"Famiglio Incendio,Presto!"

The trio of Taika, Pacifica, and Rebecca held hands, linked together in a circle. In the middle of their ring, the results of the three spells coagulated into a small fox of shadow energy. Yellow dots for eyes allowed the rhythm beast to see its surroundings.

"Good, let's try without holding hands," directed Shouri. The girls nodded and broke their chain, stepping back from one another.

"Famiglio Incendio, Presto!" came the casting in tri corde.

Unlike the previous casting which effortlessly popped into existence, the second tri-element fox had noticeable lag before forming, but did ultimately appear next to its shadowy counterpart.

"How'd that feel?" Shouri questioned, the delay not escaping his scrutiny.

"Fine to me," said Rebecca. "A bit slower than when we're holding hands," Pacifica added. "Really slow," Taika concluded.

Shouri hummed thoughtfully. "We can't use any re-cast modifiers, so I wonder…" he mused aloud, typing up notes on one of the tuners. His trio waited patiently, taking in their handiwork of two rhythm foxes of mixed breeds. The healing fox was always a little miracle, being shimmering golden light not unlike the glow Taika took on when casting the healing spell that made its form.

The shadow fox was another beast entirely. Given its dark shade, it resembled the spell's more sinister cousin, the Scherzando.

"Paci, Rebby, you two now-" before Shouri could dole out orders, Rose popped into the room from one of the wall-mounted electrical sockets.

Shouri jumped, as did his trio – to his defense.

"Woah! Relax! Just checking in on ya." Rose projected a barrier of sparks in front of her to dissuade any further hostilities.

After finding his heart, Shouri let out a dramatic breath and glared down the Ethereal. "You could have knocked," he pointed out.

"My house, my rules," countered Rose.

Shouri grumbled something under his breath, while Pacifica placed a hand on his back impart some serenity into the boy.

In the interim, the inventor noticed the pair of elemental foxes that graced her floorboards. "Oh, wasn't aware people were casting like this again." She crouched down to examine the two rhythm beasts.

"Yeah, Sarayul's retainers or whatever taught us how to cast them," Rebecca said. Rose lit up upon hearing the other Ethereal's name."Oh! How is that old fart?" "You know him?" asked Taika.

"Of course, all of us Ethereals meet on occasion. Discuss the state of the world, what have you." Rose stood back up straight. "Not that mortals should be made privy to the dealings of the timeless," she shot down Shouri's line of thought before it could get going. "Ninah and Tayls still haven't let me live down showing Sarayul television and the internet. The man was driving himself mad in his mountain temple. They say he's lazier than ever. Got a good laugh out of me regardless," the Ethereal boasted.

"That explains so much about both of you," Shouri mumbled. "Anywho, how do you feel about spreading this one far and wide?" asked Rose. "Huh?" The four blinked, unsure of what she meant.

She grinned. "I'll tell you the secret behind it. It's actually pretty easy."

Zephyr's eyes fluttered open that morning with purpose. She was a proper Resonator now. She was before, but now she had a Maestro. Her contemporaries would scoff at her – they didn't know what they were missing.

The warmth, the comfort, the pleasure.

She understood why Resonators stuck around their Maestros. It felt good. So good.

Not even just the pleasure of casting magic, but the comradery, sharing your life with someone from a different walk. It was things she had never even considered enjoying.

Also, Mila was warm. Very warm. There were perks to sharing, Zephyr had discovered. The cat's ears twitched, her face contorted in annoyance, and finally she let out a grunt of frustration.

The fire element opened her eyes with ire. "They're loud," she growled. "Shouri and them?" Zephyr questioned. "Oh, they wake you up too?" asked the cat. "No, you can hear them?" "Against my will."

The two girls looked to their Maestro, who slept blissfully through the noise. "He's always like this," Mila informed the fairy. "Goddamn house could cave in on him, and he'd sleep right through it," she grumbled.

Zephyr nodded slowly, hopping up and taking a place on the cat's shoulder. "So you're a light sleeper then?" she guessed. "Had to be." "Why's that?" "Grew up on the streets. You either sleep with an eye open or you end up dead. Or worse," she told her tiny counterpart.

Thinking about her own experience, that tracked. "You got a point I suppose," Zephyr conceded.

Their attention returned to their snoozing Maestro. Without needing to confer with the other, the two decided to protect that carefree slumber of his.

"What do you mean you don't have food?" an irritated Shouri questioned their Ethereal host.

Rose raised a brow, behind her desk as usual. A menagerie of tools, circuit boards, and complicated diagrams littered her desk. "I don't eat. Simple as."

"Sarayul eats," Taika noted. "Yeah, we made him food for like half a week or something," Rebecca chimed in.

The lightning Ethereal turned her gaze on the two foxes. "I haven't gotten that bored yet. I'm only 478 years young," she snarked back before returning to her work.

"Only." Shouri rolled his eyes. "You're really that old?" asked Vince, brows furrowed as he tried to grasp the concept. "Say old again." Rose threatened the young Maestro with a screwdriver's tip.

"What do you mean about being bored Miss Rose?" asked Pacifica. "Don't call me Miss," the inventor grumbled. She flipped her tool around to resume what she had been working on.

"We got a lot of time to kill. Some Ethereals go out and learn everything they never had time to in life. Others hone their skills or talents. But eventually they all hit a certain point. They do everything they ever could have wanted to. So they get bored. They fall into a routine. They stagnate."

The mortals in the room remained quiet, watching the small inventor tinker with her work.

"What about you?" Zephyr hesitantly spoke.

"I know I'll be just like the rest of them some day. For now, there's too much work to do," said Rose.

"Work? Like what?" Vince questioned, drawing the white tuner from his side and looking it over.

Her head snapped up, the glare magnified by her glasses. With a snap of her finger, Zephyr's tuner vanished from Vince's hand and appeared in Rose's. She tossed it into the air and formed a bolt of lightning in her hand, gripping it like a spear. Immediately the five Resonators in the room tensed.

Rose launched the bolt like a javelin at the falling tuner, easily hitting her mark. The device flew like a cannonball from the strike, slamming into and embedding deep into the concrete behind them.

The mortals just stared blankly, unsure of what just happened. "Go on, go get it," she demanded.

Vince did as he was told, running over to inspect the device. He extracted it from the small crater and looked it over. "It… still works. There isn't even a scratch," the young Maestro noted.

Shouri hummed thoughtfully. Now that he really considered it, he never heard anything about broken tuners. The only problems he ever heard about were people losing them.

"That was Fulmine di Zeus, the lightning Ultimate spell, wasn't it?" asked Vince.

The rest of the group turned to the young Maestro, who kept his gaze locked on the caster of the mystery spell.

Rose smirked. "Good eye. It was," she said with a chuckle.

Vince looked over the device again. It still worked and was in pristine condition.

"Can they even be broken?" Shouri wondered. "It's possible. I think they call 'em 'cracked eggs' out on the market. I'm sure you've seen a fake tuner about." Rose's gaze was on Shouri specifically, who nodded in agreement. "But I got the physical protection down to a science. Usually, you need something like the Solar ultimate to break one down."

"What's that one do?" Taika asked innocently.

"It… uh… creates a massive explosion. Like enough to wipe out a town. The Maestro has to die to cast it," Rebecca spoke uneasily.

The room went quiet once again. "Second casting kills the Resonator. Good spell that one. Had some words with that fucking cat about that one," Rose scoffed.

Everyone present remained quiet as they processed that information.

"Anyway, go get food. Maybe bring me back something. Been awhile since I ate. Probably a decade or two," she said, waving them off.

Pacifica looked to Shouri, who appeared especially bothered by the revelation of the Solar ultimate.

Loggiavento was in the same mood as it usually was – Maestros and Resonators working together on their shared land. Yes, the little mountain cradled town was as peaceful as ever, the wind whistling over the mountains to gently carry the heat away from the little village. Tranquility cracked as the roar of a plane sailed overhead disturbed the town, landing on the tarmac on the far edge of the plateau. Where the citizens of the quiet city looked on with hushed wonder, such noise was common to a group that came from the city. With that in mind, Shouri and company paid it no mind as they continued on their way to brunch.

"What's up Sho?" Pacifica asked, as they trailed behind the rest of the group.

He grunted, deciding whether he wanted to share his thoughts. Pacifica took his hand and gave it a pleading squeeze, which wore him down in an instant. "Aura," was all he had to say.

"It's okay, she's okay," Pacifica reassured him. "What did Rose have to say last night?" she asked. "She insisted Aura was fine," he mumbled. "And you threatened her, right?" Pacifica asked. "Am I that predictable?" "To me, yeah."

The audacity earned a smile from the Maestro as he squeezed her hand back.

"Hey! Break it up back there unless you wanna share!" Rebecca shouted. "Ho fame!" Taika protested, pointing at the restaurant.

"Yes yes," Shouri chuckled, trying to pick up the pace. However, Pacifica pulled back on him. Before he could question what she was doing, she grabbed him by the shoulders and planted her lips against his.

And then chaos as Rebecca blasted over, shoved Pacifica out of the way, and got in a round of her own with Shouri.

Taika arrived at this point and gently separated the trio, before taking her own sampling of Shouri's lips.

"Don't I get a say in this?" questioned the Maestro, wiping his lips dry after the triple attack.

"No!" answered the three Resonators.

"Damn, I want to be them," Zephyr muttered. "Behave," Mila warned.

Brunch was peaceful, the group of seven taking the same large circular table they dined at the day prior. The quality remained just as high in both food and atmosphere. Though the latter was spoiled by the entrance of a noisy group.

Pacifica jumped, whipping her head back to Bakr, the kind camel that topped off their rhythm yesterday. His easygoing demeanor had faded, daggers directed at the door where the boisterous party stood.

Willka greeted the group, but Pacifica could sense his greeting was terse, even without being able to hear him.

Shouri and Rebecca also kept a close watch on the new group. Vince's duo just chatted with their Maestro, but Pacifica caught onto the fact that both Resonators were also on the alert.

"At least it's not just me," muttered the otter as she tried to pay attention to her food.

Every passing moment tested Shouri's patience and Taika's willpower to hold him back.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"What a dump this place turned out to be," said the lead Maestro. He was accompanied by two other Maestros and three Resonators. Two of the Resonators looked healthy enough, the third though… he limped in slower than his frame would have suggested.

The lead Maestro wore two tuners proudly on his person, one yellow and another red, matching with the healthy pair in their company. The third brown tuner to go with the limping earth element was missing, as least from immediate display.

"Something's wrong with his legs," Taika murmured.

"Ricerca Vitale, Allegro," Shouri whispered to his fox. He silenced the subsequent beeping from the spell upgrading. "Wait, before I use it Sho, let me use the next rank," she requested. "Oh sure. Ricerca Vitale, Moderato."

Taika nodded and focused on the ailing Resonator. Her hands clasped to her mouth as the data streamed into Shouri's tuner

SUMMARY (Via Ricerca Vitale) MAESTRO Luis Gibbons RESONATOR Dancer SPECIES Horse ELEMENT Earth ATTRIBUTE Crushing RHYTHM 75% 75% STATUS Disabled [Left Leg – Severe] Panic [Acute Stress Disorder]

Shouri ground his teeth, scowling at the read-out so helpfully provided by Taika. She reached over and pressed him down. "Aspettare, Sho," she urged. "Let's listen," she advised.

He reluctantly nodded.

"So see anything good?" Luis asked one of his lackeys. "Plenty. That tip off was pretty good. Lots of strong ones around here," Lackey A spoke. "Yeah, plenty of good ones to pick from," said Lackey B.

"Good shit," Luis' gaze drifted to Dancer who kept his head lowered shamefully. "Maybe we'll get some use out you yet," the Maestro spat.

Before Shouri could get up, Vince was already over at the table, Zephyr on his shoulder and Mila by his side.

"Hm?" Luis looked up at the young boy. "The fuck do you want, kid?"

Vince held out a hand, he motioned at Dancer with a jerk of his head. "Hand over his tuner," he demanded.

The restaurant went quiet. "You don't want him anymore, you said so yourself. Give him to me, and I'll make sure he gets a good home," Vince paused for a second, "A better home," he corrected himself.

Luis scoffed. "As if. He's trade bait. I'm already gonna have to fork up the cash to make up the difference since he's crippled. He's lucky I didn't just leave him in the streets where he belongs," the man chuckled, with his lackeys joining in.

With Mila's hand on his back and Zephyr tapping the shoulder she was on, Vince spoke. "Fight me then."

Silence graced the eatery once more.

"Excuse me?" asked Luis, brow raised. "Resonator battle, my two versus your two. If we win, you hand him over to me. If you win, I'll buy him off of you for twice the market price for his species," said Vince.

Luis eyed the two Resonators by the boy's side. A fairy was interesting, but he didn't know enough about them to appraise its battle worth. The cat however, common breed, nothing to concern himself with. "Sure, easiest money I'll have ever made," he grinned, pulling his tuners from his lapel.

Willka appeared at the table. "Now now boys, this isn't the place for a fight," the restaurateur spoke gently. "How about you two take it to the court on the edge of town? Gotta make sure these kind of scuffles are all official, right?"

Shouri sighed. He really shouldn't have taken Elijah up on his offer for a job. He wouldn't have learned duelist battle procedure if he hadn't.

The acting ref looked from left to right, Vince to Luis. Either way they were taking Dancer at the end of all this. With that in mind, he thumbed up a quick message to Emily.

Taking in an injured horse. Move Vince's stuff to room 10 for now. 11:45 AM

The guildmaster turned his ringer off, he had to focus on what was about to go down.

Luis stood confidently, his two lackeys cheering him on. Dancer stood off to the side, looking more like he wanted to die than remain standing any longer.

"I hope you're ready to pay up brat! I got second place in Esperro Regionals this January!" Luis boasted.

"Tch, bragging about losing at a freegional? What an actual loser," Rebecca scoffed, rolling her eyes. "What's a 'freegional'?" asked Taika. "Esperro Regionals is the first tournament of the year. It's in like the middle of nowhere in Lybertera. It's super easy to win because usually people don't show up for it since it's right before the Festival of Hope," Rebecca explained. "To brag that he managed to lose in the finals of that tournament, well he's the smallest of small fry. Vince has this."

Shouri suppressed the chuckle building in his gut. Instead, he focused on officiating the match. Taking in a breath, he began the announcement.

"Maestros!" Shouri boomed. "This is a two-on-two battle with no substitutions! Goal is fifty percent rhythm remaining!" He paused for a moment, eyeing the four Resonators at the ready. "Begin!"

"Mila! L'Ordine di Gabriele, Rubato! Zephyr, Mente Offuscata, Rubato!" Vince shouted immediately. "Fulmine a Catena, Fortissimo! Arcebaleno Fuoco, Fortissimo!" Luis immediately went on the offensive with his calls.

The opposing lightning and fire elements began preparing their spells. In the meantime, Mila took on a protective glow. Zephyr gathered her Maestro's rhythm and started with the lightning element. A quick snap of her hand and the opponent cried out in pain.

"What?!" Luis shouted, noting the sudden reeling of his Resonator. The enemy fire element fired off his attack – and thankfully for them Mila and Zephyr were grouped for some reason.

"Fuck!" Mila snatched Zephyr out of the air before she could figure out what was going on and shielded her from the explosion. The force of the blow threw the cat from her feet.

"Mila! Zephyr!" "Don't waste your breath! Head in the game!" The cat barked back, releasing the now glowing fairy. Mila's glow had faded, but she quickly reapplied the buff to herself.

"Fulmine a Catena, Fortissimo! Arcebaleno Fuoco, Fortissimo!" Luis repeated.

Zephyr wasn't letting that happen again, she snapped both opponents with a Mente Offuscata, interrupting their castings and earning cries of pain from the two Resonators.

"What the fuck?!" Luis barked. His two lackeys watched in stunned silence.

Mila needed no command to know what to do. "Zeph! Keep them pinned!" she shouted. "Got it!" The fairy focused on repeated castings of Mente Offuscata. "G-get out of there!" Luis shouted in a panic.

It was useless, however. Mila easily cleared the distance with her Felid Step boosting her speed. The lightning element was first. Mila throwing punches boosted by her wrist flames. Zephyr eased up on the lightning element and focused her own assault on the fire element whose cries only grew louder.

"Halt combat!" Shouri suddenly shouted.

Mila halted a punch just shy of the lightning element who had held their arms up in weak protest. The opposing fire element shakily looked up, realizing the head-splitting assault of lunar magic had vanished.

"Hmph." Mila withdrew her fist and spat off to the side.

Luis was absolutely boiling, his eyes locked on the pair of tuners in his grasp.

RHYTHM 47% 47%

RHYTHM 43% 43%

How?! It didn't make sense! How did this child best him?!

"Who are you really?!" Luis demanded of the fifteen-year-old that approached him.

"Vince Rayburn," he said simply. The boy hummed, looking back at his two Resonators. "Oh, we're Pruned Trees Re-Sprout – a guild."

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