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Mystic Heart Odyssey- chapter 17. Ah, rainy days, perfect for rest, shenanigans, and magic.

-Llox

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Kuna woke up the next morning and noticed he was again cuddled up in Lykou's lap. He yawned and rubbed his eyes. "G'morning Lykou," he said sleepily.

"Morning, Kuna," the konuul responded, smiling down at him. "Sleep well?"

The sereva nodded. "How long have you been up?"

"Not very. It, uh, doesn't look like there's much reason to rush," Lykou responded, pointing outside the cave. Anyway,

Kuna sat up a little and looked outside, blinking a few times. He saw that it was pouring rain, and now that he was slightly more alert, he could hear periodic gusts of wind as leaves and small twigs occasionally blew past. At some point during the night, the galdra had moved slightly further into the cave, presumably to avoid the puddle at the cave entrance.

"Unless it lets up soon, I have a feeling we'll be spending the day in here," Lykou said.

"Mmm, works for me," he said with a small smirk as he flopped back into the konuul's arms. "I'm not in a hurry to start hiking again."

Lykou chuckled and hugged the sereva. "At least we woke up in the same place we fell asleep this time, from what it looks like."

"That's a relief," Kuna replied.

The two took their time waking up and getting their breakfast. Due to the rain, they made do without a fire. Once he was awake enough and had finished eating, Kuna checked on Lykou's thigh wound. They both decided it had healed enough that it could go un-bandaged for a while. Then he began stitching up the tears and holes in their clothing, while the konuul looked over his spear and worked on giving it a sharper tip.

The rain came and went in waves, but the skies remained heavily overcast. Lightning jumped around among the clouds, occasionally leaping down to the ground in the distance. Low rumbles of thunder filled the air, though it was rarely close enough to be startlingly loud. The wind also came and went in moderate gusts.

Eventually, both Lykou and Kuna finished what they were doing and ended up sitting together and idly watching the weather, with nothing better to do. Kuna nearly nodded off after about an hour of watching and listening to the calming sounds. But eventually he shook himself awake and noticed how quiet his friend had been, and looked over at him. The konuul was staring off into space, apparently lost in thought, and lacking the usual upbeat, cheerful energy that he'd become accustomed to.

Kuna nudged him gently. "Hey, you alright Lykou?"

Lykou snapped out of his thoughts and smiled sheepishly at the sereva. "Yeah, sorry. Just spacing out a bit, I guess."

"Something bothering you?"

Lykou seemed hesitant for a moment, then sighed and shrugged, looking back down at the ground. "Just getting homesick, I guess."

Kuna immediately embraced the konuul. "I was wondering when it'd start to really hit you," the sereva said. "I know I don't exactly have much to miss, but you've got plenty. Want to talk it out?"

Lykou smiled faintly at the sereva and hugged him back. "Not much to say, really. It's just starting to really sink in how long I've been away. I've never been away from everyone for more than a day or two, before this trip. And even that was rare, and they at least knew roughly where I would be."

"You spent time away from everyone before?" Kuna asked, looking up with a raised eyebrow.

"Sure. On a couple of occasions I just needed time to myself, you know? And I was used to the area, so I'd go find a quiet place to camp for a night or two. One time I stayed a day longer and Naira came and found me," Lykou said, then chuckled. "Apparently she'd gotten worried. So had my family. She practically dragged me back to the village after that." He frowned. "And that was only after three days. I can only imagine what they must think after I disappear for several_weeks_. They probably think I'm dead."

Kuna frowned for a moment, then squeezed the konuul lightly. "Orrrr they might figure you met your licky-ka or whatever, and went on an adventure of enlightenment or something, you know," he said with a hopeful smile, trying to cheer the konuul up.

Lykou looked at him for a moment, then sighed with a slightly sad smile. "I doubt it. Truth be told I think I was one of the only ones left that really took those old stories literally. I expected the whole 'spirit chaser' job to end any time, and to be forced to get a real job."

The sereva frowned again, then sighed and laid his head on the konuul's shoulder. "Heh, sorry I couldn't be your magical guide spirit," he said with a faint smirk. "A spirit like that would at least know how to get you home."

"Hey," Lykou quickly responded, pulling the sereva around into his lap to look him in the eye. "You are way better than any spirit. Like I told you before, meeting you was better than anything an aliki-ka could ever give me."

Kuna blushed and smiled, folding his ears down. "Aw come on. Don't exaggerate."

Lykou furrowed his brows but smiled. "I'm serious, Kuna. I might miss home, but it's all been worth it meeting you. You're a fascinating and special guy and I really can't express how glad I am that you're in my life now."

The sereva blushed more and looked away with a bashful grin, biting his lip for a moment. "Yeah well, same to you, you big sap." He then pushed forward into another tight embrace with the canid. "And don't worry, we're going to get you home if we have to turn this mountain upside down looking for directions," he added with a wink after pulling back again.

Lykou chuckled . "Get us home, you mean," he reminded the sereva. "It's yours now too, remember?"

Kuna briefly glanced away, looking a bit uncertain, but then quickly shook it off and smiled back. "R-right."

"Kuna? You alright?" Lykou asked, quick to pick up on the hesitation.

"Y-yeah," the sereva answered, then sighed a little. "I guess I'm just still nervous about the idea. Whether they'll really accept me, and if I'll even fit in there. And what it'll be like."

"Like I said, I'm sure they will. And I'll be there with you to help you settle in," Lykou assured him. "Any trouble you have, I'll have your back. And at the very least, I know Naira and my family will, too."

"I believe you," Kuna said after a moment. "Anybody close to you would have to be good people, I imagine. Still, you know me. Can't shake those stupid 'what ifs' out of my head, at least until we get there."

Lykou gave him a sympathetic smile and rubbed his shoulder lightly. After a few moments, the smile turned into a smirk, and he moved the sereva out of his lap, then got up, heading towards the cave entrance.

"What are you doing?" Kuna asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

"You'll see." Lykou bent down by the firepit, getting lightly rained on in the process, and started digging at the now soaked ashes and soot. When he came back, he sat down in front of the sereva, holding a clump of grey, muddy stuff in one hand, and one of the soaked coals from the firepit in the other. Using the thumb from the less-full hand, he scraped some of the greyish-white stuff onto it, then suddenly rubbed it along Kuna's forehead.

Kuna pulled back and gave him a perplexed look. "What th- hey!" he objected, smirking slightly nonetheless. "What goofy shit are you up to now?"

"This isn't goofy. You're an Asher, so it's time to make it a bit more official," Lykou said with a grin. "Hold still."

"What, so you can paint on me and get my fur all matted up?" Kuna said, squirming as the konuul rubbed little marks on his cheeks under his eyes with the coal. "Seems kind of silly to me."

"We all do it from time to time. Especially the ones that go out into the woods. Hunters especially do it sometimes when they go night-hunting," Lykou explained. "Says it makes them more 'one with the shadows' or something like that. It's probably mostly nonsense, but it's fun either way."

"How is it fun getting filthy, exactly?" the sereva asked, flinching a bit as the konuul painted more of his forehead.

"Cus it looks neat, basically. Plus, like I said, we're Ashers. It's in the name. Just another way to stand out if and when we're around other tribes," the canid said, then set down the clump of ash-mud and moved back to the cave entrance to retrieve some of the darker stuff.

"Well I certainly hope you're enjoying yourself," Kuna said with a slight grin, resigning himself to being a canvas for the konuul's shenanigans.

"Yup. Now close your eyes for a moment," Lykou instructed.

After rolling his eyes, the sereva sighed and obliged. He felt Lykou's thumb rub over his eyelids a couple times, making him twitch a bit.

"Alright. Now you can open them."

Kuna did so, and the konuul smiled at him. "Looks good. Wanna see for yourself? C'mere."

Kuna raised an eyebrow, then shrugged and followed him to a puddle that had formed just inside the entrance of the cave. The reflection wasn't great, but it was enough to see his face. The tan fur on his forehead was thoroughly coated in ashy grey-white, while his eyes and the surrounding area, normally white on their own, had been given a black, almost mask-like look. He was a bit surprised at first, but slowly started to grin. "This looks ridiculous. But better than I expected."

"The coal stuff looks good on your eyes," the konuul said, grinning back at him. "There's some clay over there we could use to add some red marks under the black, if you want."

"This is fine, I'm sure," Kuna said, snickering. Then he eyed the konuul for a minute. "... your turn."

Lykou smiled in pleasant surprise. "Sure, if you want to give it a try. Jus-"

Suddenly, the sereva surprised him by slopping the entire discarded remaining handful of the dark, sooty mix on the konuul's head and smearing it down towards his face.

"...oh it's on." Lykou announced as he grabbed the pile of lighter stuff and smeared it onto the sereva's head, causing him to yelp.

The two retrieved more 'ammo' and pelted eachother with it for several minutes. Then Lykoun pounced and grabbed Kuna, causing the sereva to squeal and burst into a fit of giggling as his sides were tickled. Eventually they collapsed side by side and caught their breath.

"I think part of your head never grew up, I swear," Kuna finally said, smirking over at the konuul.

Lykou stuck his tongue out at him playfully. Kuna snickered a bit, then sighed contently.

"You know, we're going to have to get cleaned up, now. And that includes cleaning these clothes," Lykou eventually pointed out.

"Yeah, good point. Heh, and I just finished fixing them, too," Kuna playfully griped.

"Yep. And you know what that means," the konuul added, grinning some more. "Naked time."

Kuna blushed, then gave him a look. "...yeah, I guess so." He smirked. "Just as long as you behave yourself. You can't exactly go find a secluded private spot this time in case you suddenly have the urge to jerk off, ya big perv."

"Who are you calling a perv?" the konuul replied as he took off his shirt. "I seem to recall you were the first one to get all hot and bothered on this trip."

The sereva blushed and pouted playfully, then smirked as he took off his poncho and tossed it as the konuul. "Not my fault! I told you, it'd been a while! And then you were being such a tease," he replied, crossing his arms.

Lykou snickered as he pulled the poncho off his head, then started removing his pants. "Hey, not my fault you're fun to fluster."

Kuna just shook his head and rolled his eyes, using it as an excuse to look away and hide his flushed face while he started removing his own shorts.

The konuul struggled slightly to look away when the sereva bent down to pull his shorts off. "For as much as you complain about teasing, I swear you show off sometimes." He said with a grin, also blushing some.

Kuna turned back around, and crossed his arms. "Not my fault your eyes have no self control!" he responded with an eyebrow raised. Then he rubbed his neck and looked away with a bashful smirk. "Look, seriously though, Lykou, ease up for now alright? It's been a week, and pervy comments really could... well, you know."

Lykou smiled and shrugged. "Sure, fair enough. I didn't realize it was that easy to get you going, though," he replied. "Sorry if it was really bothering you at all."

"It's fine. Just doesn't help that you are, well..." the sereva trailed off for a moment, then glanced back with a bashful expression. "Anyway, maybe if I had a place to go, er... take care of things, I wouldn't complain, but while we're stuck in here, that's a bit of an issue,"

Lykou raised a brow, then chuckled. "I mean, truth be told, I wouldn't care if you just did it here."

Kuna's eye twitched as he gave the konuul a flat stare and a faint smirk. "Yeah, I bet you wouldn't."

Certain ideas briefly crossed the canid's mind again, but he quickly shook them off. "Mhmm. But a deal's a deal, I'll lay off."

"Yeah let's go clean up. I bet that cold water water will do us both good," the sereva pointed out, poking the konuul on the way to the cave entrance.

Just outside the cave, rainwater was pouring down a natural spout in one spot, forming a small gully off to the side. Kuna started using it to rinse off his poncho, and Lykou joined him after a moment to clean off his own clothes. Once he'd finished the poncho, Kuna unfolded it as widely as possible across the cave floor, then started on his shorts. "Without a fire or some way to hang this stuff up, it's going to take forever to dry."

"Yeah, true. Hope this rain finishes up soon," the konuul lamented.

Once they'd both finished with their clothing, they started cleaning their fur, particularly their heads and faces. Since the spout was barely big enough for one of them, they started off just wetting their hands and wiping things off bit by bit. At one point, Lykou caught a glimpse of Kuna that nearly made his heart skip a beat. The sereva had removed most of the dirt from his head, but there was still a fairly even coating of the dark mixture on and around his eyes, which had somehow gotten a bit smoother from the rain water trickling down off his head. At that moment, he was glad they'd called a teasing truce.Damn, he thought. I_f he knew how good he looked right now, and how to really play it up, I'd lose immediately._

The konuul quickly shook his head and turned back to the water. "S'cuse me a minute," he said, then stepped out fully under the water flow, soaking himself as much as possible with a slight shiver.

"Hey! Don't hog the water," Kuna playfully griped, crossing his arms with a smirk.

"I'll only take a moment, and you can use the rain in the meantime," the konuul said, quickly wiping off any more muck he could before quickly hopping back out into the cave. "See? Your turn."

Kuna yelped as he was playfully nudged into the spout. He tensed up as the cold water soaked him from head to toe. "FUCK that's cold!" he squealed, then very hastily finished cleaning himself off before bolting back out from the water.

Lykou snickered. "Come on, it's not that bad."

"Easy f-for you to s-say, fluffball," Kuna quipped, shooting him a light-hearted glare as he wrapped his arms around himself and shivered.

"Hey, at least you'll dry off quicker," the konuul replied, wringing some water out of his tail.

"True I guess. Wish w-we had a f-f-fire, though."

Lykou nodded. "Yeah, that'd be nice. Actually," he said, glancing over at a tiny stack of wood they'd kept for the fire near the cave entrance. Miraculously, despite how little they'd found, they still had a little bit left. And it had managed to keep mostly dry. "I guess we could make a small one in here. The smoke should flow out as long as it's close enough to the opening."

"Why didn't w-we just d-do that in the f-first place?" Kuna wondered aloud as he quickly started for the wood.

"Well, it's a bit uneven," the konuul pointed out, coming over to help out. "We won't be able to make a proper ring. And it won't last long with this little wood."

"F-fuck that, as long as I c-can warm up I don't c-care."

Lykou chuckled. "Fair enough."

After they got the fire good and going, they both sat down as close as they could. Lykou held the sereva in his arms to help him warm up. After a bit, something occurred to him. "Sorry if this is a bit uncomfortable to ask, but how did you keep warm before? Since you didn't know how to make a decent fire and all..."

Kuna shrugged, his expression dropping slightly. "We usually made pretty thick clothes from different things unless we were going further south in the winter. I had some with the rest of my old junk in another cave, but it was getting all full of holes and shit. Never got around to fixing it. Just kind of piled it up on top of the tattered old blanket I had at night."

Lykou frowned and gave his friend a tight squeeze. "I'm guessing your, er, tent thing fell apart, too?"

"Probably, eventually," Kuna said quietly with a shrug, staring at the ground. "I went to that cave soon after... you know. Tent just kept reminding me, so I didn't want to be around it."

"Sorry Kuna," the konuul apologized, gently stroking the sereva's arm. "Didn't mean t-"

"You're fine, you were just curious. I can't blame you," the sereva cut in. He sighed and leaned back into his friend's arms with a sad smile. "I don't even know exactly how long it was. I stopped keeping track of the days after a while. Truth is, I was pretty much ready to just... give up," he continued, then paused to look up at the canid. "You really have no idea how much you saved me by chasing me down," he added with a smirk.

Lykou's eyes got slightly teary, but he smiled back and gave the sereva another tight squeeze. "I'm really, really glad I did."

Kuna sighed and turned back away. "Sometimes I worry this is all just a dream, just my mind playing another sick joke on me. That I'll just wake up alone in that other cave again."

The canid frowned and rubbed his arm some more. "Hey, you still have that stone somewhere?"

"Er. Yeah, over there with my poncho," Kuna said, raising a brow. "Why?"

"Just a sec," Lykou said, briefly stepping away to retrieve the stone. After grabbing it, he sat back down and pulled the sereva back into his lap.

"Don't you dare go cutting yourself again," Kuna playfully warned. "We're practically out of bandage material and we've both had enough cuts for a while."

Lykou chuckled. "Fair enough," he said, then pressed the stone into Kuna's hand. "Just consider this an extension of that promise, then. I swear I'm as real as this rock, and so is everything we've been through together. Any time you start to question it, just grab that thing and give it a squeeze, and you'll be reminded of that fact."

Kuna smiled up at him and clenched the stone tightly in his hand, then leaned his head against the canid's neck and nuzzled it lightly. "Sappy as that is, it sounds good to me. Thanks, Lykou."

*****

The rest of the day passed relatively uneventfully. Lykou and Kuna chatted intermittently, and otherwise mostly cuddled in silence while watching the rain. It got boring at times, but they managed to enjoy each other's company. Eventually, as the sun set, they checked to see if their clothing had dried yet. Much to Kuna's chagrin, it was still slightly damp. Lykou just smirked at him. "Looks like we're sleeping naked again."

The sereva just rolled his eyes and smirked back, blushing a bit. "I guess so."

"Hey, in all seriousness, you alright with that? I know you were just really backed up last time, but I also know it's been a week and you're easily worked up," Lykou said with sympathetic smile. "I meant it when I said I don't care if you have to, you know, let off some tension in here. I can look away and sit at the cave entrance if it helps, or you can just do it when I'm asleep, so you don't feel embarrassed."

Kuna blushed furiously and glared playfully at the konuul with a slightly twitching eye and a small, awkward smirk, instinctively holding his legs together and covering himself. "I'm fine, Lykou," he insisted emphatically after a moment, then looked away, rolling his eyes up. "That cold water helped plenty. And need I remind you, we had a truce."

Lykou snickered a bit. "Much as I do appreciate how adorably flustered you are right now, I really am being serious, not teasing. Don't torture yourself just because you can't go find a hiding spot first."

"I think I'll manage," the sereva responded, shaking his head a bit. "I swear..."

"Alright, I just wanted to make sure you knew," the konuul continued. "Sorry to make you feel uncomfortable."

Kuna sighed and smirked. "It's fine. I know you're really just trying to be sweet, even if does come across as pervy." He thought for a moment, biting his lip, then looked away, his blush remaining. "That said, uh... same offer goes to you. I can, you know, look away too. If you have to do it."

Lykou chuckled. "Appreciate it. I'll let you know," he said, then stretched a bit. "That said, I think I'm going to get some rest. Hopefully the rain will stop sometime tonight and we can get an early start tomorrow."

"Alright. I'm not tired enough to sleep yet though, so I'll join you in a while," Kuna replied, then turned and narrowed his eyes playfully at the konuul. "And no, before you say anything, I'm NOT just waiting to jerk off, dammit."

The konuul laughed. "Hey, I wasn't going to assume."

"Sure you weren't," Kuna playfully snarked. "Perv."

Lykou snickered again. "Anyway, goodnight Kuna."

"Goodnight, Lykou," the sereva replied, smiling. "Sleep well."

******

Some time later, the air suddenly grew a little warmer, even as the last remnant of the small fire they'd had was smoldering out. Kuna looked up and saw a familiar ball of flame with eyes manifest. "Good evening, Kuna."

"Oh, hi, um..." the sereva replied uncertainly. "...are you going to tell me your name now?"

"No, not yet," the spirit said, much to the sereva's annoyance. "But you may refer to me as 'mentor' for now, if you wish."

"Alright, Mentor it is, then," Kuna said. "I take it you made it warmer in here?"

"Of course. It would be hard for you to focus when you're shivering," the spirit answered.

"Thanks, I appreciate it," Kuna said with a sheepish smile. "Lykou and I kind of... had to clean up a bit in the rain earlier, and we kind of ran out of wood for the fire."

"Think nothing of it," the spirit said. "Now then, let us begin."

Kuna nodded and took a deep breath as he adjusted his position. "Alright, so... should I do the whole green-hand thing now?"

"Yes, Kuna, do the 'green hand thing'- grasp the flow of life energy," the spirit said with a small amount of amusement.

The sereva focused for a minute as he tried to feel for the energy as it flowed through and around him. After a minute, he found it and focused on trying to mentally grasp it. The latter took a few more minutes, but eventually, he manifested the green glow in his hand.

"Very good," the spirit praised. "Remember to practice that regularly, and it'll get easier and easier over time, like with any skill."

Kuna nodded. "So... what now?"

"See those cave mushrooms behind you? Bring the energy to them. Feed it to them."

With some minor trepidation, the sereva leaned over and brought his glowing hand to the mushrooms. After a brief hesitation, he touched his hand to the largest one. At first, nothing seemed to happen, but after a few moments, the mushroom suddenly started to grow before his eyes. He pulled away in susprise after a moment, and the mushroom stopped growing. He grinned. "Wow..."

"As you can see, life magic is the magic of growth and change," the spirit explained. "But you must be careful with it."

"Oh? How so?" Kuna asked, looking back up to the spirit as he pulled his hand back.

"Life energy has a mind of its own, in a way. Without control, it just applies growth and fills in the gaps on its own, and it can have a very... creative imagination," the spirit continued. "See for yourself. Keep making the mushroom grow."

Kuna looked back over to the mushroom and brought his hand back in contact with it. After a moment, it started growing again. It got larger and larger, but after a few moments, it also started to wrinkle, twist, and deform to an increasing level. Patches changed color and split open, with new growths bursting out of the seams, until suddenly, it burst in a colorful little explosion of spores that immediately burnt up and faded away. The pop made the sereva jerk away in surprise, and he frowned.

"See? That's why your next step is to learn to control it. Otherwise you can get all kinds of strange, unpredictable effects."

The sereva nodded. "Makes sense. So how do I do that?"

"Fairly simply, actually. This is where the 'change' part really comes in. While directing the energy into something, you must focus on what kinds of changes you want it to make. Picture them in your mind. Visualize the form you want it to take over the form it currently has. Try it with one of the others. Keep it simple, to begin with."

Kuna nodded and thought for a moment, then reached over to one of the other mushrooms and concentrated as he poured the life energy into the mushroom. It grew more slowly than the last time, but this time it also changed its color from a dingy orange to a light blue color- but in a smooth, non-chaotic pattern. After a moment, he pulled his hand away and smiled. "That wasn't too bad."

"Indeed, well done," the spirit said. "You're picking this up quickly, Kuna."

Kuna blushed slightly and grinned.

"A word of caution, though- when it comes to magic, especially life magic, it will gradually drain you, the more you change things. As you are redirecting the flow of energy, it's taking a little of what would normally be directed into you along the way."

The sereva's ears drooped and he looked away as his expression fell. "Oh. I was afraid of that..."

"Not to worry, Kuna. I know what you're thinking. No, your physical strength has nothing to do with it," the spirit reassured him. "It would be the same for anyone starting out. And as you become more experienced, you'll get better at it, and it'll drain you less. And in any case, even early on, these little tricks you've been doing so far won't even make a noticeable difference. Unless you were up all night doing them, of course."

That perked the sereva up again. "That's good to know," he said, then looked over at the spirit, a curious thought occurring to him. "Um. Mentor, I was wondering... don't take this the wrong way, but why are you, a fire spirit, teaching me life magic?"

The spirit stared at him for a moment before speaking again. "As a spirit, I know all about all sorts of magic. I may be wreathed in flame, but that isn't important, because it is you that is learning, not me," they explained. "And as I said before, life magic is one the most fundamental forms, and the easiest for many mortals to start with. And as a sereva, you have a natural innate affinity for it to begin with."

"Oh. That makes sense. S-sorry if I offended you," Kuna said nervously.

"Not at all," the spirit said, floating around a bit. "In fact, I encourage you to ask questions. Magic is all about learning and understanding."

Kuna thought for a moment, scratching his head. "How many different kinds of magical 'energies' are there anyway?"

"More than you can count, technically. But most of them are purely the domain of those of us in the spirit realm, I'm afraid," Mentor answered. "But there are several that mortals do work with. Life energy, of course, and several basic elemental energies, which you are already mostly familiar with in passing. And another, very special one that I will introduce to you at another time, once you're sufficiently on your way with life magic."

Kuna raised a brow at the last bit. "Is it... star magic?"

"That is what your people call it, yes," the spirit explained. "But that's a bit misleading. As for its true name, you will just have to wait."

The sereva huffed slightly and looked away, mildly annoyed, but decided not to push the issue. Still, the idea of learning star magic, or whatever it was actually called, was exciting. He thought for a moment before speaking again. "So there's life energies, and elemental energies... so, like I'm guessing fire, stone, wind, and water?"

"Something like that, among a few others, yes."

"Will I learn those, too? I've never heard of anyone using that kind of magic except spirits."

"Regrettably, mortals would typically be considered fortunate to learn two or three forms of magic," the spirit explained. "With many users only mastering one in their lifetime. That said, you do seem to have a knack for it, so who knows?"

Kuna glanced over at the slumbering konuul at the back of the cave. "I don't suppose he could learn too, could he?" he asked curiously, then grinned sheepishly back at the floating fireball. "Not to say I'm not grateful for whatever you can teach me, but I feel sort of selfish hoarding all the 'enlightenment', so to speak."

"Unfortunately, konuul have been shown to have difficulty mastering overt magics. And, not to insult your friend, but he clearly does not have the right kind of mentality for it."

The sereva frowned. "That's a shame."

"That being said, they aren't without other talents. Just because they rarely harness the arts you are pursuing doesn't mean they don't have their own ways of tapping into mystical power," the spirit said, briefly drifting over towards the sleeping konuul. "Some have found ways to indirectly access various elemental energies, using various materials in the mortal world that have been saturated with it."

The spirit floated back, with Lykou's knife seemingly floating alongside it, as it appeared to examine the object. "Sunstone, for example. They're only beginning to understand it, but it has significant potential."

Kuna grinned. "I knew that stuff had to be magical."

"Indeed, no doubt you subconsciously felt the presence of fire essence within it," the spirit said, floating the knife carefully back over into Lykou's bag. "The konuul are a fascinating group of mortals. Not just with their innovations, but their instincts. You may never see an overt magic user among their number, but even subconsciously, they may find ways of making use of certain energies in pursuit of other goals. Keep a close, curious eye on Lykou. He may pleasantly surprise you."

"He's certainly done enough of that already," Kuna said, smiling fondly over at the konuul.

The spirit watched him silently for minute, its eyes narrowing a bit as a small, indigo grin appeared buried within the flames. But its 'face' quickly reverted to normal when the sereva turned back.

"Er, sorry, guess I got lost in thought there," Kuna said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head.

"That is quite alright. It appears that they were pleasant thoughts," the spirit commented with a light chuckle. "In any case, I think we've covered enough tonight. Do keep practicing- in private, of course. Just remember that anything big will tire you out, especially this early on."

Kuna nodded. "We'll probably be continuing our journey tomorrow morning. Lykou is expecting, or at least hoping to find some kind of info about the way home from this mountain. I don't suppose you could tell me if we'll find anything like that? Or... could you maybe point us the right way"

The spirit was silent for a moment, then glanced away. Kuna could almost make out some kind of faint smirk in its flames, but he thought he might have been imagining things. "You will find what you need to find," it said, then returned its gaze to the sereva. "All I will say for now, is that by the time I've finished the lessons I intend to give you, you'll be able to guide the both of you home."

Kuna perked up at that. "Oh, that's good. Er. How many more of these 'lessons' will that be though?"

"Given your keen mind and affinity for these things, not too many," the spirit said. "You'll see. Now then, I must part from here. Goodnight, Kuna."

"Good night, Mentor," the sereva said with a smile.

The spirit vanished, and he looked down at his glowing hand again, thoughtfully. He then turned back to the mushrooms and experimented some more with changing their shapes, sizes, and colors. Eventually, he grew tired and got up to go join Lykou. As he did, he was suddenly reminded of the galdra's presence when it sent him a message- caution. He looked up curiously at the rock spirit. "Huh?"

The galdera was silent for a moment, then it sent a message of indifference, followed by one of restfulness.

"Er... okay," Kuna said with one eyebrow raised. "Goodnight to you too, I guess." He smiled. "And thanks again for keeping watch for us."

The spirit again responded with indifference, and Kuna slipped up under the blanket and into Lykou's arms. He smiled contently as he dozed off for the night.