I flew faster than I ever had previously. It was hard to get a feel for it back in the ruin with the guardian, but now, I could see that my crow-shifting had drastically changed. I peeked behind me and I saw the two from New Era steadily keeping up. However, there was an abandoned storage yard up ahead and I could lose them there.

I flew over the fencing and dove behind the rusted shipping containers before reverting back. I thought about what I should do next for a few moments before I called Alexandra.

[Casper? Are you okay–] She answered, referring to the ruin anomaly no doubt.

“Listen, can you get to my dad?”

[...Is there a problem?]

“I made a few friends from New Era,” I replied while navigating through the shipping yard.

I found a rundown warehouse and ripped the lock off before entering. Ignoring the dark and damp interior, I headed for a small office without a door.

[Where are you? I can be there in twenty,] She said.

“No, just, look after my dad and I’ll owe you a big favor.”

I could’ve asked Evanora, but Alexandra had proven to be an ally by not giving my info to the Emerian Government. I felt like I could trust her enough to take measures to protect my father until I arrived.

[I can do that, but–]

I heard a loud impact outside and activated my Spirit Vision. They had arrived just a few minutes after me which spoke of their stamina. If it wasn’t the result of their gifts, then they definitely had artifacts that could enhance their speed.

“Just take care of that, please,” I spoke quickly before hanging up.

‘Form of Bones,’ I thought of it as my body began to change.

The feeling of bones protruding from my skin before curving around my body to act as an exoskeleton was strange. The outer layer of ivory segments settled over each muscle and joint with neat spacing. When my body was fully covered, I threw off my jacket and stepped out.

I waved both of my hands, sending out runes to cover parts of the warehouse. This was my greatest strength, after all, if I even had a moment of preparation then I could draw runes with ease. I moved outside to see that they were already turning over the shipping yard in search for me. I stealthily began to draw runes on the large containers that were stacked high before finally heading toward them.

The man wearing gold armor stood with his back turned to me as he ripped open a shipping container. I gave no warnings as I sent a blast of decaying blood toward him.

Instead of hearing his armor hiss as it melted, I instead saw my attack meet a barrier, destroying it, but failing to hurt the armored-man.

“Shit,” I cursed, immediately running away.

“Got him!” The thorn-covered woman shouted.

I rolled to the side as a vine whipped past me, and smashed into the ground, leaving a deep scar.

My instincts were better now and I didn’t even blink twice at the narrowly missing attack. I sprinted behind a few containers and gave a brief glance over my shoulder.

As expected, they were running right for me. I invoked a well-placed rune and an explosion filled the air as a pile of containers collapsed right onto them.

“Shit!” The armored man shouted as he was buried beneath them.

I didn’t expect them to kill him, but at least I could isolate the–

She stopped chasing the moment it became a one on one fight. I could only click my tongue and run back to the warehouse.

‘That didn’t work,’ I muttered inwardly.

Once inside, I spread my hands apart and shaped a long strand of thick blood into the shape of a halberd. With another thought, its bladed edge burned with violet fire. I spun it around to get a feel, adding and removing as much blood as was needed to get a proper weight. After a minute or so, I had a functional weapon.

I didn’t ignore their presence and constantly looked toward them with my Spirit Vision. By the time I was finished, the armored man was finally free and they moved toward the warehouse with hurried steps.

“Let’s just see if you’re that eager once you’re inside,” I spoke quietly, sending out as many crows as I could before retreating into a dark corner.

The two of them burst in but didn’t go any further than the door. I watched their heads cautiously swiveled around, keen on seeing the potential set up of another falling hazard.

“You know, if you had that tattooed guy with you, I might have been a little scared!” I shouted, my voice echoed throughout the warehouse which made it hard to pinpoint my exact location.

“Save it, you’ll talk plenty when I get my hands on you,” The armored man replied.

From the eyes of a crow, I watched the thorn-covered woman silently move toward where she assumed I was.

‘Perfect, just a few more steps.’ I watched in anticipation as she crept along, edging closer to a rune of mine.

Three. Two. One.

And–

The building practically shook as a chain of explosions went off, sending the woman flying toward the other side of the warehouse.

I sent the crows toward the armored man and took aim with the spectral bow, firing off an arrow the moment it was ready. I heard the sound of his barrier shattering again, and rushed out, circulating my blood wildly. I augmented my strength and gained an extra burst of speed. When I arrived in front of the armored man and swung my scarlet halberd like the grim reaper himself.

The violet flames danced at the edge of the blade while he raised an arm to block. The armor, maybe the result of a gift, didn’t give on the first swing, but the miasmic fire caused steam to rise from his gauntlets.

I learned not to engage in contests of strength if I wasn’t completely sure I could overwhelm my opponent, so I released my grip on the halberd. It collapsed, turning into sticky red blood that suddenly hardened and restricted the movement of the armor.

I then drew the scarlet blades and went on the offensive, capitalizing on his lack of movement. I covered his visor with a layer of blood to prevent him from seeing and increased the intensity of my assault.

A vine came flying between the two of us, interrupting my attacks and causing me to retreat.

“Yeah right,” I heard her growl at me as a vine wrapped around my ankle.

It chewed at the bone segments covering my skin, but I managed to crow shift before any real damage could occur, slipping away unharmed.

As I landed, preparing to focus on her, the armored man broke free and closed the distance in a single leap. He roared as he brought his fist down on me. I raised my arms, forming two shields and just barely managed to block in time.

The solidified blood shields shattered instantly and I was forced backward until I crashed into a wall. After only a second to catch my breath, another punch bore down on me. Ducking underneath its deadly trajectory, I felt a small shock wave as he drove his fist directly through the concrete wall.

To make matters worse, the vines under the woman's control appeared once more, having drastically multiplied. However, each one seemed deadly as they thrashed around, each swing crackled like a bull whip but caused far more damage. Pieces of bone were being chipped away with each hit that landed, but I wasn’t just standing around and absorbing them.

I felt my muscles swell as I dashed away, glancing to the areas that still had runes left. I continued evading attacks as I led them toward the center of the room.

“Thanks!” It seemed as if they had me cornered, but I was thankful.

I dove backward to avoid standing in the radius of the rune which lit up as soon as I invoked it. A sealing rune that was just large enough for the two of them. It wouldn’t last more than a few seconds, but–

The final explosion happened above their heads, the metal beams above groaned before plummeting downward, crashing onto them. Was it life-ending? No, but it would buy me enough time to leave without the worry of them immediately following me.

I grabbed my jacket and crow-shifted the moment I stepped outside.

Reflecting on everything that just occurred, I couldn’t help but think that the proving grounds had drastically improved my approach to combat, but something felt off while fighting them. It was a bittersweet thing to have achieved because of the sheer amount of pain it took to reach this point. I doubted that my path would get any easier from now on.

‘Whatever.’ I put those unpleasant thoughts away and continued flying.