A Tamer's Tale

Rue sat cross-legged in his Soul Ocean. He waved his hands in the air, shaping and condensing the Soul Construct that he had settled on. Taking Kiera's advice, he had decided to focus on movement first. Her thought process had merit; having the ability to move faster would hardly ever be a demerit.

The shape of the construct that he decided on was that of a sandstone pillar. He decided to go with this idea both because of its versatility and simplicity. He thought that with time, he could summon pillars beneath his feet at an angle, adding a bit of velocity to his sprint when they emerged from the ground. Secondly, he wouldn't ever have to worry about tripping on uneven ground if he shaped the ground underneath his feet. Another reason was density; sandstone was less compact than other rock types like granites or stone, hopefully making it easier to manipulate. But he chose sandstone mostly because he saw potential for a trick. Though first, he wanted to test and see if it would even work.

As the simple sandstone pillar took shape within his Soul Ocean, it was outlined with the flow of water, signifying it was a fluid construct. After examining it, Rue reached out with his Earth affinity, attaching it to the construct.

Satisfied with his work, he exited his Soul Ocean. He was met with Kiera's wrinkly face staring down at him. "So what did you come up with?" She asked, curiosity lacing her voice.

Rue rolled his eyes, "Give me some room." he said, waving her away.

Kiera took a step back, her eyes in a squint. She was surprised when the brat successfully connected his affinity with a Soul Environment, not to mention created one. Now, she wanted to just see if his brain could keep up with his talent.

Rue kept in his lotus position. Raising his hand, a foot-tall pillar of sandstone broke through Kiera's floorboards.

Kiera looked at the pillar with a scowl. "I'm not even going to mention the fact you broke my floor." She paused, and pointed at the pillar, "But how is this a movement spell?"

Rue raised an eyebrow at her comment. Couldn't she see how fast the pillar emerged from the ground? He felt like he could even control the speed. 'Maybe she isn't thinking of the possibility, ' he concluded.

Standing, Rue decided to demonstrate. Squatting down, he jumped up. Just as he activated his leg muscles, he summoned two pillars underneath his feet.

Instead of only jumping a foot or so as he usually would, Rue soared into the air much further than he expected, it was similar to jumping on a trampoline and getting a bounce that was just too powerful.

Loosing control he destroyed the pillars beneath himself, hoping his trick would work. The pillars instantly crumbled into sand.

Plop. Rue landed in the sand. Though that wasn't what he planned to use this for, he was glad it worked. He imagined if he ever had enemies chancing after him, he could turn the pillars he was using to boost himself forward into sand afterward. Leaving behind sandy terrain for his enemies to trudge through.

Satisfied, Rue laid back into the sand. He would say his first soul construct was a pretty big success.

After his demonstration, Kiera seemingly understood what Rue was aiming for. "Way to think outside the box, brat." A smile formed on her lips. Now I can think of plenty of uses for such a simple Construct."

Rue glanced at her, "I bet a child could as well." He said smugly, after all, wasnt he one?

Satisfied with his construct, he reached out to summon another but paused halfway. Remembering something, he pulled out a blueish-white stone from his pocket, "What type of Aether Crystal is this?"

Squinting her eyes, Kiera observed the crystalline object. "It feels like snow, Aether. It's not as cold as Ice, but magnitudes faster. This is a highly sought-after Aether stone... Don't tell me your squirrel there found it..."

Rue couldn't help but smirk, staring right into her eyes. "Yep, Shiny found it!"

Kiera rolled her eyes. "Well, don't waste both our time; absorb it already. I am quite curious myself."

Rue consented, pulling the stone's Aether into his Soul Ocean. As the seconds passed, his body began to shiver, and his fingers started turning blue. With widened eyes, he began to panic: "This has never happened before! Help me!"

Kiera's eyes widened, the wrinkles on her forehead squishing together, "Boy, you may just be the luckiest human I have ever met."

As the seconds passed, a small blizzard formed around Rue, its power increasing more and more. Noticing the damage that was starting to occur, Kiera backed away but gave some advice, "Your affinity is spilling out! Reign it in; condense the raw energy into your Affinity's Star."

Rue sat; he could feel his joints beginning to freeze over. Diving into his Soul Ocean, he searched for the new Star in his sky. It wasn't hard to spot the monstrosity that had suddenly appeared. Its size magnitudes larger than the others, its brightness going unrivaled amongst his current collection of affinities. Rue reached out with both hands, pushing the spilling blue-white energy to a point, willing it to condense even further. The size of the Star slowly shrunk, becoming the same size as the others nearby.

Exhausted, Rue fell down, staring up at Snow Star. Moving his hand in front of his eyes, he couldn't help but look away. It was too bright to stare at. 'It's practically a Sun."

Rue closed his eyes, appearing back in Kiera's home.

"Good that you were able to control it. If not, it would have controlled you. For now on, you will absorb Aether Crystals in my presence."

Rue merely nodded, his violet eyes struggling to stay open but still wandering around the room. "We might need to find a place I can safely practice. I don't want to destroy your home," he said, pointing at the sandy broken floorboards and frozen walls.

Kiera slowly nodded, "Good point." Thinking briefly, she shuffled out her back door. Outside, a garden full of odd and colorful plants was in view, as were a few other family homes.

Waving her hands, a wall of sharp thorn bushes began growing around her garden, blocking it from view. Wiping her hands, she looked at Rue. Now that you will be using my backyard, I will require you to help me tend to my garden." She said, pointing towards a giant carnivorous plant that was clearly dissolving some unfortunate rodent trapped in its bladed mouth cavity.

Rue gulped, 'What a crazy old lady.'

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Shiny bounded a top of Kiera's roof. His majestic fur and rocky plating glistened in the sunlight. He was quite meticulous about his fur. When he was younger you discovered if he washed himself really well, he would shine!

Scampering down Kiera's roof, Shiny climbed up a nearby pine tree. Today, he was feeling quite confident. Finding a nice branch high in the tree, Shiny sat. His round black eyes scanned the surroundings while his ears zoned in on the ambient noises of the forest.

Listening closely, he finally heard what he had been listening for. A faint chirping echoed through the forest.

Locking on to the sound, Shiny leaped from his branch, jumping from tree to tree. His tail waved back and forth rhythmically as his body soared through the air between trees.

Approaching the signature sound, the chirping became clearer and clearer. Shiny stopped in his tracks as he landed on a random branch. His eyes hypnotically stared at the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.

Perched on a nearby branch, a slim but lean squirrel raised its mouth and chirped. Its white-tipped tail swirled back and forth, and its sharp ears twitched, searching for any response to her 'inquiry.'

Shiny could not help but leap towards the female Treasure Squirrel, landing on her branch.

The female Treasure Squirrel turned and stared at Shiny. A playful look flashed in its eyes. She turned and waved her big fluffy tail at Shiny. Before Shiny could even approach, the female Treasure Squirrel leaped from the tree.

Following, Shiny leapt as well. They jumped from tree to tree. Sometimes diving down branches, other times bounding up the trunk. The female Treasure Squirrel unceasingly waved her fluffy white-tipped tail back and forth.

Eventually, she slowed down. Glancing back to ensure Shiny was still following her, she turned and approached him.

CAWW

The female Treasure Squirrel jumped in freight, descending towards the ground into a dark tunnel. Shiny glared at a nearby raven. It had perched itself on a branch, snickering to itself.

Jumping, it soared away, leaving behind one last CAWW!

Shiny's face scrunched in frustration. He was so close! Why did that stupid bird have to scare her away?! Succumbing to his fate, Shiny turned back towards Verdant Hamlet. Maybe he would get lucky another time.

Jumping from tree to tree with noticeably less energy, Shiny stopped as he heard shouts coming from nearby.

Leaping towards the noise, Shniy hid amongst the pines as he approached a dirt road. A single wooden wagon pulled by two black horses had somehow got a wheel stuck in a gopher hole.

Shiny shook his head. Gophers had little curtesy, always leaving their holes in the most annoying locations. They would always strut about as if they owned the whole forest. Stupid gophers.

Shaking his head, Shiny focused back on the stuck wagon. Two finely dressed gentlemen stared at the wheel stuck in the gopher hole as two knights tried to lift the carriage.

"How could a knight like yourself be so useless!" The younger of the duo shouted. They both wore gleaming suits. The older gentlemen looked more refined. He had a cane in hand and a monocle resting on his nose.

Shiny stared at their suits with greed. They were shiny, but also looked so soft! Then a idea raced through his little head, his black eyes turning towards the carriage. There may be equally shiny things inside.

With quiet steps, Shiny landed on the ground. Shiny dug underneath the carriage using his ground affinity, popping up at the side where nobody stood. Shiny squeezed into the back, scampering inside. Within the Shiny practically fainted from pure and utter delight.

Stacks of bronze and silver bars and piles of colorful gems lined the walls. As he lost himself in the glistening valuables around him, the carriage lifted with a jolt. Guessing that the fancy people had removed the wheel from the gophers home, Shiny darted to the pile of gems, hastily sticking as many as he could into his mouth.

Just as his cheeks were about to burst, he called it quits. Pushing open the now moving carriage door, he leapt from the back.

The knight following behind widened his eyes as a squirrel leaped from the carriage.

Shiny merely used the young knight's face as a spring pad, flying into the forest. His chubby cheeks jingled up and down as he scrambled up a tree.

The knight in question merely stared at the spot where Shiny disappeared, a look of disbelief on his face. "What the hell just happened?"