The training grounds

===Pyre===

Pyre and her new companion started on their way to the training grounds. Of course, she was familiar with their surroundings as she had to spend most of her life in the castle and its surroundings. But, of course, at the time, she and her sister were in charge of their people since their father left them, and they had the chance to travel around, mostly to meet the leaders of the other races.

It was nice not to have guards following her around for once, but she was confident that she would return to that point soon, so she had to spend this 'freedom' as much as possible.

They reached the training grounds in a few minutes, which wasn't too far from the castle. She was still within the range to benefit from her bond with her new minion. But the benefits were just a bit weaker cause of the distance.

As they stopped, Pyre was ready to ask Aislinn to show her what she could do. She detected someone else's presence. It was somebody nearby who seemed to get closer, but she couldn't see anyone, even if that person was visible.

'It is a human. And he seems to use some way to make himself invisible, but it feels unnatural. Could it be what they learned from their experiments on us?'

She couldn't become invisible but could join the shadows, hide within them, and move between them. But others had these abilities, especially the Unicorns, who had the Light Element, the opposite of their Dark Element.

Her Father could also use his Dark Element to become invisible within dark or dim-lighted places, but Pyre hadn't reached that point. So even after her Father put her sister and her in charge, they couldn't fully use the Dark Element.

"Who goes there?" she shouted toward the invisible individual.

The person froze in place.

Pyre started looking left and right, making it seem like she didn't know where he exactly was.

"I know that someone is here. I heard you step on some fallen branches."

It was true that the person did, in fact, step on some branches, but they weren't so close that an average human could hear them. Still, it was not impossible.

"Quite impressive senses you got there. May I learn your name?"

Pyre could tell that her passive Charm captured the man, meaning his willpower wasn't strong. Nevertheless, she enjoyed talking with humans like that, especially when she wanted to gather information.

"Why don't you come closer first? I don't want to shout for the three of us to converse. I promise we don't bite."

She wanted to charge at him and drain all his blood, but he could be more helpful in gathering information. She had to be careful since she couldn't erase memories anymore, as she was missing the Power Shard. She was also confident that the possibility of Aislinn having that ability would be pretty much non-existent.

The person, who seemed to be near his early twenties, got closer.

Pyre noticed Aislinn seemed a little tense when she saw the person getting closer to her, but she was trying to hide it. Still, Pyre's senses were top-notch, and she could notice these minor details.

"So, may I learn the name of those beautiful ladies?" the man asked as he got closer.

"I thought a gentleman would first introduce himself before asking our names," Pyre responded.

The man's eyes widened slightly as he realized his rude ways and gave them a little bow.

"My name is Larris. Sorry for my rudeness over there."

"So… Larris. What are you doing here, and why we couldn't see you before?"

Pyre had used her Vampire Charm ability, which fortunately didn't need a Power Shard to work, but it was a bit weaker than it should be. She knew that losing the Throne wouldn't affect her as much, as her Vampire Bloodline was pure and didn't need the boost of the Throne, but she still had some Power Shard of abilities that were boosting her Vampire Charm, so since she missed those it wasn't in full power.

Still, it was enough to handle the person in front of her.

"I am a researcher… a person of science. I came here to test my later creations. My camouflage suit is one of them. But I have more to show you if you're interested."

Pyre could read his excitement to show what he had, and she was interested in checking out what the human had made. She had seen the technological feats of humans in the past, but none of them could use the Elements as his suit seemed to do.

"First, my boots."

As he said that, he jumped, and as he was in the air, he made a motion to jump again. The air blasted out of his boots for a split second with enough force to push him upwards to make a high jump. So he made the same motion again, and the same thing happened as he got higher.

Then he landed, but his landing wasn't the best, as he fell on his face.

He stood up and cleared himself from the dust on his clothes.

"It is still a work in progress…. Next comes my gloves. Those are more interesting."

As he said that, he snapped his fingers, and a small ball of fire appeared in his hand.

But it disappeared soon enough.

"I can make some fire and maybe even throw it, but it doesn't last long. So I came here to test them and adjust them as they can get the work better."

One could tell how excited Larris was as he showed his creations.

"Can I test the gloves?"

Larris seemed surprised by the question, but he removed them and gave them to Pyre. With her charm active, she could order him around quickly.

She put them on and could feel her control over her Element strengthen. She had encountered nothing like that in the past. It was almost like creating a Power Shard that affected her Element control but didn't feel as natural.

She created a ball of fire in her left palm, twice the size that Larris did and a bit larger than the one she could make without the gloves.

Larris's eyes were wide after he saw the difference between her and him using it. A few seconds passed, and the ball of fire was still there.

"Amazing…. are you also a researcher?" Larris asked her with a tone full of excitement.

"You could say so. I have some experience working with those things. Do you mind if I keep those?"

Larris's face changed into one of having a debate about what to do.

"I don't expect to get it for nothing. I can reward you for it… especially if you can bring me your future versions of it."

She had her charm once more at full power as she got closer to that person.

"Re…reward? What is it?" he barely said those words as his face turned completely red.

"How about a kiss?"

She got closer to him as he was a few centimeters from his face.

"From my cute friend," and she got some distance from him again.

"DEAL!" Larris shouted with a higher tone than it was necessary.

"Good. Then how much do you think you will need to improve them?"

Larris thought of it a bit before responding.

"Possible a week. If you can use them a bit more, their inner sensors will keep any useful information I can use to make it work better. Any feedback and tips from you would be useful."

She progressed using the gloves to create balls of fire and throw them at nearby training ground dummies. Unfortunately, they weren't strong enough to set them on fire, even if they were mostly wooden.

She also used it to create a firebat, but it was not familiar. Since she couldn't summon one after losing her Power Shard, she had to move it herself.

Although her body wasn't perfect, and her movement was far from realistic, it was still an improvement over what she could do without the gloves.

It impressed Larris, and he seemed lost in thoughts even after Pyre ended with what she could demonstrate.

"I think that should be enough for now. So I will see you here in a week. You can be on your way."

Larris took his gloves and left, but then he turned again towards Pyre.

"What about my…."

"Are you going to demand a kiss from someone you just met? Give her at least some time. We will see you in a week."

Larris said nothing as he turned and left.

Pyre knew he would keep the end of his deal, and she would keep hers as long as Aislinn was okay with it.

Maybe they could play with that human in more ways. Time will tell.