Kirby woke up, sore in every way possible. He winced with every step he took out of his tent. Stepping into the campsite he saw grass, his and Tien's tent, and the dying embers of the now dead fire.

Looking back at the uneven path they'd arrived on, he saw the forest still blazing strong. He sat down by the fire, using this opportunity to reflect on his situation.

*I'm on an alien supermachine, along with what's left of earth, does this mean that the New Dawn is here as well? That... doesn't really matter that much. I may need to go back to get some amenities but my priority is finding Chloe.*

"Good family has to stick together after all," Kirby said to himself while chuckling.

"That they do." Tien agreed, sitting down next to Kirby at the fire. He looked magnitudes friendlier now, probably the light.

While maintaining eye contact, he made a gesture and snuffed out the fire. Using no visible implements. Kirby was interested, so he decided that any risk that may arise from showing an incredibly limited scope of knowledge would balance out.

"How did you do that?" Kirby asked. Looking closely he saw that the fire was now entirely extinguished, embers and all.

"Aha! I knew it!" He exclaimed.

Tien laughed and slapped down on Kirby's shoulder. Jumping to his feet, he ran over to the cart. Pulling out an ovaloid stone he tossed it to Kirby, Causing him to scramble to his feet. He grabbed the rock, which caused it to bounce off his palms while rattling. It hit the ground and shook for a few seconds.

"Well then, pick it up. Don't open it, but figure out what's inside." Tien said, glancing briefly at the dropped rock.

He turned and entered his tent, leaving Kirby with a hollow stone.

Kirby looked at it. And tentatively picking it up he proceeded to do everything under the sun to that stone. The stone didn't imply anything greater than itself. Only when it was shaken could it be differentiated from a normal rock. Even then, it made a separate sound every time it was moved.

"Click. Ding! Grrddgg." A different noise made every time it was picked up. All loosely mechanical to Kirby.

"Something with... gears?" Kirby was slightly less confused. *What do we even use gears for... decoration?*

After a solid hour of theorizing, Tien came out, looking a tad giddy.

"So, what do you think it is?" Tien asked, looking as if he could jump out his boots with excitement.

Kirby deliberated for a moment before answering. "It's one of four things, a watch, a wind-up toy, a bicycle bell, or a music box.

Tien looked taken aback a moment before reaching out and plucking the rock from Kirby's hands. He squeezed it, cracking the cover and revealing a small purple bag. It looked like it was either silk or velvet. Fishing it open, Tien revealed a small circular object three centimeters thick with an aperture on either side. It produced all manners of sounds at random intervals. The only notable thing was a tiny clock key on the side of it.

Tien appeared disappointed in the tiny object, handing it back to Kirby.

Kirby picked it up, almost toppling at the inane weight it possessed. He held it up to the light and turned the clock key right. After a short while of him winding it, the sides of it folded up, releasing a black band with a small latch on the end. The top folded into itself and revealed the face of a clock. Kirby weighed it in his hand and looked up Tien, who was now staring at the watch in Kirby's hands.

"Wha-What is that?" Tien asked, flustered.

"I told you what my guesses where earlier didn't I?" Kirby replied, equally as confused as Tien was.

"Get onto the cart, I'll give you a proper explanation."

Kirby hopped into the wagon and waited for Tien to come over. He went back to fiddling with the watch and found nothing off about it. When he looked back up and Tien sat down next to him.

Nudging the horses, they were on their way.

"Alright Kirby, this will take a while so I'll only tell you once. This artifact elevates itself and all on it to godhood. It's with the power it gains by absorbing other realities that it can impress itself further into the fabric of space-time. We as residents, gain the ability through association. If you at any point find yourself here, you evolve. Every person here has the ability to use their will or subconscious to shape the world around them. The more one willingly uses it, the more powerful it gets. Most people can't do anything with it because they've grown used to the environment. They let other's perception mold them and they slowly lose their conscious control." Tien paused before looking over at Kirby.

"The test we just did was to see your capabilities. How good you were at altering the world with your mind. You've made something that's at an ungodly level of complexity. This shows that you have capability here." He took another breath before quickly continuing.

"Over time as more and more worlds have been assimilated, it's now the norm to help all that come over to adapt. It supplies free talent as newcomers have an easier time using their skills. The rulers of this area see this as not only a good thing to do, but a law we must abide by. That is why I saved you, I'm rather poor and the tax break is something required." He looked over at Kirby and met his gaze, shrugged, and went back to talking.

"That was until I spent a few minutes with you. I understand you a bit now. You may be a tad lacking in expressions but I think you'd make a decent prodigy, what do you say?" Tien finally stopped talking, and looked forward, nervously gripping the reins in his hand.

Kirby was taken aback, confused as to what he should do with such a surplus of information. He mulled it over before realizing that whatever motive this man had, this was probably the best deal he was getting.

"What would I have to do if I accept?" Kirby replied, ready to accept some ridiculous terms.

"Respect me, don't start conflicts you can't resolve, don't run away, and learn the stuff I teach."

"I... Is there a contract I have to sign?" Kirby said, once more primed to accept.

"Nah, nebulous threats of comeuppance tend to mess with people. I'll just say that I'll zap you with some voodoo nonsense." Tien brushed off Kirby's serious tone with a light chuckle.

"Perception of threat works better than an actual threat around these parts, huh?"

"Yep, you're already learning!" Tien said, in a much more emphasized and jolly voice than normal, surprising Kirby and some nearby bushes.

The nearby underbrush surged as the ground shook. Tien and Kirby both turned around as the sun was immediately blotted out.