After Layze came by with parts for repairs, Tal immediately got to work on the ship. He also managed to find someone who was selling a suitable cloak upgrade for the ship. The seller informed Tal that it would take a few days. Given the time Tal needed to work on the ship, the crew would be on Cerberus-3 for at least a week.

  “With the deductions for the new cloak and our other supplies, we are looking at around two hundred credits of spending money a piece,” Felice said to the crew as they gathered on the deck.

  “Ugh, two-hundred?” Elio groaned. “I was really hoping for more.”

  “Well, it’s been a while since we earned any serious money. Cloaks don’t come cheap, and we needed to restock on cores and food,” Felice explained. “I also made sure to overstock just in case. We can’t be sure when we will be able to come back to the city. We also can’t be sure how much food Lutz will need.”

  “I didn’t think this dragon would cost us so much,” Elio complained. “Maybe we should get rid of it.”

  Franz shot Elio a glare before Felice laughed and said, “I think Franz will get rid of you before Lutz.”

  Elio knelt down to look Lutz directly in the eyes. “You better not try to get rid of me.”

  Lutz tilted his head to the side as he tried to comprehend Elio’s words. Sensing that Elio was upset for some reason, Lutz jumped towards him and licked him on the face. Elio wrapped his arms around Lutz and started to run his hand down Lutz’s back.

  “Okay, okay,” Elio smiled broadly. “I was just kidding. I like you.”

  “Good, because he isn’t going away,” Franz said with finality. “To get back to what Felice was saying, you may spend your allowance however you want. I just ask that only two people go out at a time. Also, please don’t get in any trouble.”

  Almost simultaneously, the crew looked towards Elio. Elio pointed a finger at himself and shook his head. “I’m not that bad. Why do you always assume I’m gonna cause trouble?”

  “Because you are always trying to pick a fight,” Tal spoke up. “I don’t think I can even count how many cities you have gotten us kicked out of.”

  “He’s right,” Kelsa nodded. “You have a serious problem.”

  “I wouldn’t have a problem if we got to fight more,” Elio protested. “You guys are always trying not to fight. I thought being a pirate meant I would get to fight more.”

  “Well, some of us don’t like to risk death all the time,” Tal said.

  “I don’t know why you are scared of death,” Elio shrugged. “Once you die, you get to join the Eternal Battle.”

  “Even if that was true. That does not sound fun to me,” Kelsa said.

  “You guys are so boring,” Elio groaned. “I don’t even know why I’m part of this crew.”

  “I’m pretty sure every crew kicked you out,” Franz laughed. “Anyhow, if you want a fight, they have the arena here. You have plenty of time to mess around there.”

  “Good point! I almost forgot about it! Maybe I can earn some extra money there too!” Elio said enthusiastically. “Please, please, please, can I be part of the first group that goes to the city?”

  “I don’t really care. There are only a few things I want to check out anyway,” Franz said. “Anyone else opposed to it?”

  “I have a lot of work to do. So, I’ll be staying here for a while,” Tal said. “I also don’t think there are any Imperium Strikers tournaments right now. So, I don’t really care.”

  “I can wait. I just want to check out some bookshops. Maybe there is something on dragons in printed form,” Felice said.

  “Well, that leaves me then,” Kelsa said. “That makes two of us.”

  “I expect you two to stick together,” Franz said. “You both know how the people can be in this city.”

  “I know, I know,” Elio groaned like a child who had been told a million times. “We are a crew and have to stick together. You say it all the time.”

  “I’m just reminding you,” Franz said.

  “You know what that means, big guy?” Kelsa smiled mischievously as she nudged Elio.

  “What’s that?” Elio asked as he raised an eyebrow in confusion.

  “You get to go on a shopping spree with me!” Kelsa exclaimed enthusiastically.

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  “No, anything but that!” Elio complained.

  “It’s the price you pay for making me go to the arena,” Kelsa said. “Now, let’s get going. You never know if someone is going to take that perfect item you wanted.”

  ***

  While Tal worked on the ship, Franz and Felice went to one of the open rooms. Lutz followed closely behind the two. The two were dressed in tank tops and sweatpants. Franz had asked Felice to assist him with some training and tests. So, they both wore clothes that were easy to move in.

  “So, you want to test out those powers you used the other day?” Felice asked as they entered the room. The room was one of several rooms that did not have anything in it. They could have gone to the training room, but Franz wanted as much open space as he could get.

  “Yeah, I’m still not quite sure how to activate it, but I figured we can work on that,” Franz said. “Also, this gives you the chance to study it.”

  “I have been very curious about your bond with Lutz,” Felice’s eyes lit up. “You seem to have an interesting symbiotic relationship. You gained that ability to teleport, and he has already learned some language. I’m interested to see how it grows further.”

  “Just don’t bring Tal in to dissect us,” Franz laughed.

  “No promises,” Felice smirked. “Now, before you get started on trying to get that teleporting ability to work, can I take a look at your arm? You said that it felt hot when you touched the egg and again when you used the ability, right?”

  “Yeah, that’s right,” Franz nodded as he extended his arm out. “You can take a look if you want. It doesn’t seem like it has changed physically, though.”

  Around Felice’s hip, she wore a belt that had various items stored along it. Unlike the belt that she used for exploration and battle, it was filled with more tools and pouches. She opened one of the pouches and took out a pair of glasses. Once she placed them on her face, she looked Franz up and down. Then she moved closer to look at Franz’s arm. She moved it around several times as she looked it over.

  “You really don’t feel any differences in your arm?” Felice asked as she let go of Franz’s arm.

  “Not really, why?” Franz shrugged.

  “It’s hotter than the rest of your body,” Felice said as she raised her glasses upward and rested them in her hair. “Typically, your extremities are colder than the center of your body, but that single arm is warmer. What’s even stranger is that you don’t notice a difference. It’s like your body just accepts the new temperature in your arm.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” Franz asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “I can’t be too sure what exactly it means,” Felice said. “I can only hypothesize. I think you have extra energy collected in that arm, and that heat you felt when you teleported was a release of that energy.”

  “That means we need to be careful of thermal scans, right?” Franz asked.

  “I don’t think we have to worry too much, but we definitely should be careful just in case,” Felice nodded. “I’m interested to see what happens when you teleport, though.”

  “Well, we have to get it to work first,” Franz said. “I’ve only done it one time, and it was not exactly at will.”

  “Right, maybe we need to figure out how to replicate the feeling you felt when you did it,” Felice suggested as she held her chin. “Obviously, we cannot replicate the danger, but do you have an idea of how you were feeling?”

  “Obviously, I was scared of getting hit, but then I started to think about how I had no way of escape,” Franz explained. “Next thing I knew, I was somewhere else.”

  “So, you had the strong desire to get out of the way, and then suddenly you were out of the way,” Felice nodded. “What if I throw a ball at you, and you try to replicate the feeling? You can’t catch the ball or move your feet.”

  “That might work,” Franz said. “It’s not a bad idea.”

  “Then I’ll be right back with some,” Felice nodded before she turned to leave the room.

  While Franz waited for Felice, Lutz sat patiently at the side of the room. While Lutz was definitely energetic, Franz was shocked by how well-behaved he was. He expected Lutz to be more like an untrained puppy. Franz wondered if all baby dragons were so well-behaved or if it had to do with the way their bond interacted. There were so many things that he did not know about dragons, and he honestly was not sure if he would ever find out for certain.

  It did not take long for Felice to return to the room with a collection of rubber balls. Once she did, she directed Franz to stand in the middle of the room. Then she threw a ball directly at Franz’s face.

  As the ball approached Franz, he planted his feet into the ground. He watched it and tried to focus on getting out of the way. His mind started to race as the ball grew closer and closer. Everything in him told him to move out of the way, but he tried to stay firm. Then the ball bounced off his face and hit the ground.

  “Looks like we need to try again,” Felice smirked as she pulled her arm back to throw another ball.

  Felice continued throwing balls at Franz, and they hit all over his body. Despite the constant onslaught, he still was not able to teleport out of the way of the balls. Instead, he just grew frustrated. Not only was he unsuccessful, but he grew annoyed at being constantly hit.

  “That’s enough!” Franz yelled angrily. “I don’t think I’m gonna get it.”

  “Don’t quit now, I bet we are almost there,” Felice replied as she tried to control her laughter.

  “You just want to throw more of them at me! You are probably going to go back and tell the whole crew how you got to throw balls at me,” Franz said.

  “Okay, I might be enjoying it a little,” Felice admitted. “But that doesn’t mean we should quit.”

  “Ugh, you’re right,” Franz groaned. “We’ll do a couple more, and if it doesn’t work, then we try again later.”

  Felice nodded in recognition and picked one of the balls off the floor. She pulled her hand back and threw it towards Franz with all her might. The ball raced through the air towards Franz. Franz was so sick of getting hit with the balls. They did not hurt, but they were definitely an annoyance.

  Then the air around Franz started to twist into itself. As it did, purple energy started to form around Franz’s body. Then, in the blink of an eye, Franz looked like he was sucked into the air. Afterward, the air behind Felice started to distort in the same way. Then Franz emerged from it in a flash of purple energy. As he emerged, he poked Felice’s shoulder.

  Felice jumped in shock for a moment and quickly turned around. Her shock was quickly replaced with joy as a large smile filled her face. “See? What did I tell you? You just needed one more try.”