Since she had started using the Vanguard to move around, Kaja had been missing having a body a lot less. But in this moment, she felt like she was missing out on something amazing more than usual.

As she had figured, Enok’s transformation into a drifter had involved a lot of energy. But it didn’t violently unleash it in an explosion, it consumed it.

His body had absorbed so much thermal energy that the temperature around the dead tree Enok was meditating in had fallen low enough for the bark and leaves to be frozen.

The phenomenon wasn’t a gradual one. Four times, with random intervals, the heat of the area had been siphoned away, the cold increasing each time.

Some curious animals, a lone rabbit or wandering fox, had tried to investigate the source of the anomaly, but most fled when the temperature abruptly fell. Others, less lucky or quick to react, were still under the dead tree, just as dead and covered in ice.

Kaja had flown away, not wanting the orb to be caught in the ice on top of Enok’s head. She wanted to be able to see the changes that were occurring, as they were occurring.

She thought it was fascinating. It was evolution.

As a god, an -theoretically- immortal being of energy, things appeared in a way that mortals could never hope to understand. Space and time were distorted, mere words hold power and one dealt with concepts so abstracts they actually killed the rare mortals who tried to understand them from time to time.

But looking at it the other way, all that power ironically made one unable to truly understand mortals, and see what they saw. It made you focus on the Big picture, and miss on why beings with such short lifespans would keep fighting to wake up the next day.

She had once voiced her concerns to her brothers and sisters and they had either laughed at them or dismissed them entirely. At that moment she realized something she would have never even considered possible : the gods had a weakness.

The trouble with knowing most of everything is that once you form your opinions, there is basically nothing that can change them. Which is why they were called beings of passion, they always acted according to their own interpretation of the creation.

What it really was and how it should be. Everything else was useless and was not worth their time. Or should disappear. Basically, she had discovered what all mortals on the Path had known since the dawn of time.

That gods were close minded, self-centered bastards. Except her mother, of course.

It meant that they wouldn’t change, or couldn’t, but in this case the two notions were the same. They were limited.

Mortals on the other hand, changed everyday. They adapted, to the gods whims, to their environments, to their kings, to their families and even to their own thoughts. They evolved, and she envied them for that ability.

She had been told that they were evolving in order to reach a state closer to theirs, but now looking at her brother, her past doubts were strengthened. Mortals ability to evolve gave them the ability to reach for something beyond.

Hers and Enok’s situation was less than ideal, but at least she had the satisfaction of having won an ages old argument and she was able to experience human feelings thanks to Enok’s body. It wasn’t so bad.

But the more important thing in her eyes was that he was an evolving god. Sure, he wasn’t currently much of a god, but every evolution had to start somewhere right?

The sun was rising on the jungle when she heard the ice crack.

“Finally,” she let out.

She quickly flew down from the bird nest she had been waiting in, careful just enough to not bump into any egg, and stopped in front of the hole in the hollow tree. Under the thin layer of ice that was covering Enok’s face, she could see a confused expression.

That made her giggle a little, but she was still anxious. Was it really still him that was going to emerge?

He easily broke free and went through the hole, melting the ice covering him with his aura.

“So?” she asked, “are you mind controlled or something?”

He rolled his eyes in her direction.

“Really Kaja? That’s your method for figuring out if someone is possessed. You just ask them.”

Typical Enok. “If I had a mouth,” she thought to herself, “I would smile at how hard it would be for anyone to imitate him.”

But since she didn’t have one, she instead said out loud, “If I had a mouth,I would smile at how hard it would be for anyone to imitate you. How did it go?”

He grunted. Someone was in a bad mood apparently.

“It went... Normal, I would say,” he started, “considering the situation. I’m still myself, and the results are incredible.”

He was studying himself, opening and closing his hands in front of him. He had gained muscles, but not in a way that made him look bulky. His body was more toned, his skin weirdly shinier, and from the way he moved Kaja could tell there had been changed inside of him too.

The green marks on his arms were faintly glowing in the dawn.

“I briefly met three entities, who are probably the reason why we are now called the pagan gods,” Enok said, “ but I’m not sure if I can trust what I saw. It was all a simulation.”

“A simulation?”

“Yes, to test me,” he started moving to leave the luxurious area, “As a drifter, I am apparently connected to the new ‘gods’ of the Path. They gave me a limited ability to manipulate the ether to improve myself.”

The quotation marks around the word “gods” had been so obvious it made her sigh, though she made sure to keep her thoughts silent, “His pride would kill him before he ever admitted that mortals created anything like us.”

“The ether?” she asked, “that’s pretty bad right?”

“It is,” he said, but then he added in a lower voice, “... But less bad than I would have thought.”

“Hmm?” Something really wasn’t right, his reactions were not at all what she would have expected.

“Enok. What happened there?”

He noticed her tone.

“Why don’t you just leave the orb if you want to know? It would be a lot faster and easier than using words.”

As they were talking, they had reached the river that probably had its source somewhere in the jungle. Following it was the simplest way to go back to the Foxglade village.

“Eh. I’m not sure I want to share whatever you are feeling right now. You look... Sad.”

He was as surprised by the words as he would have been by a sudden splash of water on the face.

“You’re serious?”

”Yeah,” she replied, “but it was a good idea. We’ll just do it when you’re done processing.”

“Hmm.”

He looked up at the sky then shook his head, mumbling. She caught the words “late”, “quest” and “stars”.

Enok had apparently decided to walk to the Foxglade village, and it gave her the opportunity to fly around and study the surroundings.

She didn’t like seeing him in that state, especially when there wasn’t much she could do about it.

The environment changed as suddenly as it had on their way to the mountain range. Very few things seemed to be able to grow on the cracked black soil that was surrounding the Foxglade clan, beside maybe rocks and types of lone bushes that could probably grow in the most extreme conditions. The only exception was the small forest that was south of the village, right next to the Edge.

In any case, it was a depressing spectacle and Kaja didn’t dwell on the strange scenery too long. She couldn’t help but compare it to what it was once like, and it wouldn’t make sense to make herself sad all on her own after what she had told Enok.

While her brother walked along the river, her attention was caught by an obelisk in then distance, east of them. She flew higher and noted that while it wasn’t part of a settlement, it clearly stood at the limit of the rocky plains, and healthy grass grew right after. A lone monument standing at the border between the healthy and infertile areas.

It seemed like this corner of Alfheim, south from the mountain range and west from the obelisk had been affected by something. And from what Kaja could tell, it was something that had happened long ago, but had been strong enough to still plague the territory. The discovery raised one question, though.

Why in the worlds would anyone build a village in this area? A dead land so close to the Edge?

Trying to find reasons that could justify such a weird choice, she almost didn’t notice the small group of riders that appeared at their backs. Then again, the land was so deserted that one could only fail to notice a moving object on purpose.

Six men were coming from the same direction Enok and Kaja did, following the river. They had good rides and would soon reach an oblivious Enok who seemed still lost in his thoughts, moving as slow as a snail and kicking rocks into the water.

“This, could go very wrong, very fast,” she thought as she flew to him.

“Hey,” she said, landing on his head, “we’re going to have company.”

“Mortals?” he asked, not looking very interested.

“Yeah, I don’t think we’re going to meet anything other than mortals in a long time Enok.”

“You’re right,” he heavily sighed, which made Kaja even more alarmed, “It can’t hurt to hope though. By the way, I was thinking of maybe making a detour to the guardian’s sanctuary before leaving this world? I doubt it was completely erased of exist-”

“Enok,” she interrupted, “I’m sorry, I don’t want to be rude, but I really think you should avoid meeting any mortals.”

He frowned, “What?”

“Come on, you know how they are, in general. And you know how you tend to react to it.”

“...You want me to hide because you think some idiot could offend me?”

“Hmm, yes? Or you can just-”

“That’s not going to happen, and you know it.”

“Bu-”

“I said no. Also, give me some credit. I’m not going to go on a murderous rampage for just any random reason.”

“Yeah, sure you won’t,” she sarcastically thought to herself.

While he had changed a lot as a human, there were two core traits Enok’s personality had kept. His obscene pride, which he was actually working on, and his incredibly short temper.

That, coupled with his weird current state and a dumb mortal was a recipe for senseless death. She hoped the coming people weren’t the dumb kind of mortals. Maybe they would even ignore him.

Before long, the sound of galloping horses, roars and loud chatter reached them.

“Hey, you little shit! Move out of way for Gormin of the Bloodseekers!” The order was echoed by laughters.

“Oh boy,” Kaja thought.

These were definitely the dumb kind.

Without looking back or even replying, Enok simply turned left and put more distance between him and the river. There wasn’t even an actual road to obstruct, in this quasi-desert.

Two riders mounting horses reached Enok and went past him, one of them snorting in his direction. Their clothing was consisting of leather and pelts, but it’s their weapons that caught Kaja’s interest. They both had swords made of bone at their hips.

Then the ground shook as a shirtless human, the size of at least three regular human males, rode a gigantic brown bear past them.

He was a mountain of muscle, and wore the skull of some carnivorous monster as a helmet. The long and sharp fangs were in perfect condition and added to the bear rider’s impressive appearance. He didn’t even grace Enok of a glance.

“Death tamers and a half-giant?” she heard Enok say, thankfully low enough that the hybrid did not hear.

Animals on the path had the passive ability to absorb ki, just like mystics could. The longer one lived, the more ki it would absorb and get stronger, bigger of even mutate. The brown bear the half-giant was riding was an obvious example, clearly past a hundred years old.

Some mortals usually called tamers were able to subdue those beasts and share their powers as the beast grew older. But it was also possible to draw power from their remains, as long as they had kept the beast’s ki. The main drawback being that one would only be as strong as the living animal once was, with no possibility of growth.

Death taming used to be looked downed upon and considered the last option for desperate tamers who somehow lost their pack or for the weak and talentless to gain strength.

It seemed that things had changed on that front.

It was the turn of the last three members of the formation to arrive, and they were also peculiar in their own way.

The two people in the front were in a pitiful state. Their clothes were in tatters, revealing bleeding wounds and they had their hands tied behind their backs, the horses apparently just following the bear’s trail. They were prisoners and the one right behind them was charged with keeping an eye on them.

As they were about to get far enough for Kaja to sigh with relief, one of the prisoners twisted himself to look in their direction, just before screaming with eyes wide with recognition.

“Th-, That’s him! He’s the drifter who took over the Foxglade clan!”

She cursed.

The guard looked at them, then whistled. Not in surprise, but as a signal, loud enough to demand his partners attention. The first two riders that were already pretty far turned around, probably wondering what was happening.

The bear rider though, was coming their way. He had probably heard the scream.

The guard pulled a knife and put it under the screamer’s throat.

“Are you mocking us, rat?” he spat the words more than he spoke them, “you mean to say that this brat still reeking of his mother’s milk is an aurosei and a drifter?

“Calm down Obert,” said the half-giant, “you should know the worlds always find ways to surprise us.”

He had a low and commending voice, the way he slowly spoke and carried himself hinted at the fact that he probably had been in a position of power all his life.

Enok, apparently oblivious to the growing tension, just kept walking, looking through the people studying him.

“It’s really him!” said the second prisoner, his eyes darting between the guard and the half-giant, “I... I didn’t look at him, but now that I do I clearly recognize his face.”

“Kid,” called the bear rider.

The cloaked “kid” stopped on his tracks and looked at him with an innocent expression.

“Are you talking to m-”

“You mongrel!” barked the guard, spitting and his eyes bloodshot, “how dare you talk to Gormin, leader of the Bloodseekers so casually?! Prostate yourself and beg for forgiveness already!”

Enok closed his eyes, sighed, opened them, and repeated, “Are you talking to me?”

Gormin stared him down, “I am. Are you the drifter?”

“I am, though I have not taken over the Foxglade village.”

The two first horsemen were back and positioned themselves behind Enok, doubtful looks on their faces.

“Can you prove it?”

“I probably could, but why would I?” said Enok, with the same neutral tone.

The bear roared, and it was, without a doubt, heard kilometers around.

“Boss,” spoke one the warriors, his teeth bared in a malicious smile, “let me teach this ignorant fools the consequences of being unable to see despite having healthy eyes.”

“No. If you were paying more attention, you would notice the thin layer of aura surrounding him. I believe we have found what we were looking for.”

The bear rider made a quick movement of the hand, as if he was swatting flies, then dismounted. Right after, the two prisoners heads flew off their necks, casually murdered by their guard before either Enok or Kaja could react.

Gormin didn’t even bat an eye in the falling corpses’ direction. Now on the ground, he cracked his neck by tilting his neck left and right. His face was twisted into a fanatical grin.

“I am Gormin, youngest son of the Iron Queen, governor of this region and leader of the Bloodseekers. I do not care about how you call yourself, for I will soon find you a new name once I tame you, drifter. You will add me to your Party, we will conquer the dungeons and I will rise even higher!”

Enok, raised a brow, even though he otherwise appeared unimpressed.

“I won’t waste time with someone who mentions his mother’s name before his own achievements,” he simply stated, with the same neutral tone, “manifest your aura, and you are all dead.”

At that point, Kaja flew out of his hood, blue ball of light on which every eyes landed.

“Alright, listen up guys,” she said with her most convincing voice “you clearly aren’t the kindest group of people around, but we’re willing to overlook everything that just happened if you just forget about us. You seem like pretty important people and we are not trying to alter the politics of Alfheim in any w-”

“Your shining familiar,” interrupted Gorming, “will be a decent present to my sister, drifter. Though I will have to teach it how to hold its tongue.”

There was a pause, then the orb flew back inside Enok’s hood, ignoring his wide smile.

“Okay, you win. Kill them all.”

***

Later that morning, Ronan, chief of the small Foxglade clan, was abruptly woken up by his daughter.

“Father, you need to see this! Come to the square, now!”

She left before he could even reply anything. Mumbling about how the young really ought to have more respect for their elders’ sleep, he managed to make himself presentable and left the house.

If he wasn’t fully awaken by then, realizing the number of people standing in the main square did the trick. They were all talking, surrounding something that he couldn’t identify, but was big enough to be seen from a distance over their head. He recognized some of the faces of people who had left the village a week ago, and his curiosity increased.

When he got close enough to the circle, people made way for him to enter it, and what he saw made his mind go blank.

In the main square was a brown bear of incredible proportions, big enough that he wondered how it went through the village gate. It was laying there, dead.

“Hey, Ronan.”

He looked for the source of the voice, and saw a familiar young man standing next to his daughter, his hair tied back and strange red eyes squinted by a mischievous grin.

“Is there a decent cook in your clan?”