Tasim entered the home, shutting the door behind him as he forced out the thoughts about the mutt outside.

  “Hello, you brat. You said only half an hour, not an hour. If you are going to stay here, be on time.”

  “Honey, don’t bother him.” The woman commented before adding, while directing her attention to Tasim, “Don’t listen to him, dear. We are both excited to see that you are back.”

  Tasim looked at the old man and said, “Hey, you old geezer.” Tasim walked to the dinner table that the old man was setting at like always and put the bag on the table.

  “What is this piece of junk? Is this a gift? How terrible of a gift can you get an old man?”

  “It’s a bag-”

  “I can see that-” The man retorted.

  “-that can keep items stored inside cold.”

  “It’s a stupid pr- oooh, how interesting.” The old man’s interest was piqued once he had processed what Tasim had said, and then the elder woman chimed in.

  “Thank you very much, dear. You are so wonderful.” The woman stopped her knitting and stood up, enveloping Tasim in a warm embrace.

  “Mhm. It’s just a- a ummm.. a gift for letting me stay here.” Tasim felt himself become flustered for a moment as he saw himself getting attached to these people.

  “Well, thank you very much, dear. I will use it often.”

  “I won’t.” The man snickered

  “Well then, it isn’t for you, old geezer.”

  “My name isn’t old geezer. It’s-”

  “Master Chi, yes, I know. Whatever.”

  ***

  As Master Chi left his home in the early morning while the other slept, a lone dog lay upon the dirt, its eyes looking slightly red, and the ground beneath its head slightly wet.

  ‘It didn’t rain, I wonder what happened.’

  Master Chi stepped forward, standing above the dog, and as the dog’s face became shrouded in the shadow cast by him, it woke up. Immediately jumping up and sniffing Master Chi. Once the dog had finished doing so, it sat down, its ears slightly limp, but looked up at Master Chi. Master Chi then squatted down, his knees cracking as he did so, grunting alongside.

  ‘I sure am getting old.’

  “Hello, girl. Who are you?” Master Chi reached out, slowly petting the dog as the dog sat there, looking up at him.

  Master Chi let his mana flow, enveloping the dog in a warm embrace.

  ‘You aren’t wounded, so that’s good.’

  The dog immediately began to act differently; it began to pant as it felt relief. Then it stood up, walking forward and doing a few circles right under Master Chi.

  “Oh, such a good girl.” Master Chi ruffed up the dogs fir by shaking his hand side to side while praising her.

  Master Chi’s wife soon awoke and stepped outside, peering at the sunrise along the horizon.

  “Hello, honey. What do you have there?”

  “I found a stray dog.”

  “I wonder if it has an owner.” She inquired as she stepped forward

  “She.”

  “I wonder if SHE has an owner, you’re so protective over animals, I love you, honey.”

  “I love you too, dear.”

  The elder lady stepped forward to the dog and beside her husband and squatted down alongside him, reaching out and scruffing up the underside of the dog’s chin.

  “She’s so soft.”

  “She’s adorable as well.” The man added as he stood back up. “I’m gonna go get to work.”

  “Alright, honey, take care. I love you.” The woman smiled and kissed her husband on his cheek.

  The man smiled in return, returning the kiss to his dearest, then put on a strawhat and began to tend to their farm. The woman thus returned inside after seeing off her husband and grabbed the leather bag that she had been gifted by Tasim the day before. She walked to her garden and began to pick every vegetable and fruit that had fully ripened, then put them in the bag. Every time she did so, her hand became ice cold, but the instant her hand was pulled out, the air around her hand was warm. To her, it was baffling, despite her being an adept water mage.

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  The elder woman then stuck out her hand, stepping back to the front of the garden, and a dense, grey cloud began to form, looming over the crops. Once it had developed enough and could engulf the entire garden, drops of water began to descend, bouncing off the leaves and soaking into the ground to the roots. Once the wife had felt it had been adequate, the spell was dismissed, and she entered back inside her home.

  Tasim had recently awoken from his deep slumber and left the home, standing at the foot of the steps to the front door, he looked at the dog.

  ‘Why are you still here?’

  Tasim shook his head and just walked past the dog, despite the barking and whimpering.

  ***

  The day began with light stretching as Astrape readied herself for a new day. Despite her attention being focused on the bracelet that adorned her wrist, she kept thinking of who each ring should belong to, whether she should decide as the person who gathered them all, or confront Anemone and Father to let them choose. In the end, she chose the latter; she awoke Anemone early on in the day and entered. Anemone was in blue pj’s with yellow stars decorating them, her hair was messy, and she yawned constantly. Astrape sat at the desk that sat in each room and put every ring on the table.

  “Anemone, who should get which ring? I want to make sure everyone is happy.”

  Anemone yawned loudly as she tried to open her eyes.

  “What are the rings again?”

  Astrape began to organize them, first by rings with silver banding and then gold, then by the color of the gem.

  “We have three rings with red gems and silver banding, which would affect fire magic, two rings with gold banding, which would affect your physical strength, according to the appraiser. We then have two more silver rings with white gems, which increase your wind affinity, and two gold rings, which increase your physical speed. Two silver rings with brown gems to increase the power of your earth magic, and two gold rings with brown gems to increase your mass. And then two rings with green gems, one silver banding which empowers your life magic, and one gold ring which increases your recovery speed and vitality.” Astrape finally finished, taking in a deep breath as she hadn’t taken a breath for the entirety of her speech.

  “Keep the rings that increase your mass and the ones that increase your speed.” Anemone stood up, pushing aside the four rings.

  “May I ask why, Anemone?”

  “Because we will need you to be quick and offensive.”

  “Alrighty, Anemone.” She smiled at how nice she was being

  “I would like both the rings that increase your wind affinity.”

  “Oki, here you go.” Astrape gave Anemone the two silver rings with white gems

  “Give Father the ring for life magic and the ring for recovery, then just give Tasim all the leftovers, since none of us uses earth magic or fire magic. Keep the two gold rings with red gems in your bag.”

  “Can you keep them instead, Anemone?” She said, giving Anemone a soft look. “I may lose them.”

  Anemone stared blankly for a moment, not in a good mood from being awoken, and just stuck out her hand, taking the two rings and putting them into her spatial ring.

  “Thank you!” Astrape smiled, putting the five extra rings in her bag to hand to Tasim when they met again.

  Following the ‘important’ meeting Astrape needed to have with Anemone, she was soon kicked out, and Anemone went back to sleep until noon. As she awoke, rubbing her eyes again and looking around the room, she sat up, the blanket getting caught in her bracelet, and she remembered that she should try to use it and figure out possible scenarios in which she would need it.

  ‘Is there anyone who has ill intent towards me or harbors any hatred? I mean, I could make someone hate me, that doesn’t seem too difficult.’

  Father sat in his room, contemplating what he should do today, and he decided it was also time to learn how to use his artifact, the Weeping Cuff. He left the tavern and entered the streets, walking around the city that was currently bustling with activity, he saw many people walking as families, mothers holding their daughters hands, fathers holding their children by their hands and tossing them in the air to catch them, he thought it was adorable, he didn’t want to switch someones mood from incredibly excited and joyful to depressed and miserable. He wanted to do the opposite, make someone somber become jubilant.

  He soon found a lonesome road that led to a farmhouse. In front of the farmhouse was a black dog that was depressed; the ground beneath its eyes was slightly dark. He looked around, seeing no one in sight, but there was a beautiful garden beside the house that he knew at a glance had people taking care of it daily, but they didn’t take care of this dog.

  Father Hatheway approached the dog, waking it from its mournful slumber. The dog whimpered as Father began to pet the dog, trying to flow mana into the bracelet. After several attempts, the enchantment, the ability worked. The puppy was no longer crying and immediately became happy. It began to pant, its tongue sticking out of its mouth, and then began to lick Father Hatheway’s cheek, running around in circles, then licking him again, but, no matter where Father walked, whether it be back to the dirt path or towards the garden, it didn’t follow. The dog stayed put, on the dirt ground before the steps leading to the front door.

  The door to the home opened, and an elderly man holding a cane walked out with a strawhat, his body covered in sweat.

  “Who might you be?”

  “Hello, my name is Father Hatheway.” Father bowed slightly, showing respect for the other elderly man.

  “I am Master Chi. It is nice to meet you.”

  “It is nice to meet you. I was just taking a walk and encountered this dog.”

  “Oh, would you happen to know the owner?”

  “No, is she not yours?”

  “No, she is a stray.” The man walked down, beginning to pet the dog as well as the down smiled, panting with its tongue hanging loose.

  “She seems quite attached to this house. She was crying afterall while facing the door.”

  “Well, I hope she finds a home. I know my wife would love to take her in.”

  “Well, sir, I’m going to get going. It was nice meeting you.”

  “When you return home, remember to apply ointment to your wound.”

  “I will.” Father turned, looking down to see that his wound was covered.

  ‘Another life magic user.’

  Father soon left, and as he disappeared onto the trail that led him here, Tasim stepped out of the home, looking forward to seeing Master Chi enveloping the lonesome dog.

  ‘What is that dog doing here? Why is it following me? This is such a bother!’ Tasim shook his head as he stepped down.

  “I’m gonna be gone for a while.”

  “Where to?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Do you know whose dog this is?”

  “No, but it keeps following me, which is starting to annoy me.”

  The elder lady once again stepped out of the house, looking towards her husband talking to Tasim. “Hey, honey. I was thinking, may we take in the dog? You know I have always wanted a pet.”

  Master Chi smiled at his wife and spoke with a soft voice. “Of course, my dearest.” He then turned to Tasim, “Would you mind buying a collar and leash before leaving?”

  “Alright.” Tasim sighed as he walked away.