Kiyo nodded as Selim explained his problem, reaching into her robe as she did so. She took out around 5,000N and handed it to him rather casually as she begun to speak.

"Very well. Consider this a retainer fee to buy your services throughout the journey of our Rites--if anything more than light duty is required at any given point we can discuss a further payment at such a junction. It's a pleasure to be working with you." Kiyo said as the money was taken. She felt oddly invigorated after the battle, and thanks to her intensive usage of Windspeaking she could feel the knowledge within her mind blossoming. As it did so, she felt a similar surge of energy from Mythari, opalescent energy emanating from its form and swirling around it as it underwent some mystical physiological change. Kiyo had seen Natrelmon ascend to higher forms, of course, but rarely so quickly after having captured one--and she could count the number of Mythrael she'd seen on two hands. They were notoriously reclusive, though the Reijin had more experience with Dragon-types than most thanks to their extensive collection of esoteric knowledge and high status. She had conversed with a few of them in her time thanks to her natural gift of telepathy, and had been happy to impart what she learned from the tomes in her family's library to the creatures. Kiyo had always felt like explaining something that she had just read, especially something magical, was the best way to actually internalise the knowledge; that was, she thought, the purpose of knowing so much. What use was her family's collection if they simply hoarded it away and never shared their secrets with the world?

"I also noticed that you seem to be a telepath. It is rare for a trainer to be able to give commands to their Natrelmon without verbage, especially ones as tactical as yours. Though Mythari are naturally telepathic with magically gifted individuals, I too possess the gift of telepathy. It has made for some very interesting situations when meeting with the Song family. Song Lin Tiao is... well, I'm not sure there is a word for how inspiring she is." Kiyo added as an aside. She figured that if they were going to travel together, allowing themselves a strong telepathic link was for the best. In the event of danger, a seamless mental connection allowed for responses that those without the gift simply could not anticipate or keep up with. Having such an advantage would be impressive, and being able to speak to Selim without allowing passersby to understand appealed to Kiyo in an enormous way. There were things she wanted to say that she would prefer her parents did not get wind of, and that secrecy was hard to come by in Lifan.

[@Innue]