While chomping a mouthful of meat from his roasted rabbit, Liam worried for his sanity.

'So, when are you going to go make some babies for me?'

Liam swallowed, sighed, and sarcastically asked, “How am I supposed to do that with you lurking in my brain?”

'I'm not exactly in your brain, but whatever. Anyway, I'll be sleeping most of the time, so you don't have to worry about me.'

Taking another bite, Liam replied, “Tha' jus' makes me more worried.”

'Oh, well. You'll understand when the time comes. So, you gonna share?'

“How am I supposed to share with a spirit?”

A black, misty tentacle manifested from Liam's right cheek and tore a sizable chunk of juicy meat from the rabbit. Within seconds, the mist dissolved the meat, leaving him speechless.

'Not bad. You cooked it just long enough for it to stay tender.'

“The hell is wrong with you?!” Liam exclaimed, swatting at the misty tendril with his free hand.

'Just feeding myself so I can wake up sooner next time.'

“You don't steal a man's food, though! You've lived how long? And you don't adhere to that?!”

'Good point. I'll ask before I steal it next time,' Noctis said as the tentacle vanished like a puff of smoke in the wind.

Groaning, Liam abandoned the conversation. Getting through to the annoying geezer was more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack. Instead, he decided to change the subject by asking, “You said your people were known as Ancientbloods. Why?”

'It is how we became known. Since all power flows through blood, and our lines were the oldest, that's probably where the name came from.'

“Power flows through blood?”

'Hence the importance of bloodlines.'

“Bloodlines?”

'You must be one of those people brought here by those bastards...'

“Probably. So, is mana the power you mentioned?”

'It's called that by some.'

“Even though I became one of you, I still don't have mana.”

'Probably because you didn't start as one of us. Although humans are the only race not born with it, it's easy enough to obtain.'

“I need more SP to get Mana Mastery.”

'Ah, yes, the damned system those bastards created...'

“So they created it... makes sense. Actually, do you know much about it?”

'It was made after they massacred my people.'

“So you don't know. Was hoping I could just ask you instead of talking to that Masked Meister.”

'Well, I doubt it matters to you, but he was one of the ones alive at the time, though he never participated in the massacre.'

“I've got my own gripes with him,” Liam mumbled as he took another bite of rabbit leg.

'I'm going back to sleep now.'

“When will you wake up again? I've got more questions.”

'Honestly, I don't know. I've never done this before.'

“Tch...”

'Save your questions for next time. It's already hard to stay awake as it is.'

“Fine. Sleep well, old man.”

'Good night, Liam.'

The woods fell silent aside from the crackle of the fire and noises of the forest. For a while, he sat in peace, enjoying what remained of his meal. Surprisingly, he felt a little lonely with the annoying geezer gone. In spite of the guy's quirks, the conversation with Noctis comforted Liam in an odd way, replacing the sense of survival with the sense of living. Thinking about it now, restarting some old clan sounded a lot better than simply getting by.

After finishing off the rabbit, he chucked the remains deep into the woods. While walking to his tent, he retrieved his waterskin from his inventory, gulped down most of the water, and tossed the waterskin back into the inventory.

Just as he was about to piss on the fire so he could go to sleep without worrying about it, he heard voices in the distance. Rolling his eyes, he knew what to expect. A few minutes later, three young men arrived at the small clearing. One wore chain mail but the other two wore gambeson. All three carried swords at their hips. Based on what he had seen before, Liam assumed they belonged to the Adventurer Guild.

“Hello, stranger!” the young man in front excitedly greeted. His expression and movements looked overexaggerated to a fault.

“What do you want?” Liam asked, doing his best to display his irritation.

“Sorry to disturb you,” The young man replied, “but would it be alright if we borrowed your fire?”

I knew it... Liam thought. He despised moochers, especially the kind that put on airs.

“Ah, where are my manners?” the young man said, feigning politeness. “My name is Saladin. These are my friends, Oscar and Darryn.”

“You can use the fire as long as you leave afterward,” Liam said, ignoring the pleasantries.

“Oh! Thank you!” Saladin replied, bowing. The other two followed suit. “If you don't mind, I'll just light a torch and we'll be on our way.”

The young man did as he said he would and led his friends away from the clearing. However, Liam watched them until he saw them use the torch to light a campfire in the distance. At least they did not overstay their welcome.

“Well, wasn't that friendly of you?” a voice spoke from behind Liam.

Instantly on guard, he hopped away from the voice and spun with his new sword in hand.

“Seems you got a nicer weapon, too,” the hooded woman said, maintaining her calm.

Recognizing the person, he sighed and sheathed his sword. He wondered what the chances were of running into this woman again so soon. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

The woman grinned and answered, “Saw the fire and thought it would be easy pickings.”

“So are you planning on stealing from me again?” Liam asked, still on guard.

“Nope, but there are still others nearby,” the woman said.

“Please don't. They'd probably blame me,” Liam replied.

“Then I'll count our favor even.”

“Didn't need it in the first place.”

The woman sniffed the air a few times and furrowed her brows. She stepped closer to Liam, but he retreated from her. A curious expression floated across the woman's face and she said, “You smell different. Actually, now that I look closely, your appearance changed, too.”

Liam squinted. Had his appearance actually changed so noticeably?

Continuing, the woman said, “Your eyes are a different color, and your skin is darker. Did you get poisoned? No, that can't be right... Magic accident?”

“No,” Liam said.

“Are you actually the same guy?”

“Yes.”

“What happened?”

“...A lot,” Liam answered.

Realization flashed in the catwoman's eyes as she asked, “You didn't have something to do with that earthquake, did you?”

“No,” Liam answered. Of course, he didn't lie. The fault lay with Noctis, if anyone.

“Hmm... whatever. Not like you owe me an explanation,” the woman muttered in disappointment.

“I don't. Also, why is it you show up when I'm about to go to sleep?”

Shrugging, the woman answered, “It's a coincidence?”

“And you're going to leave like last time,” Liam 'suggested'.

“How about you let me stay the night in your tent?”

“In other words, you're asking if you can take advantage of me again.”

The woman placed her hands on her hips and nodded.

In response, Liam rolled his eyes.

“So, is that a yes?” the woman asked.

“Anyone ever told you you're pushy?” Liam asked in return.

“Only a few times. And?”

Although the woman's attitude irritated him to an extent, a sudden thought popped into his head. Perhaps he could form a give and take with her. As such, he said, “Help me with a few things, and I'll allow you to sleep under my roof.”

“Your stolen roof, you mean.”

Liam blinked a few times.

Grinning slyly, the woman asked, “So you actually did steal it?”

Dammit, this woman... whatever. I'll take what I can get. Aloud, he said, “So, do we have a deal?”

“Sure, as long as you don't ask me to have sex with you.”

Again, Liam blinked a few times. However, he said, “I was only going to ask you for some information, but I'll do it tomorrow. I've had a long day.”

“Do you always have long days?”

“Yes. Yes, I do.”

A few minutes later, the two lied down side by side due to the small tent size. Luckily, the catwoman at least carried her own blanket. With their backs turned to each other, the woman asked, “What's your name, by the way?”

“Liam, you?”

“Nora'sel.”

“Nora it is then.”