Helo followed Hinata as she weaved through the treehouses and people. The clearing was about a mile in diameter and with their stats it didn’t take them long to reach the central tree. Looking up at the massive oak it was far larger than Helo realized. Running his hand down a massive root that layered the ground around the tree Helo can feel the dense vitality that is flowing through it.

  Trying to feel the tree’s pathways with his aura, Helo can’t feel anything. Pressing further, something is stopping him. Hearing a voice Helo looks up and can see a beautiful woman seemingly stepping out the side of the tree. She has a full figure and dark green hair that is almost black. Her skin is almost as dark as the bark of the tree and her eyes are a piercing green. She is wearing a thin and flowing dress that is pattered with oak leaves. Looking closer Helo can feel the still flowing energy within the dress. “The leaves are still alive.” Helo mutters as the woman walks up.

  “Yes dear.” She says as she walks closer with a swing of her hips. “You think I would kill my partner’s leaves to make a dress.” She steps up so close to Helo that he can feel her breasts pressing into his chest. She is only an inch or two shorter than Helo and he can feel her breath on his lips.

  “N..n..no miss.” Helo says while stuttering and stumbling away. Looking up he can see the mirth in her eyes.

  Off to the side Hinata is also silently laughing. This woman is her auntie and she expected her to act like this. While Allie is standing by Hinata with her cheeks puffed and wanting to yell.

  “Oba-San, it is good to see you.” Hinata says while bowing.

  “Ohhhh, my sweet little Hinata-Chan.” The beautiful woman says while wrapping Hinata in a hug. Rubbing their faces together she says. “You only come visit me when you need help with your alchemy. What is the young woman supposed to think.”

  “Harump, old you mean.” Alli says from the side with a snort.

  “OH how could I forget my sweet little Alle-Chan.” She says while hugging Allie into her chest. “Are you not going to grow any taller? Or is all that weight just adding to your breasts?”

  “Hey!!! I am very pleased with my figure and my height!” Allie says while conjuring a salvo of wind blasts with ‘Runic Conjuration’ and sending them at the woman. As the wind strikes her, Helo can feel Hinata hold his hand to stop him from helping.

  The woman erupts into a storm of leaves that dance around in the air. They reform quicker than even Helo can perceive and then the taller full-figured woman is hugging Allie from behind. “My sweet little Allie-Chan is so violent.”

  “This is my auntie Hayashi Kiyoki. She is also my alchemy teacher.” Hinata says with a smile. “She and Allie always play this game. As children Oba-San would rile Allie up, but in the end, Allie would always cuddle up with her to sleep. Cheyenne-San would get so sad seeing Allie cuddle with someone else.” As Hinata says this her eyes are glossing over. Remembering how simple things used to be she just softly laughs.

  “Anyway. They are always like this.” A few feet away Allie and Kiyoki are still arguing as Kiyoki pats down Allie’s body and complains about her overly lascivious figure.

  “Oba-San. We don’t have long. We just wanted to come visit and take a walk around town.” Hinata says. Her words stop the bickering between the two woman and Kiyoki turns to looks at them.

  “Oh, I would love to give your man a tour.” She says as her voice get more teasing. “Don’t you worry I’ll take good care of him.” She walks up to Helo’s side and wraps her arms around his. Pulling his arm into her breasts Helo isn’t sure how to feel. Mostly flustered, but her dress is so thin that it is basically nothing. Getting pulled along she starts her tour.

  “So, Helo-Chan. It is okay if I call you than right? Anyway Helo-Chan.” She doesn’t even let him respond before continuing. “This tree was brought here from Japan. It is the seed of our ancestral tree. That tree was a seed from the World Tree. Now the World Tree has many different names like Yggdrasil or Sekaiju. But anyway, when I came out, I felt you trying to feel the tree’s energy. You couldn’t because it is a higher level than you and it is conscious enough to protect itself.”

  With wide eyes Helo uses ‘Identify’.

  Queen Oak Sapling.

  Tier 3

  This is a seedling from an ancestral tree.

  “It is a sapling?” Helo says with wide eyes. He is stuttering less and has gotten more comfortable with Kiyoki’s flirty attitude.

  “Yeah, she is still just a baby.” She looks at the massive tree fondly. The tree towers over all others in the forest. Standing over 200 feet tall with a 20-foot diameter, it is a massive tree.

  “Anyway, we generally have a member of the Kashiwagi or Hayashi family living near the Queen Oak. I am here because I am also making sure that Hinata learns Alchemy from the best.” She says this and points at her chest with her thumb. With a big smile she looks at him like she is expecting praise.

  “Thank you for teaching her Hayashi-Sama.” Helo says with a bow.

  “Ohhhh so respectful!” Kiyoki squeals. “But just call me Oba-San. Anything else and I just feel old.”

  At her words Allie who is following behind snorts. Kiyoki looks back at her but Allie looks up and away avoiding eye contact.

  They continue walking and Kiyoki shows Helo how they grow herbs and other flora. They are extremely efficient and with the professional advice from Kiyoki everything is growing smoothly.

  Helo is also looking at the people. Here people are much more open about their animal features. People have jewelry woven into tails or on their animal ears. “Why don’t you all do that?” Helo asks.

  “Well. For one.” Allie speaks first. “My family is just used to hiding their features. They are public figures. Slipping up in public could be catastrophic.” She shrugs and stops speaking.

  “Our bloodlines are much harder to awaken. Some people here were born as beast kin. But our two families have bloodlines that are far more difficult to awaken. With that awakening we will gain our animal features.” Hinata says and points at a person in the distance. “That man has a dog bloodline but it is a simple canine. My family is born as dryads and have kitsune bloodline that some can awaken. Allie has a very potent fate affinity that takes a while to awaken. With it her bloodline will awaken as well. Her brother had an easier time awakening his bloodline because it just had a runic affinity.”

  “Think of it like how much energy it takes for you to level. Not all of us were born with our affinities and aura like you Helo.” Allie says with a smile to show she is just joking around.

  “Yeah Helo-Chan. My little nieces have worked very hard to awaken their affinities. A lot of people are born with animal features but these two need to awaken them. A lot of powerful people will use extremely potent rituals to awaken or seal their children’s bloodlines. Simple ones are just awakened at birth, but for others it requires work. I wanted my little Hinata-Chan to always have her cute fox ears and tail. But unfortunately, we didn’t have the resources to awaken her full bloodline at birth.” She says this with a pout.

  Finishing the tour around the small town Kiyoki leads them back to the Queen Oak. “Well, it was lovely to meet you. Come visit more often.” Kiyoki says while hugging Allie and Hinata.

  “SCREEEEE” Looking up at the loud noise Helo sees a massive golden-brown hawk soaring between the trees. The hawk is followed by a wave of wind. Swooping downward the hawk flies right over their head and pulls up. In the air the hawk transforms into a man and bows with a sweep of his arm. “Oh, my beautiful Kiyoki. I have returned with wine and song.” He is a tall man with skin the same gold brown as his feathers. He has dark hair that resembles dreadlocks but they are made from feathers.

  Looking at the man in surprise Helo looks at him and is having a hard time connecting the man with the giant hawk that he thought was attacking.

  “Hey Hawk.” Kiyoki says while turning away from him. “Ignore him.” She says and continues saying goodbye.

  “Hi Hawk!” Allie says while walking up to him. “What are you doing here?”

  With an affronted look, he looks at Allie. “What do you mean? I am a proud defender of the clan. I am just doing my due diligence.” He says while puffing up his chest.

  “Yes, yes, I can see that. So, she hasn’t accepted you’re feelings yet?” Allie says while patting him with a commiserating smile.

  “No… But soon! I can feel it!” the tall man says. While holding up his fist. “Our love while soar through the skies like the wind. Blowing eternal!”

  “Yeah sure…” Allie gives him a weird look. “Say hi to Amara for me.” Turing away she looks at the group. “It is already dark out. Let’s head back.”

  Kiyoki runs up to Helo and hugs him. “Take good care of my little nieces Helo-Chan. I’ll see you soon.” After her goodbyes Kiyoki ignores Hawk and disappears into the Queen Oak.

  On the way back Allie explains that Hawk is Amara’s right hand. He is powerful and extremely quick. But his personality is a little odd.

  Getting back to the house the team isn’t to worried about how late it is. They are coming up on the weekend and will be able to rest for the next two days.

  Waking up on Saturday Helo checks the time and is not surprised to see that he woke up a couple hours before sunrise. Remembering the night before while he is stretching in bed Helo blushes and laughs. Kiyoki had a fun personality and made him feel very welcome. It also also funny for him to see her with Hawk.

  Getting up and putting on some clothes to run in Helo grabs a sleeping Lelai and heads outside. Going for a run Helo does a couple laps around Hanwi Valley and can feel that her is getting better and infusing ‘Double Lunge’ with his bloodline’s energy.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  Happy with his progress Helo gets back to the house after an hour and the sunrise is just starting. It is about seven o’clock and Aiko is just getting into the kitchen. Saying good morning Helo heads up with Lelai and showers.

  Getting back downstairs Helo is ready to have a nice relaxing day but he is surprised to see Micah sitting at the counter, he is eating breakfast while talking to Aiko. “So, when you’re practicing your barrier skills you need to focus on the rigidity of the structure. A lot of that comes from your affinity. You need to find exactly what it is and start tailoring your mindset. Rigid earth looks a lot different than water or fire. A water barrier sweeps away attacks. A fire barrier explodes to repel them. You need to find what works for you.”

  After speaking to Aiko, he turns to Helo. “Perfect timing kid. Get some food in you then we will begin training.”

  “Weren’t we training on Thursday, Friday and Friday night?” Helo asks Micah who is happily munching on a breakfast burrito.

  “Yes. But I was too excited. So, get ready.” Micah says to Helo not caring about his opinion.

  With a nod Helo eats and heads to get changed. “Meet me in back where you train!”

  Getting dressed Helo leaves his room to see Hinata and Allie getting up. Allie’s silver hair is a mess and she is rubbing her eyes while yawning. She is still wearing her pajamas and stumbling to the stairs. Hinata is dressed in a simple kimono with her hair tied up, this look pulls attention to her neck and collarbones.

  Stopping for a moment Helo stars and can feel his fangs elongate. Clenching his fist, he forces his head to turn. He had to use more willpower than expected.

  Laughing demurely into her hand Hinata walks by and speaks softly. “Awww, is my little Helo hungry.” While dragging her fingertips along his cheek.

  Helo watches her walk away feeling a little shocked. Looking back Helo seems to remember that whenever Hinata is overly flirty it is after she practiced alchemy. Which is when she speaks to her extremely flirtatious aunt. Feeling like he solved a major puzzle Helo shakes his head to clear his mind. Going downstairs Helo can’t find Micah so he goes outside.

  Stepping onto the back porch Helo can see that the training field has been modified. The small garage that they keep their training gear in is now surrounded by weapon racks. Each rack carries a variety of polearms.

  Stopping and staring in surprise Helo doesn’t notice four guards standing around the training area until Micah calls out to him. “Well come on kid! We don’t have all day.” Pointing to the guards that are carrying different polearms he says to Helo. “Our beast kin race tends to use instincts to fight offensively. But the polearm style of the BrightMoon clan is extremely technical. It is called Moon-Staff Style and it is meant to be a defensive technique. It is supposed to pair with our more aggressive instincts to limit our natural inclinations to always attack. Making a better defensive fighter.”

  He says while pulling a beautiful spear from his storage. The spear is seven feet in total with a five and a half-foot black staff and a foot and a half long silver head. It is a simple yet beautiful weapon and from the feeling Helo is getting it is a tier 3 weapon. “If you can bring these two styles together.” Micah says while spinning the spear in his hands. “One your natural instincts.” As he says this he leaps forward toward one of the men. As he is in the air, he spins the spear around his back into his other hand and using the built-up speed sweeps the man’s feet from under him.

  At the same time the other three men attack him from the left, right and behind. “Second, the Moon-Staff style.” Stopping himself from finishing off the man he steps over his fallen body while spinning the spear behind his back, as the spear is spinning three afterimages appear due to its speed. To Helo’s surprise each afterimage blocks a strike from a man each and Micah’s spear is still spinning gracefully.

  As the three men retreat Micah looks back to Helo. “You can find a balance between offence and defense.”

  With his mouth dropped open Helo asks him, “What was that? It didn’t feel like a skill.”

  “It wasn’t. It was a technique.” He shows off the technique again. While his spear is spinning, he says. “This is called the ‘Moonshines Afterblock’. It is a technique that comes from the Moon-Staff style.”

  Explaining further he says. “Skills are representations of your path and class. Activated through the use of energy with the system. Techniques are like skills but they are all about manipulation and legacy. You can unleash a technique by following a set of movements and energy manipulations. They are not as powerful as a skill or instantaneous. But if you train them enough, they will match up or be even better. It is like a warrior that picks up a blade and uses a ‘Slash’ skill vs. a person who trains in a style and learns a similar technique. The skill might be quicker to learn and unleash but compared to someone with training, they will lose.”

  “Skills like ‘Polearm Mastery’ help you learn how to hold and swing a weapon if you show any kind of skill, but it only goes so far. Styles are based on training and effort. They show up on your status after you learn a technique.” Micah says while holding his spear in a guard position. Quickly positioning it forward and thrusting his spear, it glows silver and another afterimage appears and thrusts as he draws his spear back.

  “This is a partner technique to ‘Moonshines Afterblock’ it is called ‘Moonshines Afterthrust’.” As he says this, he shows his spear again. “Now the final thing I want to say before we start. Skills and Techniques are separate things. But they can be used together.” He holds his spear in the guard position again and thrusts forward. As the spear glows silver the afterimage appears and starts to pulse forward in a similar way to last time. As he starts to draw his spear back the silver energy moves forward. But he also activates his ‘1000 Moonspear’ skill. As the silver energy leaves his spear point, it reacts to the skill and splits into hundreds of afterimages. Each one races forward and into the sky. They travel for thousands of feet before dissipating into the sky.

  “Woah.” Helo says as he feels the immense power behind that attack. “That was amazing.”

  “Yeah, it’s pretty cool right.” Micah says with a huge grin. “Now my ‘1000 Moonspear’ skill can create up to one thousand spears to appear anywhere and attack. As he says this, he waves his hand and a spear appears in between them.

  Looking at the spear Helo can feel that it isn’t quite as potent as the pervious attack. Like this skill is made from mana and created with magic. But the previous attack held the essence of the spear within it. “It’s different.” Helo says to him.

  “I’m glad you picked up on it. This is because styles and techniques require aura and your personal energy to be performed.” As he says this Helo can feel Micah’s aura surge and it overlaps with the moon spear in between them. As it does the spear becomes more potent and radiates a feeling of danger. “Using my skill backed by my aura is about one third weaker than using all three together.” Letting the skill dissipate he turns to Helo.

  “This is why it is important to focus on weapons and styles that work for you. Putting your skills, aura, and techniques together can help you empower and modify your abilities to be more potent and personal.” He claps his hands and turns to the weapon racks.

  “Now let’s find a polearm that works good for you. I know that you prefer daggers. I have nothing against that. But learning a weapon with a longer reach and better defensive abilities might just keep you alive. Not to mention my niece.” Micah looks at Helo and winks while he says the last part.

  Gesturing at the lined racks he has the guards start picking weapons and bringing them to Helo. Each guard is wearing a helmet and dark armor with the ‘wolf howling at the array’ symbol of the BrightMoon clan.

  “This is Nico, Petil, Nesha, and Colby. They are speak with my voice. They don’t show their faces to protect their families. In a combat situation they have as much authority as Amara and James.” He says as the guard brings Helo the first polearm.

  Handing off the massive halberd Helo just looks at the guard with a face that screams ‘what do you want me to do with this giant stick’.

  “Take a few swings. We are going to spend this morning going through them all and finding what works best for you. Our clan techniques have been modified and perfected. They are passed down to the main BrightMoon families and their personal guard forces. Our Moon-Staff style goes all the way to rare grade. Our books say that the wider BrightMoon clan in the multiverse has a Moon-Staff style that goes all the way to legendary grade.”

  “Keep in mind that the grades also match up with the tiers. We know about 6 tiers and their grades, that is the tier that our ancestor reached. It does T0 Basic, T1 Common, T2 uncommon, T3 rare, T4 epic, T5 legendary, T6 ancient. From what I have heard there are still more, with one of them being the divine tier.” He starts showing Helo how to swing the halberd as he keeps speaking.

  “The peak of earth right now is mid to high tier 3. But when the integration is almost complete it should jump to tier 4. Tier 4 goes all the way to level 500. So, there is still a ton of room for growth. Even on earth.”

  Watching Helo swing the 8-foot halberd Micah just shakes his head and hands him a massive spear. Demonstrating with his own spear Micah shows Helo how to trust with it.

  As Helo is learning in the backyard training field Allie, Hinata, Gabi, Luna, and Aiko pull up lawn chairs and lay in the sun while watching Helo struggle with the different weapons.

  At this point Helo has gone through every massive weapon on the racks. Axes, spears, halberds, bardiches, gisarmes, and all different versions of each. It has been a few hours and he has tripped, slipped, fallen and been laughed at by the girls far more than he liked.

  But Micah just continues to hand him different weapons before showing him a few moves and steps. He has Helo try them a few times before shaking his head and taking the weapon away. Only for it to be replaced by a different weapon in a few seconds.

  “HAaaha! Helo! You got some mud on your… well everywhere!” Allie laughs at him as Helo picks up the spear he just dropped.

  “How is anyone supposed to wield something so long and top heavy?” Helo asks Micah.

  “It is about technique. I keep telling you. You’re an instinctual fighter. But to wield something like this you need time and training.” Micah says while holding up the spear and handing it back to one of the guards. “Now try this one.”

  Another thirty minutes have gone by and Helo is starting to feel more comfortable with the weapons he is getting handed. He is still getting trained in a few drills with each one and each time he is getting more comfortable.

  Another thing that he notices is that the weapons are getting lighter and shorter as they go on. His movements are becoming smoother and he is having an easier time wielding the weapons.

  Stopping as he gets handed a five-foot spear with a four-foot shaft and a foot long blade. Helo looks up at Micah and speaks. “You did that on purpose! You had me wield massive weapons that would be uncomfortable so that when we got to shorter spears it would feel better.”

  “Haha! Kid you finally figured it out!” Micah laughs to himself. Looking around Helo can see that everyone else is laughing as well. Not sure how to feel Helo chuckles for a moment after realizing that it is a smart tactic to use.

  “I had to trick your mind a little otherwise every spear would be long and unwieldy compared to your knives. In this case you learned what the other end of the spectrum was. Now we can find a nice middle ground.” Micah says while taking back the spear.

  With a gesture of his hand the guards moved aside the polearm racks in the middle and made way for the garage’s door to be opened. Opening the garage door another weapon rack is visible as the door goes up.

  On the rack there are five different weapons. Each one is short enough to wield in a single hand but has a long enough handle to be used in two. “Now our style can be used with all polearms or staffs. It is defensive in nature and uses spins, deflections and blocks.” He takes his own spears from his shoulder and demonstrates a few moves. He is moving gracefully and it is only increased by the constantly moving spear.

  “It incorporates a few thrusts, slashes and smacks. But attacking while using our style is supposed to be more instinctual and use skills. It is like a cornered animal lashing out at an opportune time. The style itself is made to be defensive. Taught to the Head Guards of the Clan Leaders, it is for them to protect their charges. Or for the clan leaders to defend themselves. To attack you will need to drop the style and go on the offensive or use the few moves that the style incorporates to lash out.” To demonstrate Micah has the guards all attack him at once.

  Micah is a whirlwind of spinning blades. His blade is constantly making motions around his body at different angles and leaving afterimages to block attacks. When one of the guards over extends or is jarred from a block Micah quickly lashes out.

  Once all the guards are struck at or blocked at the same time Micah breaks his spinning dance and jumps in the air. Jumping out of the circle Micah goes on the offensive and uses attacks that don’t have the same feel as the Moon-Staff style.

  Thinking about what he felt Helo thinks that the Moon-Staff style gives off the feeling of a cornered animal that is rising above its natural instincts. The animal is still there waiting to lash out but the instincts are being overwhelmed by pure technique and training.

  Understanding that this is the meaning behind the style Helo nods his head. The animal is still their waiting to lash out. Instincts don’t break the style but they are turned into a defensive dervish instead of a lashing out animal.

  Seeing the clarity in Helo’s eyes Micah nods his head and motions for everyone to be quiet. A few minutes later as Helo is coming back to himself Micah speaks up. “I think you understand the heart of this style. Pairing it with a dagger style that focuses on your instincts…” Micah stops speaking and waits for Helo to nod. “Could make you incredibly dangerous.”

  “From what I have heard from the girls, you are having some issues finding your place in the party’s fighting lineup. This style might fix that. You can still strike at opportune moments and take out dangerous foes. But instead of waiting you can be a defensive whirlwind.” Micah says with a hand on Helo’s shoulder.

  “I’m willing to give it a try.” Helo says to him.

  “Good. Now these five weapons are the ones that I choose last night from my collection that I think would work for you.” Micah says.

  Looking at the weapons each one is unique but they have their similarities. Each weapon is just under five feet long, each has a pointed tip like a spear and each has a blade for slashing. The differenced come from the size and shape of the blade.