Ilis chuckled as they both crawled out of their pit. Brand was too, the man looking as relaxed as she’d ever seen him, although he was moving gingerly. She stood up with some difficulty, and offered him a hand. He grasped it and pulled himself up, which unfortunately caused her to sink into the marsh. He looked down in amusement, since she’d shrunk to half of her height. Returning the earlier favour, he pulled her up. They both used their arms to lean on each other's shoulders, and slowly began the trek back. They were both silent for a long time, mulling things over.

Eventually, Brand spoke. “Thank you.”

She glanced at him, and shook him a little. “There’s no need for that.”

He grinned at her, and puffed his chest out. “It’s called being polite, Ilis, something you’d know nothing about – unlike me, a proper gentleman.”

She snickered. “You’re starting to sound a bit like Falan.” His expression quickly became stricken, and she giggled, which he joined in with, until It tapered off, and things were quiet again.

Brand broke the silence once more. “We nearly died.”

She sighed. “Since when is that unusual?”

He shook his head. “People need us right now, Ilis. We’re some of the strongest people here. If we fall? Then this whole thing becomes much more unlikely…”

“It’s do or die, Brand, same as it’s always been.”

He glanced at her. “I forgot how fatalistic you are. It’s not like we have to die.”

“Are you going to leave everyone?”

He didn’t answer, and she nodded.

“Are you going to tell me about that new Ability of yours?”

She blinked, and then grinned. “How’d you know? It’s called the Choir of the Bonfire. It was what allowed me to burn through the metal before.”

“I actually meant the other one, but that sounds fucking awesome.”

She chuckled, before slowly coming to a stop. “The other one… I got it not long ago… I had to use it to defend Grenion. I…think I saw my mother.”

His head whipped around to her. “Your…bloody hell…” he whispered.

She shrugged. “It’s obviously got Death magic, which shouldn’t be a part of my Class. Yet, I was able to call upon people I’ve had connections with, when they were still alive.”

He frowned, and they both continued walking again. “I don’t know Ilis, that seems impossible. Why’d you think you have it?”

“When I first used the Ability, my…mom mouthed something to me. She said I was doing well. That could just be her being encouraging, but I get the feeling that it wasn’t”

The man bobbed his head, and was about to open his mouth to respond when a voice interrupted them. “Fascinating.”

They both stumbled, and jumped back, looking at who’d spoken. The Manipulator who’d attacked them from before, sat on a log, watching them.

“I knew I felt Death energy, and it was from you, but an Ability? From a Class that shouldn’t give it? Sounds intriguing.”

Ilis moved to attack, but metal snaked around her arms and held them back. The man continued as if he hadn’t noticed. “It’s a shame that another practitioner is against us. We’re doing this for you, you know.”

She spat at him, while her fists became enveloped in flame, but she was low on resources, it would be easy for him to take her down. “Dammit, couldn’t you have left us? How’d you even find where here?”

The black-haired man grunted, and gestured, causing a rolling sensation on her shoulder. She looked down and a bead of silver floated away. She groaned, while the man smirked. “You two are far too worried. I’m just as tired as you are.”

She turned her head to Brand, whose eyes were narrowed in suspicion. “So why are you here?”

The man exhaled slowly. “You two are incredibly formidable, as such I believe others will listen to you, and that we can come to an agreement.”

They both snorted. “Do you think we’re idiots? You won’t give anything away.”

The man nodded. “You’re correct to an extent, but that isn’t what I’m here to talk about.” He gestured and a corpse floated through the trees. They both jerked in surprise, as the body of the Aspirant hanged in front of them. “No one wants the Holy Will to arrive. I propose that we come together to delay them, until our dispute is settled.”

“That’s…” She paused, frowning.

He bobbed his head at her, as if hearing her thoughts. “Indeed. You two inspired me to offer this. Together, we may be able to avoid the destruction of these lands”

Brand shook his head. “We don’t need you.”

“You would risk people's homes so easily?”

“You’re the one who attacked them.” Ilis shot.

The man gave her a look. “Attacked? Tell me, how many people until today have died?”

She opened her mouth to respond, but then stopped.

“Exactly. The nature of our assault has made it so the citizens can retreat safely, while we finally get large swathes of defensible land.”

She blinked. Wait, really? Brand barked a laugh. “You actually think we’ll believe that? The Grasping Hand doesn’t exactly have a good reputation.”

“And that’s because no one understands it. It is no more responsible for our actions than the Adventurers Guild is for yours.”

“That…can’t be true.”

“I assure you it is. The Grasping Hand only connects people. Regardless, we’re getting distracted. If you'd allow us, we could provide a way to slow down the Holy Will, you could even be apart of the process, to prevent any sbotage."

“We’re not taking any risks!” Brand spat to the side.

Ilis glanced at him, and hesitated before, “Can you tell me anything about my Ability?”

“Ilis!”

“Shush, Brand.”

The Manipulator closed his eyes. “Hmm, not much. I only had a brief look at it. However, it does remind me of something…I'll share as a gesture of trust.” He opened his eyes again. “Long ago, when the Holy Will was only just coming into its power, there were many other faiths. In fact, a lot of them worshipped death magic... One in particular though, was rumoured to be a brutal enemy for the followers of the Divine Saviour. I cannot remember what the religion was called, or what they worshipped, but I do remember that the Holy Will apparently called their believers Demons. Classes which lived on blood, fire and ash – Death, cleansing, remembrance. It is a view that I find quite interesting, maybe even true.” He eyed her. “No one but them understood how to draw upon the connections to the fallen, apart from you, I suppose.”

Demons?

She mulled over what he had said, but was interrupted by Brand. “Great, whatever. We won’t accept your offer.”

She glanced over to him, and then narrowed her eyes. “We'll need time to discuss this, can we contact you?”

“Of course.” He reached into his satchel and pulled out a cut sapphire, which he sent over to them with a tendril of silver. He gave them a short bow. “Until I hear from you again.” A tentacle of metal wrapped around his waist and lifted him up, along with the Aspirant’s corpse. More limbs joined until a spidery shape was created, which then began to stride across the land, cracking trees along the way. Their restraints slid off and puddled on the floor.

“What the fuck was that Ilis?!” She turned to see Brand wound up like a bear trap.

“I was thinking it could be an opportunity, Brand…what if he was telling the truth? We could get more time! We should at least talk to the others about it, and if not for the deal…well an ambush would be helpful.”

The man paused, and then a wicked expression crossed his face. “You know…you might just be right…”

Before they could continue however, light flashed above them and they immediately looked up to see two Aspirants go shooting by.

Bastion's face was grim. “We’ll have to be careful about who hears this though.”

She hummed in agreement.

—---

Jason slashed, finishing off the last person from the hunting team. He shedded the blood off his armour and sword using his manipulation. Ever since Henron, more and more members had been coming after him; he had thought they would have known better by now.

‘Ding’ You have levelled up [Phantom Swordsman Lv 120 – Lv 130]

50 Stat points gained

‘Ding’ You have levelled up [Bone Manipulator Lv 98 – Lv 112]

42 Stat points gained

‘Ding’ [Ghostly Swordsmanship 2nd Tier Lv 2 – Lv 7]

‘Ding’ [Bone Manipulation 2nd Tier Lv 9 – Lv 15]

‘Ding’ [Dense Bones 2nd Tier Lv 9 – Lv 15]

‘Ding’ [Mana Marrow Lv 11 – Lv 12]

He had put all of his Stat points into intelligence, since he felt it was beginning to lag behind the others.

He grunted as he stood up, ignoring the bodies around him. He started to walk again, his mind on the past few days. I really hope the other [Town Hearts] are safe… He had been visiting each town, trying to eliminate the controllers for the barnacles. Unfortunately, they seemed to know he was coming, and had gone into hiding. He’d fruitlessly searched for them, but couldn’t find any signs. Instead, he tried to make sure the [Town Hearts] were safe. He couldn’t find them either. No matter how hard he tried, the Hearts remained hidden. He had eventually settled on just speaking out loud; explaining what had happened to Henron’s. Once he’d done that, he’d gone and hunted down every single Grasping Hand member that he could find. As a result, they’d started sending members to ambush him. He had been fighting non-stop, and if he was honest… it was beginning to wear on him. When was the last time I properly slept?! He whimpered, and glanced around to make sure that no one heard him. He manipulated his helmet to recede, so he could scratch his head, and his nose wrinkled in disgust when he got a whiff of himself. Fuck, I need a wash… He debated whether or not he should have one. If he got caught in the middle of it, he’d be… fine actually, with [Phantom State] and [Bone Manipulation] – if a little embarrassed.

He proceeded to leave the corpses behind, knowing they’d be claimed by the barnacles eventually. Not that I can do anything about that though, still don’t have an Ability to counter regeneration. He shook his head and continued exploring in the hopes for a river, and paused as he suddenly realised, Any water I find is going to be salty… He groaned but still continued.

He eventually did find somewhere deep enough, and he undressed to jump in. He yelped as he landed on some barnacles and, after completely destroying them, he began to wash. There in the middle of two hills, in a little crevice of water, Jason scrubbed his skin as best he could. It was surprisingly pleasant. Before he came to this dimension, he would have been at risk of hypothermia. Now? Heat was dead to him.

His pale skin was raw from his scraping, and he dunked his head, in order to continue peeling off the accumulated dirt. When he rose out of the water, his eyes travelled to his reflection; he stared at the transformation. The skinny person he’d once been, was now a fairly muscled man. But, there was more: his eyes looked deeper, and he noticed he had grey hairs, along with wrinkles. The only thing that remained unchanged was his tiredness. He brought a hand up to his long hair; It used to be pulled back in a ponytail, but he’d lost the tie somewhere along the way.

He sighed, pulling himself out of the water, before shaking himself and getting dressed. Once done, he summoned his armour once more, and started to walk up the hill. When he got to the top, he looked out over the withered trees and bracken plains. He needed to decide what his next move was. Before he could ponder that, a flash of light in the distance caught his eye. It was approaching him, and it was becoming brighter. He stared in confusion which then became alarm, as the approaching object focused into the shape of an angel. He started to prepare himself, about to summon his sword, when he realised how slow they were going. Aren’t they meant to be super high level? He watched in confusion, before shrugging and slowly turning around to head back down the hill. I guess it doesn’t matter, I’ll move on. Even if they do catch up, I’m pretty sure I could take them on. He paused. That type of thinking struck him as dangerous. He nodded. I’ll just get out of here.

He began to trek again, stomping through the mud. He wondered how the rest of his team were doing? It had been some time since he’d seen them, let alone thought about them. He couldn’t imagine them being in trouble…although, after seeing Silver’s power, maybe they would be. Should I meet up with them? They’re probably in one of the towns near Danist, but what about the Holy Will? An uncomfortable weight settled in his stomach. Going back to them now would be risky…but he was beginning to consider it. He was simply so lonely. How long had it been since he’d spent time with his friends? A week? More? It was like time had slipped away from him. He actually had no idea how long he’d been in this world. A year? No, maybe half of one?

His musing was interrupted by the sounds of shouting. His head whipped up, and his sword sprung from his ghostly hand. He hesitated though, worrying over whether or not he should investigate, before just shaking his head and moving closer. He moved nearer to the sound, sticking close to cover on the way. His sneaking was interrupted by a flare of light, and he ducked behind a large piece of coral. Damn, sneaking is so boring. He blinked, since when had he started thinking like that? Nevertheless, a harried Aspirant fluttered by, his wings of light, becoming dimmer by the second. An arrow shot by their head, causing them to jerk back. A hoot of excitement followed.

‘Ding’ [Aspirant of The Saviour Lv 95]

Wait what?

The man looked around for some cover, and Jason ducked behind his own as he turned to him. A few tense moments, he heard the squelch of his footsteps. Oh you’ve got to be kidding me. The man rushed around his hiding place, and crouched behind it, peering over the side. Jason stared at him, too incredulous to do anything. Eventually, the man glanced to his right, before doing a double take. He gasped, and jumped back, summoning a white arrow. Jason’s sword was already at his throat. The man froze, and watched him with wide blue eyes. Jason frowned. The idea of killing someone so weak was somehow…uncomfortable. He lowered his sword, and turned to face the man’s hunters. He glanced back at the man, who was watching him in confusion, before he advanced.

When the hunters spotted him, the familiar prickle of cold alerted him to who they were. Not that I thought it could be anyone else. He narrowed his eyes and identified them; they were roughly around his level, each them. I can take them. Without preamble he launched a [Spacial Strike] at them, and rushed forwards. They all reacted fairly impressively: a shield of ice burst out of the ground, wispy green skulls poured from hands, and a crackling lightning arrow was drawn. His attack flew over, cutting through the ice and leaving a shallow gash in the Ice mage’s chest. That was all he had time to register before he was swarmed by a dozen chattering skulls. They gnawed on him, digging deep into his bone armour, and leaving glowing green cracks. He used [Phantom State] on everything but his protection, hoping it would help a little. He launched another attack at the archer whose arrow was about to fire, but he was too late. The leather garbed man fired with a boom, and he instantly felt his connection to his helmet disappear. Their eyes widened, and he scowled, summoning more bone. A golden arrow drew all their eyes, as it zipped by, striking the woman summoning the skulls in the face. She screamed, and Jason used the opportunity to move closer, while continuing to shoot out more Strikes. The archer retreated, but the skull-woman was too distracted to notice, and was felled after three hits. The ice mage saw his companion go down, and nodded to the man who was summoning another arrow. Something seemed to pass between the two, before the crackling died down, and the man began to retreat. Jason wasn’t about to let them go that easily, and moved forward to attack the escaping figure. But, he was suddenly struck with a crippling pain, and he staggered, before forcing himself upright again. He blinked, swallowing the bile that had appeared in his throat, and forced himself to dodge the ice shards that were shooting at him. He weakly shot another Strike at the ice mage, which was met by another wall. However, it did still cut right through and cut him again, leaving the man doubled over in pain. He clumsily jumped on the opportunity to launch another Strike, making the distortion ripple across the ground and finish the attacker for good. He gasped, as the nausea got worse, and tried to look for where the other man went.

“I got him.” a deep voice from behind him said, causing him to turn around. The Aspirant he had saved was watching him, his head tilted to the side, which revealed silver and blue stone earrings. “I hunted him down, and finished him. Thank you for your assistance.”

He didn’t do anything but just nod.

The man regarded him for a bit, before sighing. “I owe you this much.” He reached out with a glowing white hand, and Jason tried to move away, but found he was too weak, the weakness spreading into his legs and chest. The hand placed itself onto his breast, and pulsed. He gasped as the nausea lessened with each wave. After a moment, it was gone.

He nodded to the man, as he finished healing him.

“Poison, likely the death magic kind, although that isn’t surprising. This makes us even, do you understand?”

He bobbed, a little dazedly.

“So, why did a death magic user save an Aspirant?”