They continued traveling into the depths of the forest.

“Hmm. Why does the feel like… Spatial energy…” Reylor thought to himself. Switching his meridians to his spatial energy core confirmed it. Spatial energy began to slowly flow into him, though at a very low rate, but this was definitely strange. There should not be this much spatial energy in one place on Aretor, as it was only produced at an extremely low rate, yet the energy here was over 100 times as dense as it should be.

“Void Sense” this was a skill that, while unable to detect trained mages, was easily able to detect animals and monsters within a twenty mile radius.

“There is a dense pack of animals a distance from here. I would like to check it out, but it’s getting a bit late. What do you all think about setting up camp here for the night?”

Seems how no one disagreed, they all went to work setting up camp for the night. While Reylor, Khes, and Flint worked on setting up tents, Elany got to work on the evening meal and Aileen set up a semi-permanent barrier, which focused more on concealment than resistance. Still, it was strong enough to even resist shad wolves. Reylor would deal with anything stronger than that, or wake the camp, if need be.

“Dang, Elany. Your cooking is still like it was on our trip to the academy.” Flint voiced out, over a bowl of stew. “It’s fantastic!”

“Agreed!” Reylor voiced is approval, while Elany gave a sweet smile.

Aileen smiled too, though it was a little forced. It was not because of Elany, but thinking about the Journey to Votran made her a bit homesick for Eric. She missed her brother.

While everyone else went to their tents to settle down, Reylor went a short distance outside of the barrier (Anyone with a certain “token” could freely enter or exit the barrier). The increased spatial energy was having an effect on him—namely that he was not the least bit fatigued. Though he realized his companions needed rest, he was feeling even more energetic than “normal.”

Having ample time for the night, he decided to work on improving his magical control. He was capable of directing magical energy perfectly, but he needed to refine his energy output. He knew the suppression spell that the instructor used, but if he had tried it himself, he may have used too much energy, thereby instantly killing the people and having the effects of the spell leak out to their surroundings. He could have injured his companions along with his targets. Also, there were some spells that would break down if one used too much energy with them. This was not the case for archaic spells, but it was for modern spells. This usually wasn’t an issue, as no person was even capable of using that much magical energy. It was a different story for Reylor, though, because he had perfect affinity for magic and Seldin meridians. And so he went to work.

“Void suppression!” A tree branch bent slightly, and a leaf curled up a bit. “Too little”

“Void suppression” “Bang!” The entire tree turned into sawdust. “Ugh. Good thing I put a sound barrier over the camp.”

He raised his hand to try again, but immediately stiffened. “Someone is here.”

He turned to look at the presence he had sensed, while wondering why he hadn’t sensed the karma. This was something no human was capable of hiding.

“Reylor?” A voice spoke.

“Oh, Khes. What are you doing out here?”

“Was bored, so I decided to take a walk. I heard a loud sound and figured it was you, since there was a sound barrier over the camp, so I decided to see what you were doing.”

“You are not going to sleep?”

“Pffft” Khes tried to repress his laughter, but didn’t quite succeed.

“You are a strange one. You knew I was a Lich, but didn’t know this? Hahaha! Reylor, Liches don’t sleep—and I’m included in that. So yeah, I’m not going to sleep. I do take time to rest here or there, especially when I need to fit in with a group of humans, but I never truly sleep. Don’t need to.”

Reylor paused for a moment. “Interesting.”

“So, what about you? You look pretty human to me, but you seem as energetic as normal, or rather, even more energetic right now…”

“I’m not a human,” Reylor said, as he turned began practicing with spells he did not need to chant. “Like you, I do not need sleep—normally. Did you see what happened when I broke our friends out of the enchanted jail on our last mission?

“Not exactly, but it looked like you were using some kind of dark energy.”

“It was this,” Reylor said, condensing a ball of spatial energy.

Khes looked at it for a moment in silence. “That’s not dark energy. It is somehow synergistic with dark energy, but that is something else, something strange, and—honestly—kind of frightening.”

“This is spatial energy. Where I am from, we do not use magic, because this energy is far more useful. We do not fight, but if we did, we still would not use it, because this energy can be used to nullify any kind of magic. Every single kind.

“That is not it’s only use, nor it’s main one, though. For one thing, it is what sustains us. We can live on it, without need of food or of water. We need a lot more than what is available here, though, so I have had to resort to eating and drinking like the rest, but I still do not need sleep. Now as to why I am more energetic than normal, it is because this area, for some reason or other, has an abnormal concentration of this energy ambiantly. I passively absorb it, and in turn, some is stored in my core while the rest is used to support my physical being, including my mind. Thus, I am feeling quite energetic”

“…Wow. You guys are different. No wonder you didn’t mind me.” Khes had many more questions at this point, but he prudently chose to make a comment instead.

“So what about you? How did you turn out to be a Lich?”

“I was bored, to be honest. My dad was a necromancy scientist before he died a few years after my birth. My mom mad sure I was fed until I turned fourteen, and then left the house. By that time, I had the skills to take care of myself-foraging, hunting, fishing, and so forth; so I got by, but that was all life really was for me. I stumbled on my dad’s writings not too long after and discovered a system he had written down to give a person eternal life. I read his other writings in my spare time and came to realize there was a mistake he had made in the process outline-which was probably the cause of his death. Having nothing to lose, I gave it a shot. In the worst case I’d probably die, but that didn’t mean anything to me, so I tried it out.

“It was a success, but there were, of course, side effects. I lost three-quarters of my sense of touch and found out that I was able to sense the residual souls of those who had died somewhat recently, whether human or animal. After some experimentation, I found I could control the corpses by forming a sort of spiritual connection to the bodies through the spiritual residue. It wasn’t until quite some time later that I found out what I had really become, as I was targeted by parties of city guards and adventureres. I learned to use my new powers of necromancy to protect myself until I eventually figured out how to disguise my undead aura, the thing that alerted many people that I was not a human. After that, I found an instructor to teach me some basic magic and swordsmanship, and then I came here.”

Reylor and Khes continued to chat, talking about spells and magic, life, and various mundane things. Reylor continued practicing his magic, and Khes joined in a few times. Before they knew it, morning had come.

“I have something else to do for the moment, so why don’t you head back and make sure the rest of our party isn’t freaking out about now?” Reylor said with a chuckle.

Khes nodded and returned to the camp while Reylor turned away with a smile.

“Alright, Eric, don’t be shy.”

A figure dropped from a nearby tree with a laugh.

“I guess I can’t fool you, can I?” Eric said with a grin, as he walked over to where Reylor stood.

“Nope! Now I’d love to hear what’s been going on for you, but I think I know someone who would be a bit upset if I kept you here.”

Eric’s smile grew even bigger. “Yeah, I actually found your campsite first, but I couldn’t get in without making a big commotion. Then I saw a tree combusting in front of me. Not what I was expecting, but seeing you, it wasn’t that unbelievable, haha.”

“Let’s go back to the camp,” Reylor reasserted. “And here is a token—it’ll let you enter the barrier.”

“Thank you sir!”

Flint was still asleep, but Elany had gotten up before Khes got back. She trusted Reylor would be close, though, so she didn’t mind his absence. Aileen had just gotten up as Khes returned, and went to work helping Elany with the morning meal.

“Zurp. Zzzurp.”

Reylor and Eric entered the barrier.

“Huh? Reylor, and… Who’s that?” Elany asked, looking at the extra person brought to the camp.

Eric looked a lot different. When he started out, he used a decent bow, and was clad in a garb of rough cotton and leather. Basically, his attire was slightly above average for a hunter. He now returned wearing high quality leather and fine cloths. His quiver looked expensive, and his bow was exquisite. Looking closely enough, one could even tell that it was laden with various enchantments, aside from his clothes; his features were slightly more developed, giving him a more wizened appearance.

Nevertheless, Elany was actually quite sharp. It took just a few moments for it to sink in. “Eric?” She breathed softly. “It’s you!” She could no longer hold in her enthusiasm, shouting “Aileen! Aileen! Get back over here!”

Walking out of her tent, where she had gone to fetch something, Aileen looked over at Elany. “Elany, is something wrong?”

“No! No! Look, Aileen! Look!” She exclaimed, while pointing.

Aileen looked. She froze. She looked again. And she shrieked, “Eric! Eric! You are back!” as she tore across the camp to bury herself in Eric’s coat, sobbing into his chest with tears of joy. “I missed you so much!”

“Oi, Oi! What’s going on?” Flint asked, as he staggered out of his own tent. “Elany, Reylor, Eric, Aileen,” he thought as he scratched his head, trying to make sense of the situation. “Wait a minute, Eric? Oh, so that’s what it’s about!” “Eric! Good to see you again!” He said, arriving at the oblong circle.

“Good to see you, too! I’d give you a handshake, but I’m a bit occupied right now,” he said with a smile, while soothingly rocking Aileen side to side.

But then Eric inhaled deeply as his eyes suddenly constricted. “Reylor.” He said softly.

“Undead?” Reylor playfully ventured a guess.

Eric nodded.

“Don’t worry about that. It is actually one of our party members. In fact… Khes, come out here! I have someone for you to meet!” Reylor called out.

Khes emerged, as Eric’s eyes relaxed, and his emotions shifted from vigilance to curiosity.

“Eric, meet Khes, our neighborhood Lich. Eric made a surprised look. “Khes, meet Eric, our friend and Aileen’s brother”

“Uh, h-h-hi, Eric. Nice to meet you.” Khes respectfully bowed his head, trembling slightly as he greeted Aileen’s brother.

“Nice to meet you too, Khes” Eric replied, with a light smile.

“Food’s ready!” Elany called out.

And with that, a new day began.