Harmonizer's Evolution (Balancer's Soul cycle) (74 page)

He
sat down with the three of them
and drew up the paper
s that were needed. Soon a
living
will was drafted and in the
unfortunate
event of
their
death
,
Jenny
would become the
twin’s
primary guardian.
They
all signed the documents and had them witnessed.
Connor
saw from
his
mom’s signature that her hand was shaky because she truly didn’t like
ill-fated events
happening to her family, but she didn’t have many choices to choose from.

After the will was finished
,
and filed
,
Sarah and Connor
set up
the
large
trust fund
s
and Jenny as the trustee until their twenty first birthday, even if both looked in early to mid-teens at the time
.

Jenny
about choked on her tongue when she realized the inheritance each of
the
children
will receive
. She
nearly
fainted when
Connor
offered to have her retire
early
. She said it would be a bad idea if she did, but she did fantasize abo
ut going on a pleasure cruise. H
e
vowed that if
they
made it through this she would get just that.

They
had some surprise guests upon
their
arrival
home
that evening.
Veronica and Sorono were waiting in the shadows of the trees.
They talked about what Connor and Sarah
were doing with Darrel and Pearl and came to their own
conclusion about their progeny
.
The
two giants
shocked
them
all when they asked
Jenny
to watch after Shannon while they went off to fight and if something went wrong
,
that she should remain with her if Clarein and Firon f
e
ll
as well
.
If in the event the enemy won completely against the combined forces of three races they sealed special directions to a hidden sanctuary so the children could grow into adulthood and be
able to defend themselves deca
d
e
s later.

I
t didn’t take
Jenny
long to say
that she would keep
all
the children safe
and flee to the haven should the worst happen
. Everyone knew she was doing everything she could to keep herself together.

Sorono then brought out a large pouch and opened it to reveal a sack full of gold
coins
and polished jewels. He had given it to
Jenny
for any unforeseen expenses that she might face in the care of Shannon.
Connor
judged there to be close to a quarter of a billion dollars worth of
ancient
treasure Sorono
handed over to
Jenny
for the care of his daughter.

Its weight was more
than his mom could carry so Connor
carried
it
into the house
for her. By the end of that day she had taken much on herself, but
he
knew she wouldn’t get carried away with the responsibility.

A few days went by and a routine began forming
for
everyone
. Everyone was given a filling meal
for any exercises that were sure to be taxing
. From ten until noon became a reserved time for training the Balancers. From noon until two became hand to hand
or in some cases claw
, from two till four became weapons fighting, and then it became free time for the rest of
the day to do what they liked.

Connor
began bringing Tool and
his
armor
to practice
just as Sarah
also
did the same
with her
Fangs and armor.
And
he
had to alter
her chainmail
because of her new bust.
She
became
giddy that her mail needed to be altered
in that area
.

It became clear that
many
Keepers prefer
to use their claws
or teeth
as weapons and as a result they made weapons that enhance
d
th
ose
feature
s
. They made metallic ga
untlets that their hands can slip on
and the metallic claws were razor sharp
and serrated
.
It
also became
same for the
claws on their feet.
Then Connor
remembered the hollow metal tooth from the island and saw that
even their
Keepers made them for themselves. They used the metal teeth over their own
to make their teeth into a more deadly weapon that both
served as
a threat display and a promise to be used in a fight.
Very few
warriors
were lik
e Xaon and carried a sword and Connor
realized that it is difficult for a Keeper to use swords because of their bodies. It requires
skill and
training for them because their balance is
slightly
different from that of a human.

In
Connor’s
daily fight with Sorono
he revealed
,
fifteen days ago,
that he too had his own
clawed
gauntlets made from Dark Steel.
The
fight
on
that day was on a whole new level.
They
fought three separate battles in
one explosive sparring match. They battled hand to hand, with
weapons and with
elemental
abilities. It
was a
great fight and he schooled
Connor
once
again. The prize
s
of
his
personal
defeat
,
that day
,
came
as a broken right ankle
and a wrenched shoulder
.

In Sarah’s fight that day
,
Veronica too showed that she had her personal pair of Dark Steel gauntlets. Their fight was just as mesmerizing as
Connor
suspected
his to have
been. She too lost and received a broken tailbone
, which he
only noticed
when
she returned to
his
side and refused to sit down
for five hours
. She also
revealed
how chipped her
steel
daggers had been from the fight.

The result of that
match forced her to
ask how to make
steel her
Fangs into Dark Steel.

That night, much of their
energy was consumed. Sarah learned the cost of using this
elemental
form. After she repaired both of her blades she turned them individually into their ultimate and final shape. Each single bladed dagger became
pure
black with a rich
and polished
luster. Despite how the weight became lighter, its balance remained perfect.

After her blades were done an idea popped into
his
mind and
his
chainmail soon
found its way
in
his
hand
.
Connor
soon figured out that s
o
long as each link touch
ed
another, it remained as one piece of metal.
He
had changed
the
chainmail into Dark Steel as well. Soon so was Sarah’s.
Now piercing, hacking and slashing attacks became useless, but crushing weapons would still be effective.
They put the rest of their
armor into one l
arge touching pile and turned them
all into Dark Steel
, but he had to make more mail for the armguards for the leather could no longer stand the stress of speed and strength he now wielded.

By the end of the night
they
were both running
on less than ten percent of their original
stores.
They
cleared out the pantry
and were still hungry
.

The fight of the next day resulted in a surprise tie between all of
their weapons and armor, but thei
r
owners
bodies
still lost
the match
to the reptiles
in the end.

At one occasion Michelle
,
the wild looking Changer
,
who volunteered to work with Deputy Burrow,
brought an irritating Changer to
Connor
. Michelle arrived to the clearing wearing a deputy’s uniform that
the Sheriff
had given to the Immortal Guard that were aiding him and keeping the peace.
Her short and cropped hair still remained the same though.

Apparently this male Changer was causing a large disturbance at a local
bar and took up the offer for Connor
to deal with him rather than being told to simply leave the location and stop disturbing the peace.

He wanted a fight and got one
thinking that since
he
lost to Sorono daily that
he
was weak. He
found the assumption
wrong
.
Th
e
C
hanger
was taken out with a single hit
to the back of his head
an
d went completely unconscious. Connor
proved then that he should h
ave taken things with a clear
mind
and also proved that everyone should respect the law concerning keeping peace
with the humans
in the area.

Since that incident there haven’t been any
large
disturbances on either side. No humans came to check out the area nor were there any
troubling
instances that couldn’t be quelled quietly
, discreetly
and peacefully.

Then there is the training concerning the Balancers. Not only did they learn how to develop their powers in new and unique ways, but they learned to work together
as a cohesive unit
.
Connor and Sarah
e
xplained that Balancers were
n’t
going to
fight separately in the upcoming fight
and
had them get into groups of four or five
,
on average.
The elders had decided not to tell which group would go where, yet.
They
alwa
ys kept mates together because they
knew it would be best to work and stay together. To beat their opponents they needed to learn to fight in
small, mobile
groups so that their weaknesses could be compensated by their teammates. Those with single elements were mainly paired up similarly. Like pairing up a Fire and Liquid Balancer with a Terra and Pressure
affinitive type
. Those that were Metal Balancers
always
had mates that were capable of manipulating
both
Terra and Pressure. Those
rarer
relationships were always paired with Fire and Liquid. That meant Jillian and Jack were always pared up with Amber and Ben.
The growth of comradely and skills had greatly and rapidly
improved among the combatants. Connor
just hoped that this will be enough.

Sarah’s grandparents
,
Laura and Ryan
,
had arrived
at the clearing
, but steered clear of
Connor’s
focus as much as possible. The feeling was mutual.
The
last encounter was still fresh on both of
their
family’s minds.