he wanted: a mirror that would show him his full figure. What looked back at him was a tall male griffin with white feathers on his face and chest except for the golden yellow ones under his eyes and from the top of his beak’s base up. Remembering that griffins don’t have cutie marks, he wondered if those feathers would be the reminder of his.

Talking about his cutie mark, he decided to finish looking himself over. His lion back body had a gold coat and supported his long wings as well as his wildly moving tail. Just to be sure, he gazed at his strong lion flanks and, much to his surprise, there were the three thunders that had appeared on his flank after his first attempt at weather magic.

After he blinked a couple times out of the surprise, he looked inside the wardrobe, but it was utterly empty. Not surprising exactly, but he still waited on something for him there. Besides he preferred to walk around nude, like most other ponies, he preferred having a choice to go nude or clothing as he saw fit.

Shaking his head, he decided to look for somepony to help him sort out what had happened there. Before he could reach it though, someone opened the door. A female griffin stood in front of him, white feathers on her head and chest, but for the red halos around her eyes. The side of her beak had a rather large scar that continued until half way under her right eye. Some of the plumes from her forehead were carefully pointed backwards, giving her an appearance a bit frightening. And it didn’t help that her lion back torso was strong and powerful and also sustained a few scars, almost hidden under her mud-brown coat. She was clothed in a garment that was mostly a hardened leather armor specially designed to let the wings of the griffins free and a bow resting on her back, with a quiver of arrows strapped to her left side.

“Finally you’re awake.” the unknown griffin had said as soon as the door opened. For some reason, Thunder couldn’t take his gaze away from the griffin’s blue eyes. “That’s good. Where are you from?”

“What?” Thunder asked in confusion.

“With so many griffins it had to be a deaf one…” she whispered to herself, even if Sparking Thunder’s keen hearing allowed him to listen. “Let’s try again. My name is Karyn Feathercrown, lead Instructor of this facility. And what’s your name?”

“I’m Sparking Thunder, sir!” he answered.

“Sparking Thunder… That’s a pony name, isn’t it?” she asked.

Wow… no game ever had such great interaction systems… he thought. “Yes, ma’am, it is. I was raised in a pony village since I can remember, so I received a pony name.”

“Whatever. Around here, Sparky, better you call yourself Thunder,” that got a lot of Sparking Thunder’s curiosity. How they made an NPC able to create nicknames? It was amazing! The degree of interaction the NPC’s managed to have there in this game! And allied with his magical headset’s virtual reality, this world could not be more real to him! “Now we should get going. We need you to have a bow and some arrows so you can get started. Also, we need to give you some guide about our world before you can be left by yourself.”

“I’m up to it, Ma’am!”

“Good. By the way, what's your experience with bows and arrows?” she asked seriously.

“I… never shot an arrow in my life…” Thunder answered nervously.

Not seeming to be much surprised, she only nodded, “So we should start your training now if you’re going to be of any use. Follow me.”

Karyn then headed outside the room. Thunder quickly followed her with a smile. He wondered for an instant if she wasn’t another of the players testing this expansion of the game. His vision then, focused on the graphics. The flanks of the griffin in front of him swinging from one side to another, those muscles working as she just walked around… He just loved this game!

They walked for about a minute when she stopped in front of a door. “This is the armory,” Karyn started and opened the door to reveal a few pegasi and many griffins busy working inside. “In there, we craft the best ranger suits of all Myakros, as well as the best bows known.”

She entered the armory as Thunder looked around. The pegasi there were working more on organizing everything while it was the griffin that did most of the craftsmanship. Thunder stopped at Karyn’s side by the counter.

“Hi there, Karyn, so this is the new guy sent to join our forces?” asked a strong male griffin. He didn’t wear a ranger suit, neither had a bow. In his white face, though, he had two red stripes bellow his eyes and a few feathers spiked above his head.

“Yes. This is Thunder. He’ll need to be instructed from the very start. As we guessed, we couldn’t truly trust in receiving an army of useful warriors. Bring something simple for his training and take measurements. Start preparing a basic ranger suit for him to get some protection,” then turning to Thunder, Karyn said, “This is Baldok Grimclaw, Sparky. He’s the best at crafting both ranger suits and bows, so you should be proud in getting armor from him.”

Thunder nodded and bowed to Baldok. “Thank you, sir!” he said.

“Sparky, eh? Don’t let any more griffins know that nickname or it would be hell for you,” Baldok chuckled. Then, the bulky griffin took from under the counter a simple wooden bow and a quiver with ten arrows. “Here, I guess it’s enough to start your training.”

Karyn raised an eyebrow. “Are we in shortage of arrows?” she asked.

“No, we’re not.”

“You, damn chicken, gave me two full quivers and said I was to return when those were gone… And you say he’s set with ten arrows?” she looked a bit more angry.

“You keep forgetting that I’ve learned to see more than just the body and the determination. I see the potential of this little fella. He’ll do fine by his tenth shot.”

“Thank you, sir!” Thunder nodded and took the arrows, bow, and the quiver, strapping them properly on his body.

With a small snort, Karyn turned to Thunder, “Come on, Sparky. Let’s see this ‘potential’ of yours.” He only nodded and followed her.

Their next stop was the training grounds. Thunder quickly noticed the differences between all tribes, and yes, there were ponies of all tribes. Hippogriffs and griffins didn’t have any problems due to their talons. Ponies and zebras though had a major problem. They had to use special horseshoes that allowed them to grip the bow and hold the arrow. But he quickly noticed that none of them had ranger suits, so they should be at his level.

Karyn though made Thunder stop as she talked with another instructor. Suddenly there was laughter before Karyn cut it short. She seemed to agree with something that instructor said before both of them turned their attention to him. This new instructor was also female and had a strong build. Thunder noticed that her right foreleg was badly hurt and she had no way to shoot anymore.

“Hey you, new guy!” she called his attention. “I was told…” Thunder noticed her eyes focusing on his flank. He got a bit embarrassed but stood still. “Is that a fucking cutie mark?”

“Yes, ma’am! I have come from Equestria, where I am truly a pegasus, ma’am!”

The two griffins cast a glance at each other. Then turned to him, “That’s not important right now, but we’ll discuss about that later,” the new instructor told him. “Karyn said you only received ten arrows from Baldok and that you had never shot before in your life. Well, my name is Garuna Razorwings and I was instructor back at time when Karyn here was an egg. You’ll find out that my training is hard and not something you’ll enjoy much if you’re not into giving your damn best. See those targets? For you to be qualified, your last, or better, only ten shots must sum at least four hundred fifty points. The black area is worth ten points, the blue twenty, the green thirty, the red fifty, and the center is one hundred points. If you miss the target, it’s minus twenty points.

“To shoot arrows, the easiest ways is to be flying or to use your wings as back weight. I guess that the flying way is an easy enough concept, let’s try the back weight,” Garuna said. “Raise on your hindlegs, open your wings to balance yourself, aim and shoot. Like this…”

Karyn then took the signal and rose on her hindlegs and stiffened her wings back of her. Pulling her bow, much better looking than his, she took out an arrow and slowly placed it on the bow’s string. Pulling the arrow three times and relaxing, she first took aim and then pulled the string to its fullest. The wooden bow made a nice curve as the string was tensed and the arrow pointed towards the targets. As she let it loose, the arrow traveled through the air very quickly and found its home on the red area of the target. A pegasus then went to the target and took off the arrow before the next shot would be fired.

Thunder was looking with appreciation. All those hours spent playing the Kinect system would finally be worth it! He assumed his position and, as Karyn did, he got on his hindlegs, opened his wings, brought down his bow and took off an arrow. His eyes then focused on the bow: somehow, he knew something was wrong. He did as Karyn did, and on the third pull, he could swear he heard a small crack. Replacing the arrow on the quiver, he placed a paw on the ground and presented his bow to Karyn. “I heard it crack,” Thunder said.

Raising an eyebrow, Karyn took the bow and pulled it one time. Then she noticed that he was right, there was a small cracking sound. “Some brute student must have pulled it too hard,” she said. “Garuna, find a bow for him while I go have a talk with Baldok about lending a broken bow to an apprentice.” After that, Karyn left them alone.

Garuna nodded, turning around and grabbing an unused bow laying there. Lending it to Thunder, she asked, “Are you sure you never shot before?”

Thunder prepared himself and again tested the bow. This time he was sure that it was alright. “Yes, this will be my very first shot…” he said as he readied the arrow.

“You seem confident.”

“If I miss, I only have to try again, right?” he said with a smile and pulled the arrow. The string tensed and the wooden bow curved nicely. “And besides… I’ve always dreamed about shooting a true bow…”

Surprised by his confidence in talking and shooting at same time, Garuna didn't even notice when he let the arrow loose. Looking at the target, her eyes widened even more: a hundred points first try!

“How did you--” Garuna looked at him and Thunder just chuckled.

Preparing another arrow, he took aim and released. The arrow missed the target by a few centimeters. “Dammit!” he cursed. However, the smile never left his face. “Well… at Equestria I had a few play bows and arrows. I loved shooting with them…” he explained as he readied another arrow. “The real thing is very different, but it’s also awfully familiar…” another arrow left his bow, hitting at the edge of the green area, almost on the red. “But it was a lot harder to shoot without talons. This is a great help, you know?”

A couple minutes later, Karyn returned. Looking at Thunder’s quiver, she noticed it was full with arrows and Garuna was now instructing more closely about techniques of handling the bow.

“What are you two doing?” Karyn asked as she approached them.

“Training of course,” Garuna answered simply.

Karyn shook her head, “Only after he reaches the minimum required with ten shots.”

“Four hundred sixty,” Garuna informed.

Karyn only raised her eyebrow, “You’re kidding me, right?” She then noticed the next arrow hit the red area of the target.

“He scored three bull’s-eyes among the ten shots.” Garuna managed to receive a raised eyebrow from Karyn. “And I assure you I didn’t help at all.”

Upon hearing that, Karyn returned her gaze at him and watched. Thunder relaxed, slowly placed the arrow on the string, and took aim. Karyn noticed that he breathed deeply again, and again. With his next breath, he held and released the arrow. Managing to surprise both instructors once again, Thunder hit the center of the target with another arrow.

Karyn looked at him wide-eyed, “No way that you managed to do that with only ten arrows! Most other cadets work months to do that, even a few work days is hard to manage!”

“Well… Baldok did say I had potential…” Thunder answered with a grin. “Well… what’s next?”

Karyn looked at Garuna. She only laughed at that. “Know what, boy? You remind me of a pegasus archer I trained a few years ago,” Garuna said with a smile. “Karyn was still an explorer back then. He didn’t managed what you did, but even so he all but smashed all the records that we had. He even learned a few tricks of his own that we’re still trying to understand…”

“Oh really? And what was his name?” Thunder asked.

“Blizzard Bash, known as the Blizzard Archer,” Garuna answered. Suddenly, Thunder’s eyes widened. “He was ferocious. Always heading to the next class until he was completely out of our grasp…”

Karyn, though, noticed Thunder’s expression and said, “Sorry, Garuna, but Sparky here has more training to do.” She then gave a small yank at Thunder’s tail. Brought back with a quick yelp, Thunder turned and followed Karyn. After they entered the door, Karyn said, “You know him.” And that wasn’t a question.

“Not exactly, but yes, I have heard of him back at Equestria…” Thunder admitted. “About a year back, there were six foals that mysteriously disappeared… One of them was a pegasus colt called Blizzard Bash…”

“That’s too much of a coincidence?” Karyn asked.

“Just too much…” Thunder agreed. “Only strange thing is that Garuna called it a ‘few years back’…”

“Your demeanor changed,” Karyn commented. “Before you seemed to be having fun, now you’re more worried. What happened?”

“Look… I’m just a sixteen year old pegasus colt where I live. Here, it seems I’ve turned into a prodigy sixteen-year-old archer griffin, but that’s not what I truly am,” Thunder answered. “If what happened to Blizzard Bash also happened to me… That is, considering it was the same Blizzard Bash we’re talking about to start with!”

“Your next lesson is with another tutor, it’s one thing I never truly mastered and I don’t see much of the reason for that. While you’re at it, I’ll try digging into some information to tell you if it’s something for you to worry about or not. But while it’s still unknown, better not hang onto the worst scenario you're thinking of."

Thunder nodded. When they stopped walking, he was again at Baldok’s door and Karyn rushed him inside. “Don’t you get tired of being right?” Karyn asked as they entered.

“Ha! That’s what you get by not believing my words. So, perfect score?”

“Just 460. Not as much as you guessed, I take it?” Karyn said with a smile.

“He’s still over two hundred points the usual newbies and ten points over the admission rate, so he’s just as high as I guessed, just not as much as I wanted,” the bulky griffon answered with a chuckle. Getting around his counter, Thunder could then see him fully and finally understand what a strong griffin is. Damn! His muscles were showing under his fur and those talons were really sharp! “Stiffen those wings chick. Let’s get a few measurements so I can start on your ranger suit.”

Following his order, Thunder looked at him curiously, “But I have no money…”

“Don’t worry about that!” Baldok answered back with a large smile. Mostly using his own vision, occasionally a tape for more precise parts, the old griffin never stopped conversation. “So, what it is like in where you came from?”

“Mostly, Equestria is a peaceful land. It has been like that for over a thousand years, since when Princess Twilight Sparkle officially moved to Canterlot Castle and ruled alongside Princess Luna and Princess Celestia…” Thunder answered.

“Equestria, eh? Hmmm… a peaceful land… I dream about that every day,” Baldok said. “Since that damn necromancer took power we don’t know what peace is.”

“Necromancer?” Thunder asked a little puzzled.

“A dark wizard that uses a horde of dead and demonic monsters to attack us,” Karyn answered. “We’re waiting for someone to defeat him, but so far not one ever appeared, as you can guess…”

Thunder looked at Baldok that was now measuring his wings, “And don’t you have someone fighting that necromancer as yet?”

“The Irilka Sages almost declared war on the necromancer already. But mostly all six clans fight the necromancer’s forces whenever we can.”

“All six clans?” Thunder asked.

“What’s this, Thunder? You have a cutie mark?”

“Long history, Baldok, and I would like if you focused just on the measurements, please,” Karyn said. Turning to Thunder, she continued, “The six clans are Keura Rangers, Horgen Paladins, Shivon Warlocks, Irilka Sages, Lenya’s Shamans, and Ternatta Ninjas. Each clan follow the teachings of one of our gods and, for that, they receive their names. We, the Keura Rangers, follow the teaching of the Goddess of Hunters. She provides us the meat that feed both griffins and hippogriffs.”

“Each clan is responsible to teach its members their trades without discrimination,” Baldok continued, measuring now the tail of Thunder. “You must have noticed we have zebras and earth ponies training In our facilities. Because they want to follow the teachings of Keura, and if that’s their wish, it’s up to them or the goddess to say when they have to stop.” Recollecting the tap, Baldok gave a slap on Thunder’s flank, “Tomorrow morning your suit will be ready.”

“Thank you,” Thunder said, looking then to Karyn. Then he took his bow and handed it to Baldok. “There… I’m done with it.”

The bulky griffin just smiled, “I’ll have something better for your first hunt tomorrow morning. See ya, guy!”

Thunder nodded and followed Karyn outside the room. Again on the corridors, Thunder asked, “Hunting?”

“You will learn the teachings of the Goddess of Hunters. One part of that is learning how to hunt. And pony or not at your Equestria, here you are a griffin, and griffins need meat as much as they need vegetables, or even more. Haven’t you noticed that you’re a mix between lion and eagle? Both of them are carnivorous…”

Thunder got a bit worried now, “And… how does meat taste?”

“Like meat. Sorry guy, only way to know is trying it," she answered.

“I was afraid you would say that…”

They walked a bit more in silence until Karyn stopped at the door, “This is your next instructor’s room. I won’t enter, or else she will talk me into trying this again and as I said, I never understood where an archer could use these teachings…”

With that, Thunder nodded and entered alone. The room was illumined by a single blue gem on the roof, he noticed. The windows were closed and, as soon as he entered, the door closed behind him. After no sunlight entered the room, he could see something different in the air. There were about twenty ponies there meditating, and all of them had a small smoke-like thin cloak around their bodies.

One griffin turned her head and looked at him. She had a soft expression and beautiful color of feathers in line that started under her eyes and turned up after leaving their range. Thunder judged the feathers to be pink, but at the blue light, it was rather hard to guess.

“Be welcome, young apprentice,” she almost sang at him. “Come and take a seat near me. I’ll be teaching you about the power that lies within your soul, the power we call essence.”

Curious, Thunder took a seat close to the griffin, “Is this power the source of that smoke around their bodies?”

Uncomfortably, Thunder felt a few eyes focus on him. The griffin though just said, “He seems to be a bit more gifted. That’s no reason for being angry at him.” She turned at him again, “It’s not easy to see the essence of other ponies, young one. Your sensibility is higher than usual for you to do that without any prior training. My name is Hira Hawkeye, by the way.”

“I am… Thunder,” he answered.

After a long and slow nod, Hira grinned and said, “Well, Thunder, shall we start?” After he sat and nodded, she continued, “The essence is basically when you focus your inner power to enable amazing results. Different from magic, it can be used by anyone and it’s often unconsciously. Griffins and pegasi use their essence to enable their flying, for example, while unicorns and hippogriffs are always converting their essence into magic. Earth ponies uses theirs to intensify their strength, speed and other aspects and zebras often use it to enhance their charms and brews. Of course, these are examples as how the tribes more often use their essence, not the utter truth of the essence.”

“Is… this real?”

“You tell me,” he looked at her puzzled. Only then Thunder noticed that she was actually floating a few inches above the ground with her wings folded. His eyes widened.

“Wow! This is incredible!”

She just gave him a smile. “I will be teaching you to reach your essence and easily manipulate it. But essence isn’t as simple as that. Essence users have to focus their essence in some way, and that focus varies from pony to pony,” nodding, Thunder waited for the next instruction. “Close your eyes. I need you to remember your past, look for any moment you had used your essence before, flying is the easiest to griffins. Hold the sensations of that moment, focus and try to feel the part of you that your essence is flowing stronger, as in the wings.”

Keeping his wings folded, Thunder focused the most as he could. Remembering how happy he was the first time he flew by his own. He held those moments and he remembered how his wings felt. They were open; the wind was passing through the feathers, the pressure both above and under the wings… Trying to remember something else, he imagined he was flying now, even if with the wings closed. He felt the flight magic warming his wings and focused on that sensation. He had always been told it was magic, but… if that was essence? He focused on that warmth, trying to isolate it from the flying imagination. Suddenly it began to spread from his wings to his back, then to his belly and neck, through his legs, talons, even the tail he could feel. There was special warmth around his flank, on his cutie mark especially. The three crossed thunders seemed to draw more of this, if it was essence.

“Are the essence and the ponies' cutie marks related somehow?” he asked, holding that feeling.

“Yes, Thunder,” Hira answered. “They’re related in the most intimate of ways. The cutie marks only appear after they find their true vocation and as such, they are part of who they are, their essence. That’s why each cutie mark is unique, because each pony has a proper and personal essence.”

“I feel… warm… as if there was lukewarm water flowing within me…” he said.

“This is your first lesson, Thunder. Learn to feel this flux. That’s what the first class is about, so just focus on this warm sensation. Learn to call this sensation as easily as you can. Do not try anything more than that for now.”

Thunder just kept easing himself up and focusing on his essence. Meditating, he never felt the time passing by, only when a few talons touched his shoulders. Slowly opening his eyes, he met Hira’s face and she had a large smile.

“I guess your first lesson is finished already,” she said with a smile. “Now you should go and have something to eat. It’s almost midday.”

Getting up, Thunder looked at Hira, “And where is the mess room?”

“I’m headed there myself,” Hira answered, walking towards the door. Thunder just nodded with a smile, following her.

“So… what else could somepony do with their essence?” Thunder asked curiously.

“As I explained to you, the essence is the truth behind everybody,” Hira answered. “If that person’s goal is to be the fastest, the essence will grant that, if it’s strength, then no one else will match that one body’s power. Some persons even focus their essence in their common senses, increasing their perception to even foresee events in the near future.”

“Wow…” Thunder looked rather impressed. “Let’s say someone’s talent is magic… how would the essence work?”

“That pony would have an absurd magic power, both in amount of essence converted into magic and the degree of manipulation.”

“There are no limits known for essence?”

“No, there isn’t. However, your essence is deeply integrated in your body and mind. It’s impossible for you to fake your true nature to yourself, so if you’re supposed to be the fastest pony, no matter how hard work you try, your essence will never build up strength, because you know deep in your heart that your talent is speed, not strength.”

“I see…” Thunder nodded. “It’s not the essence that is limited, but it’s us. A pony that really believes in being the strongest pony will be able to build strength…”

“Exact,” Hira said with a smile. She then opened a room that Thunder quickly noticed being the mess room.

Plenty of tables and seats were placed all around. Lots of ponies were there to service them, offering all kinds of foods and refreshments. Thunder quickly noticed that mostly persons gathered with their own tribes, even if there were some groups scattered around that had multiple tribes. He quickly placed himself in the line to get something to eat.

Looking ahead the line, Thunder was behind a gorgeous female griffin with white body and an equally feathered head with golden feathers pointing up, creating the illusion of a feathery crown. He was appreciating her so much that he only noticed someone talking to him when he was poked in the shoulder.

“Hey! You! Will you have mice or fish today?” a male griffin asked behind the counter.

The cutie female chuckled and answered for him, “Place a large fish in his plate, please?” She then touched under his beak with her lion-tail.

“Yeah… fish is fine…” Thunder answered, and received a chuckle from the male griffin. Following the line, he also placed a nice amount of vegetables and decided for an orange juice for lunch.

“Never knew a griffin to eat this much salad,” she said with a gentle grin. “Care to join me?”

“I would love to,” he answered with a smile. “I am…” about to say his full name, he remembered Karyn’s advice. “I am Thunder. I’m new around here so I’m still learning…”

“My name is Karmyl. I saw you shooting at the range,” she said with a smile as she walked at his side to an empty table. “How much prior training did you have before joining us?”

“None, actually,” Thunder answered as they sat down on a table. “I hadn't shot a single arrow in all my life… only a few toy ones…”

“You managed that on your first try?” Karmyl expression showed how shocked she was with that. “Wow… It took me like two months to reach that score…”

“I guess I got lucky…” he said with a smile.

“Don’t be modest. I was there watching you,” she remembered him with a smile. That thought made him blush. “You had the breathing technique, your position wasn’t perfect, but was nice enough, and your aiming was great. You only have to learn a bit more technique and you will be a Hunter like me in no time.”

“But I don’t need to be a hunter. I have to leave and find my friends.”

“So you’re going to travel? I would like to join you,” she said with a warm smile. “I’ve been training to be a guide all my life.”

“Didn’t you say that you’re a hunter?” Thunder asked puzzled.

Karmyl chuckled at that. “No, silly,” she said. “Here, into Keura Rangers, we have mainly three qualifications in hierarchy: Archers, Hunters and Rangers; from the lowest to the highest. When you receive your suit and your first bow, you’re entitled as an Archer.

“After hard work and some probation, you can advance for the title of Hunter. And, if you’re brave enough and capable, you can try joining the Rangers. They’re the best around and their voice has the highest weight into decisions concerning the Keura’s Rangers.”

“I see…” Thunder said.

“Besides I don’t know their hierarchy, all other clans had similar build, I’m sure,” Karmyl said with a smile.

“And where can I find those other clans?”

“Well, as you already know, the Keura’s Rangers live in Austarak city, at southwest of the capital,” she said with a smile. “Horgen’s Paladins lives in the frozen lands at north, in a city called Cryzal; Ternatta’s Ninjas are settled into southeast, at Keokora city, surrounded by the Kora Desert; Shivon’s Warlocks took living in the mountains in a city called Shikan, at northwest; at northeast, Lenya’s Shamans build up Urarta city into Ura swamp. Oh, and of course there are the Irilka’s Sages at the capital, Teonat.”

“So, there you are!” Thunder heard Karyn talking to him. “Having fun already, Sparky?”

Turning to Karyn, he quickly noticed that she was going to sit with them. “I’m in my lunch break, right? It’s not time for training, is it?”

“Don’t you worry, chick,” she said with a smile. “And about you, missy, how are you doing?”

“Pretty well, actually… That bite in my wing doesn’t hurt anymore and the doctor said there’s no lasting damage, mom,” Karmyl answered.

“Good.”

Thunder looked at Karmyl wide-eyed, “You said… Mom?”