Shortly after the conflict, the local militia showed up and arrested the pirates, with the exception of Carabak, whom Bel took on his ship. The children feared that the inn owner wanted to report them too, but apparently he hadn't seen the fight start, so he thought the pirates had caused all the commotion on their own.

While they waited their turn to give their testimony, Papel climbed onto Erica's shoulders. Erica stroked his head. Bel, sitting next to her, looked curiously at the little animal.

—Do you like him? His name is Papel— Erica introduced him— You wouldn't happen to know the name of his species, would you?

But Bel shook his head.

—In all my travels, I've never seen an animal like this one— he admitted— He was the one who warned me that you were in trouble, you know?

Erica's eyes widened, then she looked at Papel.

—You're kidding! Really?

—Yes, he came out of nowhere screeching at the top of his lungs— Bel remembered— He must be very smart.

Erica stroked his head again.

—Yes, he is. Thank you, Papel.

---------------------------------------------------

They had to stay awake for quite a long time, so the next morning they were all more tired than usual.

As soon as they got off, they met Bel and his bodyguards for breakfast, for the night before had left them with many questions and he had promised to answer what he could.

—What happened to Carabak in the end?— asked Arturo.

—She's on my ship, resting— said Bel.

—No one is watching her?— asked Erica.

—Calm down, she's fine. There are ways to immobilize even a brika— he assured them.

—Yes, it's not the first time we do it— added Severa.

—Really?

—You could say it's part of our job— explained Bel— We travel around several worlds, on the trail of fugitive brikas. With so much strength, it's easy for them to wreak havoc, and few can stand against them. That's why there are other brikas patrolling in search of miscreants.

The children remembered that Carabak had mentioned the "brika hunters" the night before.

—It makes sense— Arturo conceded.

—For the only prince of the empire to be in this kind of work, it must be something very important— observed Liliana.

—It's rather that there is a lack of personnel— clarified Bel— it's a very difficult job, which requires very strong people. By definition, only a few can do it.

Liliana and Arturo nodded. It seemed logical to them, but Erica didn't quite agree.

—How strong?— she asked.

Bel and his guards looked at each other.

—Well, the tests are very specific, although there is an unwritten requirement.

—You mean the nomitio?— asked Severa.

—Yes.

—Nomitio?— repeated the children.

Then Bel smiled at them and showed them his hand. From it appeared, to their surprise, a little ball of blue liquid. The ball then separated from his palm a few centimeters, floating in the air, and opened two small white dots resembling eyes.

—How cute!— commented Liliana.

—What is that?— asked Arturo.

—It can't be!— exclaimed Erica.

—The nomitio is another type of timitio— explained Bel— unlike normal timitio, it has color and can separate itself a few centimeters from its host.

The children stared at it for a while, then looked up at Severa and Morgana. To their surprise, they did the same; from Severa's shoulder came a little red ball and from Morgana's head, a little calypso ball.

—They are all very cute!— said Liliana.

—Hehehe. Thank you.

—Wait— said Erica— How the heck did you three get colored timitio?! Mine is black and can't float.

This made the brika hunters laugh.

—Of course, all timitio is like that— explained Bel— You can't get nomitio from somewhere else, it's a transformation of your own.

—What?!

—With your level, surely you have already seen it— said Bel— the face of your timitio.

—The face?— Erica shook her head— I don't remember any face.

—A dark place, with a scared creature— Bel recited, as if reading a passage— You approach it, but it fears you. You touch it, and ghosts appear. You protect it, and the ghosts attack you, but it's all over when it falls asleep.

Erica opened her eyes wide as she recognized her inner place. The dark piece, the little black animal.

—So it is my timitio!— noted the girl— Did the same thing happen to you?

The other brikas nodded.

—We all see the same thing, at least at first— said Severa— that's the timitio trying to contact you.

—And what should I do when I appear in that place?— asked Erica— And when does it happen?

—You can go there whenever you want, even awake— explained Bel— You just need to be relaxed. As for what to do...— he shrugged— that's up to you, there are no rules, no one is going to boss you around. But if you want your timitio to turn into nomitio, the best thing to do is to talk to it.

—Talk to my timitio?— Erica wondered.

It's not that she hadn't done it, but she didn't think the parasite would be able to understand her.

—In its natural state, the timitio is no smarter than a fungus— Bel explained— but when it is absorbed by an animal, it begins to form connections within itself, mimicking the mind. To recreate a level nine mind, it needs a lot of connections, and to do that it needs a lot of itself, a lot of timitio.

—Oh, right! So, the more timitio she gets, the more intelligent it will be— concluded Arturo, interested.

—Yes, and the more intelligent it is, the easier it will be to talk to him.

—But why talk to it?— asked Liliana, totally lost— Do we have to say something specific? Do we have to ask him to become stronger?

—Oh, no. We have to encourage it— explained Bel.

—The timitio is fearful— indicated Morgana.

—Exactly, always keep in mind that timitio is the parasite of fear— Bel reminded her— it is constantly afraid, it spends all day terrified, that's why it looks for strong and brave people, to take refuge in their security.

—That's why you have to make it feel safe— Severa continued— and to achieve that, you have to be strong.

Erica nodded, already understanding more or less what she needed to do. Then she looked at the three brika hunters and noticed something.

—Wait a minute. Does that mean that all of you are stronger than me?!— she asked.

—Well...— Bel seemed to want to give an elaborate answer— it's not that we've seen you fight, it's just...

—Yes, we're stronger than you— Severa cut him off— Carabak is nothing special for a brika and you couldn't even beat her by yourself. I'm surprised that someone so weak has a reward to her name.

That comment didn't please her very much, but she held her tongue in response. Severa was right, she wouldn't have been able to beat Carabak on her own. However, something more important caught her attention at that instant. Erica pointed a finger at Morgana.

—What about her, is she stronger too?

Morgana nodded.

—I don't believe you!— Erica bellowed.

—Morgana is strong— she insisted.

—Prove it!

Then Morgana looked at Bel.

—Tell her.

—Hehe. Of course— the man turned to Erica— Morgana is strong, I assure you.

—That doesn't prove anything!— the girl demanded.

Morgana sighed, fed up. To shut her up, she got down from her seat and moved away from the table.

—What is she doing?— asked Arturo.

—I think she wants to show you her armor— said Severa— She loves to wear her armor in fights.

—Armor?— asked Liliana.

For a moment they assumed that she wanted to take them to her ship, where she would have kept a tiny armor like her, however Morgana barely moved a few steps away from the table. She spread her arms apart and in an instant her body was covered by a calypso substance; the same nomitio, which grew into a huge metallic body almost two meters tall and sturdy arms and legs. At the top, her tiny head peeked out of the only hole.

—What is...?— Erica was about to ask, but then she realized that all that material was timitio —It can't be!

She immediately grabbed her arm where she was measured the amount of timitio. When she pulled it all out of her skin and put it together, it barely covered her from her fingertips to above her elbow. Morgana had a full armor. Seeing her like this reminded her of Tur and the Chainer, both of whom were capable of covering their bodies with timitio. She wondered if the Chainer had nomitio, that would explain why his parasite was white instead of black. In any case, the difference in power was colossal.

Then the bodyguard returned her nomitio to the inside of her body to sit back down with the others.

—That was impressive!— commented Arturo— You all have armor?

—Hehe, not that we wear them all the time like Morgana— explained Severa— but anyone with enough timitio can create them. It's a very versatile material, so there are several fighting styles.

—And can you change color?— asked Liliana, also interested.

—Oh, no, you can't— Bel clarified— the nomitio acquires its own color at random, no one chooses its color.

—And what about the personality theory?— added Severa.

—Oh, of course, although it is not a theory, it is only a hypothesis— pointed Bel— people always confuse them.

—How so?— asked Erica.

—The nomitio shows the color of the soul— commented Morgana.

—Yes, something like that. It is believed that the nomitio takes the color it does depending on the user's personality, or on a single psychological aspect— explained Bel— but no one has figured out how they might be related.

—So, if you have a green color, it doesn't mean that another brika with green nomitio is just like you— added Severa— at least there is no good scientific argument to believe it.

—Oh, I would like to be a brika and have nomitio— commented Liliana.

But all the fortemes shook their heads.

—No, you wouldn't— they said at the same time.

Liliana pursed her lips. She remembered times when Erica told her how timitio felt, but she didn't imagine it was so unpleasant.

—Speaking of timitio— mentioned Arturo— Is there a way Liliana could cut it with her munima?

Liliana turned to him, puzzled. It took her a few seconds to remember that fortemes used timitio to protect themselves against her munima. It hadn't occurred to her to ask them about it either, but it made perfect sense. If there was anyone who knew how to get through timitio armor, it was those three brika fighters.

—What? You have a munima?— Bel blurted out— How amazing!

—Can Morgana see it, please?— Morgana asked.

Liliana didn't feel very comfortable taking out her spacious scythe inside the shop when there were people watching, but she took it out anyway because Morgana said "please". Fortunately, no one called her out about it.

—How cool!— exclaimed Bel and Morgana, while Severa put a hand to her head.

Liliana put Brontes away quickly before many people saw them.

—I wouldn't know— Severa admitted— I don't know many people with munimas.

Morgana shook her head.

—Morgana doesn't know either— she admitted.

Bel thought for a moment.

—I'm not sure, but... Why don't you point to the joints?

—What joints?— she asked.

—The joints of the armor— Bel explained— shoulders, elbows, knees, hips, necks. All parts that rotate or move. In those sections the timitio is less dense.

—What?!— Erica shouted— I didn't know that!

—Oh, right! Although obviously it doesn't work if the forteme is concentrating on protecting that section— corrected Severa— but if they use a full armor and they don't know where you're going to hit them... yes, I see it possible.

—Since the joints must be flexible, the fortemes tend to protect themselves with less timitio in those areas, unconsciously— explained Bel— a normal weapon would only break if you try to force it into timitio, but your munima might go through it. But remember that you can't know if the enemy has enough timitio to block you until you slash at them, so keep an eye out.

—That's amazing, Bel. Thank you so much!— said Liliana.

He smiled, pleased. The rest of the breakfast went by with lighter subjects. They joked, talked about Oexoden and Kervel, and the children told them about their mission.

---------------------------------------------------

Later, as Bel and his guards began to prepare to leave, Bel approached Erica.

—So you guys are on a mission to fight the First, huh? What an odyssey.

Erica smiled and made a peace sign with her hand.

—We've got it under control.

Bel folded his arms, not very convinced.

—Be careful. The First noni is way out of your league. If you three had trouble with Carabak last night, you're not prepared to deal with him, even if it's one on three.

Erica pondered for a moment.

—I could go and take more timitio— she supposed.

—That would help, though be careful. If you exceed your limit you will become a monster.

The girl nodded, remembering unpleasant moments.

—I know.

They were silent for a bit, thinking about their encounter with the territi. Then Erica sighed and shook off the negativity.

—What will you do?— she asked.

—I've completed my mission, now I have to return to my world to deliver Carabak to the authorities.

—Back to Perka?— the girl guessed.

—Yes.

Erica looked at him with longing and sadness. The truth was that she wanted to go. She wanted to see Perka with her own eyes, the other brikas, their culture. She had been an outcast all her life because of her great strength, she couldn't imagine a society where everyone was like her or even stronger. She really wanted to go, but for that she would have to wait. Her first priority was her dad, and to find him, the first step was to defeat Tur.

Then Liliana approached them. She knew very well Erica's "I want to go, but I can't" face, and she had something to tell her about it.

—Wasn't one of the rings a brika?— she recalled.

—Rings?— Bel noted.

—That's right!— Erica remembered.

—For some reason, a country of people like Erica and Carabak makes me more nervous than having to fight the emperor of the nonis— commented Arturo.

—Hey, what do you mean by that?!— said Erica.

Liliana and Bel laughed, and ended up infecting Erica anyway. They joked for a while longer, but soon Morgana called Bel, the ship was ready to leave.

A little sad, they said goodbye to their new friends and watched them board their ship. From the outside they could not see Carabak, but that relieved them a little. Still, Bel assured them that she had no chance of escaping, much less running away from him and his guards. Finally they took off. The children waved their hands to see them off, until they were out of sight. Bel had proven to be an attentive man. They were sorry to see them go, but at least they were certain they would see each other again. In a few hours, they too boarded their ship and departed. It was not much farther to the ruins of Ramnusia.

---------------------------------------------------

Later that night, Erica returned to her inner room, as Bel had instructed. She found that it was relatively easy, she just needed to concentrate and wish for it with all her might. Inside the room was the little animal, her timitio. They both looked at each other for a long time.

—Hello— Erica greeted him at last.

The little animal approached her, he already recognized her, although he did it in a tense and cautious way, ready to flee if he needed it. This showed that he still did not have all the confidence in her that she had hoped for, but she was not discouraged. Although she didn't have much to say at the moment, she figured a little conversation would be better than none at all.

—I know you're scared all the time, but don't worry. You'll get over it. I'll take more timitio and turn you into nomitio.

The black and furry animal didn't understand her, he just looked at her with his big eyes from a safe distance.

—Someday— the girl said to herself.