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The spoked star above head had finally ticked past midday; the hues to twilight slowly creeping up the horizon.
Ding!
James who had finally stepped into the One Stop shop immediately frowned. There were two pairs in the room.
The first pair was sitting around a small wooden desk. The smaller of the two, James immediately recognized Relen who had a frustrated expression. Relen's eyebrows twitched as he stared at the man in front of him.
Ziggy sat across from Relen, his body showing no signs of the tension that Relen held. He lazily scratched his stomach before glancing towards James who stepped in.
" Ah Ah, Young James you are back. We have guests so be polite."
James' eyebrow twitched slightly looking at a corner of the room.
'What the hell is this? ' James thought to himself before glancing at another familiar face. ' What a coincidence'
A young woman was bound by wooden arms. Faint wisps of karma surrounded her body as her body continued to expand, straining to break free from her restraints. However everytime she strained the wood simply creaked and tightened their grip around her.
Beside her was a young man whose uniform was covered in mud. He sat listlessly next to the thrashing woman not paying her any attention. He seemed to have many things on his mind. His glazed eyes glanced at the doorway where he saw James and he opened his mouth wanting to say something but glanced around at those present and returned to his dazed state.
Who else could it be but Uquinn and Ethan.
Relen leaned in towards Ziggy unfolding his arms. " Why not?"
Ziggy's heavy laugh echoed through the room. " Why would I ever agree to watch the farm? I am only here as a passerby. Nothing more nothing less."
The young man next to Ziggy sighed and placed his face in his palm and began massaging his temple.
Relen glanced over at James, something strange appeared in his gaze before his expression quickly reverted to neutral. " Ziggy, what is he doing here?"
Ziggy pointed to James as if he was a lost dog who had finally found his way home. " That's my errand boy. He's got real potential you know, Little Relen! more than you atleast."
Relen ignored Ziggy's taunt and leaned in closer, his Orange karma flowing effortlessly from his body.
Ziggy also leaned into his chair; his weight causing the wood to groan and wheeze. " You have been talking to me pretty strongly for a Rank 3 karma Master. Do you think your puppets can stop my rhythms?"
Relen remained composed but a bead of sweat fell down his brow as he contemplated his next words. Thinking about something; he eased back into a neutral position and pointed towards Uquinn. " I understand you do not care about the Garden but you care about her. If you do not want to watch her wander to her death while we are gone. You can keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't leave the Garden and gets herself killed."
" I can do that from my shop"
Relen smirked. " Really? Like how she almost left with Farod today."
Ziggy scratched the hairs on his stomach. The sound of his fingers scraping against the patchy velcro-like hairs briefly filled the silence of the room as he contemplated what he wanted to do.
" Sigh, Little Wooden Relen. You are mistaken. I will let her go." Ziggy's lips spread into a joyous smile.
Relen seeing that his last resort had failed to persuade him, frowned deeply and listened quietly to what Ziggy was going to say next.
" But it will be with him. "
Ziggy pointed towards James.
James who was watching this with his eyebrows creased felt his stomach churn. " What?"
" Yes, I am sure you have found a lead with my special request. Take her and that boy with you. Young people need to exercise or you'll end up like me."
Relen quickly added " Fat and lazy?"
Ziggy smiled. " My mother told me that I am big boned."
Relen's expression cracked even further as he immediately stood up and began making his way to the exit.
Relen glanced around the room at Ethan, Uquinn and James and kissed his teeth. " They'll die before they kill anything of significance."
Relen cast one more cursory glance at James. James once again felt a faint trace of hostility from him. As Relen left, the wooden arms restraining Uquinn quickly dissipated into particles of red light.
' I wonder why? ' James could only ponder before returning his gaze to everyone present.
The newly formed trio looked at each other in disbelief.
Ethan looked at James without much change in expression. However, looking towards Uquinn he was confused.
Ziggy saw the confusion on Ethan's face but Ziggy quickly raised a finger to his lips and chuckled "But that won't be for now. By the feeling in my belly the Garden won't be destroyed for another month and in that time you three will become Rank 2 karma masters."
"The garden….destroyed?" All three looked at Ziggy incredulously. Each of them had their own thoughts on the revelation.
James did not seem fazed by the loss of his temporary home. ' I wasn't planning on staying but hasn't this place existed for almost a millennia? How could something that lasted this long be destroyed so casually? '
Ethan also did not react much. 'I need to find him before this is over'
Uquinn who was no longer restrained frowned deeply. ' Ziggy's gut is usually never wrong but how could it be destroyed when he is still around? '
Ziggy, who didn't seem to care about their reactions, continued his previous statement.
" Within that time you three will be with me and undergo some much needed Karma training. The way you're using it now will never get you past rank 1 much less rank 4."
Ziggy pointed towards James. " And you, if you want to accomplish your goal you'll need to actually become a rank 1 karma master and not just a karma user. The same applies to you too, Uquinn. Achieving full transformation with your karma nature is a feat in itself at your age but you haven't actually learned to apply your karma in a useful manner by creating your first karmic ability."
Ziggy walked towards the exit of his shop but before stepping out he walked towards Uquinn gesturing for her to move out of the way.
Behind Uquinn attached to the wall was the outline of a human ear carved out of wood. Its surface was completely solid with no canal or features other than the general outline of an earlobe.
Relen who hadn't actually left and was hidden nearby felt something amiss. ' It's too quiet. But at least I got to hear it from him. So that's why everyone's so on edge. The garden will be destroyed within a month's time. No, Ziggy was probably lying; it might take less than that. '
Before Relen could cut the connection he felt as though his eardrums were being pierced with needles as a voice boomed into his ear canal rattling his skull. " Relen close up for me! I am taking these three into the silent forest for a week!"
Relen gripped his ears in pain and rolled around on the floor. Passer's by looked at the screaming Relen and quickened their pace.
" Mommy, why are there so many crazy people on the streets nowadays?" A familiar little boy asked his mother.
His mother simply didn't respond and whisked him away from the scene.
ZIggy stared at the ear which was slowly dissipating into red specks of karma. " That is your payment for not minding your business. Who can't hear must feel. Hahaha"
Ziggy looked at the trio who all stared at him with dumbfounded expressions.
James was the first to ask " I'm not a rank 1 karma master?"
Ziggy laughed and strode out of the store.