Xandra

The anger and frustration that Flay felt all those years began to flash through his eyes. He had gone through intense bullying, mocks, and jeers from those who were of his generation.

Flay was an orphan and grew up challenging his friends to various contests of strengths. He would always win and was seen as a genius. But he soon became a fallen genius.

He failed when he claimed he had finally reached Rookie-4 and took the test. And the result of the test was rather embarrassing.

The Strength Measuring Stone assessed Flay that his strength was actually just Rookie-2! It was a shocking event in the village, and many who was jealous or resentful of Flay all came out to mock him.

Ever since he started training and reached Rookie-2, none of the youths ever challenged him to a fight. But when it was revealed that he had that level, many began to harass him.

Flay had even fought many of them. And the natural response of Flay was to focus his strength on his right arm and deliver the strongest blow he could. But now it all made sense.

His Strength stat was unnaturally low. But his Brute Power would have compensated the gap. But in his punches, it was easily resisted by the others youths' defense. And this made Flay even more depressed and insecure of his might.

But now, it was all a misunderstanding on his part.

"Damn it! Damn it! All those bullies! All the shameful moments, and all those mockeries, I could have avoided those?!"

"Erm… Why-Why didn't you use your left hand or kick your bullies?"

"I did! There were times when I managed to hurt them, but I must have been busy concentrating my Brute force on my fist! And so, I never really noticed it! Damn it!" Flay shouted again.

"In… any case. This means you can prove them all wrong! Master! Now that the Death Mark is gone, we can keep moving. With knowledge of your real strength, you should be able to kill some of the beasts that we encounter." Kairo encouraged.

"I know…" Flay slowly calmed down.

"Kairo, gather around two more charges of water. Is it possible for me to use the heat in the ground to absorb fire for the Fire Charges?"

"Yes. But it will take too long, master. It's still best to have it over a fire. So you wish to acquire the power of Venus?"

"Yes. You have Mercury and the rest anyway. Right now, I need the power of fire as it is the easiest element to create."

"Alright. I'll bestow it to you. But right now, I can only impart the power on one part of your body since your seal in the Taming Hand is messing up the flow of energy in you. So which part of your body do you wish to have the power to resist and absorb fire?"

"My left arm."

"Understood. I'll bestow the power of Venus on your arm now." Kairo jumped on Flay's hand, and a strange light began to appear.

A strange runic word engraved on it was at the palm of Flay's hand.

"This is the word Za. A powerful word of Faith that only the Eos truly understands. And through it, you can call upon the power of Venus."

"Alright. Go back and gather more water and make more stamina pills. I'll make some fire and absorb a few changes as needed." Flay decided.

The two began to work.

Flay gathered several leaves and branches from the trees surrounding the oasis. After which, Flay made a small fire.

Flay was cautious and slowly reached out his left hand into the flames.

But surprisingly, no pain was felt, and Flay only could feel a gentle warmth.

A few minutes passed, and Flay was surprised that he could feel a strange power in his arm.

"Is this… a spell charge?"

"Yes, Master. Unlike the weak water in this Oasis, you have a pure source of fire energy. So naturally, increasing the charges on your hand is faster compared to mine."

"Yes. But mine can be used to shoot fire out. Yours can heal. Yours is still more valuable. I need to think of a way to cross this hot desert without dying!" Flay sighed.

He kept thinking and began to go through various plans which would use Kairo.

"Master, you forget. I am also a monster. And as a Slime, I am made up of liquid. So I would dry out if left in such heat! And since I have Neptune in me, I can't use Venus to resist the heat!"

"And Neptune's power will only weaken if we travel in the heat..."

"Yes. Since I have Neptune's, my resistance to heat is weaker."

"Ugh! Such a dilemma! I still need that healing power to get me through the desert! Hmm? Vultures?" Flay could hear some flapping in the distance and some screeches.

Flay saw a group of vultures that flew into the sky.

"A monster must be dying! You can still eat monster cores, right? Even with Neptune's power?"

"Yes. I can use all-devouring abilities from the Eos Sol Systems. I just can't contain elemental or specific powers in my body."

"Then let's go! This is better than nothing!" Flay smiled and immediately moved out.

He carried a leaf which he used as an umbrella to shield him from the heat.

He ran towards the distant sighting of the vultures. But as Flay approached, he heard a woman's cry, fighting desperately as the vultures continued to gather around him.

Flay recognized the voice. He had heard this cry before, and it lingered in his thoughts. Flay never wanted to see this Tamer get hurt by all the Tamers in the village.

Seeing the woman on the ground weekly grasping her spear and at the brink of collapse, Flay's heart tightened.

The woman was barely holding on. The heat and exhaustion were getting to her that she had already fallen unconscious but was only awoke by her instincts as she heard the vultures swoop in and try to defend herself.

The vultures knew that she would faint any moment and carefully waited and harassed her.

As the woman fought, she could not help but blame the source of her tragedy.

"If that dud didn't lead us to that cave… none of this would have happened!" She cursed as her hold on her spear began to slip out.

She had lost her Tamed Beast. She had seen the Might Wolves attack and even witnessed the death of a close friend.

"It's all… his fault…" Finally, the woman lost all strength and started to faint. But right as her vision disappeared, she could see the figure of Flay rushing towards her.

"Damn it… Why am I hallucinating him before I die?!" The woman cursed as she stumbled down.

Seeing that their prey had finally collapsed, the vultures began to move.

"No!" Flay shouted and released the fire charge.

FWWWWOOOOSH!

A ball of flame shot out of Flay's hand and shot towards the vultures.

BANG!

The firebolt struck one of the vultures causing it to screech in pain.

But at that exact moment, the woman lost consciousness.

"Xandra!" Flay shouted and ran even faster. The vultures saw him and were enraged at the attack of their ally, and they flew towards Flay.

Kairo turned into a short sword, and Flay charged in without hesitation. The power of Brute enveloped his sword and his legs.

The biggest vulture led the attack as it swooped down and revealed its sharp claws as it flew.

But at the last moment, Flay released the Brute power on his legs, making him jump forward faster.

SLASH!

The sword swung down so fast. Coupled with the speed of Flay's sudden charge, The entire sword cut through the charging vulture splitting it in two.

The other vultures saw the death of their leader and began to fly back as it was afraid of the powerful swordsman that managed to one-shot their leader.

Flay didn't even mind the corpses of the vulture but raced towards the unconscious woman. As he neared her, Flay immediately removed the layers of clothing and left that she used to cover herself in.

"Kairo!"

"Yes, Master! Heal!" Kairo activated the water spell.

A blue light shot towards Xandra, and it gathered around her.

Flay carefully held Xandra to check on her. She was still unconscious, but the parched and dry lips and skin began to turn pinkish.

"What a beautiful lady…!" Kairo was intrigued.

"Kairo! She's not waking up!"

"Relax, master! She's just exhausted. Let's go back to the camp and bring her."

"Alright."

"Master. Since we killed two monsters, let's get the core as well. This lady Xandra is in no critical condition for now. We have time." Kairo added. He knew Flay seemed worried about this girl.

"Ok." Flay agreed and did just as Kairo instructed.

The two monster cores were retrieved, and Kairo began to absorb them.

The group returned to the oasis, and Flay placed her in the tent he made.

All of a sudden, Flay took a bath.

"...Is Master bathing to look good?" Kairo was amazed.

"N-no! You're bathing! I just… feel hot!" Flay defended as he continued to wash his face and rub it.

"You won't get all that dirt off your body, Master. The Pteranodon's lair, the damp forest, the jaws of the gator. The smell would take a while to remove. We masked it with green essence before, but I doubt you'd want to be a spriggan while you romance this beautiful girl. So my recommendation, Master, is that you forget about a romantic time with this lady. She'd probably be standing fifty meters from where you stand with all the dirt and stench you carry." Kairo laughed as he realized what this girl meant to Flay.

Suddenly, Flay stopped his intense scrubbing and had a strange look on his face.

"You're right. I can't get this dirt and stench of me. But what if I had the best soap that can stick and absorb the dirtiest grimes in my body." Flay turned to Kairo.

"…Master? No! Master! Don't! Please! Haven't you tortured me enough?"

"You're right. I like this girl! So Kairo Majekon, Alchemist who was saved and turned to a beloved Servant by the Eos! Serve me, Pluton! The last of the Eos here!" Flay reminded Kairo of his debt of gratitude.

"No! Master! Please! No! Mercy!"

"You became my tamed monster in that pit, now come here and clean your Master's pit." Flay had a sinister smile as he reached out to Kairo.

"AHHHHHHH!" Kairo cried in terror.