"Uhg…" Pacifica picked her head up off the table as the front door opened. She barely had the strength to keep it up and blinked slowly as she processed what was happening.

Shouri, Taika, and Rebecca entered the dining room. The otter craned her neck to see her beloved friends but found them to be just as exhausted as she. "What happened to you?" Shouri and Pacifica asked in tandem.

"You don't want to know," they both decided.

With that, all involved parties accepted they were tired and left it at that.

Pacifica's head hit the table again while Shouri and the vixens went to take a nap. It was horrible for her neck and back, but the otter found herself slipping away into the dreamworld all the same.

Next Pacifica's eyes opened, she found herself staring at the ceiling, a plush bed underneath her. "Ah…" Someone had moved her back into the guest room she solely occupied. Day had passed to night, though the room was darker this evening due to the lack of a lunar presence in the sky.

She couldn't be certain how long passed with the ceiling in her company before she mustered up the strength to get out of bed. That turned out to be a monumental task as her whole body had begun openly revolting against the directions she tried to provide it. Each motion felt like moving a mountain as she sat up. "Uhg, this sucks…" she grumbled.

Regardless, she craved the affections and rhythm of her Maestro and fellow Resonators. For that, the addict pushed herself up, stumbling as she rose to her feet. "Uhg, damn it…" she cursed. Shambling to the door felt like running a marathon, and opening it made her consider pumping iron from how heavy it felt. Stumbling into the hallway, she only made it a few paces before Shouri found her.

"Oh my god, I'm gonna kill that woman." Shouri was instantly at his precious otter's side. "Sho, I don't feel good," Pacifica whined. "Yeah your hair is like totally white, I'm surprised you even made it this far," said Shouri as he pulled the rhythm-suppressing bands off her wrists.

He wrapped her in a tight hug. "C'mere, just take as much rhythm as you need."

There it was, what she was desperately craving. The warmth flowed into her so readily that it made her head spin. She relaxed in his grasp. She smiled warmly, the lids of her eyes drifting closed. His warmth, rhythm, and touch, it was all so very amazing. She had read stories of people drinking water after being dehydrated describing it as the most delicious thing they ever tasted – she imagined this was the rhythm equivalent of that. It was so very nice.

"Sho, I love you," she swooned. "I love you too Paci." He stroked the back of her head allowing her hair to run through his fingers. She sighed blissfully, practically melting where she stood.

All good things had to come to an end, and so too did their embrace.

However, when they broke it off, her body was no longer throwing a temper tantrum and she felt decidedly normal. Shouri replaced the bands and gave her a wink. She nodded, understanding the implication.

He motioned for her to follow. "Come on, Taika made some chili."

As they walked, Pacifica focused on the day's lesson. Emotions affected her rhythm. She was content right now, so her rhythm felt stable. Of course, Taika made a soup again, thus it could be easily exploded but if she kept her cool there wouldn't be red sauce covering the dining room. Or at least that was the dream.

The two joined the rest of the inhabitants of the home at the dinner table. Taika was just finishing setting the bowls out.

"There's plenty more if you want seconds," said the chef.

After a long day, a hearty meal was just what the doctor ordered. Besides the main dish, there were plenty of ways for the hungry table-goers to customize their own meal experience. Chopped green onions, shredded cheese, fried bacon, sour cream, and a bottle of hot sauce graced the center of the table for group consumption.

Pacifica stayed quiet during dinner, opting to just listen in on the conversations being shared between her friends and Captain Wik.

Even with the warmth dinner provided, bedtime was cold being alone. She hated this as much as drowning. It was suffocating in its own way. The training bands itched not only physically but in a way that made her scale itch as well. Unfortunately, she had yet to figure out how to scratch her soul, so the poor otter was left to suffer until she passed out.

"I miss them," she whimpered quietly as the veil of night took her to slumberland.

Morning soon arrived and with it a new assignment for Shouri and the girls.

"So what is she making us do today?" Rebecca asked as they piled into the car. "Another address." Shouri waved a tuner, showing the map. "This one is closer to the tourism district, hrm…" He furrowed his brow. "We should be careful," Taika chimed in. "Agreed." Shouri nodded.

The trip back north was the same as when they arrived. Sadly, the dilapidation didn't magically repair itself overnight. Buildings carried scars of storms long passed, scabbed over with whatever materials could be salvaged. Taika scanned all the different people that they passed by. Whatever they could get their hands on adorned their bodies. Tuners were a rare sight, yet Resonators roamed about as if many were in circulation.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"But why?" Taika whispered. "Hm?" Shouri turned back. "I don't see many tuners around, but lots of Resonators," Taika pointed out.

"Dunno." Shouri looked out the window himself and studied those walking about. "Maybe it's the taxes?" he offered as a possible explanation.

"Taxes?" Rebecca questioned. "There are some taxes that need to be paid with Resonator registration. For those with Duelist or Hunter licenses, they just get deducted from your earnings, so most people don't notice, but for people in the private sector it gets bundled into their yearly taxes," he explained.

Taika nodded. "Taxes are the money the government collects to pay for like projects and stuff?"

"Yeah, any public works projects as well as the funding for anything in the public sector like emergency services, or MA Offices," he informed the curious fox.

"Okay, I understand." Taika looked back out the car window. "So these people just live with Resonators without a tuner?"

"Probably. I mean Mila was informally my Resonator for like eight months or so, we got by with just books and touch casting." Shouri shrugged.

"Hmmm…" Taika furrowed her brows.

The trio arrived at the address provided to them. There were a couple of other cars parked outside in marked parking spots. The vehicles in question, however, were in much rougher shape than the rental car Shouri and company were galivanting the island in.

"We're definitely gonna scrap," Rebeca decided as she scoped out the building. "You think?" asked Shouri. "Definitely." The fire fox cracked her knuckles.

Taika shook her head but followed along.

Once more, Rebecca took point, though this time it appeared the building they had been sent to was some kind of business. They couldn't be sure exactly what kind of business the humble shop was claiming to be due to the lack of prominent signage anywhere on or around the building. Either way, Rebecca would not be denied her chance to fight, so she pushed in, Shouri and Taika behind her.

"No wetsuit today?" Pacifica questioned as she was led to the dock. "No. Today we're just going to talk." Captain Wik sat on one of the weathered wooden dock chairs. She motioned to the second seat right next to it.

Pacifica slid her tail through the back slot and took the offered seat.

They sat and watched the waves roll in for some time, the clouds marching across the sky in various shapes and formations. The salty sea breeze tousled their hair as it blew by. It was peaceful, so much so Pacifica found herself gently drifting away under the warmth of the mid-day sun.

"Do you know about water?" asked Captain Wik, snapping Pacifica back awake. "Well uh… yeah. It's like everywhere on the planet and it's in all living things. Also, they made that movie, what was it? Panacea Blue? The one without water, that looked like it sucked. Uh, what was I saying again?"

Captain Wik shook her head. "Water makes up a supermajority of Riterra's surface area, living beings use water as a solvent, but water is distributed across the planet via the water cycle."

"The water cycle? That's the weather, right? Like water evaporates and becomes clouds which rain down to become groundwater that evaporates and the cycle repeats like that forever?" Pacifica asked.

"Right. Do you know what primarily fuels that process on Riterra specifically?" the elder otter quizzed. "No, what?" "Rhythm." "Huh?"

The waves continued to crash onto the beach below them as the two otters remained silent.

"Riterra is almost like a massive Pioggia Fragole user, manipulating the water on its surface and in the air above it. So that's today's exercise – we're going to watch how Riterra moves its water around."

In all honesty, such a statement earned some whiplash from the young otter. After how intense the first two days under Captain Wik's tutelage were, she had expected something to further escalate the insanity on day three of her training.

"Just watch, and don't fall asleep. If I catch you napping, we're going back on the boat," warned the teacher.

And there it was. This was going to be more difficult than Pacifica had bargained for.

Shouri, Taika, and Rebecca trudged back into the house at sunset. Once more they found their fourth party member curled over the table. She jerked her head up when they entered the room. They exchanged a look for a moment before speaking.

"Long day?" Shouri and Pacifica asked in tandem. A short nod from both confirmed the suspicion.

"Glad I had the idea to use Ms. Alana's slow cooker thing. I hope it's good." Taika slid her feet as she made her way into the kitchen, slumped over.

Shouri and Rebecca collapsed into their seats at the dining room table.

"What'd she make you do?" Shouri inquired, resting his head on the table next to Pacifica's. "Stared at the ocean for a long time, you?" "Played food delivery all over town." "Ah."

Another day ended with the exhausted quartet enjoying another home-cooked meal courtesy of Taika (and a little help from modern technology).

They only hoped that tomorrow would go easier on them (but knew better than to expect otherwise.)

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.