It was early-afternoon when Clovus finished his last training with his, now, former master. Clovus could say that he was truly tired, especially with the bangles hanging on his body. He had to constantly exert strength into his limbs, or else he would drop to the floor. In this case, that's what happened. Even Pama was exhausted, his tongue was hanging out of his mouth and his body was steaming in the cool autumn air. 

 

"Master really pushed us today, right Pama," Clovus asked, sweating seemed to be pouring out his body nonstop. 

 

Pama flopped down in agreement, trying his best to catch his breath. Eventually, he decided to lay his head down and closed his eyes to rest. 

 

Clovus looked over and giggled at the sight of him, really he shouldn’t be laughing either, he was in the same position. He laid there for about twenty minutes before he recovered enough to start moving his limbs again. He stood up and shook Pama awake, "Come on Pama, we need to get home before lunch to get cleaned up. Then we could take a longer nap before the ceremony starts."

 

Pama shook off his drowsiness and stood back up.

 

“Looks like the two of you have recovered enough,” Master Resh said as he approached the two. “Here take this.” Master Resh tossed two bottles in the air.

 

Clovus could barely lift his arms fast enough to catch them. Clovus’s expression brightened up instantly and bowed towards Master Resh. 

 

“Master!” Clovus glanced back at the bottles in his hands. They were tiny green flasks, but if one looked closely they would be able to see the simmering liquid contained within. Clovus rarely saw Master Resh pull these flasks out for anybody, he knew how valuable they were to Master. These flasks contained a mixture Master created that elevated one’s constitution and health. The ingredients were hard to find, even in more material abundant environments. Clovus gazed back at his Master, “I am extremely grateful Master, but I don’t think I could accept these. I know how troublesome it is to make them.” Clovus began to hand them back to his Master.

 

Master Resh’s arms were crossed since throwing the flasks to Clovus, he didn’t look like he would be tasking the flasks back. “No. Just consider these an extra gift for your ceremony and a parting gift from master to disciple. ”

 

Clovus retracted his hands back and bowed again, “Okay, since Master insists I will take these. But if I may ask, why are there two flasks?” Clovus scratched his head while asking.

 

“Well, one’s for Pama too.”

 

Clovus smiled brightly at the response and hurriedly poked Pama in his side, “Hurry! Say thank you to Master too, this present is very valuable to Master!”

 

Pama tilted his head at Clovus’s words and shook his head when he finished talking. Pama then strode towards Master Resh. Master eyed the carabao to see what he was going to do. Pama got close to Master’s face and before Master could do anything, Pama’s tongue snaked out and began to lick his face.

 

Instead of pushing Pama away, Master stood there, arms crossed with a stoic face, allowing Pama to slobber all over his face.

 

Clovus stood across them rubbing his forehead, “Pamaa..”

 

“Okay. That’s enough, your welcome Pama,” Master uncrossed his arms, and gently pushed Pama away. “Now, hurry and take those flasks. They have amazing properties in the long run, but they could also act as a healing potion upon drinking it as well. 

 

Pama returned to Clovus’s side and Clovus popped the cork off of both flasks. Feeding one of the flasks to Pama first and then himself. As soon as the liquid touched Clovus’s tongue, he could feel energy flowing right back into his body. His aching muscles and body began to alleviate, and his mental fatigue lessened as well. Pama began to do little jumps as he clearly felt more energized than before.

 

“Thank you again Master. It has been an honor being your disciple,” Clovus gave one last bow, even Pama joined in bowing a bit as he stopped jumping around.

 

Without saying another word, Master Resh nodded and returned back into his house. Clovus gave a small sigh. Pama crouched down letting Clovus climb onto his back. Pama’s expression became strained as Clovus got on completely. Pama didn't realize how much heavier Clovus had become because of his new bangles. With the unexpected weight, Pama almost collapsed back onto the ground, even with his revitalized energy, but he caught himself at the last minute and struggled back to his standing position. 

 

Clovus had thought Pama would complain but to his surprise he started to walk back in silence. 

 

As they walked through the village again, they noticed that everything had changed. Stalls for food were placed throughout the streets, as well as booths for activities and items to be sold. One would think that having 150 people within the village would make occasions like this boring and repetitive, but it was the complete opposite.

 

Since the village barely conceives new children, any and every Ghrim ceremony is celebrated to the fullest. New stalls and activities are planned out, and even though the village is not based on commerce; with everyone constantly being placed out on missions, people were bound to find rare materials, beasts, or plants.

 

Many decorations were placed throughout the village as well. Banners were strung between houses. Ghrims that could control metal and earth placed temporary fountains everywhere; Ghrims that were fungi experts were accompanying them, spreading their spores in specific places. Other Ghrims who could control plants were making flowers grow and bloom on every house, as well as fashioning many topiaries on the streets. Nothing was finished and more work needed to be done, but Clovus and Pama looked around with complete wonder, the entire village had already changed beyond what they could imagine. With all the bustling and preparation going on everywhere, their spirits rose a bit from their harsh training. Pama put a pep in his step to hurry home. It seemed that he wanted to get home and rest, so that he could be refreshed to see what new installments would await them. 

 

They finally arrived home and began to fill pails with water from the pump. One pail at a time, Clovus filled the bath up with water and hopped right in. Pama was in his own bath outside, splashing around. The water was still a bit cold so Clovus didn't soak for too long. After 10 minutes, Clovus stood up and grabbed a towel to dry himself. He dressed in simple clothes, ones he could fall asleep in, and went outside to help Pama dry out. Pama was already sunbathing to dry but Clovus came with a towel, making the drying process much quicker. 

 

Clovus's parents still hadn't shown up when they were done, Mom and Dad are probably still in their briefing, thought Clovus. "Come on Pama, let's take a small nap and then get ready after. Mom and Dad will probably come and wake us up before it's time."

 

Having said that, Clovus and Pama climbed into their bed and fell asleep.

 

***

 

Eris and Veler finally arrived back to the house late in the afternoon, they came back to Clovus and Pama still sleeping from their nap. 

 

"Resh must've really driven them hard today," Eris said as she approached Clovus to wake him up.

 

"Eris, take a closer look," replied Veler.

 

Eris squinted her eyes upon hearing Veler, and gave them a second look. A surprised expression appeared on her face, "I can't say I'm not surprised but they could've waited for us to discuss it with him first." Both Eris and Veler noticed the silver colored bangles dangling from Clovus' limbs and neck. 

 

"Clovus must have believed that Resh wouldn't have given him something that would be dangerous to him. Anyways, the item is supposed to be extremely beneficial towards his body's development. In these past six months, his body has already undergone many changes; though his body looks to be average, his muscle tone is extremely refined for a six-year-old," said Veler. He wasn't mad that Clovus made this decision on his own, it made him extremely proud. He wanted his son to think and decide for himself. 

 

Eris was a bit more worried than Veler, but her concern was for the future. Resh had told her the consequence of breaking free from the bangles, she didn't want Clovus to get hurt from it. In the next moment she threw those thoughts away, it was useless to think about something that would occur far away in the future. There would be plenty of time to figure out how to minimize the outcome. "Come on Aide, let's wake Pama up first."

 

White light particles started to appear within the room and they gathered next to Eris. Then, Aide, the Light Particle Wolf, manifested from the converging lights. Some of the particles didn't disappear and instead began to move under Pama's body. Aide shook her mane and more particles appeared, also moving beneath Pama. 

 

Pama was soon covered with the white light, and suddenly both Pama and Aide vanished into hundreds of light motes. The motes moved out of the room, and house, into the front yard. 

 

"I'll handle those two while you get Clovus ready, alright?" Eris took a step towards the door and made her way outside to get Aide and Pama ready.

 

Veler nodded in agreement and moved towards Clovus's closet. He picked out a certain outfit hanging and made his way towards Clovus. He shook Clovus awake, 

 

"Hey little monster, it's time to get ready."

 

"Dad?" Clovus stirred as he rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes. Then he realized that his dad was really waking him up, "Daddy!" Clovus hopped up and jumped into Veler's arms, all signs of sleep gone from his face. 

 

"Oof! It looks like those bangles weren’t a joke," lamented Veler as he caught Clovus.

 

Clovus made an ashamed expression, "Sorry I didn't talk to you or Mom first..."

 

"There's no need to feel that way Clovus, instead feel proud! I'm so proud of you! You've only just turned six and you're already making important decisions for yourself."

 

"But Mom..."

 

"Don't worry about your mother. She may be a bit upset, but it's not towards you. She'll make sure they get what's coming to them," chuckled Veler as he responded. "Now come on. We need to take care of that rat's nest on your head."

 

"Hey!" Clovus looked up in anger, "My hair was nice and brushed before I took a nap, anything that happens when I fall asleep is beyond my control!" Clovus harrumphed and turned his back towards his dad, waiting for him to start brushing his hair.

 

Veler grabbed a brush and started to attack the knots in Clovus's hair. Since Clovus really did brush his hair before he fell asleep, recombing didn't take more than 5 minutes. After brushing, Veler picked up the outfit he took from the closet. "Your mother told me that you should wear this."

 

Clovus looked at the outfit. The pants were long and baggy but tapered into a fit at the ankle. On the side of the pants was a strip of scales going from top to bottom with one color of Clovus's eyes, silver; while the other leg had the same stripe but of the other color of Clovus's eyes, verdant. The shirt was a two-toned half-tunic.  The top half of the shirt was like a button-up shirt til the collar, and the bottom half was that of a tunic. The shirt's color was a cream white that accented both the silver and verdant colors. The cuffs at the end of the sleeves also had the scales on the pants, this time the two colors interchanging as they wrapped around the cuff; the same arrangement of scale was on the collar as well. The tunic's length stopped just after passing the waistline.

 

Clovus starred awestruck at the outfit. His eyes sparkling as he reached towards it. "This is amazing dad! Where did you even find this?!"

 

"Your mother commissioned this from that one tailor, I forgot her name, the one with the [Arachne] transformation. Anyways, it's made of Ever Growing Cotton, that means it'll grow along with you, and as long as it isn't completely destroyed it can regenerate back to its perfect state."

 

"Oh, miss Aeneid! I'll have to thank her if I see her tonight! So, this outfit is basically immortal," asked Clovus.

 

"Yes and no. It could be damaged and offers zero defense, but it'll go back to its pristine condition if a small piece remains. But that's not it, the scales along the legs, on the cuffs, and short collar are from the Obscure Commodore's claws. If seen at a specific angle, the outfit can give off the illusion of disappearing." 

 

Having said that, Veler gave a demonstration and tilted the outfit to one side. Before Clovus's eyes, it seemed that the outfit shimmered in a verdant-silver light and blended into the environment.

 

Clovus couldn't contain himself anymore and reached for the outfit, tearing his clothes off at the same time. Veler watched with a smile as he took his hand into his pocket, pulling out his Essence Sealing Bag. Although its main purpose was to seal the essence emitting from something, it was still a storage-space item. He opened the bag and took out three boxes, each varying in size. He waited until Clovus fully changed before presenting them to him. 

 

Clovus didn't pay attention to what his dad was doing as he changed. Once done he looked in front of a full-length mirror. The entire outfit complemented Clovus completely. The outfit's sleeves and pants ended just before the bangles on his wrists and ankles, seeming as it was planned for them to be shown off. The verdant  and silver colors matched his eye colors almost to a tee. "It looks perfect dad! Thank you!" He ran to hug his dad. "All I need is my shoes and I'm ready to go!"

 

But before he could wrap his arms around Veler, he saw the boxes his dad was holding. "Oh, more presents!"

 

Veler chuckled as he handed the boxes to Clovus, "Yes more presents, these are from both your mother and I." Clovus smiled and instantly tore the biggest box open. There was a pair of shoes inside, they seemed to be the shoes one would wear to a formal event. "You can wear these with your new outfit." 

 

Clovus tried the pair of shoes on; the shoes had low heels, sitting right under the ankle, and had detailed stitching on the toes tip. They were made of some type of leather, giving it the color of dark grey.

 

"This was also made from the Obscure Commodore, its skin, and the bottom of the oxford's are implemented with its beak and cartilage, creating a material with lots of frictions, making it able to walk on all terrain." 

 

Clovus did notice that there was an inch high platform around the entire shoe, giving it a slight chunky look. As Clovus took some steps, he realized how comfortable they were, giving zero discomfort.

 

The second largest box was opened to reveal a leather belt, also made from the Obscure Commodore's skin. It had two holster straps on the sides, like swords would be held there. There was a small bead in the middle of the buckle of the belt.

 

"Though you're still only six years old, now is the time when you are going to start training in weapons. This belt will holster your swords, knives, and other equipment. The bead in the middle is actually the Commodore's beast core, with this, you could change the entire look of the outfit, even the oxfords and belt, as well as what's in the last box. But the fundamental colors of the outfit will always stay the same."

 

Clovus fastened the belt over his pants, and opened the third box. There were two large silver feathers and two smaller verdant ones. "The feathers aren't refined into anything, but the feathers themselves emit an alluring and mystical effect when others view them," Veler said as he picked them up and adhered them to Clovus's hair. Once placed, they emitted an iridescent silver-green color and instantly made Clovus' curls more pronounced and sleek. Now upon gazing at Clovus's face, specifically his hair, one would be struck with a sense of mysticism and haziness. 

 

"Okay, you have an option for these ones, as they'll hurt to put them on." Veler took one last present from his pocket. They were a trio of talons, ones that looked to have come from one claw. They were pitch black with a single white line running through the entire middle. "As you probably know from Fawn's lectures, the Obscure Commodore is one of the apex predators of the demonic beasts. Its strongest abilities were to be able to blend into its environment, no matter what habitat. But not many knew of its secondary abilities, [Transparent Soul]. For a limited amount of time, the Commodore is able to make its body, even its soul transparent and impervious to anything.

 

"The remains we used to make all of these materials were found from an ancient tomb. These talons have been imbued with a partial ability to use [Transparent Soul]. If you place these talons into your body, specifically in the form of piercings, you could use a tenth of the abilities stored within them. As you grow older, your ability to use [Transparent Soul] will increase," explained Veler while Clovus listened with intent. "Of course, this is just speculation, the ability to use [Transparent Soul] is determined by one’s aptitude with using the Obscure Commodore’s abilities."

 

The talons were about a millimeter thick and a centimeter in length. "I get that two of them would go in my ears but what about the third," asked Clovus. 

 

"The third piercing would go right below your bottom lip, the labret."

 

"Will it hurt?"

 

"I'm not going to lie, normal piercings wouldn’t hurt too much, but with these talons originating from an ancient Obscure Commodore. It might bring excruciating pain."

 

Clovus thought for a moment, and decided to do it. Everything he's going through now will be worth it in the future. He looked into his dad's eyes and nodded.

 

Veler took the two longest talons and placed them onto the lobes of Clovus' ears. He had the sharp point facing into the lobe, his pointer finger positioned underneath his lobe. While the section of the talon where it should meet the claw was in his thumb. With a quick use of force he pressed his thumbs down and both talons were simultaneously plunged into Clovus' earlobes. 

 

Clovus bit back a cry as the pain pierced, what felt like, not only his body, but his soul. He closed his eyes and began to feel like he was going to drift off. He heard his dad's voice then, telling him to take deep breaths and follow along with his breathing. 

 

In. Out. In. Out. They cycled through the breathing technique for about 6 minutes before Clovus could get his bearings back. "Are you ready for the final one," asked Veler. 

 

Clovus had a pale complexion but nodded. Veler assumed the same position as with the earlobes but underneath the lip, and plunged his thumb down as soon as Clovus gave a nod.

 

Clovus didn't even have a chance to catch himself before he fell unconscious. 

 

"CLOVUS!" 

 

He could hear his dad shouting in the back before everything faded into darkness.

 

***

 

He woke up to find himself in a shifting world of clouds and smoke. Clovus looked down at his hands and saw that they weren't his regular hands, in fact his entire body was different. It looked like he was made of the same smoke and clouds as his surroundings, except the color of his clouds matched that of his eyes. 

 

"Mhmm. You're a peculiar one," said a sultry male voice. "You're the first person to come into my Spiritual Domain, without my permission that is...But I see you mean no harm either, not that you could hurt me," the voice chuckled to itself. He seemed to like to talk.

 

"Since you've piqued my interest, I’ll leave you with a parting gift...Until next time, young one. Don't let my hopes down."

 

The voice disappeared and the surrounding space began to dissipate.

 

Before the clouds and smoke disappeared, a fleeting energy surrounded Clovus’s formless body and it soon entered him. Everything faded to black soon after.

 

***

 

Clovus woke up from his dream, he could still feel the excruciating pain coming from his new piercings but his sole focus was the weird place he dreamt of. Was that real? Or did I just dream that up? Whose voice did I hear though? Well, whatever, I can't think of that right now, let's calm dad down. Clovus could hear his dad shouting for him to wake up as he peeked his eyes open. "I'm okay dad."

 

"Oh thank god. Your mom would have killed me if something were to happen to you on my watch." Veler flashed a grin at him, "You scared me there kid, are you alright?"

 

"I think so," Clovus responded. He moved his neck around and massaged his newly acquired piercings. "I'm just really aching now, it even hurts to talk."

 

Veler released an internal sigh, "Okay, cool. Good. With only some aches you should be fine.. Let’s head outside." 

 

His dad headed for the door, but Clovus stayed back to look at himself in the mirror one last time. He saw a faint iridescent silver-sage light flash across his outfit disappearing for an instant before it reappeared. Clovus's energy was quickly drained. It seemed that he inadvertently activated the outfits ability. Clovus’s essence level was almost completely gone from that one second activation. He thought to himself, I need to take it slow when I'm practicing this ability. Also, how was I able to activate it so easily? Didn't dad say I might not even be able to properly handle any abilities...Maybe it had to do with that dream I had. He pondered for two seconds more before turning away from the mirror and following his dad outside.

 

For some reason he felt like everything would change after this moment, but being a six year old, his mind quickly changed to that of concern for Pama because he hadn't seen him since they fell asleep. He rushed further.

 

They exited the front door and arrived at the front of the house with a carriage awaiting them. It was a simple carriage made of black wood, but there were intricate designs carved into the wood. 

 

Pama and Aide were attached to the front of the carriage acting as the pull animals. Pama was freshly brushed and he had a pair of silver bangles on his horns, ones that looked identical to Clovus's. He also had a bell hanging off of his neck, it was baby blue in color and had a black leather strap for the collar. 

 

"We made another set of your training weights for Pama, the ones who made it are still going to explain all the details of the items," Eris's voice drifted from the other side of the carriage. Clovus's eyes had drifted to Pama first before realizing whose voice it was. 

 

"The bell is also going to be explained by them, they only told me to put it on Pama beforehand."

 

Clovus peeled his eyes away from Pama and shouted, "Mom!" He ran into her arms as she appeared into view, "I've missed you! Thank you so much for my clothes, I love them!!"

 

"You're welcome sweetie. You'll need to start depending on equipment more often now. These were merely gifts that you would need for survival."

 

Clovus nodded and turned his attention back to Pama, and Pama's towards Clovus. "You're looking dapper Pama!" Clovus giggled and picked at Pama's mane, which had been braided. 

 

Pama glared at him as he shook his head and nipped at the feathers in Clovus's hair.

 

"Yeah, yeah. I get it, I'm dressed weird too." Clovus smiled and started to rub between Pama's horns, Pama flapped his ears in elation. "You look great too, Aide, as pristine as usual." Aide gave an aloof shrug towards him, but her tail was swooshing a little.

 

"Come now, we don't want to be late," Veler said. He didn't want to interrupt the nice moment between Pama and Clovus, but they needed to get moving. He helped Eris onto the carriage and then Clovus. Eris and Clovus sat forward, facing the same direction as Veler, who got in the driver seat urging the two creatures forward with the reins. 

 

The family made their way towards the village, which was emitting various colors of lights in the darkening sky.