According to the map on Sylphie's phone, Route 42 was somewhat longer than Route 41, and ran to the north of Xinling City. Given that the two coaches were well-prepared for this leg of the Circuit, they made their way along the Route with their Mons out at a fairly sedate pace.

  Ondun and Sylphie didn't speak too much during this trek. Each was absorbed in their own thoughts and thinking about Lowell's counsel.

  Even as Strudel the Aquehound and Venus the Luxli were chasing each other around, Ondun was basically rethinking his entire life. Recollections of the defeat of his first Astral filled his mind. The infernal, bipedal salamander spirit called Shemhazai was worshipped by a band of lizard Beast-Folk. He recalled the blast of fire that the spirit-construct had breathed, as it washed over him to no effect. That same wave had corrupted and brainwashed a squad of soldiers that had been sent to help Ondun fight the incarnation of the lizard-folk's faith and desperation. Ondun remembered knocking each one unconscious as Shemhazai had flung tongues and bolts of flame at him, before turning his spear on the spirit itself.

  Maybe that's where some of this started. Thanks to my gift, I'm one of very few people who can fight an Astral without becoming an enthralled zealot. Sure, I've used this gift to spare many people that same fate...but what price have I paid for doing that?

  Ondun looked to Sylphie as she came out of her own ruminations and looked at him. The two young coaches both went red, and looked away, before peeking back to each other. Ondun decided to hold his words, and Sylphie did much the same.

  The sun fell low in the sky, before the two coaches made camp. They moved in much greater harmony now. Ondun swiftly gathered wood, and using the Shinobi arts, set them alight, as Sylphie set up the two tents. As Ondun made the night's meal, Sylphie began running the Mons through some physical exercises.

  Strudel's physical performance had improved leaps and bounds as a result of his evolution into his second form. The canine moved far more quickly, his techniques were far more powerful, and his bite could shatter thicker hardwood branches with only a little bit of effort. The price for this was a bit of clumsiness that the Mon was able to adapt to as the night's exercises went on.

  Maggie and Zephanie had fully recovered from the City Leader battle. Neither bird Mon had come out of it unscathed, but both avians had formed a common bond. The two trained together, slamming wind move into wind move, diving about each other in a mock aerial battle that caught Ondun's attention even as a small pot of soup bubbled in the warm campfire. He quickly turned his attention back to it when Sylphie opened her mouth as if to comment on the smell.

  Venus was struggling to keep up. As a wild Mon, the feline had fallen into an intellectual rut. Venus knew a number of techniques, including a bite that could cover the target's wound in a freezing, painful rime. While Sylphie took little note of this, Ondun found himself mulling the implications over. He had wondered for a while if Mons could use moves with elements outside the ones they had an affinity for. This proved that it could happen, and did.

  Instead, Sylphie was trying to break Venus of wild fighting habits, and to get the Mon to listen to her orders. When Ondun saw it going nowhere, he decided to, at last, break the ice.

  Quietly, Ondun strode over. "Sylphie," he said quietly, and handed her the bowl of soup he'd prepared for her. She nodded thankfully, but her impatience was clear. "Thanks...Venus isn't really taking to the training that well, though."

  Ondun nodded. "Different people respond differently to better things. Perhaps it's the same for Mons. You're a very physically inclined woman, of course. Perhaps starting with Venus' anima techniques would lead to better results?"

  Sylphie thought about it, and sighed. "Yeah, I don't know about any of that stuff too well. Sure, the stuff we did together before the Lowell battle was good, but I didn't really get it."

  Strudel, Maggie, Zephanie, and Venus all padded over. Ondun tapped his chin as he thought. Then he began weaving handsigns for the Wind Wall jutsu. Next, he pulled some dust out of a pocket, and threw it in.

  "I've held the strength of this Wind Wall back. There's a few ways to break through it. Sylphie, why don't you ask our partners to get through?"

  She turned to the Mons. "You heard him!" Ondun, however, shook his head.

  "Sylphie, you're deferring to me far too easily. You've been working with our friends since we made camp. You know what they're good at, and need to improve at. You're an amazing monster coach. Think of each one, and guide them as they try to break through."

  She thought for a moment. "Okay...Strudel! If you want headpats, get through the barrier."

  With a howl of "Aquehound!", Strudel cloaked himself in a bubble of water, and slammed into the tiny duststorm. He got shifted to one side a bit, but landed in the dirt off to one side of Sylphie, who gave him a head pat with her free hand. Maggie, Zephanie, and Venus had been watching.

  "Maggie, you're next! No going above, break through!" she cried out. The Fledgelev didn't even bother with a barrier - it flew up high, arced around, folded its wings, and then fell into a rapid dive, before spreading and angling her wings, piercing the barrier without even getting moved to one side at all. Maggie came to rest cleanly on Sylphie's shoulder. Maggie's getting bigger. She might have a similar evolution coming soon, Ondun noted.

  Zephanie split the difference, only with a little more hesitation. She lined up a similar dive as Maggie had made, but the Galebul did something that came as a surprise, and looked like something she'd improvised at the last minute. Just before Zephanie made contact with the barrier, a gloom covered her beak. When her Dark-shrouded beak touched the Wind Wall, it faltered for a moment as she slipped through, landing on Ondun's shoulder that was nearer to Sylphie and Maggie.

  "Galebul!" she chirped in a self-satisfied way. He reached up and gave her a congratulatory pat. "You just came up with that?" he asked.

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  "Galebul!" Yep!

  Sylphie turned her attention to Venus, who was looking at once determined, but also unsure. "Remember, Sylphie, they're your ally."

  Sylphie nodded. "Venus, I believe in you. You've got the power to do this. Do what works for you, okay?"

  Venus closed their tiny eyes. When the feline Mon opened them, twin beams of pale blue slammed into the barrier, making it flicker similarly to what Zephanie had done. The feline almost made it through, but was rocked to one side violently, flinging her into the night air. She landed on all fours, closer, and began running in parallel to the barrier's motion, accelerating as she did, until with a flash, she clipped through the wall of wind, and beside Sylphie's shins. Unfortunately, the catlike Mon didn't arrest her momentum, so Sylphie began to take a fall. Ondun was there in a flash, catching the woman in a squat, with Zephanie and Strudel moving too late to help.

  Ondun helped Sylphie level herself. "Venus knows a lot already. You're trying to make them fight like a trained Mon. A better way may be to show them other perspectives on the things they already know, then to refine those approaches together. They're powerful and capable, just like you."

  Sylphie nodded, and sighed. "Good job everyone, get some rest." The Mons went to finally relax. Venus and Strudel gave each other an appraising look, before joining Maggie and Zephanie.

  Ondun and Sylphie sat together. When Ondun returned with a full bowl, she took a bite, smiled, and sighed. "You know..." she began, but stopped.

  "No, I want to hear. What's on your mind, Sylphie?"

  She paused. "I thought I had it harder than you..." he held up one hand.

  "Sylphie...don't compare our pain. We've both been hurt by things. It's not okay what has happened to us. I think that's what Lowell was trying to tell us, anyways." He paused. "I begin to feel like I understand you a little better, though. Sylphie, I meant what I said just now. You're an amazing monster coach, and...well...I'm glad you're here, with me."

  He took a bite of soup in embarrassment. Best to fill my mouth before I say anything stupid, he thought.

  She just looked at him, before taking a bite, then keeping the look. Then she scooted closer, and ate. Ondun didn't know what to make of that - had an attractive girl ever been this close to him? - so the two just ate in silence. When Sylphie's bowl was empty she put it aside.

  "I won't ask a Mon to do anything I won't." she declared. "Ondun, teach me to fight."

  Ondun put his bowl to the side too. "That's a big ask. Why do you want to know this?"

  She tapped her lip. "I figure if I'm going to keep traveling with you, I'm going to get into trouble. I don't want you to worry about me, and I'm not going to end up like your knight boyfriend. So, teach me to fight too. It may give our Mons some ideas too."

  She's got a point...but he wasn't my boyfriend, Ondun thought with annoyance. After a moment, though, he realized that every time Sylphie had wanted his attention, she'd usually taken a more abrasive tack. This is important to her.

  Ondun nodded. "First, give me your hand. There's something I need to feel for." She did, turning red as she did. He took her hand, before saying, "Now...this is going to feel weird. I'm not going to do anything to you, this is just me looking for something..."

  Then, Ondun plunged a tiny portion of his anima into her. She went red and moaned a little in a way the adventurer had never heard and wasn't sure he fully felt comfortable with. However, the tiny tickle of power in the woman was precisely what he'd been looking for. He withdrew his magic, as she caught her breath. Ondun decided to slightly scoot away, just to be on the safe side.

  "Sylphie, I think you have some affinity for the magical arts. Usually, children back home are taught to cultivate this power from a young age, since magic capability tends to help one in life no matter what they do. Each person's power is different, has a different potency, and can do different things better. I'm not Aenora, so I won't be the best teacher. I can give you a foundation to work from, though."

  She nodded eagerly. "Then what are you waiting for?" She extended a hand again. He took it, gently.

  "Then, Sylphie, remember what it felt like when I touched your magic. To me it felt like a tiny spark. Just breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth. Find that spark, and just feel it."

  She did this, though for some reason she looked a little disappointed. Ondun ignored that, but mostly focused on keeping his senses trained on the feeling of his hand on hers. He'd know the moment she had a breakthrough.

  The two spent a few hours in the dark of the night, side-by-side, palm-to-palm. When Ondun finally felt the change in how the woman felt she opened her eyes. "Ondun, this feels amazing!" she extended a hand, to a nearby twig, and sent it flying a couple of feet before skidding to a stop.

  He gave her a big, big hug. "Congratulations, Sylphie. You felt your own power grow, but also a connection to everything around you? That's your anima sense. Anima flows all around us, and between us and every other thing. While we're on the road, I want you to keep feeling that sense and growing accustomed to it. That's the foundation of anything I can teach you."

  She groaned. "Really? I wanted to do that hand-sign stuff..." she did a rough approximation of a Shinobi's mudras. Ondun laughed at the absurd hand-signs, so she smacked him on the shoulder. "Hey don't you make fun of my ninja powers!"

  With some effort he stopped snicker-giggling. "We'll get to that. Magic is a powerful force. It's best not to rush. Doing this will help you know what to ask me to teach you."

  She nodded. "Alright." The fire had died down, and their Mons were napping together in a giant cluster of fur and feathers. She clasped his hand.

  "Hey, thanks for sticking with me. I know I'm not always nice...it's just, I'm used to not getting attention."

  Ondun nodded. "I've noticed. Even so, it's good to have a good friend to travel with. I'm happy to have you, Sylphie. Truly. Want to call it a night?"

  She nodded. The two went to their tents, got in their sleeping bags, and settled down to let sleep take them. They both were haunted by visions of their pasts, but the bad memories faded a little more quickly this time.

  The next morning, the two broke camp just as they had on Route 41. The birds flew up high to scout out the path ahead, while Strudel and Venus kept close to their coaches. The two continued onwards to Cheng, with Ondun on smartphone duty. With some help from Sylphie, he began to do some basic research on the Great Cheng Graveyard, the resting place of both humans and Mons from decades and centuries past the Hero's efforts to unify Kongming.

  The two bird Mons dove down chirping franticall, as Ondun quickly pocketed the smartphone. For both of them to be so agitated was a sign that something bad was about to happen. Ondun reached up and channeled the power of the Dragon Knight into himself from the Memory Gem at his neck. Sweeping the Lohengrim in a low arc, the spear caught a net that had flown at Strudel from the bush.

  Unfortunately a second net slammed onto the canine, the weights on the periphery of the next forcing even the mighty Aquehound down onto his belly. Two laughs, those of a young man and a young woman rang through across the Route. Then, the two youths those laughs belonged to - a blue-haired woman with cold eyes, and a red-haired, carefree-looking young man stepped out, covered from head to toe in black.

  "Prepare for trouble!" cried the woman, her face the mask of a predator who had cornered her quarry.

  "Resist, and you'll be rubble!" shouted the man, a smug look plastered on his face.

  Ondun lowered the draconic visor. "Yeah...no. Sylphie, your support please."

  The young woman grinned. "Yeah, you two messed with the wrong adventuring party."

  Ondun dashed forward sweeping the blade away from the two people. These two bandits were about to get a schooling from the Ondun school of 'Why Crime Doesn't Pay'.