The soft blue hue coloring the ceiling was depressingly dull. The soft hum from the crystal was supposed to be calming, a soothing reminder that they were safe. However, she could feel nothing but utter annoyance towards its incessant reminder that they were trapped, forced into hiding by the enemies prowling outside. The monsters could not enter the safe room, or even be near it, but nothing stopped them from waiting.

Rana pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to quell the phantom pain in her head as she kept her eyes shut. She knew she was being unreasonable. She could not have expected what happened earlier and she did what she had to in order to avoid defeat. It was a risk she had to take, yet it was still too close. She knew her anger was not directed at her foolishness or the heart her sister gave her, it was there to mask her fear. She was terrified of what could’ve happened and she just didn’t want to face that reality.

It was foolish.

She took a deep breath, wondering why she needed to act as the living to calm herself. It was such a farce. She was an undead and there was no reason to pretend otherwise. What point was there if she continued to lie to herself? She looked at her recovered fingers. She was getting more and more used to using parts of her body as a disposable tool. She shook her head. Now was not the time to be thinking of such pointless things.

Rana looked at Alpheia, who was washing the blood off of her feathers. The moon-kin already recovered thanks to health potions, but the liquid within only mended wounds and regenerated health. It did not have any cleaning properties. She never noticed it before, but the way she healed was different than when she was alive. When she was still human, potions forced the body to rejuvenate and sped up its natural healing processes using the magic within the liquid. That was why marked ones had scars. Now as a zombie, her body did not heal. The life essence she consumed reconstructed the missing body parts, returning them to whatever form they once were. She wondered if her body was even her original one at this point.

“Is water enough?” Rana asked, wanting to turn away from the more depressing thoughts.

Alpheia shook her head.

When the moon-kin initially complained about the blood stuck to her feathers, Rana was surprised to learn that Alpheia did not know how to conjure the basic elements. She wondered why a fiend bathed in slaughter cared about being bloodied but the residue mana in the dried blood restricted mana flow into her plumes better. She formed water runes and pass it to the moon-kin for use. The effects of Spells also did not last in this world. It could quench thirst for a moment, but when the effect ended a person would be even more dehydrated than before. So when the runes broke and the water dissipated, she had to form another one for her companion to use. Surprisingly, she was not annoyed at her companion, who was also willing to accept the help. She liked to think they were getting along better, but she knew it was because they were both too tired to care.

The fiends apparently have a much more restrictive version of a human’s mark. Individual marked ones would not be able to choose most of their leveling progress, but they at least had some freedom choosing the Spells and Skills they used. For a fiend, what Spells and Skills they had depended on the kin they were born to. Alpheia was a moon-kin and every one of them had Feather Fuse, which was the ability to ignite the mana stored within their plumes. They could also charge their plumes with mana, increasing defensive and offensive capabilities. That was not to say there were no oddities. Her companion was one such oddity, having access to summoning magic. Still, in that sense, they were more like monsters than humans. Yet, wasn’t that always the case? Why was she thinking like this?

“What do we do know?” Alpheia asked, breaking Rana away from her thoughts. She was surprised the moon-kin did not propose charging out the instant they were ready. Her companion must’ve also realized that was suicide.

“The expeditions of Aodh did not go far. The monsters mentioned within the logbook were nothing really noteworthy in terms of threat. However, one thing I found that all the monsters had in common was that they become energized under the rain of ash. It also mentioned there exists areas in which the ash does not fall. I theorize the same could be said of those shelled soldiers in flames.”

“What is your concern?”

“Yes, there is a problem,” Rana said, her neutral tone hid her surprise that the moon-kin was able to read her well. “The monsters do not react the same when their enemies hid from the ash. Some followed, others retreated, but some also attacked from afar. We do not know how the soldiers would react, and I cannot guarantee that we will not be putting ourselves at danger. It is a risk I am reluctant to take.”

“There is always the risk of death on the battlefield.”

“You are not wrong,” Rana said, to Alpheia’s surprise. “However, there is no reason we should avoid caution. If we can reduce the risk, we should.”

Rana closed the logbook and put it into her jacket. She closed her eyes and lied down. She did not know for how long she was thinking for, but the moon-kin did not interrupt her during the entirety of her meditation. When she finally opened her eyes, the moon-kin was waiting.

“I have an idea, but I need more information,” Rana said. She stood up and began to walk towards the crystal. “However, before we go and prepare for the fight, if my theory is correct, we might be able to lessen the difficulty of it.”

She reached out her hand and placed it on the crystal. She began to call upon her mana and slowly let it trickle into the levitating object. She did not want to risk a rebuff from the System. The blue light calmed down the energy she wielded, but it was still volatile.

She searched.

She found it.

"Come, Alpheia," Rana said with a faint smile. "I believe I found something interesting."