The dawn in Kaliidora… the three suns rose slowly from the horizon, its light spilling across the beach. Heat waves brushed against Kael's body as he trained on the shore with Grak'Mar and Nibsken.
As usual, he began his physical training with a racial race against Nibsken.
Kael still lost.
But this time, he learned from his mistake. After the race, Kael took a five-minute break and drank the water he had brought with him.
He paused for a moment, staring at the plain water in his hand.
It would be better for my training if this were an energy drink…
Kael continued, moving into push-ups, then pull-ups, followed by a few sets of weight training. Grak'Mar stood nearby, silently watching.
"One! Two!"
He's improving… Grak'Mar thought. Taking proper rest between sets… good.
But still…
"Pant… pant… haa!"
"Ogre… I can only do three pull-ups…" Kael said, breathing heavily as he dropped from the bar and fell onto the ground.
Grak'Mar stared at him for a moment before extending his massive hand.
"It's okay, human," he groaned.
"That just means you still need to train more."
Kael nodded.
With the help of Grak'Mar's huge hand, he stood back up and continued training, lifting crystal weights, doing push-ups, and pushing his limits further using Grak'Mar's Crystal Might ability to create all those work out weights and bars.
By the time the sun had fully risen and the ocean breeze carried the distant chatter of various races, their training came to an end.
Still the same… not much improvement in strength.
But at least today… he didn't faint.
"Training done for today…" Grak'Mar announced
Kael, Nibsken, and Grak'Mar began heading back toward Kael's backyard. But before that…
They stopped at Kallidorra Forgehold.
"Alright, guys. As planned, I'm going to get the materials for my second project."
"Okay, human. We'll wait outside."
Nibsken and Grak'Mar waited outside as Kael entered the Kallidorra Forgehold.
Once inside, he made his way down to the underground level. The air grew cooler as he stepped into the storage room of the Kallidorraforgehold Lab. Inside, rows of reactive metals were kept in small, glass-like container each one tightly sealed to prevent any contact with humidity.
Even though Kael didn't recognize which metals matched the periodic table, he knew one thing for sure anything stored like this was highly reactive.
Carefully, he gathered as many containers as he could and packed them into his bag before heading back to the surface.
I'll just tell the boss how much I used later, he thought.
Durmuk usually doesn't mind if its for Kael's training
Outside, Nibsken and Grak'Mar were chatting with the gatekeeper when they saw Kael walking out from the worker section of the massive metal doors.
"Nibsken! Grak'Mar! I got everything!" Kael called out, showing them a sack filled with sealed glass containers.
"Alright, human! Let's head back for your bilah training. It's almost noon already," Grak'Mar said.
"Alright, Ogre!"
The three of them returned to Kael's house. In the backyard, Liraen and Nylum were already waiting, sitting on wooden chairs.
"Ren!" Kael greeted as he stepped in.
Liraen waved in response.
"Kaaaeelll…" Nylum slid toward him.
"Oh, what's this, Kael?" Nylum reached out, about to touch one of the glass-sealed metals in Kael's bag, using his water-formed hand instead of his metal-crafted one.
"Hey! Be careful, Nylum! These things cannot come into contact with water!" Kael quickly pulled the bag away from him.
"Oh, I didn't know that, Kael…" Nylum said, surprised.
"Yeah… this isn't regular metal," Kael said, holding up one of the sealed containers.
"You probably didn't even know this existed in the underground level. It's too reactive. If it's exposed to humidity, it could explode or get destroyed. That's why only a few of them are kept sealed like this."
"Oh…" Nylum nodded, finally understanding.
Kael placed the reactive metals carefully on the wooden worktable near where Liraen was sitting.
"So… want to start training already?" Liraen asked, preparing to stand.
"Hmm… I think I need to rest a bit first," Kael replied.
"Well… if you say so…" Liraen leaned back into his chair again.
Kael then sat down and relaxed, holding one of the sealed containers in his hand, observing it quietly.
As the sun climbed higher above them, the backyard grew hotter.
Grak'Mar and Nibsken sat on the ground, while Kael and Liraen remained on their chairs all of them sheltered under the roof of Kael's house.
"Ren… don't you think training under the sun like this is too hot?" Kael said.
"Yeah… you're right… especially with three suns above our heads…" Liraen squinted as he looked up.
"Well, I'm thinking of expanding this roof to cover the backyard, so we can train more comfortably." Kael pointed toward the edge of the roof.
"Hmm… good idea, human!" Grak'Mar agreed.
"But it might take a while, right?" Liraen asked.
"Yeah… probably around a week if I build it with wood and basic materials."
"In that case… why don't we wait until evening before training your Bilah aspect?" Liraen suggested.
"It's too hot now, you might get affected by it."
"Good idea, Ren! And phew… if I train under that sun again, I might get heatstroke," Kael said with a tired laugh.
As his friends relaxed, Kael took out his notebook and pencil and began writing whatever was running in his mind. Kael even ate his lunch on the same table to kill time before evening came.
When evening finally came, Kael resumed his training.
This style of training was far more sustainable compared to the first day. With proper rest and hydration, Kael's strength and stamina were steadily improving.
The evening sun was gentler than the harsh afternoon heat. A cool breeze flowed through the yard, mixing with the chatter of flying races above and the laughter of children from different races playing in front of Kael's house. The atmosphere felt… alive.
KTANGG!
SWOOOSH!
"Hahaha! Kaaeel~~~!" Nylum mocked playfully as Kael failed to land a hit.
"Sigh…" Kael exhaled, clearly annoyed.
"Faster Kael! You need to focus on your swing power!" Liraen shouted, reminding Kael.
Kael nodded. Doing exactly what he was told byThis was part of his training.
So it is what it is.
As the three suns slowly descended and disappeared beyond the horizon, it marked the end of Kael's Bilah training.
Kael and Liraen finished their session, and Liraen prepared to head back home. Nibsken and Grak'Mar had already left earlier, mentioning they were meeting their Durvakian friends that night.
Meanwhile, Nylum seemed eager to stay for Kael's Tawan training.
"Bye, Ren!" Kael waved as Liraen walked away.
Liraen waved back before leaving the backyard, heading toward his house.
Kael stretched slightly, letting out a quiet breath. He was about to take a short rest and a shower before beginning the next phase of his training.
"You wanna stay, Nylum?" Kael asked.
"Yeah… I wanna watch."
"Alright then" Kael nodded and went back to his house leaving Nylum alone outside.
The night fell, the fifteen moons rose into the sky, Kael's electric light bulb flickering.
And with it… began the second phase of creating the energy drink.
Kael sat on a wooden chair, staring at the Z-Book in his hands while reviewing the ingredients he had gathered.
On the table nearby, the sealed reactive metals rested quietly.
Reyvik, Brasskert, and Volgran stood ready to assist him.
"Humanz… What are we makin' tonight? I didn't come yestarday!" Brasskert said, his thick Gnome accent echoing slightly.
"We're making an energy drink, Bras…" Kael replied calmly.
"But this is already the second phase of it…"
He paused, eyes narrowing slightly as he looked at the materials.
"…which means things are about to get a little more complicated."
Kael looked at all the ingredients laid out before him a huge white seed and a few sour fruits, and a piece of Fretia ginger.
This is the part where I need to be more careful…
He glanced back at the book, reading the instructions closely.
"So… the first thing is to extract the juice from the citrus fruit…"
Kael picked up a round, red-yellowish fruit and examined it.
"I guess that means I need to squeeze the juice out of this, huh?"
"Here, Kael."
Suddenly, Reyvik handed him a glass container.
"Put it in this."
"Oh, yeah, you're right. But I need a knife to cut it first."
"Don't worry, Kael…"
SWINNNG!
A sharp claw extended from Reyvik's paw.
"AWOOOOO! I'll help you with that!" he said proudly.
"Greeaat!"
With just a few precise movements, Reyvik sliced the fruit cleanly into several pieces.
"Nice!" Kael grabbed the cut pieces and began squeezing them into the glass container.
Srkkk…
Juice flowed out between his fingers, dripping into the bottle. A fresh, sharp scent filled the air.
After squeezing all the pieces…
"Alright! Done!"
The bottle was now filled with a green, transparent juice.
"Now the fruit juice is ready… time for the seed oil."
Kael picked up a large white seed, turning it in his hand.
"How am I supposed to extract oil from this…?"
He checked the book again.
"So… according to this, I need to crush it…"
Kael looked at his friends.
"Hmm… I don't know, Kael. That seed looks too hard for me," Reyvik said.
"Mee toooo…" Nylum added, his body rippling slightly.
"HA! I can't crush that, humanzz… too hard for this old gnome…" Brasskert said, shaking his head.
Kael nodded, looking at everyone… until his eyes landed on one of them.
He snapped his fingers.
"Aha! Volgran!"
The giant slowly turned his gaze toward Kael.
"Can you crush this seed?" Kael asked, handing him the large white seed.
Volgran nodded.
Kael quickly placed a wooden log on the ground as a platform, then set the seed on top of it.
"Here press it, but not too hard! I don't want you to break everything!"
Volgran nodded again.
He raised his massive thumb and slowly pressed down on the seed with careful control.
CRRKK… CRRRK!
The seed cracked open, and a yellowish liquid began to seep out.
"Alright! That's enough, Volgran!"
Volgran immediately stop pressing the seed with his thumb
Kael quickly moved in, collecting the liquid into a glass container before it could spill.
Once all the oily extract was gathered, Kael took a clean white cloth and began filtering it, separating the oil from the crushed seed pulp and other unwanted residue.
"Ugh… it's so slimy… and smells weird…" he muttered, carefully straining the liquid from one container into another.
After repeating the process several times…
"Aha! Now this is clean oil."
As he examined it closely, Reyvik suddenly handed him something.
"Awoooo! Kael! I already cut this for you!" he said proudly, even though Kael hadn't asked.
It was chopped Fretia ginger.
"Alright… good one, Reyv," Kael replied, taking it without hesitation.
"And then… for the last part…"
Kael stepped inside his house. Reyvik, Nylum, Brasskert, and Volgran watched as he returned, carrying a bone and several chunks of raw red meat in a metal container.
He placed the container beside the chopped wood on the ground.
"Alright, guys. This is the final process."
"I need to boil this meat and bone to make a broth."
"Volgran! As usual fire on the wood."
Volgran raised his palm, and flames slowly emerged from his hand. He carefully blew the fire onto the chopped wood, and it ignited immediately.
"Good."
Kael then turned to Nylum.
"Nylum, fill this container with water."
Nylum nodded and used his Water Might to fill the container. Soon, the meat and bones were submerged, ready to be boiled.
As the fire heated the container, Kael and Reyvik took turns stirring the mixture. The water began to bubble, and the smell grew richer like something slowly cooking to perfection.
"Awooo! It smells good, Kael!" Reyvik said, his tail wagging and ears twitching.
"I wanna eat this already!"
Kael sighed, already expecting that reaction.
"Yeah, yeah… I only need the broth. You can eat the meat later."
"Awoooo! Yey!"
As they continued stirring, time passed slowly.
"When will this be finished, Kael?" Reyvik asked, still mixing the boiling contents.
"Well… the water needs to turn brown, maybe a bit yellowish. That's when it's ready."
"I've seen Elvareth do this before it usually takes almost an hour."
"An hour? Fuhh…" Reyvik sighed, though his hands kept stirring without stopping.
They took turns, one stirring, one resting keeping the process steady.
After a while, Reyvik leaned closer to the pot.
"Yo, Kael… you think this is done already? It smells strong."
"Wait for me, Reyv," Kael replied. "I need to grab the ingredient from last night."
"Alright…" Reyvik nodded, continuing to stir.
Kael stepped inside the house to retrieve the ingredient he had prepared the night before.
But it took him longer than expected; he couldn't remember where he had placed the wooden box.
Outside…
The broth began to boil over.
"Ayooo! Reyv put down the fire!" Kael shouted from inside, seeing the water boiling like crazy.
Reyvik jolted in shock.
"Awooo! Water now!"
Nylum reacted instantly. With a single sweep of his Water Might—
SWOOSH!
The flames were extinguished.
Kael rushed back outside, clutching the wooden box. He immediately checked the broth.
It had turned a darker deep brown and the smell was much stronger than before.
Sigh… but… I don't want to waste this…
"It's alright… I think we can still use it," Kael said, scooping a portion into a glass container.
"Let this cool down first."
Kael placed the broth on the wooden table, along with all the other ingredients.
The glucose.
The cloudy electrolyte water.
The fruit juice.
The chopped Fretia ginger.
The crushed seed oil.
And the broth, slowly cooling.
"Alright… there we have it, guys. The ingredients for this energy drink."
"Soo… are ya gonna mix all that, humanzz?" Brasskert asked curiously.
"Well… yeah. But I think there's supposed to be a method… like a step-by-step process."
Kael flipped through the book in his hand.
"But… I don't see anything like that here…"
He paused.
"Hmm… maybe I'll just mix a small amount first."
Carefully, Kael poured small portions of each ingredient into a glass container.
The liquids had different textures and densities. As he combined them, they didn't blend properly layers forming instead of mixing.
Kael lifted the glass, observing it closely.
"Hmm… why aren't they mixing…?"
He frowned.
"Well… what matters is the taste and the benefits, right…?"
He muttered to himself.
"Alright, guys… I'm gonna drink this."
"…Wish me the best….."
All his friends watched in silence as Kael raised the glass and drank it in one go.
A moment passed.
Then
"BLEEGHH!"
Kael immediately spat it out, coughing.
"Yeah… I knew it…"
"Kaeel! You alright?" Nylum asked, worried.
"Yeah… I'm good…" Kael replied, wiping his mouth.
"But…"
He stared at the strange, separated liquid in the glass.
Frustrated, Kael set the glass down but didn't walk away.
Instead, he picked up the book again.
And read.
Silently.
His friends exchanged glances. They wanted to say something… but didn't.
The night grew quieter.
One by one, they began packing the ingredients for him before leaving the backyard.
Kael didn't say a word.
His eyes never left the book.
The first attempt to make an energy drink… Failed.